How do you know you're not a "beginner" anymore?

[ngelicdark]

Sorry if this was already posted but yeah, the post's title. I consider myself a beginner; I've only picked up one character (Filia), I know 2/3 of a single midscreen carry combo and a few loops that I can do in the corner. I rarely use resets or supers to finish my combos and I often drop my combos instead (damn my uncoordinated fingers).

But I'm sitting in these beginner lobbies clearly knowing more than these "average" players and I'm beating the crud out of them. These people sometimes have just bought the game, don't know how to string 4 hits together and let alone know how to do their supers. I don't know why they just want to come into a public lobby almost knowing nothing (they're asking for the butt kicking right?) but they do.

Not that there's anything wrong with winning (um, maybe it's because it's like kicking a puppy here), but a lot of these guys end up getting tired of me probably and leave the lobby. Then the entire lobby leaves until you have that one stubborn guy who insists on getting himself beaten up to learn (yay).

The thing is, I'm afraid of discouraging potential new players that don't like the idea of a significantly "better" player is "trolling" their lobby just because. (But maybe that's not a bad thing because then it'd separate the thick skinned from the not so) I just play in beginner lobbies because I know I'm not an intermediate. I don't know the combo system very well, I don't know mechanics very well either (the fact that there is so little info here on the forums in one place is kind of really tough :/ it was a lot better before the forums all came crashing down a few months ago.. ). Maybe I should look on steam's network of guides.... (excuse me for not being resourceful but I've rarely found the steam guide center to be of any help. The game's general forums usually is the place to get the good, not so outdated info -_- )

But yeah, should I be moving into intermediate or something instead of being where I am? I just hit the lobbies so that I can see how predictable I'm being or to try to acclimate to the lag. It's not to troll new players :/

 

[DARKNESSxEAGLE]

Beginner lobbies are nothing more than lobbies for people without confidence in their play, people who don't want to so much as get into a single match where they are caught in someone's long combo and utterly destroyed and think that anyone better than 'beginner' level will do this to them.

If you're finding yourself beat up most of the people in the beginner lobbies then it's time to move up to intermediate. As someone who spends a lot of time in intermediate lobbies I can say there is a huge range of skill between the players, I consider myself to be at the top of the actual intermediate pile and think I'm getting close to becoming the lowest of the expert group and I can tell you there are people I get perfects against and people I come damn close with.

Basically, if you're winning a lot in beginner, step it up a notch and get into the intermediate ranks. Even if you lose you're still going to get something out of it and will eventually stop losing (heck, when I started on PS3 I only got to play against a beastly player and even these days lose 48 out of 50 matches with him, but I think I'm pretty good now), plus you don't have to worry about the other players as there are only a few who really don't enjoy winning.

EDIT: Actually, the best idea is just to do what you want. If you feel like going into beginner lobbies and beating people up then do, if you really want to challenge yourself to get better, step it up a notch

 

[Jason]

Its incredibly subjective but just IMO in intermediate lobbies a player should...

- Know all of your character's normals and what they're used for
- Can do all of their special moves and supers consistently and knows how to use them
- Know how to pushblock <- This is super important please learn this
- Know how to roll out of a knockdown <- This is also extremely useful
- Knows their character's movement options and how to move around effectively during a match
- Have a combo that does at least 5-6K damage that works in most situations and knows how to hit-confirm into it in an actual match (I'm looking at you, training-mode monsters)
- Know how to combo from a throw (even if it is just throw into Super, much better then nothing)
- Know how to combo from an air-to-air hit (though you probably won't be consistent with it at this point)

but ultimately its up to your own opinion of how strong of a player you are.

 

[ngelicdark]

^ I'll move up to intermediate lobbies for the reasons you guys stated, thanks for the input!

Now if only steam wouldn't dc so often so I can actually have a match :c

 

[blufang]

You're not a beginner any more once you know at least the basics of how all your specials, normals, supers, etc. work as well as being able to execute them without trouble. You are not a beginner once u understand the various game mechanics (alpha counters, DHC, etc.) You are not a beginner anymore when you are stringing together solid (not optimum) combos. If u know how to reset you are definitely not a beginner.

Anyways it is always best to play people AT LEAST your level, but most likely substantially better. What do u learn from beating up people who don't know how to play the game?

 

[DawnHibiki]

Anyways it is always best to play people AT LEAST your level, but most likely substantially better. What do u learn from beating up people who don't know how to play the game?

I agree. It's best to play against better players to get better at the game. Beating up beginners or any other people who are below your level don't help you get better much, if at all. On the other hand, beating them can help them get better at the game.

 

[Clawsome Bombs]

Don't know if he remembers them, but all the matches I spent getting my butt kicked by Wing Zero when I ran into him once produced so much from me to learn. Sure I only won 6 out of like....40, but still I had fun learning.

 

[DARKNESSxEAGLE]

Don't know if he remembers them, but all the matches I spent my butt kicked by Wing Zero when I ran into him once produced so much from me to learn. Sure I only won 6 out of like....40, but still I had fun learning.

It sounds weird saying it, but getting your butt whupped by a vastly superior player is like the fastest way to learn in my opinion. I learned most of what I know from a crazy good solo peacock player who basically just spent 50 matches beating me up each week and I'd get maybe 2 fluke wins each time, it really helps learn fundamentals because no matter how long you make your combo they'll still be beating you most of the time and you'll only really notice improvement when you up your game. Only issue is finding a great player that also won't get bored of winning 50/52 matches, and of course being prepared for the salt that comes with losing to those numbers.

 

[Hilary]

I went 1-10 with NCV, 0-30 with Duckator, 1-12 with MMDS last night.

After that, I utterly destroyed the people in QM that I'd been having problems with.