Renvalt

Thanks for the advice guys. Sorry about you having to see all this.... crap.

I would like to say awesome job to the few who DID participate - attendance is worth half the grade, after all! As for the next few sessions, I *might* have to pass. I've got some soul searchin' to do before I think of getting back into the competition.

Thanks guys. I understand now where the majority of my errors were at - I was playing for the acceptance of others instead of playing to satisfy my own desire for strength. Because of this, it made me "feel" as if I had to be #1 within a matter of months - and it was bringing me down. Instead of worrying about the length of time it'll take me to get as good as, say, Airk or Psy, I should instead worry about whether I'm happy progressing at all. Perhaps in understanding just where I want to take myself and WHY I want to go there, I'll find what it is I'm looking for.

Well, not training enough obviously would mean I would be uncertain of my performance in the netplay world - especially since that's where I make all my gamer friends. There's only one around here who isn't from *there*, per se, but the fact remains we DID meet online. There's a shortage of gamers in my neck of the woods - specifically in the Eugene, OR/Springfield, OR area. I don't own, nor could even afford a car, let alone frequent bus trips to other cities. So netplay is where I get my social fix amongst gamers - there's no built-in forum for gamers apart from maybe PlayStation Home, but I *lack* in the games department, and I'm quite sure nobody here uses that stuff. My point is that without someone to "enjoy" my efforts with, it feels like, well, wasted effort. I tried using Ragna, and I suffer from the same issues with him as I do with Hakumen, or pretty much everyone. But if I practice too much, I start to get lonely and bored fast. I feel like a machine, and I want to think, feel, and act like a human being. You guys've had to listen to me rant on about this crap - everyone's had to. So be honest with me - do you delight in making this a psychology thread? I'm gonna report this thread to be closed right now if you don't. Because honestly, the last thing I need is drama up in here. I'm not exactly looking for a quick path to success, I'm just looking for what you guys deem "acceptable progress", a pace that you guys accept. After all, there is no netplay for me if you guys think I'm not worth the effort to play against.

Oh believe me, I am practicing. But I get varied accounts of "how long" to practice. Some say 10 minutes, some say hours on end - it's the confusion that makes it so damn stressful. I realize NOT practicing, or practicing too little will create more stress when I can't have the combos in my muscle memory. On the other hand, if I practice too long, I will become bored and lonely. Where do I draw the line, honestly? I wish I could show you guys, but those who've fought me treat it as if it's no big deal, when to me it is the very thing that keeps others from saying "Just quit, man. These types of games aren't for you." If these types of games aren't for me, then competition - and by that right, life, are not for me. I'm not satisfied with how things are right now, but yet I'm either trying too hard or not enough. Which is it with you guys?!

So I'm having some issues with the Hell's Fang inputs. No seriously, I kid you not - 25% of the time the damned pad doesn't even like me. Okay, well not 25% of the time, but I'm having issues doing this 100% of the time; especially after stuff like Throws and such. I... don't know how to react, or how to play anymore. I mean, what's the deal if I can't even master the use of the Throw>214B>214D>623D>236C>214D input that Challenge 5 is quite well known for? I really don't understand why I can only use two separate inputs at a time, and why harder, more complex chains require me to leave myself open? I just don't get this at all. I feel sluggish, heavy, weighed down even. Especially when I lose, it's like someone applied 20 pounds of liquid weight onto my chest, and it just FEELS AWFUL! It feels bad when I lose, man - especially when I lose in a fight where I had no chance at all.

Got it. Also, if I might be so bold as to request to switch to Ragna if things get terribly... ummm... bad (as in, win/loss rate bad). I've been having problems with my Hadouken motions, so I've been training for the past 2 hours tryin to get em in shape. I'll still be running Hakumen, but with my.... erm... execution problems, it might be a good idea to have Ragna as backup just in case.

