Soapbox: Community Activism and the DOA Narrative

b-bombs

Well-Known Member
Standard Donor
Ladies and gentlemen, some of the disrespect shown in this thread flies directly in the face of the spirit of the post. No one has yet expressed an entirely invalid idea, in fact many good points have come in these back-and-forths, but we can better use this as an opportunity to be supportive and constructive in our responses. We need to be able to disagree about things and work toward mutual solutions. We need to be able to educate someone that's confused or misunderstanding, without alienating or belittling them. We can do this, guys. Step up to the challenge.
 

SC234

New Member
The following is merely my opinion (more on opinions later) as an admittedly casual player.

Someone who enjoys Dead or Alive games for a different reason and/or discusses Dead or Alive games on a different website should not be deemed inferior and/or excoriated. Someone who enjoys Dead or Alive games for the same reason and/or discusses Dead or Alive games on the same website should not be deemed superior and/or exalted. No one should be discouraged from enjoying Dead or Alive games for their reason and/or discussing Dead or Alive games on their preferred website. Everyone should be encouraged to enjoy Dead or Alive games for their reason and/or discuss Dead or Alive games on their preferred website. Anyone who enjoys Dead or Alive games for any reason and/or discusses Dead or Alive games on any website should feel comfortable contributing to the success of the Dead or Alive series and the growth of the Dead or Alive community in any way and/or to any extent they think is appropriate.

Opinions are neither correct nor incorrect. It is impossible to successfully argue for an opinion, and it is impossible to successfully argue against an opinion. Opinions are not facts. A person should be allowed to politely express an opinion whether it is positive or negative. A person should be allowed to politely express an opinion whether it is popular or unpopular. Others should be allowed to politely express their similar or different opinions in response. And that should be the end of it.

Criticizing and/or belittling individuals and/or groups who play Dead or Alive games for casual reasons, who play Dead or Alive games for competitive reasons, who play Dead or Alive games online, who play Dead or Alive games offline, who support Dead or Alive games by buying DLC, who support Dead or Alive games by attending tournaments, who want Dead or Alive games to be more sexy, who want Dead or Alive games to be more respected, who have different hopes and/or expectations for the Dead or Alive series, and who have different priorities and/or goals for the Dead or Alive community is hurtful to those individuals and/or groups and to the Dead or Alive community.

We should stop seeing each other as enemies and start seeing each other as allies.

Negativity spreads like cancer. Positivity is the cure for what is ailing the reputations of the Dead or Alive series and the Dead or Alive community. Love what you love about Dead or Alive games (Loving it proudly and loudly will get the attention of other fighting series' communities and/or people unfamiliar with fighting games.), but do not hate others for loving what they love about Dead or Alive games. Dead or Alive games offer something for everyone to enjoy (That should be promoted as a strength rather than derided as a weakness.), and the Dead or Alive community should offer companionship to everyone who enjoys Dead or Alive games whatever their reasons.

Fighting games are supposed to be fun, but people are taking the Dead or Alive series too seriously. Communities are supposed to be tightly knit, but the Dead or Alive community is falling apart at the seams. The message we should be sending about the Dead or Alive series is they are fun and rewarding fighting games to play, they provide plenty of content and stimulation for casual players, and they provide plenty of challenges and recognition for competitive players. The message we should be sending about the Dead or Alive community is we accept and appreciate our members' unique personalities and viewpoints, we respect other fighting series and their communities, and we believe the Dead or Alive community benefits from this behavior.

What if someone says they no longer enjoy the Dead or Alive series and/or no longer feel welcome in the Dead or Alive community? You should ask why, say you are sorry to see them go, and bid them a fond farewell. Perhaps they will have a change of heart. Perhaps they will not take a negative last impression of the Dead or Alive community to other fighting series' communities where it could become a negative first impression of the Dead or Alive community for some people and/or evidence to support existing negative impressions held by other people.
 
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petopia

Active Member
Like i said in death of a ninja's post. Get rid of this games stigma then we'll talk about taking this game seriously but for now if that stuff isnt in context lez just keep this game the way it is with disappointing characters and the same guys at top 8.
 

Force_of_Nature

Well-Known Member
Standard Donor
Like i said in death of a ninja's post. Get rid of this games stigma then we'll talk about taking this game seriously but for now if that stuff isnt in context lez just keep this game the way it is with disappointing characters and the same guys at top 8.
Has it ever occurred to you that the "same guys at top 8" are simply better players than the opponents they face?

Also, how would you go about removing the game's "stigma"? I will let you know that I think ignorance hurts DOA's impression more than the other issues.
 

