I have always been "that player" who has personally helped a lot of other players with the game (basics, character specifics of characters I know and intermediate level advice) since the beginning of DOA5 Vanilla. Even while I wasn't really playing the game as much as I really wanted to (I can now these days, thankfully). But I've never really said "no" to a person that came to me asking for help.
I've helped players here on the forums, at DOAWorld, online on Xboxlive and PSN. I've helped players in person at offline casual gatherings, local tournaments and tournament majors.
Every single week at Super Arcade's Wednesday Night Fights I have personally sat down with a player, answering all their questions. Play them in matches and critique them afterward like they ask me to.
If someone is directed to me for anything, or comes to me for anything, I do what I can to help out (however I can). If I cannot help said person, then I try to direct that person to someone else that can.
I've posted and shared a lot of Ayane tech in the Ayane sub-forums for players. I've written and shared a guide, made an extensive and viable combo video with @
Prince Adon. And I've kept the Ayane sub-forums under control (no one raging, whining, complaining, it's kept well organized and still in the works of updates for match ups, a FAQ in the near future and her frame data pretty soon).
There are several other players in the community that make the same contributions as I do (even more than I have). Which is something I like to see. This is how you help your community grow. EVERYONE should want their own gaming community to grow.
Now, I have been here at FreeStepDodge for awhile now, same with DOAWorld (I don't post or log in there at all anymore simply because that place has become more of a pile of shit, but it's DOA so I still continue to observe). I have been observant of a lot of different topics and sub-forums here, even if I do not post in everything. I am watching the behavior of our community. I do not say anything as I don't find it my business to. I see some productivity, at times for good reason. And at times, for the wrong reasons.
Some people here seem to think they should contribute as much as they can for a popularity contest of some sort. This is not what making community contributions are about. Contributing to your community means you do it because you obviously like your game, you appreciate it and you enjoy it. You contribute because you want to help other people however you can. You want to help other people learn something they were probably unaware of, or are struggling with. You share what you know in order to help others.
Whether it is uploading some sort of video (these videos should be informative and display viability. Occasional impractical demonstrations are fine, but as long as the entire video isn't based on just that), sharing textual information, frame data, match ups, character specifics, general game mechanics/specifics (basic, intermediate, advanced, etc), hosting some sort of insightful event (online or offline including casuals), fanart, art, signatures, media, news, meaningful player interviews, etc.
You do these things so you can help the people in your community grow. A community that grows together, stays together. When I post up anything about Ayane specifics, I do it with the intent in hoping someone will gain something insightful out of it. That is what my Youtube channel is for, that's why I share information in the Ayane sub-forums, that's why I do what I can to help someone.
Because I enjoy helping others, I don't do it for popularity (popularity is overrated) or so someone will like me.
These things are why people in the community appreciate me (if people happen to respect and/or like me because I play Ayane so well, then that just comes from their admiration). Just because I occasionally vent out about online lag (like anyone else would) does not make me a nasty individual. I wouldn't bother sticking around here for DOA or bother contributing here, or even play DOA if that were true. Everyone that has met me in person (and online for awhile) will tell you I am a very chill, reserve, and determined person.
What I want to see happen here, in the DOA community, is more growth. What do I mean exactly? It's quite simple, more experienced players (like myself and those who have more) need to come forth and start contributing more often for other players. More players need to come forth to discuss their characters, share tech, discuss and ACTUALLY explain character match ups. I want to see more players level up in this community. I want more players to do what they can together offline and play more often. I want our competitive offline scene to grow, and admittedly, we, the offline scene, need to work harder to see that it happens.
If it's one thing I have learned about this community, and something I absolutely hate about it--is that everyone tries to hide everything they know from everyone else. No one wants to share any character tech they find or any general game exploits about the game. You keep it to yourself because you are afraid of having someone find ways around it, because you do not want anyone else to know about it. Because you think someone is going to steal it. People mention they find something, but end up telling their players "figure it out!" and nothing else.
This sort of stigma has been around since DOACentral.
People have been doing the same thing with their character match ups as well. Some label their character match ups and want it to be set in stone without providing an in-depth description as to why said match up is labeled what it is. Because they don't want to discuss/debate/hear another side? (I am not implying everyone is guilty of these things, but most do).
This disgusts me.