The way you guys were talking, it SOUNDED as if you wanted me to grind this shit out for hours on end before I even set FOOT in netplay. I apologize if I misunderstood. When you put it the way you just did, it sounds a lot more bearable.

If only BlazBlue netplay had maintenance times on their servers like most MMOs I see around the net do.... I could actually consider using that time to master my inputs.... OR I could go jam with Accent Core at Chrome's house. Two equally profitable ventures....

I understand I'm supposed to have my fundamentals down. But really, if I *have* to do this, it won't be fun sitting at a blank clay dummy (Hakumen) just trying to master my inputs. That robs the fun out of why I even GOT into this genre in the first place right away. In short: I don't play FGs to play alone, I play them for the fact they're MEANT to be played with others. Besides, I can't really show anyone ELSE my own training vids or replays, so you virtually have no way to verify if I'm lying to you or not.

It's... an input issue with me. Specifically, DP motions are hard enough to do off-hand (doesn't mean I don't try to grind them out), and there's also the issue of chaining two quarter circle moves together. I set out to remedy the latter, as I knew it'd just make mastering everything ELSE much harder. How I decided to do that was this: I came up with a combo of 5C>214A>236B>6C (with Hakumen). It's not foolproof, and I've no intention of using it outside of practice, but it helps me learn where in a certain special move I can chain. Fun fact: I actually got a 5-hit, 2735 red combo by doing this. I also developed a variant on that when Howling taught me a way to make the 236B come out easier after the 214A. The way he taught me was instead of just returning to neutral afterward, I immediately do 41236 after the 214A lands. I accidentally hit C during one of my reps, and discovered that Zantetsu uses the same amount of Maga, but has more damage when done a certain way. Thus, I developed: 5C>214A>41236C>2C. Both combos were red, and I think the latter reached 3k in damage. Now granted, I'm not good enough with this to try it on a real opponent, but it's THERE in case anyone didn't think on it. At any rate, those Dustloop combos look nightmarishingly hard to pull off. There's gotta be a trick to it, but what? Also, does it seem... strange.... to you that I would watch two other players play and.... erm... well... wonder what the hell they're doing? During my KOF days (KOF98/02) I was told to watch match videos. Well, I'm running into the same problem here that I did THERE - I'm gawking going "wtf" while trying to figure out what I'm supposed to learn. It's like I'm naught but a spectator at a boxing match, just standing dumbstruck and in awe. Is that..... normal, for newbs to do?

Oi, you are not the only one who knows about its existence, and I've wanted to play it for a good amount of time (long before I even considered BlazBlue, too - it was GG that led me to BB). One problem, though - you'll need to pony up the game, because I don't own it. If it's PS2, then you're gonna need to pony up the console, controllers, AND game. Because, well.... mine got jacked by a burglar last year.

Very well then. I accept. PSN: renvalt32 Character: Hakumen State: Oregon Time Zone: PST 7 PM on Saturday, right? I'll make a note of that! Time to engage in Bloodless Lotus Training! EDIT - Note, I cannot stress enough that my PSN ID is CAPS SENSITIVE! Wouldn't want it on my conscience that you got the wrong idiot and ended up kicking me!