Koompbala

Well-Known Member
Like i said in death of a ninja's post. Get rid of this games stigma then we'll talk about taking this game seriously but for now if that stuff isnt in context lez just keep this game the way it is with disappointing characters and the same guys at top 8.
Turning the games stigma starts with us first. Not people outside of this community. We need to talk about the game in a positive light. Looking at what you posted it's not positive, nor does it make much sense. Tourney placement has nothing to do with the games image.

Granted one EVO, Tekken developed a Bob vs Law stigma. Those players were not named and no one knew these players. Unless they actually follow Tekken. Also (disappointing characters) is your opinion and I'm sure others share the same opinion. But (I do not) share the same opinion as you. If you want change, practice what preech and don't shit on this game.
 

Dark-truth

Well-Known Member
Over the last month or so I've observed several instances which, frankly, have made me embarrassed to be a part of this community.

There seems to be an cognitive dissonance going on in some of the DOA competitive community. On one hand, we'll complain about how DOA doesn't get enough respect in the larger FGC community, that people under-appreciate the depth of the game, and that DOA deserves a larger presence and acknowledgement at major tournaments.

On the other hand, we openly talk sh*t about the game in tournament chat rooms & WHILE COMMENTATING for the tournament on stream. We belittle our game when talking to Street Fighter/Marvel/KI/etc. players at offline events. We'll rage in online lobbies if there's any lag, and belittle players that win using "cheap" lag tactics - often talking shit to the lobby or stream about the game in order to save face for the rage quitting. We sometimes display nearly ZERO excitement when spectating our own game, in person, at tournaments (everyone at NCR, myself included). We do ourselves a major disservice when engaging in this behavior. It alienates us from not only the larger FGC community, but also from the developer, Team Ninja.

[At this point I'd like to make a small note. I'm not taking shots at anyone in particular. This is about the community as a whole, not any specific person, event, or region. So if you're reading this and getting personally offended you're already missing the point and taking yourself out of the context of the conversation.]

Make no bones about it - DOA still faces a huge uphill battle toward being taken seriously as a competitive fighter. We've made some progress with the Road to TFC last year and Battle Royal this year. But look at the tourney lineup. We're still side tournaments at a lot of stops on that list. The narrative about DOA remains that it's a ecchi game, with basic-ass simple mechanics that you can simply mash out of, that fighting game amateurs and perverts play.

We need to take control of this narrative. We need to regard ourselves as DOA activists and ALWAYS talk up our game in public settings. We need to bring the hype and energy when spectating our games in offline tournaments. We need to wear the DOA badge with pride, and ALWAYS be as inclusive as possible in offline and online mediums. Some people do an excellent job at this, organizers and players alike. But some do an absolutely horrible job, and it has a disproportionate impact on how this game is perceived.

I'm not saying we can't be critical of the game. Obviously a less than perfect netcode, exploding costumes, and marketing breasts physics deserves critique. However, there's a difference between constructive criticism and dismissive criticism. "OMG breast motion is unfortunate blemish on an otherwise impressive fighter," is constructive. "Yeah, X glitch doesn't makes sense, but a lot doesn't make sense because DOA lol," is dismissive and insinuates that the game isn't of sufficient seriousness or quality to be held accountable for its flaws.

*****​

Here are the tactics I have been and will be using to help promote the game in a positive manner. These are by no means perfect and all-encompassing, so I'm open to community input and suggestions. I would like to invite you guys to join me in taking this activist attitude about the game.

Never let the topic of breasts, pervertedness, or "slutty" costumes dominate any public conversation about DOA.

Be ruthless about this. Breasts bounce in other games. Cammy's been wearing a thong for years. Ivy Valentine dressed like a dominatrix long before Rachel perfected it. This isn't worth wasting much time on - every minute spent dealing with crap arguments people give to dismiss our game gives those very arguments more power. Don't spend a bunch of time fighting against it. Acknowledge it, then move on immediately. This game has a ton to offer. The triangle system is amazing. The meta-game is far more compelling than Marvel - touch of death combos don't really exist in DOA. The characters are relatively well balanced compared to other games. We have the most unique system with regards to taking active stages into account. Be like a politician, make it about your positive talking points.

• Do commentary as though Tom Lee and the game creators are sitting right next to you.

