Beginner Mode - The BlazBlue Mechanics Discussion Show! (Character Tutorial Mode)

[Xie]

I apologize, but 8PM is probably the time we're going to be stuck at for awhile for weekday shows. The weekend might have some early afternoon type shows, but for the most part, you'll have to catch these on youtube or in the stream archives.

Edit: Also, thanks for the feedback everyone, let's combine our power and make it the best show we can.

Edited October 20, 2011 by Xie

[Scottie Yosh]

Good shit in getting on SRK's front page. I will continue to enjoy your show, Xie!

[alvare]

Hey Xie, your idea is great and I absolutely appreciate your effort, but ... well for example, if you randomly skip trough the video, there is a 60% chance of landing on you saying "uhhhhh", and that doesn't feel right.

The way you do it is correct, talking to the audience in an almost interactive, like in a live show, but the problem is (I think) that you are alone, so you can't have the dynamic chat that for example Level Up Your Game episodes have. My opinion is that you should drop the "liveness" a little (not the streaming, just the "going unprepared part"), and plan a little more. BTW don't bother yourself with the time of the show, everyone can watch the recording (and even skip the loadings), that's not a problem.

It's also my opinion that you should focus a little more in the technical aspects (frames), right from the beginning, to establish themselves as "important shit" and make following explanations easier.

Keep up the good work!

[Tari]

I have to agree with alvare that the "uh" and "um"-ing is pretty noticeable. I figure it's something that'll go away over time, though.

...or you could go kidnap someone from the local scene and make them do the show with you. :P

[diospyros]

Maybe not tonight, but in the future, can you cover burst and counter assault baiting? There's an article on burst-baiting for GG, but I don't see one for BB.

[Delrian]

Baiting anything, a DP, burst, or CA is about knowing when your opponent is going to do it and act appropriately.

So the article for burst baiting for GG should apply well for BB except you can not throw people out of burst startup.

[Kuuhaku]

You can also hold back while doing a combo or purposely bait them into bursting at a jump cancellable move and hold up back. Most counter assaults can also be easily jumped over too and some characters can go under some counter assaults.

But hmm... my only feedback is that I do think organization could be a bit better. I think it's great that you're explaining things at a slow pace so that even people who don't really get it can understand, but some things kind of drag on too long. You could potentially fix this by editing the videos and make information... I guess delivered more efficiently for the youtube version. I think the live stream is fine for lengthy explanations since it's supposed to be more interactive, though structure can overall be improved.

It might help to make like a cheat sheet + have some kind of timer in the corner and try to limit each subject to 'x' time (though I have no idea if you already do this or not).

[Delrian]

Pretty much what other people said, practice it out more. A stream every two days gets a whole lot of episodes done really quickly, but in the end it could end up burning you out from all the work involved...

Though if you're still doing that spacing stream tonight, I'll be watching for sure.

[Alpha152]

Great job with ep. 2 Xie, explanations were concise and easy to understand and I noticed less filler 'uhs' and such

[Star-Demon]

Ep 2 was a big improvement. I've been spreading the word to local BlazBlue players, and some even showed up.

[Xie]

No time to do a show this weekend, I think the next one will be Monday (10/24) at 8pm PST.

It will cover a really ubiquitous topic known as the "Game State."

[Tari]

The first thing that came to mind for me was programming a game, haha. Game state manager.

[MashThat5A]

The first thing that came to mind for me was programming a game, haha. Game state manager.

Same here.

[Star-Demon]

The first thing that came to mind for me was programming a game, haha. Game state manager.

Unnngh yeah...me too...I've been working on revamping a GSM recently....

[Dreizehn]

Thank you very, very much for this amazing project; as a new player, I've found the videos incredibly useful. While I was, unfortunately, not able to watch the second episode at the time it was aired, there's one question I've been meaning to ask ever since I finished watching the first one.

I've been toying around with the game for around three or four months now, mostly just playing against the computer or friends, and occasionally entering the training and challenge modes. The thing is, I've tried pretty much every character in the roster, including those available through DLC, and I've found that most of them are fun to play. However, when it comes down to actually choosing one to focus on, I find myself having trouble making that decision; I like too many. I've read here about people mentioning that the character they picked just "clicked" for them; a friend of mine chose Jin the very first day he played and hasn't played as anyone else since, and has gotten pretty good with him. Now, my question is; as an experienced player, what was this "click" feeling like? Did you choose your character because you had fun playing as them, because of their looks, their fighting style, or a combination of all of the above? I think other people who are starting out might be asking themselves the same question, especially with all of the characters being so different. Just to clarify, I know the decision will ultimately fall on each person's shoulders, but I believe it would be great to know the criteria an older player used as a reference? It would be nice to hear about it, "Beginner Mode" style. For example, some of the advice I found on threads mentioned looking at the game's frame data to choose a character. I did a bit of research and managed to get a very, very shaky understanding of how to read it, but I pretty much have no idea what I should be looking for there to help me choose.