Some of it; most else involves single-player Easiest CPU difficulty spamming. As you said, it's a battle of mental wit. Now I'm not saying I don't win every now and then (indeed, since playing Hakumen I can maintain at least 45~55 PSR with him). The problem comes when you have players who have like 500+ Top PSR steamrolling you. Granted, I do *try*, because miracles CAN happen. It's just that once I lose, that bitterness comes in. I try to swallow it, mostly because I'm not the kind of guy who wants to be "THAT guy". And believe it or not, I'm not super-duper mashy; with Hakumen usually I can notice a pattern and assuming it's not a cheap spam shot and I can get out of it, I can usually figure out how to break their momentum. Indeed, right now my current "playstyle" (if you can call it that) is using Hakumen's range and power with various B and C movements, 214A and 236B, and then of course, if I have a free shot and I feel like it's gonna hit, I use 632146C (what I term "Shirafune Ougi" since I can't be assed to remember the real name, and that's easier to remember). As for challenge mode, I have Hakumen at 33%, Ragna/Jin/Lambda/Noel at 23%, and pretty much everyone else except Tager at 13% (Meaning Hakumen has 5 Completes, Ragna/Jin/Lambda/Noel have 4, Tager has 1, and everyone else has 2 - with the exception of Makoto, Valk, and Platinum). Oh yes, need I mention how much I *HATE* fighting Mahou Shoujo Sankishin Platinum? Seriously, if I fight her on someone who's the king of using her, I'd feel the desire to ragequit (but I wouldn't - my pride commands me to see a fight through to the end, even if it pisses me off like hell). EDIT - To point out how I usually can retain a sense of urgency and caution: I was fighting a Rachel not too long ago, and they were spamming Gii's Energy Rods (AKA the rods that channel sword Iris, I forget what they're ACTUALLY called) - I knew if I left that corner it was gonna be game set match because they were planted to bait me out. What I intended to do was clinch it with Shirafune Ougi, but I couldn't get the motion out. The button was okay, but that HCB+F motion was just NOT listening to me. Eventually, they stopped once they realized I wasn't gonna leave the corner and they won because of a simple mis-press. My point is that it's not because I'm not trying, I just happen to feel the sting of losing far harder than anyone else. But at the very least I swallow my anger and take it like a man (or try to, at least).

Not familiar with the game on a CT/CS1/CS2 level. Hell, I'm hardly familiar with it on an Extend level, I just got the game (and by extension the PS3) last month on the 23rd (birthday present, wouldn't be able to play and wouldn't be here otherwise). Also, I'm heavily more familiar with the keyboard control style, since most of my gaming days were done via keyboard. Switching to pad's been somewhat easy, but.... it's not flawless, can say that right now. Also, when feeling helpless on defense, it's because A)I realize I suck enough to get into that position, B)it was on a character whose playstyle was built on offense (at least as far as I know, and I know next to nothing), and C)I knew full well from previous FG experiences that if a pro gets you in the corner, your only option as a total noob is surrender. Because I haven't fought anyone at my level, it gives me this.... well.... degradation. This sense of fear and of demoralization. Some people have told me to study and train in practice mode, but I didn't buy this stuff to just sit alone by myself and continue to be a loner, goddammit! Gaming's all I know, the old crones 'round here don't like me for that, and it means I've got no one. If I'm gonna learn, I'll learn on the go. But not with the pros constantly kicking my ass out the gate (though I humorously - and pathetically - keep trying to storm the gate). EDIT - I want to thank the snuffy squirrel who recommended that training mode variant. I'll try it out when I hook up my PS3 again.

Contemplating whether or not I should join.... I feel like this is a chance for me to shine, but A)I'm in PNW, B)I haven't tested from West to West, C)I suck, and D)I feel I'm not ready for big times like these.

Okay, so since I wasn't clear the last time, and since Howling and Omega have pretty much advised me to, I'm going to readvertise here: What I am looking for are people in the Pacific Northwest who are at the level of a FG noob. No seriously, just ask any of those two and they'll tell ya how much I suck. I feel like munching on leftover cat neck.

Are you referring to my lack of trophies, or the fact that you can't get my PSN verified? Both are easily explainable: The former involves the fact that it's the first time I've owned a PS3 (or a modern day console, for that matter), the latter involves the fact it's not hooked up at the moment. Also, I have a rather annoying habit of chronic hard drive wiping. Very irritating (on my end as well as yours).

