By: Lion's Eye (Patrick Walter)

Warning

If you couldn't tell by the size of your scrollbar, this is a long piece. This won't be for everyone, but I do encourage you to read it as you may find something to your liking. It's as much about fighting games as it is about a personal journey. It's heavy and thoughtful. It's a little self-indulgent and at times embellished. I'm not a big name in the community (yet) and this is mostly for new or newer fighting gamers to consider. But, if you have the time and are still interested, as I said, I encourage you to keep reading.

Opening Words

Beginnings are just as important as endings. Having been a passionate writer for almost seven years now I know this better than most. The first sentence must have just as much impact as the last, and all those in-between. It takes a lot of time and effort to make this happen. More than that, it takes passion, patience, imagination, and most important of all, belief in oneself and what you're doing. It takes a reason, or, in some cases, more than one. It takes many things, even friends, and a failure can be just as meaningful as a success. This too, I have learned, applies to many endeavors in life, including, of course, fighting games. And it doesn't matter whether someone is on the outside or the inside of an art, a profession, a trade, or a competition, people will always find reasons to diminish what it is you do. In our world the common phrase is some variation on, "It's just a game." And it is, just a game. But then again, having already spent a year in this community and having only just begun, it really, really, is not just a game. ...