Thanks again for the stream project; it's been amazing, and thanks for reading through this post, too. Cheers from Costa Rica!

[Kujikawa]

Sorry if this has been mentioned before, but is it possible for viewers to send in their matches applying what they have learned and you to analyse and comment on their performance?

[Tari]

@Drei: People pick mains for a huge variety of reasons. Some people look at how characters play (heavy pressure game, long-range zoning game, etc.), some people look at character designs, some people choose based on character voices, etc. There's no real set way to choose a main. There's this thread that asks how people chose their main, and if you look through any part of it, you'll see that there's no one reason to pick a main.

Personally, none of the characters "just clicked" for me, so I can't really tell you how that works.

Sorry if this has been mentioned before, but is it possible for viewers to send in their matches applying what they have learned and you to analyse and comment on their performance?

This sounds like a pretty neat idea. Sounds a bit like Day9's newbie tuesdays (iirc?). Don't know if Xie has time to do this sort of thing, though?

[Dreizehn]

The second episode was awesome, thank you for uploading it. It's a lot easier to understand now what people mean about hitboxes; I'll try to watch over the few replays I have and spot the stuff you mentioned. Since you mentioned wanting feedback, I'd like to add my thoughts as well. I think the "fluff" you mentioned actually helps keep people interested and motivated throughout the episode; small stuff, like the story behind the t-shirt (pretty cool, by the way!) really helps keep everything fresh and moving smoothly. It might be just me, but I find things easier to understand if the videos aren't just a condensed manual of information; after a certain point, you just need some kind of distraction so that you can keep paying attention and actually learning later on.

@Tari: Thanks for your answer; I think I was unrealistically expecting there to be a "universal factor" that would let me decide on a single character once and for all, but reading through that thread, it does seem like there's pretty much nothing to do about it other than pick a single one and stick to them.

Thanks to both of you again. Cheers!

[Tengato]

Hi Xie,

I admit, eps. 0 and 1 were a little annoying, but don't let the criticism cramp your style man, you gotta relax and have fun with this project or you will get bored and give up! Ep. 2 was great, by the way.

I think it would be nice to include a few practical lessons for level 0 newbies to improve their play though. For example, most people new to fighting games need to learn how to give up mashing and play in a more controlled, thoughtful way. Like you could put some of the theory to use and craft a couple techniques that can be used to beat an opponent who mashes. You could also assign homework to go into the game and figure something out based on what you taught us that episode, such as "experiement and find out how your character can beat Ragna's opening 5C, 5B, 5A, etc."

Also, newbies are probably struggling with performing special move inputs and stuff, so maybe explain how to practice execution and what their goals should be. My question, for instance, is how do I develop the ability to input a move on frame 0 of the match (as in ep. 2)? I don't even know if there is a buffer for this input before the round begins or how to even determine if I'm successful...

[Airk]

@Tari: Thanks for your answer; I think I was unrealistically expecting there to be a "universal factor" that would let me decide on a single character once and for all, but reading through that thread, it does seem like there's pretty much nothing to do about it other than pick a single one and stick to them.

Remember. This decision is carved in impermeable stone that lasts for generations and cannot be changed...unless you decide to change it. Seriously. Make a decision. Run with it for a while. If someone really bothers you about the character, or you're just not getting any results, or you just CAN'T do that one critical combo link, well, no biggie, try someone else. We presume you had fun learning the first character, after all.

[Xie]

Welp, tonight's lesson was a dud, tune in on Thursday 10/27/11 8pm PST for the REAL lesson 3!

Edited October 26, 2011 by Xie

[Kurushii]

Dat Steins;Gate. Xie less chin action next time :P

[Xie]

When I get into it, I just can't stop stroking it. (My Chin).

[BeaverDeity]

Thanks for answering my question on the stream Xie :3

[Delrian]

Thanks for answering my question on the stream Xie :3

Thanks for asking your question Beaver. Learned something about Zoning today that really didn't occur to me. >.>