Use that salt to season your next win.
YipeS
Competition. We hate it. We love it. We love to hate it and hate to love it. It drives our watching habits and drives us away from hobbies. I could go into why and get into the weeds on how our pride makes us averse to failure, but I’ve done that enough and think it’s time for a little break. With the release of Guilty Gear -Strive- only a few days away, let’s focus on the positive, shall we?
I didn’t used to think myself a competitive person, but looking back I think that was just the meeker part of my psyche winning out. I’ve always liked winning, and I’ve always favored games or hobbies that leaned more into the competitive side. Maybe it’s my brother’s fault. I still laugh when I think about him ribbing me about not blocking low as he trounced me over and over in Street Fighter II. I never ended up diving into the deep end on fighting games after that – I’d still pick up the occasional Dragon Ball Z Budokai or Soul Calibur, but not for anything other than playing with friends around the house or apartment. A little friendly fun between terrible players. Instead, I got caught up in the stories of Final Fantasy and achievement-focused play of World of Warcraft. The competitive edge of my hobbies dulled and I didn’t give it a single thought.
Until Android: Netrunner.
What an absolute masterpiece of a game. I was hooked from the onset with no hope of escape. It was everything I could have ever wanted in a card game, and before long I had outgrown the enthusiasm of the only other person in the area who played with me, which led me to my first effort to find a game-based community. It didn’t take long. From that point on I was in deep. I drove several cities away to play Thursday nights, went even farther for small tournaments and eventually got up the confidence to enter store championships. After moving back to Houston I trucked on up to Dallas to participate in a 200+ player regional, then kept the train going to Nationals and finally Worlds.
I was never great, but I was decent. I won a few store champs and a regional (I wish I’d recorded that finals, what an incredible game), and placed decently well at Nationals/Worlds. Then Fantasy Flight Games lost the license to the game and just like that it was gone. There’s still a group (NISEI) keeping it running by making new product and they’re doing a fantastic job, but it doesn’t feel the same to me. I can’t quite explain why, but that’s neither here nor there.
With it out of my life, I soon realized there was a hole that needed filling. It wasn’t the winning, and while Netrunner had an unbelievable community around it, it wasn’t that either. Dota2 scratched the itch, but could never satisfy it. Honestly, I had no idea what it was. And then came Dragon Ball FighterZ. Let me tell you, I figured it out real quick.
I am driven by the desire to improve. Specifically, to improve at something that expresses me. A true Johnny/Spike attitude. And, hey, guess what? I’m a 90s nerd, so could anything do that more than a Dragon Ball game that’s actually good? In the words of Bryan Regan, I submit that it cannot!
I am terrible at fighting games. Really. Just awful. It’s like watching an orangutan try to play Bach. But the desire to improve is so strong that I can get over my losses. My many, many, MANY losses. I don’t care that I’m losing, I’m seeing new things so that I can recognize them. I’m learning, and learning will help me improve.
After playing and watching the top players in the world, I’ve come to understand that there are three major stages in competitive games. Not all of us are good enough to get to the third, but it’s something to strive for. And this isn’t just for video games, this is in the sports world as well – anything competitive with a distinct rule set fits this mark.
I’d planned to go into them now, but if I’m being honest there’s enough content there to make another article and that sounds like a top notch idea. I’ll update this with a link to that when I write it next week, but in the meantime, get ready to talk learning and mastering mechanics, as well as figuring out your opponent. Oh, and one last plug. if you’ve got a PlayStation, go get Guilty Gear -Strive-. Let’s slap each other around and have a good time about it. You can be an annoying little girl and throw dolphins at me, it’s fine. Did I mention how incredible these games are at self-expression? No? Well they are. Sky pirate who throws dolphins out of thin air? You bet. Guitar witch? Check. Dimension-shifting, skin shedding lunatic doctor who puts afros on his enemies? Mmmhm. SOL BADGUY? YES SIR. Ok, I’ll stop, just… just do it. Treat yoself.
Themeattics 