I need a training partner...

[Micky Kusanagi]

WARNING: insanely long message ahead.

I got a very dark secret about my gaming history, one that I think I can share with you all since I see DC is a welcoming, sensible community: though I love fighting games, I've never had a chance to get good against other people. That's not a KOF thing, I need to learn how to fight a human opponent from the basics, especially defense.

But sadly, there's little to no interest in fighters in the town where I live, and online is mostly a nightmare since we are a niche and there are no players at the same (terrible) skill level as me. The only "positive" experience I've ever had is with BBCSEX on XBox Live, where the matchmaking system actually seemed to actually understand what a noob I am, so I won roughly half of my online matches learning nothing in the process -you get why I wrote "positive" in brackets now-, and I obviously got a fair share of excruciating losses of the "defense mistake in the beginning >>> death by 100% combo" kind.

So, does anyone have the guts to train this poor beginner on PS3 KOFXIII? xD PS3 is my only means of online gaming right now...(I also have BBCP, SSF2THDR, TTT2 and SFxT on PS3, just in case anyone is interested) I'm only filling in the "PSN" field in my profile if I get any training offers, because you can trust me you wouldn't get any fun in fighting me now, besides laughing Iori-style at my lack of skills xD I had given my PSN and Live nicknames somewhere else when KOFXIII was released, but I soon realized what mistake I had made and stopped confirming requests LOL.

I live in Italy, so keep it in mind for netplay quality reasons.

I'm aware there's a similar thread here, so I'll understand if mods wanna merge this message with that topic.

[6Let]

Sadly it's gonna be a while until I get a PS3 because I have the Steam/PC version. Hopefully my internet (after I move) is good enough to play you since you're that far. I'm sure someone here in the forums will be glad to help. Also plenty of us play to learn and have fun, not to destroy new players

[Micky Kusanagi]

Thank you for replying 6let, I'll be waiting for you and other answers in case they come ^^

[Amedø310]

I wish I could assist somehow, but I don't have online access for PS3. Hopefully someone else near you shows interest.

[Micky Kusanagi]

Thank you for your concern, I'll be waiting (and honing my execution while I'm at it). You know what's ironic? I thought KOFXIII had more players on PS3 than Steam xD The reason why I don't have any access to Steam is something I don't wanna bore you with, but if I ever work it out I'll buy KOFXIII SE, I've noticed it's too useful for a KOF fan even if you already have it on a console.

[BodyOrgan]

The reason there are more players on Steam is because the netcode actually works there (not to mention you can get the "whole" game for $20 vs whatever you pay for the console then having to pay for the DLC). The consoles netcode is complete trash.

Even still IIRC you said you were in Italy or something of that nature so even with the superior Steam netcode playing me from the States is going to give a less than optimal experience.

[Micky Kusanagi]

You reminded me I'd like to ask another question, thank you :D

My ISP offers a "superping" upgrade aimed at gamers. I know such options could be bullshit ISPs use to milk some extra money from their subscribers, I know you can't compare ISPs and connections from different countries, but in case such upgrades are available on American ISPs, do you know whether they improve your online experience to any extent with overseas gamers?

[BodyOrgan]

TL;DR: "superping" upgrade aimed at gamers is bullshit.

This concept is really hard for the layman to understand, but I will state it none the less. Hopefully you'll be able to grasp it.

ISP's market bandwidth not actual speed. Bandwidth is a way of getting more data in the same amount of time. It is not an actual (as in physical) speed increase. More bandwidth would be the equivalent of getting a bigger pipe for water into your house. The water doesn't flow any faster to your home, but you're receiving a lot more of it in the same amount of time.

The time it takes for a signal to reach the end point, and return is measured by ping. A lower ping means a faster (as in physical) transmission. Currently the fastest (as in physical) technology is fiber optic (transmits data using light). The backbone networks in America pass data around using fiber optic connections. The connection to most homes as in the last mile is usually handled by coaxial cable or telephone wires in the case of DSL (both provide about the same physical speed). There are a few lucky Americans living in certain test bed cities which have fiber optic going into their homes, but not many.

