Need Advice on How to Repair Shattered Local Community

[RifleAvenger]

Hi. I'm not sure if this is the correct place to ask a question about this, and I apologize if it's not, but how can I garner interest and create a local fighting community? Or perhaps, how to I fix the one I may have unintentionally destroyed?

One year ago, when I first arrived at college, I made new friends and one of them eventually brought out BlazBlue. His stated intent was to have us play off one another and improve together. Interest early on was very high, and most of us were new to fighters, we were all pretty even and everyone was happy. However, that didn't last. I fell in love with fighters, and I began to get more serious about playing them. In short, a small group of three people within the group began to break away in terms of skill level, foremost among them myself. The growing skill gap tore apart the group, to the point where by the year's end only 4 of us still played on a regular basis. Even within that group, there was still internal issues, often over the fact that my play and attitude in particular was cited by the others as responsible for the group's collapse.

I don't have access to netplay because I lack my own television (and don't want to hog the communal TV), nor is there a more serious FGC near me. It would pain me to drop fighting games now, so resurrecting the local group is my only hope to keep FG part of my life in the next nine months. Can anyone advise me how to go about it?

[excelence]

Fix your attitude =_= ... and i don't think skill level ever being an issue in my competitive community, if we share the same interest, usually we will end up on pretty much equal ... at least that's what happen in my community.

Then about recruiting member for your community the reason people interested in gathering is -> to have a good time ... so don't be an Asshole and then how to treat new member, If they're new to the game you should told them to enter the training mode first and try stuff and get the feel of the game and help them when they have question then move into casual ... i do have few case of some new guy in my community get much better or climbing to our community average skill in very short time with completely obliterating them the first time we do casual ... but most of the time Obliterating them will makes them lost interest in the game.

And 2nd step also works for new member with some experience in the game. I do usually play the casual while observing their skill level and adjusting my level to them (one sided thrashing it isn't FUN!) sometimes even using character that i've never touched ... if they gotten more into the game, told them to sit back and observe your community true skill ... usually they will get more hyped with the game but some times later they will more likely to hit a wall improving their skill because of experience gap ... don't let them alone just like that ... get casual with them and tell them their mistake and maybe your weak point / other member in your community weak point to raise their confidence.

It wouldn't always work all the time as SPECIFIC GAME isn't everyone cup of tea (eg: i Play 3rds and completely despise IV or Other guy in my community who play GG/BB but totally hate P4A), so just let it go.

And finally ... just try to get clean & fun community.

[mAc Chaos]

Some people just play more casually than others and that's all they'll ever want to put into it. If you get serious about the game and destroy them every time then it can't be helped. Pointing out their mistakes doesn't really help either since they don't care and you come off as a nag. Some people can play a game casually and not care if they lose, but a lot of times if they're just going to get blown out and aren't interested in the game they aren't going to want to play it anymore.

Basically, you can't force it. If they like the game they'll get into it on their own and start delving deeper. Helps when you're all starting off together too.

[Sodelic]

One important thing to do is to NEVER help out with someone's gameplay unless you know for sure they want to learn more or if they explicitly ask about it. Don't start telling them what to do. Everyone I play with (except 2 guys) locally is casual, so I make sure I just have fun and not tell them anything. I go easy, use characters that I'm not familiar with, etc. My two other friends who do play seriously tend to try to teach others how to play and... it just sounds annoying and naggy. And they usually tell me afterwards how elitist/stuck-up they sound, even though they were only trying to help. Like mAC Chaos said, most people are casual players and they will not appreciate your feedback, even if it is constructive.

So yeah, fix your attitude and... try to find people who are either serious or are willing to learn the game.

[mAc Chaos]

I can't really win on that front. My friends know I'm good, so if I go easy on them, some of them get mad, but if I beat them, they get mad.

[Sodelic]

I can't really win on that front. My friends know I'm good, so if I go easy on them, some of them get mad, but if I beat them, they get mad.

Huh, I guess I'm lucky.

[iora]

One thing is to casuallllllly offer to help new players learn. Just throw the offer out there, and dont force the issue. Even just saying 'that was fun guys! if anyone wants some help learning stuff, just ask and i'll try.' as the end of gatherings is enough for this.

But besides that... hoe to enjoy playing low level people without making them mad?

Sandbag.

Sandbag and use characters you arent familiar with.

I would say it wouldnt be a bad idea to have 1 char in the games you play where you never look up anything, you never hit training mode, never do nothing like that. Take some eextra fun risks, burn meter attempting swag rather than efficient damage, shit like that.

Its the best thing you can do if you want to have fun with a game against people you are better than.

non-fgc related: In a racing game i tried to play with friends, I know i was way better, and I know i couldnt just 'play worse'. So i used cars that were 2 to 3 classes worse than their cars to keep it even. That way i could play as hard as i like to while keeping it even. Same with halo. I was better, so i purposely just used guns i didnt play well with to keep it more even.

As long as you dont flaunt the fact you are sandbagging, it shouldnt be an issue. Just say your trying to learn a new char, and you're in there. God you should see when I play people in gear who never played it before. I get to have all the fun with characters i totally suck with lol. Same with persona in the netplay rooms where the people are worse. I just bust out my Yu or something. I still have fun, they dont wanna ragequit, everyone wins.

If you are properly sandbagging... only you should know about it. Just think about it ^^