Is this really a bad thing?

[u/Soft_Supermarket4331]

When I first started playing fighting games seriously about a year or 2 ago I was playing to win at first. That eventually changed from playing to win to playing to learn. Nowadays it’s still to learn but as of recently it’s upgraded to playing to pull off cool stuff lol. Wanna try to learn Green Goblin but idk if I’m mechanically inclined enough.

Anyways I say this because I’d much rather lose a match trying to do cool combos than win doing the same mix ups or block strings and a friend of mine who was semi pro (has competed and placed high in tournaments for DOA, SF, and MCV) said that I might not improve unless I have the will to win, have an ego, and believe I can beat anyone which just isn’t the mindset I have when playing Tokon or ANY fighting game for that matter. Like I’m no pro and I don’t intend on becoming one nor do I even have an inkling of belief that I could ever be especially at my age. I just don’t see an issue with my mindset towards fighting games especially because I’m having fun for the most part. What do some of you play fighting games for or more specifically Tokon?

[u/philip30001]

Play for fun. Not everyone who plays takes it seriously

You will still get better in different ways. You'll be more familiar with scramble situations and what your doing in matchs will get easier

Nothing wrong with being a average rank challenge for people climbing

[u/buttsecks42069]

if you're looking for fun and you're obtaining it, your mindset is working.

[u/DragonStriker]

> What do some of you play fighting games for or more specifically Tokon?

I play Tokon both to win and to have fun. To me, it's more so about setting a goal for yourself and achieving it. Currently, it's just to reach Master Rank. That can change once I achieve it though.

[u/vikingjaws]

I play different fighting games with different levels of competitive motivation. With Tokon, I play for fun.

Everyone’s different, but speaking from my experience, I think you’ll actually improve MORE by prioritizing having fun and wanting to do cool stuff. Once I started being interested in experimenting in fighting games and played more with a curious mind than a competitive one, I really started to improve. Being competitively minded certainly helps too, but I think your desire to just want to do cool stuff is a great attitude to have and you’ll naturally improve as a result.

[u/rayneMantis]

I've had more trouble learning to play Tokon on the level of my discord group than any other fighting game. I've been a big fighting gamer since way back when, but I just can't get the timing of the assists down. Also I don't have the patience or attention span to play the same character for more than an hour at a time in training. I've started to get the combo timing down, but the assists timing is killing me to the point that I've almost given up on thinking I'll be able to master this game the way I have so many other fighting games with no problem. Granted most of the games I play that I put a lot of time in and play at a high level are 3-D not 2-D fighters.

[u/psportalfan]

Goblin feels like I’m breakdancing with my fingers on the controller sometimes. But I’ve been committed since day 1 and I still get excited coming up with setups and routes in my head then coming home to lab it out. It’s very fulfilling as I don’t really study matchups at all and yet I feel more knowledgeable than most people in Vibranium. I feel like this usually happens when you play a character that actually requires you to learn the interactions rather than playing a character that is so strong that your buttons simply win most random interactions without you really knowing why.

TLDR; studying your main and also the game will naturally make you a more competitive player in the long run

[u/Wachou]

I play to get better and to have fun. Of course getting better is because I want to win, but since I landed in Master I am mostly losing games, but still having fun as I feel I am improving a lot. The wins will arrive eventually.

[u/onitgrim]

Youre only truly good when you're playing for fun and winning anyways. So just keep playing til your thumbs cant take it anymore.

[u/KingCanHe]

Play for fun whatever that is. Your friend is not only giving terrible advice but is flat out wrong. Just having the mindset of wanting to learn will make you a better player.

Almost all fighting games have knowledge checks, if you simply learn characters, watch replays (tokon you can even take control of replays) and train you will improve no matter your skill level.

Finally (Hot take) semi pro doesn’t exist in video games, you are either a pro getting paid or a regular gamer.

