Sophisticat

I haven't played you in a long time.

Yessss! Learn GG! I'll learn Jam with you if that would help since I'd like to level up my Jam. DP, too. You have Eb to teach you the Ways of Ky.

It's only logical. Most of the execution gripes in this thread really revolve around the above metrics if you think about it. :P

If I had to guess, the simplification would come from reducing the impact character weight, height, and hitboxes have on combo decision. They'll likely keep all systems intact, but make it easier to combo. I'm surprised no one's mentioned this yet as it's arguably the hardest part of learning GG...

Well, yes, you want them to keep playing, but you're not going to have a 100% retention rate among newcomers. So long as you retain some of those who are interested, then you'll keep growing. For the above I was assuming the players had no FG experience at all. You can skip some steps if they have some experience, of course. Personal style is something you'll develop independently, so no worries there. Your job as a teacher should just be to show what you can do with the character and how the system works. The student will learn to use these and apply them to situations independently. But they will need some babying to get there first is what I'm saying. If they believe the game is hard, then they're going to need to unlearn some of those preconceptions. A painstaking step-by-step introduction would be a nice start to break down these mental walls they've developed.

@Kaizen: There's plenty you can do to change them! I would advocate holding their hands for the initial learning period. Make them come on Dustloop and read up on their character of choice. Show them their options, what moves their character has, and how he can use them effectively. Demonstrate an effective use of a certain move against your spam. Teach them some simple combos they can do. FGs are hard enough without having to learn them from scratch. I know it took me a good year or two before really becoming acquainted with all the terms, the execution, and how these games play. They are not intuitive at all. Of course, in today's age of Youtube it's a lot easier, but back when I started there was Dustloop and SRK, with info scattered all over the place. It took me a good while to gather it all because there was just so much of it. It would really take a dedicated individual to figure everything an FG has to offer from scratch... So yes, hold their hands and hold nothing back. Show -- don't tell -- that the game is really simple and they'll either get it or move on to something else.

I honestly think the only thing you need to grow a community is consistency. Like, keep going to your meets, keep promoting the scene, and stay involved. Keep a positive attitude. If the game is good, you'll see people come in and try it out because they're interested in more than casuals. A consistent community is, imo, really the most important aspect to growing beyond your little group of friends. There really isn't any magic formula other than that, but it takes dedication, passion, and patience. If you can't keep it up, you'll notice that a lack of consistency and momentum is a deadly community killer and the scene will die a premature death. So get your shit together, find a place to play, and get playing and promoting! That's all you need...

I entirely agree with Digital in that execution becomes more trivial later on as everyone's practiced their stuff so much it's a non-event. I find FRCs rather easy these days myself. I disagree that it has no competitive value, though. An opponent who rarely drops inputs and can execute just about anything the game throws at him has an edge. In learning Slayer, I've come to the point where I need to learn his IAD j.K -> j.K (or other 5h relaunch -> IAD) combos to do more damage, but am unable to do them consistently. My dmg output would definitely heighten if I could nail them, though. I know many in the local community would find my Slayer harder to deal with if I could deal the extra dmg these combos offer. But overall, lowering the execution barrier also lowers the barrier to entry for those who wish to play the game at a high level. So the question is whether to limit the pool of "top" players (those who have gone through the pain of learning the execution), or to open up the game and make it more about strategy and decisions off the bat? Let's face it, you're not really thinking about strats and decisions for at least the first couple months in your FG career... As for me, I'm all for lowering non-essential execution barriers as Digital suggests. That seems pretty logical to me.

Well, I was mostly kidding back there, but that definition seems a bit off to me. I would agree if we were talking about the "Heart of Montreal" being delimited by Guy/Sherbrooke/the 720/Papineau. But I'm honest in saying that I consider East of the 13 "downtown" (south of Gouin, at least). That's when you get closer to the heart and building density increases. Even when picking up Bibi/Kirby for NEC, that looked pretty downtown-ish to me. The milieu at least seemed pretty urban. Of course, these areas aren't the Heart of Montreal, but they're still close enough that I'd consider them "downtown" whenever I head down there... even if that's not the official definition. :P

Oh, I was nitpicking the game, not you. Should have clarified that. If it's French, it should be authentic!

If it's East of the 13, it's Downtown as far as I'm concerned. You have more buildings than trees by then. :P

Small nitpick. It should be "Éclair".

Honestly, MTL has pretty much everything you could look for in food. You just need to find the place. Avoid the franchises you can get anywhere (Subway/McD/etc.), and you'll find some good stuff. As for places to visit, there are the usual tourist spots, but you might as well just walk down downtown St-Catherine and the surrounding streets. That's pretty much the heart of MTL. Err... S'all I got. There's really only Airmaster/Kirby/Bibi/Pedro who are downtown, I think. The rest of us live in the outer-MTL ghettos.

So long as Slayer and HOS are in, I'm cool with the roster. I'm sure we'll see new chars too. Don't see why not if they're easier to make this time 'round. It's a new GG, anyway. It needs some new chars to make it fresh.

Man, I left Foonzo at just the right time. It started pouring as I got off the highway. GGs to Twiniss! Really good sets with your Zappa. I think I'm going to sub Sol now, lol. He's pretty fun to use. Was nice talking to you! Didn't really get to play anyone else, but seems like I still have the touch with Haku. Just mash stuff and he'll do dmg. And props to our waiter who's always on the ball! We need to get some matches in, too.

It's gon' rain tonight, so we'll see how it is 'round 4pm. If it looks good, I'm at Foonzo. And yeah, GG got anime'd. But the designs are there, so I'm ok with it.

NEW GG. It's gonna be love/hate. I just hope they keep the speed.

Hype! I feel the new look is going to be love/hate. It seems they definitely are attempting to appeal to a wider audience. At least the look and feel seems to be there, so I'm cool with that. I just hope they won't tone down the speed since that's one of the best things about GG.

So who's there tomorrow? I know me and Heartless are potentials. Pedro's out. Anyone else?

Omg, Bibi's stream quality. Top notch. Kudos, you've put a lot of effort into it.

Hmm... Maybe I can try a netplay session from Foonzo. I'll have a look into that.

Yeh, I think Mr. H hits it square on the head. Stuff is just not propitious to meets atm.

Soul is honestly the best, well-rounded Haku I've played on PSN. His play is clutch. Psycho is the most intuitive I've seen. Tends to switch between RTSD and tactical play. Can be as deeply analytical as he can be wild and unpredictable. Eb is the nastiest, most runaway scumbag player ever. Dioxide is indeed awesome at combos. Neutral game could use some work, but deadly Haku in the making here. ApologyMan (WallJumpMan) is just goddamn clutch. Very proactive style, doesn't just sit there and wait, he actively seeks victory and gets it. Overall best Haku I've played yet. I'll never play Mac because it's not to be. ;_; Finally, I may be forgetting some names... ._.;

For all you loli lovers.

We should bring Foonzo to JP's house, then.