Dealing with an influx of new players and CAM

General Discussion
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We have had a thread on how you play against low ranked fighters before, but I was on last night playing in exhibition and I had some trouble knowing what to do.

First of all, big kudos to MS and IG. 4/5 people I played last night were clearly new to the game. Between CAM and the games with gold S1 giveaway it’s clearly working to get more people to try the game - at least for now. That’s a great sign for when S3 and the PC version drop later this year.

I started with my mic turned off because my kids were running around and I didn’t want to bug anyone or have to deal with any creeps while they were listening. But recognizing that people were new, I found that I had a (probably unnecessary) strong desire to try to help them have a good experience so they could keep playing.

I turned my mic on and got a guy who popped in, saw my rank and immediately dropped. We got paired up again and he just sat for a long time. I tried to say hello but he didn’t have a mic. Finally, when I said “it’s cool man, I will go easy on you,” he hit ready and we started to play. The guy clearly had some fighting game experience because he was throwing DPs . I don’t know if he had CAM on or not but his combo game was okay. His fundamentals were pretty poor - no blocking, no strategy for getting around good defense. Just a lot of jump in followed by low jab. I didn’t really try to teach him how to play, just said stuff like “nice” if he got a breaker or landed a counter etc. anyway the guy stuck around for a while even though I didn’t let him win any ( l DID go easy on him and give him some turns at offense). Anyway we played probably 6-8 rounds and then he dropped in the middle of my combo. Then I was bummed that I might have pissed him off somehow.

Anyway, I could recount each player experience but it made me think of a couple of things. Is it better to try to chat with new players or leave them alone? I’ve always kept my exhibition search open so it gets a match fast and because the rank doesn’t mean all that much. But is it better to crank those settings a bit so that new players get paired with each other? What do people think? I did send a few guys a note saying “Good games, welcome to KI!” But in the troll age who knows how they are going to view that.

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Well, it’s a tough question, I’m afraid there’s no definitive answer. If you coddle them too much, they will get upset that you’re not taking them seriously. If, on the other hand, you turn on your beast mode and grind them into the ground, most of them will get salty and quit pretty soon. I got bodied yesterday a few times in Rising Thunder by a really good player and my initial reaction was “wtf, why I am getting matche up like this, this is bullshit”. Of course a moment later I reflected that this is what I want, playing against better players to learn, and so I continued to play the guy even though he was too fast and too good for me, but that sort of mentality comes with age and experience in fighting games. If you’re someone new to the FGC, just checking out your new Gold game, you will more often than not be immediately put off by this sort of thing.

What I try to do, personally, is make no assumptions about the player. If I’m playing ranked and get a qualifier or bronze player, I will start off playing my best. But if I notice that the other player doesn’t know what they’re doing - or they’re trying to do the right things, but their timing is off, etc. - I will switch to my “improvement mode”. This will usually mean focusing super hard on blocking, footsies and whiff punishing, as well as forcing myself to do short combos (because it’s usually easy to lock them out and get your easy damage in, ending the match prematurely).

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I actually do what Shabu does. I go to a play style that focuses on letting the opponent hang themselves with bad tactics. It’s a good way to teach them what doesn’t work, and generally the best way to deal with a player who is extremely random, as many new players are.

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Or “GG, you can find me on Ultra Combo.com”, maybe…?

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I too have noticed the influx of newer players over the past few days and have had my fair share of “runaways” as I like to call them (those that leave before the fight starts due to the rank difference). I’d say the 4/5 ratio sounds about right too, if my matches last night in exhibition were any indication.

If the player seems at all competent, I just do my best to fight them. However, if they seem lacking in any area, like many of them were last night, I spew advice out as if it were candy:
“Try blocking more.”
“You jump too much.”
“Do a heavy special move to end your combo properly and cash out damage.”
…etc.

I do this whether they’re vocally sociable or not, because even though many of them can’t or choose not to say anything, many of them are listening.

It’s rare, since most people generally appreciate the advice, but once in a blue moon I’ll have a player ask me to stop talking (which I always find quite odd, because virtually every game has a mute function they’re more than welcome to use).

By giving the advice freely, they’re more likely to stay since they know that I’m a resource they can use to learn the game and improve, and indeed, in many cases, they do improve significantly, even as I fight them. If they’re serious about it, sometimes we’ll even stop fighting altogether and start using exhibition as a pseudo-online practice mode (I can’t stress enough how much KI needs this).

Speaking of which, I hate how you can’t “pause” an online game - I can see why they didn’t include it for obvious reasons, but it’d be nice to be able to check the command list or something once in a while. Other fighting games allow you to do this if you choose mid-fight (Mortal Kombat comes to mind) even though the game never truly pauses. Even if they don’t include this, they should at least include it with an online practice mode, if they ever get around to finally adding 1.

I do generally worry about beating up on the newer players though. I play more Aganos than I probably should against newer players and many of them can’t figure out how to get around his chunks unless I tell them how to do so directly (“you’ve got to use fast, multi-hitting attacks and throws!”) - and even then it’s a stretch that they’ll win (although I can definitely see the difference CAM is making for many of them - mad props to the devs on that 1). I worry that this may cause them to believe that Aganos is a broken character, when he really isn’t or even turn them away from KI and FGs in general.

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in my experience when I meet a new player, I tend to be open and social about it, Trying to make it clear that it’s just about fun between them and I. Also considering that most other players stay out of it sometimes I also try to be freindly as well because welcoming attitudes can encourage people to go into it a little further.

I’ve considered some advice to but at te risk of annoying them I will only ive it if they are having trouble or if they actually want it.

