Looking And Waiting For Something Special?

[Ooofmatic]

I actually think that the balance in SC4 is great, aside from the few characters that you don't really need much of a brain to use (Amy, Hilde, Algol w/ bubble shield). In SC4 the lower tier characters (Talim, Rock, Mina etc) do have a fighting chance at winning, we just don't see them winning tournaments because most people aren't dedicated enough or even capable of getting to that level with them (aside from a few like Kura). Believe it or not I've met people who exclusively play low tier characters because they are low tier. And even having experienced it myself by maining Talim in SC3, I can tell you the feeling you get from seeing all your thousands of hours of hard work finally pay off can be so much better than learning a couple of moves and toe stabbling or charge launching someone to death. So part of me actually hopes that SC5's balance will be similar to SC4's, but without the braindead characters so people who aren't really very skilled at the game don't shortcut their way to victory by not having to think as much. Those characters should at least be made JF heavy or have complex inputs so they require some more skill to be good with.

The other part of me wants a much more balanced game than SC4, but only because "fairness" is what the majority of people want, and while I find that having situations that are not fair (and the stakes are against me) can make things more interesting, the majority of people don't think this way. So for the sake of keeping the most players possible I would want a most balanced game as possible. And not to mention that also means we will see more variety in characters being used and winning tournaments. I just hope that with a more balanced game it doesn't mean that the characters that you actually need to put more work into to win with are not only like that only due to input difficulty, but also due to having to use your brain to think more.

Here's hoping for Namco to find a nice inbetween point with SC5's balance.

 

[KingAce]

I started out playing Zas. One of the reason I play male characters exclusively is because they're usually low tier. Here's what sucked about SC4, they reduced characters' move-sets significantly. With an already small number of options, low tiers player had to make even more cut backs just to avoid getting killed.

Playing low tier you come across many ignorant players that haven't bothered learning anti strats for your character. After all that hard work you put in, people lose out of ignorance. Take the win but that's not skill. So you might win one tournament, but once people do their homework; that window closes. Bad is simply bad.

The focus for low tier players; making it work means having great reaction, mine is pretty good. (Because you're going to be defending often, fuck TV lag) The Kura, Omega, Keev...etc all have great reaction. However, once people figure out your 5 move character, the less options you have. Soon it trickles down to mid options into grabfests.

I recently picked up Raphael, played him seriously for a while. Then started to remove stuff. Killed his prep stance from my game. Killed his aggression into just turtling and waiting to be attacked then countering. After those cuts I was left with a safe Raph that you can hardly ever sidestep or punish, but the most damage he can do without catching you sleeping is GRAB. Otherwise, lots of poking and low poking, with poking punishers, and every once in awhile I gamble with sidestep and whiff punish with 33KB. After playing like this for awhile and I picked up Tekken 6, because I was basically playing the same game.

 

[Omega]

I started out playing Zas. One of the reason I play male characters exclusively is because they're usually low tier. Here's what sucked about SC4, they reduced characters' move-sets significantly. With an already small number of options, low tiers player had to make even more cut backs just to avoid getting killed.

Playing low tier you come across many ignorant players that haven't bothered learning anti strats for your character. After all that hard work you put in, people lose out of ignorance. Take the win but that's not skill. So you might win one tournament, but once people do their homework; that window closes. Bad is simply bad.

The focus for low tier players; making it work means having great reaction, mine is pretty good. (Because you're going to be defending often, fuck TV lag) The Kura, Omega, Keev...etc all have great reaction. However, once people figure out your 5 move character, the less options you have. Soon it trickles down to mid options into grabfests.

I recently picked up Raphael, played him seriously for a while. Then started to remove stuff. Killed his prep stance from my game. Killed his aggression into just turtling and waiting to be attacked then countering. After those cuts I was left with a safe Raph that you can hardly ever sidestep or punish, but the most damage he can do without catching you sleeping is GRAB. Otherwise, lots of poking and low poking, with poking punishers, and every once in awhile I gamble with sidestep and whiff punish with 33KB. After playing like this for awhile and I picked up Tekken 6, because I was basically playing the same game.

Uff well said totally true, thats why i wanted an update like Borken Destiny, people understand that arcade release is necesary so new people can see and play the game, dont be selfish, and remember to ask harada for at least the same or at least more support for soul calibur just like they give support to tekken, believe me if they give the same support they give to tekken, namco will see that this game could be as popular as tekken.

 

[Alstein]

I actually think that the balance in SC4 is great, aside from the few characters that you don't really need much of a brain to use (Amy, Hilde, Algol w/ bubble shield). In SC4 the lower tier characters (Talim, Rock, Mina etc) do have a fighting chance at winning, we just don't see them winning tournaments because most people aren't dedicated enough or even capable of getting to that level with them (aside from a few like Kura). Believe it or not I've met people who exclusively play low tier characters because they are low tier. And even having experienced it myself by maining Talim in SC3, I can tell you the feeling you get from seeing all your thousands of hours of hard work finally pay off can be so much better than learning a couple of moves and toe stabbling or charge launching someone to death. So part of me actually hopes that SC5's balance will be similar to SC4's, but without the braindead characters so people who aren't really very skilled at the game don't shortcut their way to victory by not having to think as much. Those characters should at least be made JF heavy or have complex inputs so they require some more skill to be good with.

Here's hoping for Namco to find a nice inbetween point with SC5's balance.

Using complex inputs as a means of balance is lazy design. Really, complex inputs should only be used when necessary (like to avoid move overlap) , which 99% of the time, they aren't. People like being able to use their movelists. This idea wouldn't help anything at competitive level, and casuals would be disappointed- so it's a bad idea.

A large part of SC's appeal to casuals is from the move the movelist isn't filled with overly hard moves like most other fighters. I'd even simplify Summon Suffering- and instead make the move more difficult to land.

I'd rather see VF-like balance myself. Would you be disappointed if Talim was a good character?

I don't mind JF's as much, as long as it's not vital- things like a small damage boost, better soul gauge damage, or slightly better frames (like making a move +2 on guard instead of 0, shouldn't make an unsafe move safe though).

 

[AriesWarlock]

Yes, in the "right hands" any character could be very good. The problem is, we all can't be the right hand. And so, it is unfair for someone to have to think 10 steps ahead just to match a better character. That's why I hope SCV will do a better job at balancing.