Let's remember to speak highly about the game. How we speak about the game to each other affects how outsiders and the game developers perceive the our community's support for the game. If we're trashing the game's mechanics or belittling it as though we don't respect it how can we possibly expect anyone else to respect us? How can we expect Team Ninja to get behind tournament tours with sponsorship and pot bonuses? The only way we will get to be taken as a professional caliber fighter is if we behave that way. If we need to critique, do it constructively, always with the tone of making an already great game better. Street Fighter fans aren't bashing their game nor letting others get away with it, neither should we.

• Always be inclusive.

Being part of a cult community is cool, but being part of a heavily supported and financed community is better. We're not hipsters - going mainstream is the goal. With more people playing and spending money on DOA we get more games, larger FGC representation, bigger tournament pots, and hopefully a larger voice to speak to the developers about our issues with the game. Being inclusive also means explaining the game mechanics and triangle system on streams to make sure new folks can get an idea if they happen to be casually watching between other games. At Cali Crush we're going to make it a point this year to explain the triangle system a few times during stream, including at the beginning of top eight and before winners finals.

This extends to online play as well stream chat room presence as well. Any one of us that has 1% of a tournament personality or offline presence has the opportunity to be an advocate of this game and the tournament scene when we're online as well. PS4's and XB1's can all stream now, so you never know who is watching. Raging about this game's netcode and being aggressive or belittling of online players for 'lag tactics' doesn't do anything to help out cause. There should be no division between the offline and online community. Everyone is welcome. This game isn't perfect, but it's pretty damn good and we want everyone to share in the fun with us.

• Bring the hype!

It's disappointing to go to tournaments around the country and see people screaming and cheering for Smash Bros, KOF, Killer Instinct, even Tekken Tag, but hear the DOA section quiet. If someone lands an ultra in SF, people go hype. If someone gets a happy birthday in Marvel, people lose their sh*t. We have all these opportunities with power blows, danger zone/stage combos, match altering holds, etc. to bring the energy. We have people that lose their match and storm off from the tournament instead of staying and supporting their peers. We need to be like the Tea Party when we're at tournaments - we may be a tiny minority of total people there, but we'll be disproportionately loud. Be cheerleaders for our peers and for our game.

*****​
In closing I'll say this: I'm very grateful for the people I've met in the community and I've been blessed to have experienced a mostly positive experience from the folks that welcomed me into the competitive realm. I love DOA, and that's speaking as a person that campaigns for feminist causes (BTW mods, can you change my name to b-bombs?), has too many bills & work, and nowhere near enough time to actually get good at a competitive level.

I wish everyone, experienced and new, to share a similarly positive experience. We're generally a good group of people, we play an outstanding game, and we deserve to be treated as such. But we're going to have to fight for it - which works out because WE ARE FIGHTERS. Let's be activists, too. Let's control the DOA narrative and keep it positive and encouraging. And let's take our game to the next level.
you are so right lol but some ppl are so nice and chill and with some ppl i mean @Awesmic hes one of the NICEST ppl i ever met on doa hes really nice :D
 

Koompbala

Well-Known Member

I'm a older member and no I don't feel insulted. I was first a member of DoAC in 07 I believe. You spoke in general and targeted no one. An opinion is just that, an opinion. It's neither right, or wrong. You can have that opinion, but I suggest. You go offline and see if that opinion still stands.
 

Koompbala

Well-Known Member
You made 2 separate posts within a 4min span of one another. That would be a double post. You could've responded with your initial comment and put your quoted comment in one post. But instead posted those 2 separately.
 
Amazing write up. I'm Spanish so I can't help with this. I've considered talking to our biggest tournament here, Sonic Boom Madrid, to include doa5, but I'm completely clueless about this, so I'm open to suggestions.

Still I've been thinking about the boobs issue for quite some time. I believe that at this point, or maybe for doa6, tecmo has to include some sort of battle costumes / fantasy costumes switch,where fantasy costumes includes all the fan service costumes, while battle costumes include the acceptable ones.

With the fantasy costumes off and battle on, the game will assign randomly battle costumes whenever you fight someone using fantasy costumes, together with locking boob movement to a minimum. This will help lots of people willing to play the game but can't since mother / little sister / girlfriend is around and will make you look like a pervert. Also whenever someone says a boob joke on a stream, the argument is over with a "turn fantasy costumes off dude, problem solved".

On the other hand, turn battle off and fantasy on to assign random fantasy costumes to battle ones, for the ultimate fan service, and everyone is happy. With both on, the game would be just like now.

