You're gonna patch the playerbase away

[YourFatZebra]

This is not intended to be hating on the new patch or complaining about not understanding how it works. That's not what I'm talking about at all. I started playing the game again because of this patch. I'm not here to bash it or anything like that, this is a larger point.

Nearly every player I fight isn't even using head movement, period. Instead opting to hold high block until the opponent throws a strike, relying on combos afterwards.

Look I get that this isn't unstoppable, but it's just not fun at all. It's boring, it's frustrating, and it kills the entire experience once you realize that you're caught in it. Because there's nothing you can really do to make the guy vulnerable unless he decides to do that. If he's totally content NOT fighting you, that's just how it's gonna be.

It was never this way prior. You fought one of these dudes every now and then, but it wasn't the way it is now. I can probably count specifically the players I've fought post-patch that actually used head movement. Not even proficiently, at all period. I can't help but also notice the player population has been halved in the past month after it was already dropping. I don't think that the new changes have been helpful to that cause. Any player that wasn't already at an expert level would probably now feel like it's impossible to ever reach that given how things keep switching on them. It's driven some people I know away from the game entirely, because they're afraid to even learn it and have it change on them. Some have argued that the new head movement system increased the skill gap, I would argue that given how little people even use it now online that it did the opposite. It enabled people to be able to hold high block the whole fight and just spam simple combos, not even attempt to sway, and win consistently. I understand the idea that it's easier to be Chris Leben than Anderson Silva, but the disparity should not be so huge that my 9 year old brother has a positive record online from quite literally hammering random buttons. He was like 5 and forty something pre patch and he's sitting at like 17-4 (EDIT: Just checked he's 15-6. Point is he should be 0-15252 if he's just moving through with jab/straights or uppercuts) or something now. Doesn't know a jab from a hook, can't defend a takedown, and yet he's stomping through dudes who's gamertags I actually recognize to be decent at the game PREPATCH. Because they are visibly struggling to move out of the way of his insanity. The times he's lost have been visceral, playing me or the AI or even just his older brother he loses routinely. But the older one doesn't even play online because he's too intimidated by the depth that he sees me dealing with when I do. I only bring them up to just illustrate a personal example of these issues playing out. I don't have statistics to back this up, I could just start recording every person I fight who's doing this or record all of my brother's fights, but the point I'm making isn't so much about that. It's about the playerbase as a whole.

I know everyone's just gonna bash ME instead of what I said, that seems to be what happens when I say anything now. But given that this forum is populated with hardcore fans, I think it's important for us to remember we aren't the only ones playing the game. If we keep making such drastic changes, especially without even explaining them adequately in the game itself and expecting people to go out of their way to figure it out online, it'll be just us left. I don't know about you guys, but the prospect of the same 50 or so dudes just fighting each other all day every day sounds crappy to me. I should never log into a AAA game in 2018 and see 700 people or less online at the same predictable times as I do on this one.

[rabbitfistssaipailo]

Hmmm...head movement is risky now...it's high risk ...high reward .

Bet you if it's quick fight mode ...you'd see a lot more high level guys use it .

Block is kind of easy to break now ...so I wonder who's holding block up all day .

This game tends to reward people who have no fear of the consequences of loosing a fight ...or the reality of throwing mad strikes . Put him against someone who reads his patterns quickly and he could get beat .

I know friends who don't even know what L1 is that are able to move forward like Sub zero and throw strikes . It's up to you to punish them by making them miss .

Sometimes short term striking stamina is the culprit . Could be wrong .

Didn't like the patch at first but I like it a bit better now .

I guess we could see a good grappling patch months from now . As I don't think they can revolutionize grappling in a month .

But the tools are there to beat almost anyone ...just as the mechanics are there open to abuse just by anyone .



Sent from my Infinix Zero 4 using Operation Sports mobile app

[YourFatZebra]

Quote: Originally Posted by rabbitfistssaipailo

Bet you if it's quick fight mode ...you'd see a lot more high level guys use it . Block is kind of easy to break now ...so I wonder who's holding block up all day . [/url]

Easy to break, but it's just as easy to get away once it's broken and it usually takes almost all your stamina to break it, so how are you supposed to capitalize? They're walking away, you just used all your stamina to break it. You see the issue there?

Man. The solution should never be "Don't play the ranked mode". That speaks volumes on its own.

[Counter Punch]

Honestly bro, thank you for posting this.

Some of the people who have influence over this game want it to be objectively better, even if it means them losing more (MartialMind comes to mind).

Unfortunately others don’t want things to get fixed or want them to keep going in the same direction because they like are good at the gamr the way it is.

Head movement is the way it is because now because top players complained about “head movement spam” which I never saw. Same deal with the head damage “bug” (that made the game 1000x better).

The meta of non-headmovement at the top didn’t just happen that way, it was consciously steered in that direction.

The game is literally broken right now.

[TheUFCVeteran]

Quote: Originally Posted by Counter Punch

Honestly bro, thank you for posting this. Some of the people who have influence over this game want it to be objectively better, even if it means them losing more (MartialMind comes to mind). Unfortunately others don’t want things to get fixed or want them to keep going in the same direction because they like are good at the gamr the way it is. Head movement is the way it is because now because top players complained about “head movement spam” which I never saw. Same deal with the head damage “bug” (that made the game 1000x better). The meta of non-headmovement at the top didn’t just happen that way, it was consciously steered in that direction. The game is literally broken right now.

I agree with all of your points besides the head movement - it really was abused to the max, and there was NOTHING you could do about it. They would even sway jabs, hit you with a hook that carries hitstun and then follow up with another, unblockble hook that would rock you most of the time. Rinse, repeat.

[iHazCode]

+1

I play A LOT, and never seen the head movement spam or other spam. I'm sure there are some crazy things going on in the top 20 players but a lot of energy seems to go into patching the game for the top 20 it seems.

Update: seen Veterans post. I'm not saying head movement may not have been a problem for some with offense, but some of the spam videos just seemed to me like people would try it a couple times while experimenting with the new controls. The way it is now isn't bad either though, I do really like the minor sway thing.

I don't subscribe to the "we are doing everyone else a favor by catching it first" message either...

[YourFatZebra]

I understand the reasoning behind the change to head movement, and I'm not necessarily saying the change itself was a bad one. I just don't know if the system they went with is the best one.

While some people were spamming the sways to be unhittable, I used the same mechanic deliberately to try and move to the side like I could in UFC 2. In that game you could flick LS any direction and do a little step, no such thing in this game and that was the only way in my mind I saw to do it. The lunges aren't the same thing, they're too prominent and go too far. I just wanted to step to the side slightly, and in response they messed up the way that counter strikes register off sways. Just seems like an overreaction to me and the change in how players handled that was drastically noticeable, even to others just watching me play. I actually didn't notice the whole "nobody is even moving their head" thing until my friend Zach pointed it out while he was watching. After that, I can't stop noticing how little it's used against me and how often I get wrecked for using it on people who aren't on me.

[johnmangala]

The lunges should definitely improved. Especially the flick ones- they are great for people with high footwork but practically useless otherwise.

The lunges should also lose the delay when chaining with other techniques so it's as fluid as chaining striking and grappling now.

But imo the head movement is vastly improved. I have far more success with it than prepatch. This is mainly due to the new slip straight counter which money more often than not. Plus the minor sways are gold.