Wednesday, October 16, 2013

State of the DOA Address: The Rachel Report 2

Well, Rachel is just like any other DOA character now, and the faults of DOA now makes it so brain-dead players can use their regular brain-dead tactics against her.

Of course, everyone complained about something that made you have to play just a LITTLE more careful, yet no one complains about the real problems of DOA because those problems provide a nice little crutch for the bad players. DOA players will make the argument that, "A move whiffing on someone's wakeup shouldn't grant them advantage. It's not normal!" WELCOME TO DOA! A lot of things in this game isn't "normal" and shouldn't work, but it does... The science of how this works in other fighting games can be explained, but DOA players wouldn't really get it and just try and argue it. People only cry for nerfs and change when it's convenient for themselves... when it's something THEMSELVES are too dumb to figure out how to beat... I had strats against Rachel that most of the players couldn't even think of, I knew how to beat Rachel. They were simple, yet effective strats, but I knew the DOA players would just argue them down. So I only shared it with the people that ultimately changes the game, because I know the bigger picture.

The bridge between a top player and a trash player is the shortest I have ever seen in any fighting game. Even though I felt that DOA5U was, yet another, step backwards in the franchise, it still provided a little something for everyone. For the people that wanted to take away a broken DOA mechanic and have frame advantage, Rachel was for that type of player. Every other goofy aspect of the game, every other character was for that type of player. Now Rachel is just like everybody else. Unless you are a Counter Monster, who is really going to use Rachel now? LBSH...

Why does Team Ninja even listen to these type of players? Why do these players put Team Ninja in a tough situation where they eventually will have to surrender to their demands? Lets talk about facts and truths for a second. Most fighting game players HATE DOA. Nobody shows up to DOA tournaments, unless there is a pot bonus. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TOURNAMENTS ALMOST GETS AS MUCH ENTRANTS AS A DOA MAJOR! So what makes it so these players are actually allowed to give their opinion on a game that is going to eventually change the game for the worse? They don't know what they're talking about, we can look at the stats on how many people play and how many people consistently show up to tournaments. You can't argue that.

The truth is, regardless if Rachel stayed the same or not, DOA players would still play DOA. DOA players have nothing else going for them when it comes to fighting games. They can't play anything else, so they're not going anywhere. DOA provides a Safe Haven for those type of players who have no fighting game fundamentals and allows them to be King of the Trash Pile. Who wants to compete in a fighting game where the Bottom of the Barrel fighting game players can talk down on you and be able to beat a superior fighting game player?

So once there is something new and different from the "standard" DOA, something that makes it so you just can't wild out completely, they use all their energy and resources to get it removed. Congratulations, you have all collectively killed off Team Ninja's new character Rachel. (Which I'm pretty sure they don't appreciate in the slightest) Have fun at your 20 Man Extravaganzas.

[On a side note, I would still be able to beat 98% of the players with my TWO ACTUAL main characters. So this post wasn't made because I feel that I would start losing now. Just thought I'd point this out before people make any offhanded remarks.]

Thursday, September 12, 2013

State of the DOA Address: The Rachel Report

I want to address the Rachel problem before Team Ninja makes the irrational decision of nerfing her. This is going to be different from my usual Helena posts, but this really needs to be addressed.

After playing DOA5U for over a week, using Rachel, and having some of the most illogical conversions about the game with other DOA players, I have come to a couple of conclusions. First, DOA players have no idea how to explain their own game and lack basic fighting game knowledge. Second, most DOA players just want to mash buttons all day on wake up. The hot topic lately is everyone complaining about how Rachel can force tech opponents, getting rid of wake up kicks, doing too much damage, she's broken, etc. You DOA players have no idea what a "Broken" character is. DOA players usually only play DOA. They don't know the struggle of Vergil and Dark Phoenix, (UMvC3) Viola and Hilde, (Soul Calibur) or Superman. (Injustice) Just to name a few.

The issue here with Rachel is that she has a force tech stomp you use to end all your juggles. If it hits, it leaves Rachel at +15. If it whiffs, you still can't hit a button against Rachel when you are getting up. I've had people complain to me saying such nonsense like, "I just want to be able to get up off the ground" and "IF THE STOMP WHIFFS, BOTH SHOULD BE AT NEUTRAL..." Are you kidding me? This just goes to show you that when DOA players complain about something and the end game being that Team Ninja nerfs them, they really have no idea about fighting games. When you knock someone down in a 3D fighting game, the attacker can run up on you and continue pressure while you are getting up. I don't know why most players are looking into frame advantage if the stomp whiffs, but this is basic 3D fighting game protocol. When are both players ever at neutral on wake up? How would that even work? In Virtua Fighter, you do also have wake up kicks in that game, BUT when they hit, the one who used the wake up kick is at negative frames on hit.

I've even had someone play the most busted game of Theory Fighter with me that made little to no sense. What DOA players need to understand about their own game is that when you get force teched, you are in a mixup. When you get thrown by a throw that causes a stun of sorts, you are in a mixup. WHEN YOU GET STUNNED, YOU ARE IN A MIXUP! All these things are the same exact concept of what DOA is truly about. It's the Rock Paper Scissors System. How is that any different then when Rachel techs you up? IT'S A GUESS. THAT IS WHAT THE GAME IS. I've pretty much tried explaining how Rachel's Blender worked to another DOA player and what you HAVE to do against it, and to cut this part short, I'm going to explain this in Laymen's Terms:

ME: "If you think I'm going to throw out Rock, then throw out Paper."
THEM: "But then you can throw out Scissors."
ME: "Ok... then if you think that, then throw out Rock."
THEM: "That doesn't work because then you can throw out Paper."
ME: "OOOOK.... THEN THROW OUT SCISSORS IF YOU THINK THAT."
THEM: "That doesn't work because then you can throw out rock."
ME: "...."

