Keits Interview. Some interesting points about the competitive FGC

General Discussion
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I enjoyed this interview and as much as I try not to act like a keits fanboy I pretty much agree with all of the points he makes.

One point in particular is how good players are at their respective fighting games and with the advances we’ve had in technology and sharing information how different it is than it used to be.

We’ve come a long way from sharing the blood kode with people by passing a note at school. Now I can go home lab up some new tech and within 10 minutes be sharing an HD video of it to the world.

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Oh man. I wonder if this has been shared a lot? It would be a good interview to see.

20:43 in this Interview :joy:

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It’s okay. If any non-player in the FGC deserves fanboys & fangirls, it’s Keits.

Thanks for posting this, by the way! Great interview, and yeah, it’s hard not to agree w/ the one guy willing to tell it like it is point blank.

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Super good interview! Very good points and conversation. Thanks for posting this, wouldn’t have seen it otherwise!

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thanks for posting that, enjoyed watching it

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Watching now; will update this post with my feedback… Eventually.

So, stay tuned! :wink:

EDIT: I still don’t agree with his stance on teabagging, although he made a strong case - my counter to that is that while he may be right in that it is my weakness, and therefore his advantage, that doesn’t make it morally right or okay to do. He’s basically taking the stance of someone who will manipulate their way into getting what they want, regardless of societal standards or rules. In KI’s case, a rule of law was handed down (albeit in a rather poor manner) for a particular event, and people see fit to ignore the law that was laid down. Laws may not be perfect, and I understand that, but they still have to be followed once they’re in place or else there will be potential consequences for those who refuse to follow it - and that’s their weakness as a part of society, or in this case, an event.

Everything else he talked about was absolutely great! Thanks for sharing. :slight_smile:

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Good interview and good points shared by Keits. Glad to see it. And I’m hoping these interviews lead to a larger profile for KI.

Teabagging annoys me, but it doesn’t bug me the way multiple Ultras do. I just kind of roll my eyes when someone does it.

EDIT: Keits, please do more interviews if you can! Especially the end of that segment was elucidating.

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Great interview. I really enjoy listening to him analyze KI and expound on a variety of fighting game related topics. He seems genuine, which I respect.

I think his argument about teabagging makes sense, but I don’t know that I agree with it. So, here is the issue with the slippery slope argument that he mentioned. If you ban teabagging, what is to stop you from banning other stuff?

On the flip side is another slope. If you allow that kind of mental game, where do you draw line? Are triple ultras okay? How about glancing over at me mid match? How about laughing at me? How about getting up, pointing at me and laughing?

Would I be in the wrong to get up and smack your hand out of my face or just deck you for thinking it was okay to berate me to my face? I had a guy place his middle finger on the side of my face once because he was so enraged by the way I was using Blanka. The only reason why I didn’t punch his teeth down his throat was because he’s friends with my brother in law.

Now, you might say “well obviously there’s a line.” And you could place that line wherever it seems most logical to you. In which case, I can respond regarding teabagging by saying "okay, obviously no one’s asking you to not use any tech and you can obviously press down as many times as you need. Just don’t make it blatantly obvious that you’re trying to teabag. Just play the game.

Of course, for a lot of people, the mental aspect is part of it. Trying to rile people up, get them off their game. I’ve heard stories about pro sports players saying horrible stuff to one another that makes simulating teabagging look laughably harmless.

But what if instead of the NHL, you’re playing beer league hockey. Is it still okay to poke at your opponent about his wife just leaving him to get that mental edge?

I think that might be where some people come from. Like okay, we’re just playing a friendly match and you’re trying to get in my head like it’s grand finals? Stop being a knob, stop trying to troll me and just play with some sportsmanship.

Some might not see it that way. Win any match any way you can. Everyone has a line for what’s decent and what’s not, what’s fair game and what’s not. To suggest that teabagging is okay might be totally normal to some. For others, it’s akin to a middle finger on your face. Well, maybe not that bad, but still. :slight_smile:

Sorry, didn’t mean to get back on that topic! Regardless, I hope that Keits does more interviews and is able to spread the word about KI. I though his opinions were unique, genuine and compelling the whole way through.

I really wish Michael had asked him about the future of KI, like when we can expect the next two characters or if he could talk about what’s on the horizon for the game beyond the next two, but I’m guessing the answer would’ve been of the “stay tuned” variety.

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My view is that the line is in between the game and reality. If it is in the game, then it is not crossing the line but if it goes into verbal or phsyical territory, then the line has been crossed.

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I disagree with whole in-game out-of-game line, but I don’t have a counter-point just yet, so I’ll just leave it at that for now.

