newtype
New Member
First off, this is just my opinion and observation. It has no real value but thank you for taking your time to consider it.
Anyways, after several years of absence from fighting games, I'm trying to get back into it. I use to play DOA3 on a high level and compared to other fighting games; I've always felt that the fighting engine and the triangle based combat have been the most comfortable for me. Some games just 'click' for certain people. But I've been following more recently the DOA Scene and Community, including the FGC as a whole as well. I feel like DOA isn't as strong in it's respective scene and community as it should be.
I read and appreciated the article that Mr.Wah referenced about the game is really dependent on the community that it furnishes. I think am more concentrated effort could be made to make DOA and it's community to be more prolific in the FGC or IPL or whatever. Which will improve DOA's future. The more people get into it, the more it will improve and get the attention to become a better fighter and competitor.
While watching an episode of UltraChenTV (I understand that their opinions are not absolute but I do think they have a big influence on the FGC and express ideas and views that are fairly accurate of the FGC), they were in a discussion on the subject of DOA5. IMO, James considered DOA to be 'a simple game' and 'a good stepping stone to get into more hardcore 3D fighters.' I feel like that his opinion and view of DOA is not too uncommon of that of many people. DOA is considered not as a serious, big market, tournament worthy fighter. But I completely disagree.
DOA is very unique and I feel it is far more balanced than the majority of fighting games; especially the current DOA5. There isn't a very strongly apparent tier list. Everyone is pretty balanced and as a result of the 'triangle system' and integrating the hold system for every character; every character has an equally good chance in a match. But most people here are fans of the game and don't need to be told that.
To become a bigger presence in the community and a more consistently 'tournament worthy' fighter I think there are things that need to improve:
Commentary- For tournaments and matches, new players to the advance players should understand what goes on in a match. With better commentary and analysis, people can get into the game more. They can understand it and it will even incite people to try new things, new tech. I was watching the launch party tournament and one of the commentators asked the other "what's an advanced hold?"....Really? Even when you don't know, why would you ask that over the mic? This commentator has done commentary for DOA for a while now. And I know DOA5 was new, but why couldn't this person give better commentary. (Overall, from her commentary, I could barely tell if she was even a causal player or not) Even if you don't understand the details of a new game, you could still analyze the way the players are reacting to each other. There isn't a lot of commentary for matches for DOA5, (and that's understandable) but with the exception of a few commentators, I feel like it is very uninformative and this (IMO) holds the game and community back from growing.
More Tech- While people exploit glitches or bugs, there is a ton of good technology that should/needs to be shared and be more readily available. While frame traps aren't as apparent in 3D fighters there are some and they can be very effective. Frame traps, quick critical burst, etc need to be developed.
Dramas and Story Lines of Players- With more media exposure, more 'characters' or personality will surface. With background stories, matches become more interesting and spectators become more invested in the game. Think of people like Justin Wong, Filipino Champ, Mike Ross, MASTER, and the countless others. These people and their personalities make the game more enjoyable to watch and create rivalries and camaraderie that help build a community. Don't get me wrong there are people like that already but there could be more.
I'm sure there's more things but I probably ranted too much.
Again, this is just my worthless opinion. But I believe that this forum has a lot of big names in it that are more involved in the community and could have connections to people in more influential positions that can have an impact of the community. But maybe I'm completely wrong and have made myself more of an idiot than I need to be. But what is you're opinion. Agree? Disagree? Just don't care?