Fiber optic is used to connect various countries together such as America and Europe, so you just might be able to get a decent connection to someone in the states if you, and your opponent had fiber optic as their last mile (other factors will play into this such as the number of hops between each of you, but that's a story for another time). If not, the rate at which coaxial and telephone wires are capable of transmitting just isn't fast enough to have decent connections with individuals overseas.

[Micky Kusanagi]

Thank you for the insight, really interesting. My ISP should upgrade my connection from DSL to fiber in a few weeks -hopefully in December-, but I seriously doubt I have fiber in the last mile, the place where I live is one of the most overlooked cities in Italy ^^;

[The Good Loser]

Thank you for the insight, really interesting. My ISP should upgrade my connection from DSL to fiber in a few weeks -hopefully in December-, but I seriously doubt I have fiber in the last mile, the place where I live is one of the most overlooked cities in Italy ^^;

The Vatican? xD

Also, i recently (yesterday XD) got a kind of "forced" speed upgrade (16k to 50k) since my old modem was dying out lol. I have played a few matches with people from china (used to be red I bar, now is yellow II to green III), and 2 people from the states (all red before, now at times yellow II). I can tell a difference in-game if only marginal. This is just my personal experience i still believe in BodyOrgan's theory.

[Micky Kusanagi]

I live in Taranto, a small, beautiful seaside city in the South. I love it, but I also have to admit it isn't exactly a pinnacle of infrastructures, both traditional and hi-tech ones The Vatican is probably way more advanced in this respect :D
Seems like BodyOrgan has quite a bit of networking knowledge indeed. I had a similar experience upgrading my connection LOL

[toashinrock]

Hey if you still looking for players to play on xbox live.  I would be willing to do so as I'm trying to learn the game as well.  In preparatiuon for kofxiv.   I'm really trying to get a handle on being somewhat decent with all cancelling and buffering moves with the button press tech.   So I'm all for it.   I'll most likely be using the team of Mature, King, and Kyo or EX Kyo.   I do have some alteration to teams as I have another one that I'm consisting of Hwa, Terry, and Saiki.   Let me know if you still use Xbox Live...and I will be glad to play you soon!

[Crazy Li]

I thought the OP said PS3, not XBox :p

I do have XIII on PS3, but given it's bad netcode and that I'm in the US, it probably wouldn't work too well. I couldn't even get smooth matches playing against other people in the same country xP

I would be more than willing to help though (this goes for anyone who's trying to learn). Just need a halfway decent connection. I'm no KoF expert, but I know how to play to match my opponent's level (if it's lower than mine) while identifying their key mistakes and trying to force them to overcome those. Rather than pull off big flashy combos so you die anytime you make a mistake, I'm more likely to hit you with the same 1 thing over and over upon that mistake so it becomes more apparent to you and forces you to adjust.

[Micky Kusanagi]

Sorry for forgetting this thread xD

@toashin: sadly, it's been a while since I've stopped paying for a XBox Gold membership, thank you for making me know though

@Li: you're right...when I opened this topic, I didn't remember KOFXIII has a very bad netcode on consoles. I think my best bet would be waiting for a chance to get my computer fully functional again -long story- and buy KOFXIIISE. Meanwhile, I'll be working on my execution and maybe will try to train with KOFXI on hardest, I read somewhere the CPU puts up some pretty realistic fights in that game. Your sparring approach sounds interesting by the way.

[Micky Kusanagi]

I managed to free up 123 of 320 GB in my laptop's disk, so I'd like to ask a somewhat technical question: how many GB should I give to a Windows 7 partition in my laptop to make both SOs work decently?

My laptop is a MacBook Pro 13" early 2011 -2.3 Ghz Core i5, 4GB RAM, Intel Graphics 3000 HD, I was crazy enough to update it up to Yosemite.

I know I sound too optimistic maybe, but after reading the minimum requirements for 98UMFE and 2002UM I thought my laptop should run them well and I'll be able to practice "modern" KOFs online...hoping I can buy a Windows PC soon and play KOFXIIISE too.