When I pick characters, it's not the playstyle that gets me - it's how they look, visually. Since with BlazBlue I can more or less pick what song goes with what (even though SUSANOO rocks equally as well as the song I'd normally choose), it's a matter of how the game appeals to me on an aesthetic level. I'm willing to make changes if I can play a character I like, just because my emotions are ruling my play at the moment (most notably anger - yet unlike some idiots I tend to be more silent fury, rather than cussing up a storm). I'm also not arrogant - but my emotional anger is that of a silent, murderous fury - it blinds me, it cuts off my voice (and my breath), and the only thing I think of is trashing and mauling whatever it is that's causing me such fury - and pain. In this respect, I'm a wounded beast - if I'm gonna die anyways, I'll at least rip off a leg in the process (figuratively speaking). That's how I think when I'm playing FGs. Stupid, I know - but it's the truth. Not one I like, but I don't really know how else to deal with it.

I don't really *like* maining Ragna, I just do it because everyone (even the game) suggested it. I'd play Hakumen, Jin, or Makoto if I had to pick mains I like. But of course, I usually judge my mains by how many challenges I can beat straight with them. The only two that have had that luxury is Ragna and Jin. As far as staring at a character goes, Hakumen takes first places for looks. Playstyle? Not so sure. At the very least, he's decent to look at. Jin? Not so much. Makoto looks like a Female Fighter clone furry from DFO, although with a more perky personality (and I like 'em perky) - so really, those are my choices. It's just... y'know, that DP motion gets me every time. It looks like I'm mashing, but my inputs aren't coming out when I intend them to.

I'd like some time to play! My PSN is renvalt32, and I'm kinda... well, lonely as far as PSN games for Extend goes. So, anyone up for a few games? Signal me, and I'll go and hook up my PS3.

My problem with blocking doesn't stem from position or what part of the stage I'm in - it's the fact that the mental command for "blocking" doesn't technically exist in my mental fabric. I have to pull it out frantically, like digging through a room filled with heaps upon heaps of books to find and catch a loose rat. Once I have the rat though, I have to struggle to keep him, otherwise I lose him and then the process begins all over again (with me losing any and all progress that I've obtained). So my lack of blocking stems from mentally being unable to tell my body to "block". It's not say, knowing when and how to block, it's getting myself to even fall back and defend. I'm like, pure offense. To my brain, I won't win if I block, because if I have to block, then the match is already out of my hands. Once I lose that momentum, it's seriously difficult to get it back. I was told "block more" but to me that said "you've already lost". It's more of a psychological battle than a technical one in this case. Especially where most of Ragna's combos are concerned. For example, with 5B>5C>214A>214D, I usually whiff the 214D and it doesn't come out - and knowing that 214A is punishable, I reap the consequences of what I've done, leaving myself open like that. It gets even worse once you involve any combo concerning Inferno Divider. 623 motions have outright been chaos for me, no matter what setup I use (I sampled a stick, a pad, and a keyboard. While I have more successes on keyboard, it's not genuine - a fact I was told wouldn't work in the FG world). I really believe I could be something, but those psychological hurdles are what are keeping me from excelling. If I can get past them, then I probably could get decent. Not great, not godly, but decent. That's all I want, really.