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It is impossible to define what is “morally right or okay” with regards to in-game actions. Some people might (and do!) think that repeatedly throwing or attacking a knocked down player is not morally right or okay. We laugh at these people as scrubs, of course, but if you use whatever definition of “morally right” you want, then these people can (and do!) try to ban or berate other players for throwing.

Same thing happens when you often taunt your opponents using Aganos’s taunt. You think it is morally right and okay to do that, because you see the action as some form of respect or honor. Other players might think you are making fun of them (as I probably would). Can someone just tell you that you are not allowed to taunt anymore because they see it differently than you?

Out-of-game harassment is a much different concern than using a common in-game action (crouching) to affect your opponent. I think the line is pretty easily drawn here. You aren’t allowed to get up and punch your opponent in real life.

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I really liked this interview, because it gives us a chance to clear the air about everything KI, from dealing with the huge number of varied characters to the teabagging issue. Keits echoed my own sentiments, in that teabagging itself is nothing but an action in a videogame and it is the player who should not be letting it affect them (not in these exact words, but a similar intention). Besides that, I really like his suggestion of just trying out each character for an hour or so to get a feel for them. It helps to gain an entry-level idea of the gameplay that you can build upon with experience.
Please have more people from the dev team do interviews, people like @SasquatchPotato or @TotalJimkata, people who can explain how the game is being made and evolving over the years. Its always nice to get a little insight from the people making the game.

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Whenever I see what I interpret as an undesired or otherwise rude in-game gesture, such as teabagging or excessive taunting, I politely, and calmly, ask them to not do it again. I find that most players happily oblige my request, but for the few who don’t, they lose out on an opponent and a chance at a real victory - and that’s their loss; not mine.

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It’s your right to choose to not play with players you don’t want to play against in casual matches. This can be for any number of reasons, including time wasters like triple ultras or just because the guy plays Sadira and you don’t feel like playing against Sadira right now. You can also think “that guy is a jerk and I don’t want to play against him anymore.” This is all fine. If a guy teabags and taunts me excessively in exhibition online, I will probably also leave and go find someone else, as I’m sure most of us would.

The only question that actually matters, though, is whether you can disqualify people from tournaments over this. If the guy excessively taunts you in a tournament match, you can politely ask him to stop all you want, but he doesn’t have to and you shouldn’t be able to use it as grounds for disqualification.

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If it’s excessive and obvious, I think a single warning should be given. If, after that, it continues, then yes, I think there should be grounds for lost points/rounds or disqualification on the basis of poor sportsmanship or excessive rudeness (as determined by the event organizers, since it’s their event ). Every participant goes in knowing the rules and/or code of conduct beforehand. If they choose not to follow that or to secretly circumvent that in some way because they disagree or want to unnerve their opponent, then that’s the risk they’re going to have to take - most players likely won’t even bother.

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As I’ve said, there is no way to determine what is “poor sportsmanship” or “excessive rudeness” within the game, aside from one person’s random definition which cannot be enforced or upheld in any reasonable way.

Obviously a tournament organizer can set whatever rules they want, and then by entering that tournament you submit to those rules. But any tournament that bans such things through in-game actions is likely not a tournament worth supporting, same as a tournament that bans throws for being unsportsmanlike.

Anyway, I have nothing further to say on the topic. The KIWC thing ended up being a troll or whatever Brandon claims (massive sigh) and the tournament will go forward and be great without any random overbearing rules on player behavior.

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I was never in favor of the ban, but I don’t really buy the argument that tea-bagging should be recognized as a legitimate tactic for psychological damage. If you’re going to rattle my nerves, please attempt to do so through the actual fighting and mechanics, and not some lewd gesture or between rounds or annoying triple-ultras after matches. That’s just fair and respectful to my fun and skills in the game. I’ll tolerate the existence of these things, but in no way do I think they should be approved of.

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I think it’s pretty obvious Keits has been around the block a few times. I don’t always agree with his “tact” but he sure as rain knows fighting games and the FGC.

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One person? Why not a panel that reviews the footage and comes to a consensus?

I think it can be upheld in a reasonable and logical manner - you just have to look at it in context to what both players are doing at the time when someone allegedly teabags. If there is reasonable doubt due to what was going on, then the motion is ignored.

Also, the idea of preventing something important in-game such as throws or going too far with future rules and regulations is something I don’t believe will happen simply for how ridiculous that would be, and only stems from paranoia - people are too smart for that. At worst certain characters or stages would not be allowed, and that’s already a thing, so I really don’t see it going any further than teabagging…

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OR… and this is a big or… People could not allow tea bagging to get under their skin and focus on beating the tea bagger to smithereens. That’s what I do. If somebody tea bags me… I’m going in for the kill. :smiley:

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