SoulCast Episode #3: Hates

With the focus of our last episode being MLG, we wanted to get some NCR love before PowerUp this weekend (which will undoubtedly be the subject of our next episode). So, who better to come on the show and expand our vocabularies than your favorite editorialist (or editor, I suppose) and philosophizer?

Hates was kind enough to grace us with his voice and kindly attitude, as well as discuss NCR, SCV, and, of course, random other stuff. As always, links and whatnot after the video, and feel free to get in contact with us if you have any questions; we're always around. Enjoy!

(Sidenote: If there are any problems with the sound, be sure to tell me ASAP and I'll get it fixed and reposted.)

YouTube

0 0 993

1:27:01

SoulCast #3 - Hates [EXPLICIT]

8wayrun thread: http://8wayrun.com/threads/a-soul-calibur-podcast-soulcast.12186/
YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/kitaenjacks?feature=watch
Buzzsprout page (for audio file stream/download): http://www.buzzsprout.com/3308/45810-soulcast-3-hates
VGF site: http://www.videogamingfederation.org/

 

Hates... ...kindly attitude...

Yeah, now I HAVE to listen to this.

 

Good talk.marked improvement to ESOM - who i think feels entitled,like he's sc royalty or something-killed the whole spirit of podcastv#2 with his whining about mlg

 

Cool.

 

lol, I b6'd the shit outta Hates in pools with Mitsu. CHs allll day. Many of them woulda happened patch or not... you don't try and move after you get hit by 6A even pre-patch, it gives sooo much advantage. But at least he didn't blame the patch for the loss, good shit

 

lol, I b6'd the shit outta Hates in pools with Mitsu. CHs allll day. Many of them woulda happened patch or not... you don't try and move after you get hit by 6A even pre-patch, it gives sooo much advantage. But at least he didn't blame the patch for the loss, good shit

Would things have gone differently before the patch? Shit, maybe. No way to tell. I was REALLY out of my element (still am, honestly). There's nothing productive about pinning losses on things beyond one's control. I didn't become good in the past by making excuses, so I see no need to change that formula now.

Also, I got you a couple of times before finals, and I'm still at the drawing board every day plotting vengeance.

Slowly but surely figuring it out. ;)

 

Very entertaining podcast, Hates. I like your segment about online play, and how it can be useful not to just said person's skill, but the growth of the community as a whole. I agree, and I'm glad the netcode is good enough to back up the assessment.

P.S. I fucking hate you. But I do agree; you're all trash.

 

Hates was kind enough to grace us with his voice and kingly attitude

Fixed your typo for you, boss.

 

Fixed your typo for you, boss.

So good of you to notice my regal nature.

 

So good of you to notice my regal nature.

It would be foolish of me not to, my lord.

 

It would be foolish of me not to, my lord.

Wow, somebody's angling for a knighthood!

 

So, when can we expect everybody to storm Daishi's office with torches and pitchforks to fix the backstep G nerf?

Or is this one of those things we're going to have to suffer through for a year so that everyone can get bored and quit the game before the more vocal elements of the community decide it's worth reversing, but by then Daishi no longer has the resources to continue patching the game?

Just looking for a time table here.

I'll get back to my rock'm'sock'm robots now. (Astaroth actually is a robot, so its like TOTALLY IMMERSIVE!)

 

So many people hate the RoboAsta outfit... but I actually like it. :(

 

So many people hate the RoboAsta outfit... but I actually like it. :(

I like it as well but I never met anyone who hated metal astaroth.

 

oh I see a lot of ego is going on this episode.​

 

I feel like very few people have any perspective on how the game can potentially be played, since for some reason few people are making use of Just Guard. I'm not sure what this "rock em sock em robots" thing is all about, but I'm not bothered by the backdash nerf. In fact, going back to it at the World Finals, playing IFB, Toilet, and Keev in some unpatched matches, I couldn't stand how braindead easy it was to space safely.