I became engrossed due to all the musical hype I'd been getting into with the Guilty Gear series (my first exposure to ArcSys in general was in part to a playlist of Guilty Gear X2#R Korean Version's OST that I wandered into). I first learned about Guilty Gear through a Final Fantasy XI video that had Vortex Infinitum in it (I actually had to struggle to find out what the song was called). The song urged me to find the game's soundtrack and download it (again, know my backstory before you go calling me out). I was fascinated with Guilty Gear, but consoles for me were hard to come by, and I could not find a ROM of the game (any game in the series, for that matter). As I came from a world where emulation was my only REAL exposure to the world of gaming, I'd had a hard time playing any games in that time, for that matter. Ages later, I end up finding the song "Bullet Drive" by total accident. Of course, curiosity led me to delve deeper into the game's OST. I remember the first songs I listened to in full were (in proper order according to memory): Bullet Drive, Alexandrite, Howling Moon, and then finally I got into the original songs (this was back when I had a fetish with intros - to this day I still do somewhat). However, it was the music for me what got me into the game. BlazBlue had an awesome soundtrack, one I had never experienced (back then I had more or less engrossed myself in Kingdom Hearts and other low-profile games), and Guilty Gear's OST couldn't compete with much back then. I told myself one day last year: if I got a PS3, BlazBlue was the first game I was getting. Of course, everyone was pushing me onto SSF4, so I was going to buy that out of peer pressure. Of course, I never got my wish. Most of the birthday money I'd gotten was stolen by a rather brazen thief. But this year, I said, no longer. My family, torn over what to get me, just ended up getting me cash. The total value of all the gifts I'd gotten was $390. You can imagine what I did with that. Surprisingly, I'd also bought the Limited Edition, even though I only wanted the Standard Edition (everyone told me to go CSEX or not at all). For $50, I think I got my money's worth. My first game of this era, BlazBlue.... it still holds a precious spot, even after the birthday nostalgia. I imagine that'll wear off with time though.

I'd like to add my own info here. I own a PS3 and a copy of BBCSEX, and live in Springfield, OR - very close to Autzen Stadium, IIRC (I can, and actually have, walked there before). I'm always eager to meet fresh new faces, to see and hear new sights and sounds, and honestly? I just hate playing BlazBlue by myself, goddammit! PSN is renvalt32, I'm still in the process of deciding a main (although Hakumen, Jin, and Makoto are the few characters that look appealing to me). Right now I need to dissipate my bull-like rage in FGs.

Having grown up with gaming, but not being skilled with it (to the point where I really balk on some stuff), I've really wanted to play an ArcSys game for some time, but I never could afford a PS3/360 to join the ranks of what I term "Present Day Gamers" (I call myself "Ancient History" for not having the latest and greatest console). So now that I got it, I'm pretty much at odds. See, I've tried the game out, and... I just now get confused at all the stuff I have to learn. For the record, I've done the Tutorial - but only because I'd get yelled at if I didn't (I know a good amount of the stuff explained in there). But my biggest problems are execution and blocking. The former is an easily explainable problem, but the latter.... I have the biggest headache trying to remedy this issue. See, I'm like a bull when I play FGs. I'm not so much mashing, it's just that the word "defense" doesn't exist to me. It's either kill or be killed. So it's no surprise I'm getting my ass kicked in matches with semi-skilled players (we'll refer to them as Advanced Tier, because the super-pro players fall under Expert Tier), and even some Intermediate Tier matches (I actually start flaking in Arcade Mode at a certain point on Normal or higher). I really can't understand how to remedy my lack of blocking, because usually if I *am* blocking, I'm in a corner, and I can't get out. So I often mash, which to me feels like I'm flailing about like a helpless, scared little boy (if we were to visualize this in a real world sort of mentality) - again, cue that raging bull-like instinct. I really want to gain the moderation to overcome this and start winning, but I have no idea where the root of the problem lies. I cut the leaves (I started blocking more), I trimmed the branches (I started mashing less), but the damn parasite keeps growing back. Another serious problem I have is a lack of dedicated friends to play BlazBlue with. See, not only am I pretty much a loner IRL, but this is the first console of this era (360/PS3/Wii/PSP/DS/etc.) that I've ever owned. So the console net communities have never met me, and it's like transferring to a new school in a foreign country - I'm seriously shy and trying so hard to find my group, but usually I balk and fall short. Then there's the final problem - I have a chronic problem of constantly wiping my PS3 Hard Drive. I'm trying to solve that, but overall I'll have some trophy issues because it'll look like I've got something, but truly don't. In the end, my message is this: I'm new to BlazBlue and want some friends to play with, because I'm from the ancient land of emulation and online RPGs, and I'm trying to fit in with the times. Will you hang out with me? (Corny I know, but I can't think of much else to say other than that).