Besides, and people here will hate me for this, I think this game is too hard for the newcomer and too focus on defense at high level. The game is the most accessible at low level for sure of all 3d fighters, but when you finally meet good players, they will destroy you since the only effective way to defend is to know each string of every character to be able to counter properly, that means learning thousands of strings, that's asking way too much to newbies who sooner or later will get tired of countering randomly and leave the game. I think I would add some sort of high risk high reward move ala shoryuken / combo breaker that can get you out of stun without the counter guess game and gives breathing room. Street fighter, mk, marvel, blazblue, killer instinct etc have this kind of mechanics, and it helps a lot to newcomers to adapt to the game.

On the other hand, comboing is way easier than in other fighters, so I would shift some of the difficulty from defending to tougher combos, even more since great offense is a lot cooler to watch that great defense. Much of the appeal of SF is watching Daigo and others perform a really hard combo like nothing, in DOA it's way easier.

Sorry for my rant since I went way off topic with this, I really love DOA and I want it to succeed, so I wanted to share my thoughts.
 

CatzDaLegit

Tina Purist
Premium Donor
Over the last 10 years or so I’ve ignored several instances, which, frankly don’t matter at all when it comes to me playing and loving Dead or Alive.

There seems to be some obsessive-compulsive disorders going on in some of the DOA "competitive" community. On one hand, random ass players that aren’t even showing up to, let alone winning/placing in offline tournaments, addictively feel the need to cry about various things like DOA being disrespected or how n00bs crying about bitching in lag/claiming to have much madder skillz than what they really have like it doesn’t/hasn't ever happened in every single other competitive video game since the beginning of competitive video game time.

On the other hand, other players are basically addicted to putting in work into the game. These people are placing or at least trying to place, playing DOA despite everything, caring not about what others think or say and avoiding the drama that runs rampant. They play for personal reasons, perhaps wanting to be the best, or perhaps just because they love the game/the game itself.

[At this point I’d like to make a small note: I’m not taking shots at anyone in particular *cough boobiebombs*, I’m just going to make a generalization from what I subjectively perceive in the community and NOT act like it’s some sort of new epidemic that we need to stop and rise above and defeat. So if you’re reading this and getting personally offended, don’t criticize me anything because that would be mean and my feelings would be hurt ;( and because that would be destructive to my vision and would be missing the point entire D; ]

Make all the bones you want about it – DOA is a fucking fun ass game and the people that are playing and taking the game seriously are the ones that are pushing the game forward. Luckily many people have stepped-in and have given the people willing to show up at offline tournaments a chance and they have been taking advantage of it while others continue to whine and bicker at the wayside. DOA is far from being the most popular game, but people haven’t recognized or given credit to the fact that it’s probably the most competitive it has ever been at its current moment.

People are always going to spin their own narrative. So I’m going to keep <3ing DOA and supporting it by leading by example in the best way I think I can: by playing the game, showing up to some offline tournaments, helping others, posting videos, posting on the forums, and supporting the DLC.

I’m not saying you can’t hate on or disagree with the game or the people that supposedly jump in and out of the "community," claiming to be ‘fans’ when it’s convenient. It’s just that there are going to be hundreds of obstacles in your path no matter what you do, so why take the time to let it slow you down from reaching your goals? Why listen to any hater or any nay-sayer that is probably doing ‘less’ than you? I see very few top players crying about what some random scrub says or how their game doesn’t get ‘respect.’ They just simply play the damn game, and more important want to improve, win, or be the best.

*****

Here are the tactics I have been using and will be using to help promote the game in a positive manner. These are by no means perfect and all encompassing, so I’m open to community input and suggestions. I would like to invite you guys to join me in taking this… pretty basic-ass attitude about the game:

· Play the damn game.

Be ruthless about this. People play ruthless in other games. Some players have been playing ruthless for years. Some players love their game so much, they cosplay their characters and shit like weirdos. This is worth wasting YOUR ENTIRE TIME ON, every minute spent playing the game with people who are better than you can give your very skills more power. Don’t spend a bunch of time worrying about how the ‘community’ is doing. Acknowledge it, then move on immediately. This game has a ton to offer. The triangle system is amazing. The meta-game is far more compelling than Marvel - touch of death combos don't really exist in DOA. The characters are the most balanced than they have EVER been. We have the most unique system with regards to taking active stages into account. Be like a DOA player and play the damn game.

*****

In closing I'll say this: I'm very grateful for the players I’ve played in the community and I've been blessed to have experienced a mostly positive match experience from the folks that have tried to destroy me in game with everything they could. I love DOA, and that's speaking as a person that plays the game… a lot… and has bought every iteration of DOA5 on every console and has even given copies away to aspiring players.