DOA is a game heavily based on guessing. YOU HAVE TO GUESS. PERIOD. So why are people complaining about a character that uses this basic idea? One of the main problems is that they complain about throws being too fast and unbreakable, which is the only logical point I can think of from them. This is not Rachel's fault, THIS IS THE GAME ITSELF'S FAULT. If anything, Rachel just points out the issues with DOA's system. Instead of nerfing Rachel, buff the game. Make throws slower, make ducking faster, and make throws breakable. Only make throws unbreakable when it comes to Throw Punishment. If you block an attack that is -5 or higher, then the throw should be unbreakble. (It's the same concept as if you throw an unsafe attack in Street Fighter 4)



CONCLUSION:
Instead of nerfing Rachel, give other characters this same tool she has. Maybe make this the Gold Standard of how DOA should be played. Rachel makes the game honest and punishes players for just mashing buttons on wake up, mashing buttons on disadvantage, and having poor decision making skills. Better yet, other characters don't even need this tool, just take out wake up kicks. They genuinely just slow down the pace of the game anyway, right? I witnessed a man get top 8 at a major tournament from just mashing buttons on wake up, with no fear or consequences. This is not appealing to the competitive fighting game scene. (Hence why tournaments have low numbers and people only showing up when large amounts of money is on the line) With Rachel, she MAKES DOA5U. She takes away this bad aspect of the game, and is why DOA players complain about Rachel because, in conclusion, they just want to be able to press buttons all day... I could share some insight on how to deal with Rachel, because quite a decent amount of people I play with know how, but I have Rachel friends that are going to TFC this weekend and I want to see them Train Wreck everyone.

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Helena DOA5U

Kano: "Hello baby, did you miss me?"

Been a long time Helena enthusiasts. Welcome back to the Helena Kill Blog, The Greatest Show on Earth. Back for ONE TIME ONLY to talk about DOA5U Helena and her changes. Let me start out by saying thank you to Team Ninja for sending me an early copy of the game. Is Helena still capable of getting the job done? Well lets go over some of her changes:

Pseudo Force Tech:
Also famously known as "The White Girl Blender." For those that don't know, Pseudo Force Techs were a way for Helena to completely eliminate Wake Up Kicks in DOA5. You achieve this by ending all your juggles with the Handslaps. After Handslaps, you finish off with BKO 6P, which will either tech the opponent up if they stay on the ground, or the move will whiff if the opponent techs themselves. Either way, the wake up kick is completely out of the picture. Pseudo Force Tech... GONE! BKO 6P doesn't tech opponents off the ground anymore. Near a wall, Handslaps will slam opponent into the wall now. Her wall game was deadly in the previous version of the game because Handslaps didn't wall splat and you can really keep the pressure going. All that is gone now. The Blender is situational now because you can still catch people in the original scenario if they tech up before BKO 6P, but if they stay on the ground, BKO 6P won't FT... Moving on.

66P:
This move, and any string that ends with this move, is -9 now... This WAS her stable get in attack...

6P+KP:
6P+K has a punch follow up now. The last punch also Bounds opponents. (This is a new mechanic for DOA5U that ground bounces) You can combo off of it into 66KP(P).

236PKP:
Still a good juggle ender, but when used on a grounded opponent, it has this new ground roll animation that was added into DOA5U. You can combo into 66KP(P).

P+KP:
You can no longer delay this string... At least it still has amazing crush properties from what I can see.

BT 7P:
This move was made into a Critical Burst. She now has a Critical Burst in all her stances now. They are all mid punches.

214P+K:
New move. Kinda looks 236P+K, except it is a single hit that leads into BKO Stance. Sit Down Stun in middle of stun threshold, -10 on block...

66F+K:
New move. This move actually seems like it has potential. Goes into BKO Stance, uncounterable stun, and hold resistant. -16 on block...

F+K:
OMG,YOU CAN GO INTO BKO STANCE FROM THIS ATTACK BY HOLDING DOWN THE 2 DIRECTION! This is one of the things I suggested to Team Ninja a while back. Glad to see it in the game. It's also -1 on block when you go into BKO Stance from it. (Not bad) However, F+K by itself is only +2 now...

236P+K:
Another thing I suggested to Team Ninja was that this move should be at least +1 on block, annnnd the move is +1 on block now. I can really work this into my game now. (considering this is her only stance transition that is advantage on block)

New Stance Transitions:
Which brings me to my next subject. Helena gained a couple of Back-turned Stance transitions from some old moves. (6P4, 8PP4, 3PP4) The problem with this is that, on block, they range from -6 to -8.

CONCLUSION:
This is what I mainly found so far with her in DOA5U. The way Helena and the game plays, she might still be viable, but they really dumped all over her in this version. Most of the mixups are still there. (Except for The White Girl Blender) I think she still suffers from the same problems as before with her stance transitions still being high negative on block. She still is kinda slow compared to the other characters. Her wall game suffered a lot. All and all, she got nerfed.

One last thing, she has a taunt buff. HAHAHA