Character Loyalty: A discussion on one character play.

[Synraii]

And by the title, I do NOT mean do you always play your favourite character, I mean does your choice of character depend on the opponents?

Now, every player in a fighting game, even if a player tries to spread their training evenly throughout a number of characters will find one who they perform better with and go on to train harder with - everybody develops a main. Some players will keep a secondary or even multiple secondaries to hand whereas others will play one and only one character against strong competition.
But if you had significant trouble with a certain character with your main, would you simply train harder in the matchup, using the vast experience with your character that you already have, or would you adopt another character and fight using less experience, relying on fundamentals and a set of tools geared more in the way of giving you an advantage?
As an example: If you were a Tira player and had been for years, but your friend annhilated you with his/her Sophitia, would you work harder with Tira or pick an alternative character to learn specifically how to kill said Sophie with eg. Setsuka to give a more advantageous matchup?

The core of the question I suppose is: what do you as a player value more: having more experience or having better tools?
Discuss.

*On a side note, obviously in theory, people who mained certain characters eg. Ivy would have a lot of experience and very good tools, but I'm interested in what each player deems more important - tools or experience, not how it applies to your own personal main.

 

[Isaiah]

When I face somebody, I use somebody that I used more and practiced harder with, but then again that character may even have a upper advantage but to answer your question, I pick having more experience.

 

[DeathInMyEyes]

Experience, hands down. My main is Nightmare, plain and simple. Though, that doesn't stop me from playing half the cast and almost NEVER actually playing Nightmare.

I do this to further my experience and character knowledge. I remember how I used to get mindfucked so easily by Voldo. But now, fighting Voldo is as clear as day to me now. I understand what I should be looking for, and what to do when the things I'm looking for present themselves. This is because I actually play Voldo now.

As a Nightmare player, its obvious I lack certain tools. But that does not prevent me from getting the job done. In the long run, what usually contributes to my loss is lack of experience. I'm often beaten by veteran players, or people with more knowledge than me (Enkindu, Suirad) but I very rarely find myself losing when I know the matchup or player all too well. For example, Enkindu used to hand me my ass on a silver plater. But now, we tend to go back and fourth. This is because I'm now well aware of the character matchup, and I'm well aware of Enk's quirks.

 

[Fuzzieviking]

Being completely ignorant with a character will earn you nothing. If you don't know whats unsafe, whats slow, whats fast, what combos, or does the most damage, you could just as well be playing a god tier character. Newbies with hilde make me LOL

ten bucks says I'd get my ass handed to me by Kura or Omega, regardless of whether or not I use Talim or Tira, or Voldo. its not because I don't know the characters, aside from voldo, Its because they know their characters much more than I. I can't just pick voldo up in the middle of a tourny and expect to do better.

so, obviously, IMO, Knowledge of a character > a high tier move list.

however a combination of both, is terrifying....

 

[Synraii]

Yes, but on the flipside, if you're playing Maxi and your opponent is Kilik, that won't do you much good either. =/

 

[IdleMind]

Character loyalty is a cancer infesting the heart of any serious competitive player.

 

[Synraii]

Which is why I posted it in the casual session =P.
I'm interested in getting the full view of the whole community, lol.

 

[IdleMind]

Which is why I posted it in the casual session =P.
I'm interested in getting the full view of the whole community, lol.

And yet your opening post is related to game-play concerns. Methinks you didn't want opposition to your position so you posted it in here to avoid it.

 

[Synraii]

I'm staying impartial in this discussion thankyou ^_~ - I'll happily argue one way, then the other because I've made this thread so people can read it and think about what means more to them, put short I've made it for thought provacation rather than an answer which we all know.

 

[IdleMind]

I'm staying impartial in this discussion thankyou ^_~ - I'll happily argue one way, then the other because I've made this thread so people can read it and think about what means more to them, put short I've made it for thought provacation rather than an answer which we all know.

So, you made a pointless thread.

 

[Synraii]

/Facepalm.

Is thinking two factors that effect ones own performance and subsequent discussion really pointless? Its a good chance to consider the value of perseverence vs. available options for some people and a damnsight more worthwhile than certain threads eg. Certain threads that get put up in the general SCV boards.
Now, you made your contribution in the first post so are going to keep this up or can we get back to the whole... y'know... discussion thing? And before you try to bait me on the previous sentence, consider your first post 'to any serious competitive player.' Now, while I agree that it is indeed the case for any serious competitive player, this is a discussion for more people than just the 'serious competitive player.' Its a discussion for the serious player, the low level player, the casual with friends player, the online player etc. etc. More than anything its just a chance to see what everyone thinks really, as I'm sure I've already pointed out. What I would like to know however is this:
IF finding the opinions of a broad spectrum of players to you, is pointless: (Note, I underlined if because I am not saying its necessarily the case, merely implied by the fact that you emphasised me talking about it not having answers, rather thought provacation.)
1. Why did you even post in this thread in the first place? (Getting involved in shit that will lead to nothing productive as you seem to think, sounds like something I'd do when I'm in one of my long bouts of stupidity.)
2. Why are you on the casual part of the forum? (Where casual discussions could potentially take place.)

*Edit* And I've just looked at the thread now, summary:
Thread derailed, wonderful, thanks a lot man. ~_~

 

[TsunamiBye]

There isn't much to discuss. More or less everyone will say something similar. I main Yoshi because I'm a loyal fan to him. But what would happen if he was low tier? *cough* Tekken *cough* I'd switch to something visually appealing and best suited to my playstyle. For Tekken for instance, I'd probably main Alisa if I got serious. Because I know Yoshi in Tekken has to work extra hard against someone like Alisa, Lili, or Lars for instance. An analogy is to discard the lavish helmet for a not as visually appealing but a better helmet. Done venting.

 

[Reave]

If people can use their opponents advantages over their characters to their own advantage I think grinding it out with your lower tier character is possible.

 

[Synraii]

Possible yes, but difficult - overly difficult maybe? If you're using your opponents stuff to your advantage then don't you feel you should get maximum reward for doing so? I mean, if you have read your opponent like a book do you want to still have to grind it out? Or is it the challenge of that, that you enjoy?

There isn't much to discuss. More or less everyone will say something similar. I main Yoshi because I'm a loyal fan to him.

And yet we are getting several differant takes on this matter, no disrespect intended Pocky, but I disagree:
DIME - Experience for character knowledge
Idle - Tools for high level and unnecessary trolling
Reave - Experience + mind games = Win anyway
Are these all that similair?

I would also respectfully ask you to read the first line of post 1 - this isn't a 'why we main our mains' discussion.

 

[Reave]

I don't enjoy easy wins they are boring. I don't feel like I accomplished anything and the tend to look dull. Uphill battles are the greatest. I do generally like about three people per fighting game so the odds they all will be low tier like Maxi is slim. Playing for money is a different story. I won't purposely learn a high tier character but I will make sure I got a character that is a jack of all trades so I can exploit any weakness I can find during the fight.

 

[Lasercakes]

What's most important is how well something works on the player.

That's how I can get wins with my terrible terrible Scrubstaroth.