I work and have problems of my own, and was pretty much complete shit at the game until only recently, but I’ve still made time to actually attempt to get good at a competitive level and will be showing up at least EVO this year if anyone wants to get some matches in.

I wish everyone, experienced and new, to share a similarly positive experience. We're generally an…. eh doesn’t really matter—type of people. Some people play the outstanding game and they deserve… to play… the game. But they’re going to have to play the game more - which works because they are deserving of DOA’s motto: WE ARE FIGHTERS. Let's be players and competitors too. Let's ignore the “DOA narrative,” whichever way it's spun, and keep playing and encouraging. And let's take our game to the next level.
 
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Niitris

Member
It shouldn't be about 'fighting stigmas.' All games have stigmas; no matter how successful it is, some people will always see Street Fighter as a game where you throw hadokens from the other side of the screen to win. Course anyone who says that will have no credibility to speak of, but this is the mindstate of people who resort to stigmas to say 'this is why X is a bad game.' They're flawed arguments with no tangible merit to speak of. The hyper-sexualization in DoA is only a big deal if you let it be one. I'm all for being more mindful, but since when did artistic choices make a game mechanically bad?

Another thing I'd like to mention; it's easy to shit on a community when the game isn't as successful as it's competitors. Some people will find any little thing to kick someone when they're down. This community really isn't substantially better or worse than any other, it's just an easier target because "dead game lol."

I agree with OP; what it should be about is supporting and promoting the game, which there are several different ways of doing. Seems like a unwinnable battle given the current state of affairs, but it's really the best thing that can be done.

Besides, and people here will hate me for this, I think this game is too hard for the newcomer and too focus on defense at high level. The game is the most accessible at low level for sure of all 3d fighters, but when you finally meet good players, they will destroy you since the only effective way to defend is to know each string of every character to be able to counter properly, that means learning thousands of strings, that's asking way too much to newbies who sooner or later will get tired of countering randomly and leave the game. I think I would add some sort of high risk high reward move ala shoryuken / combo breaker that can get you out of stun without the counter guess game and gives breathing room. Street fighter, mk, marvel, blazblue, killer instinct etc have this kind of mechanics, and it helps a lot to newcomers to adapt to the game.

On the other hand, comboing is way easier than in other fighters, so I would shift some of the difficulty from defending to tougher combos, even more since great offense is a lot cooler to watch that great defense. Much of the appeal of SF is watching Daigo and others perform a really hard combo like nothing, in DOA it's way easier.

Sorry for my rant since I went way off topic with this, I really love DOA and I want it to succeed, so I wanted to share my thoughts.

Never a bad time to talk about gameplay. All games are supposed to work this way; the best players are always supposed to beat lower level competitors. That's the nature of competition. I do think some strings could be removed but that's a touchy thing and I'd rather not elaborate until I have better info on just how many strings starters characters have on average. Combos will always be easy to perform at the highest of levels. Combos, while necessary, are already a problematic thing in respect to any entry barrier and making optimal combos tougher will increase the level of entry.

Personally, I think 3D fighters today (not just DoA) lack a 'hook' to get people into them. 2D fighters have all sorts of variety in respect to moves and mechanics to get people involved.

I think Tekken Revolution was on to something with the invincible moves. They certainly could've been done better and some people will never see anything positive about their inclusion, but the one thing it did that I really liked was highlighting a character's signature moves (Paul's deathfist, Kaz/Jin's Wind God Fist/Wind Hook Fist, Asuka's double lift kick, etc). Law spammers online I think is indicative of the point I'm trying to make; while annoying and does no justice to him (speaking as a occasional Law player), it gave him "go to" moves for people starting out with him, no different from the phenomena known as flow chart Kens. Most importantly, it still played like a 3D fighter generally speaking. What I'm saying is, DoA having something like it would put emphasis on their signature moves and give an entry point of understanding to the common onlooker (it'd 'look cool' in trailers). It'd also give gameplay-related reasons to people to gravitate to the characters; would certainly help give the girls more versatile appeal. :p

I'd like for DoA to remove 4 and 5's stun system and go back to how it was in 2 and 3. Use 5's counter system. Make other adjustments that can highlight the signature moves of DoA's cast (doesn't have to be 'invincibles' btw). That would be my hypothetical DoA6. Some people would like the change, others wouldn't. That's a good thing, change is what keeps things interesting.
 
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Matt Ponton

Founder
Staff member
Administrator
Standard Donor
ohh so i can respond to ppl once in the 4 minutes wow XD

Basically, just edit your previous post to include the new text if you are still the most recent post and it has not been 24 hours after the old post has been completed.
 
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