How can I prevent myself from "blanking out"?

[Airk]

Indeed, I was just about to suggest that this might be a case of hitting the button too early - the game is pretty lenient about screwy motions and extra inputs, but if you don't end on the right direction, you'll get random stuff. Check where you are pushing the button.

[Agni]

Yeah, that's it. I have a MASSIVE problem with mashing the attack button before I actually complete the motion. I also have a problem with mashing too hard and doing an extra motion. 214214 for me tends to be 2147214. I guess it's the small movement space of my PDP fightpad.

Anyway, I'm gonba be maining Plat and subbing Rachel. I played through Rachel's story, and I found myself liking her zoning/set-up style.

[Agni]

Okay, after practicing more today, I've isolated my problem with inputs, and it's pretty simple.

I am simply mashing the stick WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too fast.

Maybe it's the speed of FGs, maybe I'm just nervous, maybe I'm just a noob, but I have this tendency to mash out the inputs so damn fast I just mess up and make mistakes. I'm pretty sure that if a pro player heard my fightpad as I did specials, they's silently weep at the horribke things I'm doing to it (seriously at the speed I'm mashing these buttons I'd break a top-of-the-line stick in like a week). I found that once I stopped having the patience of a ADHD-addled kid*on meth and speed at the same time I actually could get these damn inputs out.

I've hit what I like to call the "retrospection" stage. This is the stage when in any performance art, be it FGs, writing, drawing, or whatever, where you finally art starting to understand how the pros do their stuff, and you're just barely breaking through and learning and getting better. The problem is, you're still an amateur, so you look at your own stuff and think "That's no good, I'm doing something wrong...", but, parodoxically, you aren't good enough to figure it out fully and fix it. Which is immesnly frustrating, and something that I spent 2 months in with regards to writing.

But once you get past it, it gets a lot less annoying. The problem is getting past it, which is only excerbated by my introversion and difficultly in actually going out and fighting other people.

...All these big words probably make me look like a douche, right?

*: Ironically, I do have ADHD

[mAc Chaos]

For execution, you should get the timing of your moves down like a surgeon with a scalpel. Try to find the right time to hit everything, instead of just hitting it a thousand times and hoping it works, since you won't be able to reliably get the move out that way.

[WolfCrimson]

I found that once I stopped having the patience of a ADHD-addled kid*on meth

Actually, treatment for ADHD in kids is brain stimulants. Ritalin is actually an amphetamine, the same as meth. So... A kid w/ ADHD on meth could possibly be a kid on treatment.

[Osuna]

That's quite a tanget. I don't know if it is actually like this for anyone else, but I Still have blocks whenever I learn anything new. Every little change requires me to conciously do it once in a real match otherwise I just forget it exists no matter how much training mode I do.

That's the only advice I have on getting it done in a real match. Tell yourself to do it the first time and make your hands consciously do it. Then make it a habit. I really can't make any changes without doing this. I'm not great at execution I guess.

[Agni]

Well, I just did some casual matches with my friend today. Here's what I can surmise:

-I'm still a mashy fuck, but I am getting better, especially in how I actually take into account spacing and footsies now. And some of my favorite parts were zoning my friend with Rachel.

-I still need to remember that backdashing does not guard you against anything.

-I need to get better at reacting to situations. There were several times where I was basically locked down and I couldn't think of a single thing to do. What's worse was that he wasn't even doing combos or something, he was just mashing.

-Platinum's bubbles are fucking amazing.

-Heart Car'ing into a meaty attack is a really, REALLY stupid idea.

Nonetheless, it was fun practicing against my friend. And I'm honestly convinced I got better by the end, even though he kicked my ass 3 times out of the 5 battles we had.

I haven't had much time for Blazblue given how I've bought a shitload of new games, but I'm glad I got this practice in.

[Airk]

Well, I just did some casual matches with my friend today. Here's what I can surmise:

-I'm still a mashy fuck, but I am getting better, especially in how I actually take into account spacing and footsies now. And some of my favorite parts were zoning my friend with Rachel.

Glad you're enjoying yourself! I too am still way too mashy, but slowly, we improve.

-I still need to remember that backdashing does not guard you against anything.

Well, actually it does, but only at the very beginning of the backdash (if the backdash lasts about half a second, you've only got any invulnerbility for about the first...1/12th of a second or so. 5 frames or so as most characters.). If a move makes contact with you after that, yup, it'll hit.

-I need to get better at reacting to situations. There were several times where I was basically locked down and I couldn't think of a single thing to do. What's worse was that he wasn't even doing combos or something, he was just mashing.

This is experience more than anything else.

Nonetheless, it was fun practicing against my friend. And I'm honestly convinced I got better by the end, even though he kicked my ass 3 times out of the 5 battles we had.

I haven't had much time for Blazblue given how I've bought a shitload of new games, but I'm glad I got this practice in.

Keep practicing. 5 games is barely anything.

[Agni]

Some more playing with my friend and I'm still a mashy fuck.

How the hell do pro players stay so calm? My first response to any kind of pressure is to mash like crazy.

[Airk]

Some more playing with my friend and I'm still a mashy fuck.

How the hell do pro players stay so calm? My first response to any kind of pressure is to mash like crazy.

Well, step 1 is to not give in to your first instinct all the time.

Step 2 is to realize that a lot of the time, you're not really in any danger of getting hit - remember. Blocking low will block the vast majority of your opponent's attacks, so there's only a couple of things you even need to look out for.