Anyway, about JG... using it a lot will destroy attempts to attack predictably (immediately out of hit/blockstun). Discouraging continuous attacks then opens up your movement. If they're not attacking right away at advantage, they're not catching step or back step.

 

It has a lot to do with an old-school mentality of being able to move safely. Now, any sort of movement is a heavy risk. JG is very useful, and I agree that we have yet to see anyone use it to its full potential, but JG still has its own risks associated with it. That being said, the overall pace at which players exchange attacks is a lot faster in SCV than in a lot of other games because of this, which is where the "rock em sock em robots" expression comes into play.

Even if JG becomes more prominent, you're not going to see people moving around more, you're just going to see people delay their attacks slighly, or grab more, or aim at a different section of the body, or anything other than moving. It's a different concept than what some players are used to, especially Tekken players to which we were momentarily referring.

 

Xiang basically has the right of it. When I'm critical of elements within the new system, people generally retort with something in the vein of balance. I actually don't feel as though I'm qualified to comment in terms of balance because the game is still so very new.

I am, however, qualified to comment on what I personally find to be a fun play experience. This system could be the most balanced thing ever in existence, but, at least thus far, I have more fun in a position-heavy game than I do in a jG-heavy game, and really that's all it comes down to. It's hardly empirical, but I don't think that subjective notions of fun should be excluded from discussion of a game. ;)

 

I feel like very few people have any perspective on how the game can potentially be played, since for some reason few people are making use of Just Guard. I'm not sure what this "rock em sock em robots" thing is all about, but I'm not bothered by the backdash nerf.

It's hard to believe nerfing movement (to -20) doesn't cripple your former play style/habits. I for one was impacted heavily by this for the first week or so. Hell, I'm still breaking "bad habits" in my movement, and adjusting to how I go about spacing or ring positioning. I'm also finding I'm reduced, a lot of the time, to sit and guard. That would explain the, "Rock 'em sock 'em robot-type play."

As Xiang mentioned, a lot of players are so accustomed to safe movement, and building a play style around pre-patch type movement. I never played any Soul Calibur on a competitive level until SCIV (Where movement was safe) and, as mentioned above, am still adjusting to this new game. I can't even imagine how hard it is to transfer over for the veterans, considering they have 10+ years of "bad habits" to break down.

However, this community hubs the best of the best; it's only a matter of time until this community exposes how to play this game. Remember, this game is very new still.

Anyway, about JG... using it a lot will destroy attempts to attack predictably (immediately out of hit/blockstun). Discouraging continuous attacks then opens up your movement. If they're not attacking right away at advantage, they're not catching step or back step.

Problem with this is it's pure theory. Baiting/predicting JG is just as effective as JGing. Point is, movement in the past was safe and now it's not. JGing has little correlation to how to move post-patch.

.
I am, however, qualified to comment on what I personally find to be a fun play experience. This system could be the most balanced thing ever in existence, but, at least thus far, I have more fun in a position-heavy game than I do in a jG-heavy game, and really that's all it comes down to. It's hardly empirical, but I don't think that subjective notions of fun should be excluded from discussion of a game. ;)

Not being able to move/position myself compared to pre-patch does take a little fun out of the game. We've talked about this in person via NCR, and you hit the nail on the head with your explanation of post patch movement. Basically, it's now better to guard than to implement strategic movement. Not being able to explore the wonders of movement/ring position/whiff baiting/or just simply not standing still, is boring and, "quite Frankly, not Soul Calibur."

however, this being said, I enjoy my step/backdash-killers actually working. I think it adds depth in it's own way, where now it takes more thought on how to go about moving. The problem is the nerf towards movement was too incredible. -20 is too great of a nerf, and that needs to be fixed.

 

It'll be interesting to see if Namco actually takes that back and makes back and forward movement more safe in another patch considering that (AFAIK) no one mentioned any problems about movement being too safe pre-patch, so what was their impetus to nerf it in the first place? I think they'll keep it as it is because so many new players enjoy the mashing style that such movement nerfs make possible (and make good, in certain circumstances), while competitive players will just see it as a constant in-your-face guessing game.