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shrugs I’m just not good at helping people learn the game through matches without communication. Going easy on people is something I’m just not good at.

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Actually that’s a great idea. Something encouraging them to come here to learn more about the game is a good suggestion.

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Bunch of fake Qualifiers online. I go all out the first round… After that, I assess the situation. Never disrespect my opponents though. I think it’s better to grow the community that way.

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Lol why do we need to criticise them for jumping??

because were scared we might loose lol??

its the same with pros and their GUESS BREAKERS. Best think to do is to start to play Street Fighter untill you can get them into a combo lol!

MEH!

Let them just enjoy themselves! even if they do just jump lol

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Honestly, as a new player struggling with his Hisako game I find people to be the most helpful by punishing my flaws in gameplay repeatedly without overboard 50% combos (so I can understand what I’m doing wrong) as I try to do in return for other new players (looking at you Jagos and Saberwolfs (lp/lk mashers). Talking over mic mid game is distracting and comes off as trash-talk to me (Can we even mute mid game?).

I’d much prefer you repeatedly show me how I’m lacking then tell me. Saying things like you jump to much, etc… are helpful occasionally but in many cases for me are muscle memory issues that come with learning a new game. For example, in my Hisako game play I struggle with forward crawl regardless of sides and will occasionally jump instead which is frustrating because I WANT to crawl. I find the action on the stick controller difficult and have a challenging time inputing her half circle moves on the d-pad. So if you said something to me like “try xyz less”, I may be prone to tilting and losing any form of mental clarity out of frustration with my own mechanics.

Just my .02 coming from a player who quit earlier in the year after buying season 2 and came back because of CAM/free gold offer. I’m currently a gladiator, so the lack of non-stop beatdown killer games (as a result of the influx of new players) as a then button masher helped initially, but like many I’m actually trying to learn now and can appreciate the killers who stomp my weaknesses in a clear and obvious way(rushdown game, combo breaking and timings) as a way of articulation vs telling me verbally and as a result I have got better overall as a new player to the game.

Essentially I’m saying repeatedly exploiting my weaknesses in a non “you suck” gameplay fuels my desire to goto practice and record exactly what you did to learn counters to it or come to forums like these to learn how to defend and counter your punishment. Hope any of this makes sense.

-Cheers

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Good comment and good attitude. I just want to add that you’re clearly a visual learner (hands-on learner anyway). Many people are, but just as many aren’t - those need things explained to them verbally and logically before those things click in their heads; there are few different types of learners and there’s no one size fits all solution.

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Nope, (not without interrupting the game anyways) but I certainly wish we could…

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Me personally, like in MKX for example…I will take it easy on people I can tell are new players. I won’t let them win the match, but ill go easy and even hang back at times as to not overwhelm or discourage them. Though I don’t stand back too much, as it might come off as taunting and just being a ■■■■, so there is like a balance there lol

I typically don’t use a mic so I really don’t talk to them, but if any of them talk or message me asking for any kind of tips/help/advice or want to add me and practice, I am always more than happy to try and help.

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I have noticed the same experience…most are new to the game over this past weekend and they will immediately leave once they see your rank and level. I try to say “Dont leave!” if i have my mic on.

I then start the match with one of my better characters just in case they are a new profile and are actually really good. Once i see they are not i back off and just block and let them got at it with all they have. I try to even let them win a match so they dont leave.
Then I pick my worst, lowest level character and try to learn along with them and level up.

Now if they TB me…thats when I turn my mic on and say hey man, thats not cool, we dont want you here in the KI community if your going to be an ■■■ as I am trying to help you here.
I had one TB my son even when they knew he was 5 years old, (because he told them on the mic) and that just pissed me off…I kicked the crap out of them for that.

But @BigBadAndy, I think your doing it right… your very encouraging and fun to play with so I wouldn’t worry if you are bothering anyone. Just keep doing what you are doing.

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I think there’s only one way to handle noob type teabaggers. That’s to punish them and keep punishing them, but never lose your cool and never stoop to their level. Just keep beating their ■■■ until they leave with composure like you’ve done it all before. Then they’ll understand how this works. Cuz if you retaliate to what they’re doing, and you’re really putting it on them, they’ll just want to do it even more to the next person. It’s like a cancer.

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I agree…I never TB back…I only kick the crap out of them and say GG. Now in the case of my kid, that was different…I had to let em know that s not cool over the mic. But I still didnt TB him.
When you are nice to them I think it has more effect on them because it makes them really look and feel like an idiot.

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…and I’ve done it before. It’s why they call it “killing them with kindness.” :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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I don’t see anyone doing that. Certainly it wasn’t my intention, if you mean my post. The point I was trying to make wasn’t that jump in and jab is a bad strategy. But like anything else if it’s ALL you do you are going to lose.

Interestingly, I find that people who jump by far the most are old timers like me - people who played fighting games in the early nineties when there were no dashes and mobility was generally very poor. In those games jumping was really the only way to travel. So jumping was the go to strategy for just about everyone.

Yeah, I had an interesting experience with this last night. I was on with someone who was clearly new while I didn’t have my mic on. We had played several matches and I let him experiment a bit without flattening him. Then, he hit me with a nice combo and starts t bagging. I was like “what?” So I hit him with an ultra. To my surprise he stuck around. A few games later after I left the match I sent him a “GG, welcome to KI.” He sent me a friend invite and, long story short, it’s like a 12 year old kid who just thinks everything is funny. He has no real idea what he’s doing. I spent about 20 minutes in a lobby with him and his friend showing them some stuff and they were just clowning around the whole time. So, it’s not always what you think it is.

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Punish them anyway…