This is one of the main reasons why this community doesn't grow. Because hardly anyone shares anything, most players are left in the dust with no real direction toward anything. Hiding these things does not help anyone, it does not help players improve. People are eventually going to figure what you're doing but that's later AFTER it's all said and done. You share tech with other players because YOU WANT them to level up and become aware of said specifics.
People figuring out how to fight your strategies is how YOU and OTHER PLAYERS level up. It's how players improve, it's how you learn more about your own game, it's what will drive you to look and discover other things you may have not noticed before, or at all. This is how the level of play increases. This is why our level of play (for most) doesn't increase.
There are so many people playing this game, and have been for awhile now. And don't even understand that throw punishment is the basic and generic form of punishment in DOA. And fail to understand why. There are A LOT AND I MEAN A LOT OF PLAYERS playing DOA, and have no real understanding of what fundamentals are. Most lack the understanding of spacing and footsies, the differences between spacing and footsies, whiff punishment and other basic understanding of play in a fighting game.
I understand players are still learning, still improving, and are still growing (I still very much consider myself a growing player as I still learn more and have more to accomplish). This is why I was very impressed with @
Cake when he joined @
Prince Adon and my Team BEST lobbies recently. Because he immediately went from mashing and began playing like someone willing to learn. He began adapting to neutral poking and spacing, and whiff punishment. He began utilizing Mila's range and frame advantage while fighting me. I was very impressed.
This is the sort of thing I love to see when I'm playing and helping other players,
they show me that they want to learn the game. I try to do what I can to encourage a growing player. If you're an asshole, well then, I am going to treat you the same way you decided to treat me.
Then you have players who play so often and have an understanding of DOA, but they still lack in the areas I already mentioned. These kind of players are those that complain about "turtling" and "too much throwing" and so on and so forth. Or they are players that choose to ignore the fact that good spacing and proper punishment are great fundamentals, but don't do these things because it's boring or for some made up honor system. It irks me so much when I hear someone say;
"why do you always run away?" "all you do is throw me all the time" "all you do is the same thing over and over" "all you do is turtle".
It is not just from online randoms, I have witnessed
several players here at FSD say these things. In threads, in their profile status, and on other people's profile status. I find it amusing how people say they can do something differently in a game like Street Fighter or Blazblue. When you're playing with the same basic fundamentals lol. Spacing, footsies, punishment, these things exist in these other fighters. Whether it is basic strike or throw punishment, it is simply that, PUNISHMENT.
These kind of players either do not actually utilize the game's Move Details system, do not understand how to utilize it, or choose NOT to utilize it. Doing so only hurts your growth, whether or not you choose to accept it, this is the truth.
There needs to be a visual tutorial done for players so that they can understand how Move Details actually works, and how to get the most of it, including the Free Training mode. People need to be aware of the correct method of testing out force techs, for example.
Sometimes it almost seems like some players are scared that others CAN actually get better, with the possibility of these other players beating them where it matters (offline in tournament play). Because they want to stay on top and just want more players to attend so they add money to the prize pot (again, not implying everyone is like this, but some are and some of us know who they are). This is what happened with Xcalibur Bladez last year in DOA5 Vanilla, when he went to NEC2013 and won with Helena. People refused to admit that he was a solid player, and instead, made excuses for losing because he played Helena (and is a very young player).
It was only after he won several other tournament majors, proving he is just a very strong player and can play several characters well at a high level. It was the same with me and Ayane. So many people had this stigma that this character cannot perform well in hig
h level play or can't win tournaments. I've won so many tournaments with this character, and I've done something no other Ayane main has done in DOA5/DOA5U in a tournament major in the U.S.
One of the players who said Ayane doesn't have what it takes to compete in high level play, was defeated by me twice in top 8 at SCR (I am not putting that player on blast, I have nothing but respect for him and defeating him was no easy feat. It was an honor finally playing him offline because I look up to him and had the desire to prove him wrong). The only reason why I bring these things up are to prove the point of "do not underestimate a certain character just because someone hasn't been around to bring said character to the big stage".
I love DOA, and I do like our community for the most part. That's why I stick around to help when I can. I enjoy our offline scene, I want to keep playing so that I grow stronger as a player, student of the game, and an offline tournament player. These things are what drives me to continue playing. Oh, and because Ayane is awesome and her hair is purple.