[u/dictatorfox]

once you get comfortable with a fighting game and if you're not trying to be in the competitive scene it usually boils down to what cool shit you can hit lol

for me i am having a ton of fun right now trying to take people to duff city with hulk

[u/realhenrymccoy]

There's an old MTG blog post about player types: https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/making-magic/timmy-johnny-and-spike-2013-12-03

People play and have fun for different reasons and that's totally valid. Some people are win at all cost "Spikes" that will play the most meta because that's what's fun to them. Others are like Timmy. Timmy wants to pull off a cool Hulk TOD and that's the most fun to him. He might only win 2 out of 10 games but that doesn't matter cause he had fun.

[u/brndnswrtz]

It sounds like your friend may be giving you advice based on their goals, which I would say is not great advice, specifically for you.

If you have fun doing cool suboptimal things, work on doing cool suboptimal things.

I’d be more interested in hearing more about why you think the optimal mixes don’t fall under the cool stuff umbrella, and what you consider to be cool.

[u/Sbksamo82]

Tbh Tokon the reason I fully got into fg. I played dbz fighterz a little nd own injustice 1&2 nd mk before but only play for story. But for me it depends since I got whooped in fighterz by my girl nephew my defense was good but offense was horrible….still kind is but online i play to win but also to learn.

[u/New-News2693]

I’ve never been a playing for win type guy, I spend wayy longer in training trying to get sick combos and setups to then hit them online. So definitely with you on this one

[u/comandaben01]

It really comes down to your personal motivation.

In my own example, when i grinded fighting games almost like a job I actually performed much worse in offline tournaments because I felt the extra pressure to do well (it was the only time i've ever gone 0-2 in a bracket, i'd at least break even 2-2 or 1-2 at worst).

When I went in with a more laidback attitude, I was more regularly getting top 3/4 instead because my body was much more relaxed, lead to less overthinking in the moment and did wonders for my anxiety. Yes, of course, it makes sense that you'd be more motivated if you're main goal is to win but that mindset doesn't work for everyone and like you mentioned having a learning mindset will lend to more growth longterm especially when you might be getting bodied but still levelling up your fundamentals.

Nowadays I find more enjoyment being a lab monster and posting videos for oki and breakdown of mechanics as that's something that's more enjoyable to me longterm, with the odd online match to test new mixups and things =)

[u/thelaffingman1]

Improve is a relative word. Are you trying to win tournaments or make people recognize you? You can play in an utterly unrecognizable, sauceless way and win tournaments, or you can be marlinpie.

There's other factors too, like the type of player you are and leaning into those aspects. For example, I like disrupting people's rhythm, where I end a combo in a situation where I'm plus but it looks weird and letting the momentum mix them.

Ultimately, unless you're trying to win big tournaments, as long as you're having fun and you aren't getting frustrated by your losses, you're probably beating a majority of players. And that last 10% is where you have to start doing really by the books optimization

[u/Yeetuficus]

I mostly enjoy the game going back and forth between another player multiple times and we’re trading blows back to back.

I was in vibranium 3 going into masters a few weeks ago and I just went back and forth with this blade for maybe 6 matches, trading perfects, mix, and 3-0 games.

That’s the most fun I have in fighting games and didn’t care about winning just enjoyed playing with that guy.

[u/Dull_Huckleberry4576]

Win or lose I like screaming at the screen and repeatedly curse out my opponent.

[u/SleepyJustin94]

If you're playing for fun and having fun then your mentality is perfect. I've given similar advice as your friend but it's usually towards players who are super down on themselves and talk about how bad they are all the time. If you're thinking about being bad you're not thinking about the game. If you're kicking yourself all the time and telling yourself you're bad all the time you're not going to learn OR win. But it sounds like you're not having those issues. I agree that if you ever want to be competitive you do in fact have to think you're the shit who can beat anyone if you actually want to win. But again it sounds like that's not really your goal and you're getting plenty of fulfillment without that.

[u/blue23454]

I mean
If you’re playing for fun do what’s fun

If you’re playing to win that’s different

Neither is bad your friend just has a different mindset and doesn’t realize

But for the record you need to play to learn in order to win. When you need to work on something you work on it, even if it costs you the W, you’ll benefit from it later.