[Agni]

Yeah, I always block high and then I spend half the match going "WHY'D THAT DAMN LOW HIT ME ohwait"

[Kivorav]

Pro players has played more and more hours of the game just to get where they're at. Playing more is just as important as practicing and repetition. I remembered going to a tournament, UMvC3, for the first time. I only got as to 1/2 before being eliminated due to playing players outside of CPU and netplay, and then there's the tournament jitters I got. That's just something that will be cured by just playing more under the enviroment. If you're looking to play the game on a competitive level, time is one of the things to dedicate to that goal.

Anyhow, as to the regards of blocking, it's alot easier to block low, and then react to overheads and air attacks by shifting the direction over to high blocking as they are slow by nature.

[Shazam]

Just my 2 cents in regards to blocking and defense in BB: Always block high when they're air dashing at you or attacking from the air. Learn what every character has for standing overheads and what they can use to gatling into them. If you just block low and they run up to you they might be trying to progamer overhead (i.e Ragna, Plat, and Makoto's 6b) so be ready to switch. It's more of guessing right than your reaction time.

Teching throws is actually very possible in BB. The throw reject system is really weird in that they want you to react to being thrown and not just mash B+C. Pretty stupid but as long as you realize that throws only happen in specific situations you should be able to tech at least 50% of them. Air throws are so good, too, but if you play smart then you can just tech their attempts to throw you out of an air attack.

The other thing is learning to block the air unblockables and know when to use your barrier. Whenever you see the light blue exclamation mark after you get hit that means that you tried to block an air unblockable without barrier and now you eat a combo. Barrier also has extra pushback now so it's invaluable in certain situations. If you can learn how to IB and properly burst then you'll have another leg up on defense. A lot of people don't even know how to dead angle/counter assault: it's just 6A+B.

[Agni]

I'd rather not clutter the forum with another thread this time, so I'm just going to ask this here:

Recent posts of mine in the PSN GG's thread have made me realize that no one likes a whiny bitch who never tries to get better at the game. So I'm trying to get better, obviously.

The problem is, I have no idea where to start. I'm starting literally at square one with this shit. I'm not good enough to learn on netplay, my friend (only BB'er I know IRL) is a mashy scrub and I lose to him anyway (which probably attests to my horrendous lack of skill), and...yeah, that's about it. I have no clue how I'm even supposed to start, not to mention the realization that it's going to take me years to get good at this genre (and some of you have already seen my incredible defeatism) is just depressing.

So what should I focus on first?

[mAc Chaos]

If you lose to your friend IRL, then beating him is a good start.

Also, you shouldn't look at it as a "horrendous lack of skill." You're not SUPPOSED to have the same techniques and experience as people who've been playing 24/7 yet. You have to learn to crawl before you can walk. It's like first picking up a violin and being disappointed you can't play a concert.

[Agni]

My friend only comes over once a week, though. I hope he can get Extend soon.

Anyway, when I fight him, my main problem is that I really don't know my characters well enough to fight him correctly. Hell, I can even combo him pretty well but he still manages to beat me with straight-up mashing :/

[mAc Chaos]

Characters? There's your first problem. The characters in BB are too diverse and complex to be able to get good at more than one, at least at first. You have to specialize, and pour all your effort into one main character. As far as knowing your characters well, that just comes with playing more.

If he mashes DP, then bait it and punish. If he mashes jabs and such during your blockstrings, then use frame traps. Frame traps are moves that leave enough of a gap that it gives him a chance to try and hit you, but the gap is small so he fails. He just ends up getting hit by your next move if he doesn't block.

But you shouldn't get ahead of yourself. Just playing a lot does a lot of good.

[AchedSphinx]

Another thing would be playing whatever character your friend uses. Back in CS2 I decided to sub Noel, as a result my Noel match-ups got much better. If you get to know the characters in that manner, your overall game will improve. Playing the character is a good way to understand it.

[Agni]

Augh...friend couldn't come over today.

I seriously need to find other people who play this game in this city. I can't get better playing once a week, but I'm not good enough for netplay so my friend's visits are the only practice time I can get

I really should just drop this game and wait for P4U

[Airk]

There is no such thing as "not good enough for netplay". Seriously. What are you worried about? Losing your zero points?

[Agni]

I fail to see the entertainment in getting metaphorically beaten to a bloody pulp constantly.

Everytime I lose in a fighting game, I always can imagine the other snickering behind his TV screen going "Oh man, that dude sucks sooooo bad". But I've always been an extremely paranoid person, so...

[Narcowski]

If you never lose, you will never get better.

It is possible to learn much more from any loss than a win.

[Agni]

That's what people have been saying to me since I started playing fighting games.

I haven't seen any improvement still.

[Airk]

That's what people have been saying to me since I started playing fighting games.

I haven't seen any improvement still.

Did you keep a recording of your very first match? If so, go watch it right now and you'll see how much you improved. If not, well, then get your arse onto netplay right now and save your replay. Then watch it again in two months and you'll be facepalming at how bad you were compared to now.

Also, why do you care if some random dude on the internet thinks you suck? Clearly, you don't care that we peoples here think you suck because you SAY SO. :P Also, I dunno about PSN, but I run into tons of newbies on XBL - people in the sub-100 PSR range. And I don't think 'Geez, these guys suck.' I think 'Well, these guys are obviously new' and then sometimes I send them tips. This isn't SSF4:AE2012 where pretty much everyone has been playing it for 4+ years - there are still newbies playing this game.

[Agni]

Okay, yeah, I'm way better than I used to be. But I'm nowhere near as good as I want to be. I'm nothing compared to those guys like...this. I think that was the second day Cake's actually played Extend, and look at him. I couldn't hope to do that shit in a million years.

I TRY but it's like...shit man, I dunno if this is the genre for me. I've tried and tried to get better but nothing works. Always. Someone. Better.