Do patches scare you?

[Conet]

I've been noticing the stigma of many competitive players where they decide not to pick up a character because they're in fear of a nerf. Most notably these characters include Sheik, Luigi, and Rosalina. What do you think of this fear? Is it justified?
Recently in an interview m2k said he decided not to pick up Sheik because he is afraid of a patch. He claimed that he put too much work in as Diddy and he was severely nerfed.

 

[LightLV]

If you play shiek you should be in constant fear of an incapacitating nerf, the woman is broken. But it hasn't already happened yet, which im sure just baffles everybody.

Mario Brothers as well, but we all know they aren't getting nerfed.

 

[Conet]

If you play shiek you should be in constant fear of an incapacitating nerf, the woman is broken. But it hasn't already happened yet, which im sure just baffles everybody.

Mario Brothers as well, but we all know they aren't getting nerfed.

I wouldn't say that the woman is, "broken," it's more or less that all the other characters have a lack of options.

 

[Jaxas]

Patches don't scare me per say, but that doesn't mean I don't have concerns over losing my mains. Since I play Sheik and Zero Suit Samus (while messing around a bit with Pikachu and Rosaluma), there's a very real possibility that a patch could hit and I could lose every character I even sort-of play.

However I'm aware of this, and it's part of the game at the moment - as such, I've started playing a few mid/high-tier characters as secondaries, so that I have a fall-back in case my characters do get trash-binned.

Though I am happy with how Nintendo's done Buffs/Nerfs (with the possible exception of the 2nd Diddy nerf; seems a bit overkill, but he's still good) so far, so I'm not too worried.

 

[Luigi player]

Yes, because they could destroy the Smash 4 experience I had all the time, and what I want and like about the game.

Though they also bring buffs which is always exciting. So it's a two-edged sword.

They should really not nerf too much and look for buffs more. Buffs are a beautiful thing. As long as no top 5 character get's even better.

Atm I really want patches all the time to buff many characters I like. They're also always something exciting and interesting to look forward to... keeping the game fresh and stuff.

 

[A_Kae]

Patches can be super scary, since they could completely ruin the game.

They can also make it much better. And so far, I would say that that's what the patches have done.

 

[Morbi]

I was not scared of patches before (until I saw how they butchered Diddy Kong, that was extremely gory and NSFW), they could only help me and my characters after-all. However, after dropping Falco in favor of Rosalina. Yes. There is extensive precedent that empirically indicates that if a community complains about certain characters enough, they are going to be balanced differently. It took me awhile to find a suitable replacement for a character that I was completely dedicated to across multiple titles. Rosalina finally clicked with me and if they neuter (spay?) her, I am probably not going to find ANOTHER alternative. But I am not the best at Rosalina, and I put a lot of effort into learning her. I also put a lot of work into attempting to keep Luma alive, as that is her overt weakness (besides the super predictable recovery). Without Luma, she is hardly viable. But that will not stop people from complaining and learning the match-up. I fear for the worst but hope for the best.

 

[TheHypnotoad]

I usually will hope for a buff to Robin because of his low tier status, but then I remember that Sakurai is an idiot and get worried that he'll end up nerfing Robin instead.

The main problem with Robin is that almost no one uses him, so there aren't enough people saying "Hey, this character is bad, Sakurai should buff them."

 

[FullMoon]

After 1.0.4 I have very little to fear in regards to Greninja.

Especially since 1.0.8 even buffed him significantly so they know Greninja doesn't need any more nerfs.

 

[Wintropy]

Not really. Pit seems to be as balanced as he's ever going to be, and as far as I recall, he hasn't been touched by buffs or nerfs in any patch.

Honestly, I'm not sure how to change him without compromising his integrity. He doesn't really have anything to buff or nerf, he's just finely-tuned as is.

Of course, there's a very real (albeit incredibly minute) chance that Palutena could get buffed. Win-win for me, either way!

 

[Teh Sandwich]

Diddy is still a very strong character... Like really good..

I main link. They took away my jab combos, so I just had to play more defensive. Now they gave me some really nice buffs .

I doubt we'll ever see a patch change a character like they did with diddy. Who obviously needed it, and is still a great character.

If I were a fox main I'd be a little worried about losing the jab lock. (Still surprises me that they took away links when foxs is literally 100x easier to pull off)

 

[DJ3DS]

I don't mind the patches (except nerfing ROB'S U-Throw; that stung a little) but that is probably largely to do with the fact I don't tend to play any top tiers and haven't suffered at all beyond the aforementioned nerf.

 

[kenniky]

I'm afraid of losing my replays.

 

[Raijinken]

Patches are awesome. If you're afraid to invest in a game where things can change, go play a static game and learn to deal with uneven characters (or just tier-pick).

 

[Divemissile]

I'm afraid of losing my replays.

Me too. I have some really good replays, and I'd hate to lose them.

 

[Rockaphin]

Generally, no. I like patches when needed. However, I'm not a fan of patches when things like R.O.B's up-throw gets hit with the nerf stick.

 

[MarioFireRed]

Buffs or nerfs I'll still wield the Monado.

 

[LancerStaff]

Not at all, since both Pit and Dark Pit haven't been touched outside of some poorly understood windbox on Fspecial. Actually, I'm excited for patches because their worst matchups get better and better.

I usually will hope for a buff to Robin because of his low tier status, but then I remember that Sakurai is an idiot and get worried that he'll end up nerfing Robin instead.

The main problem with Robin is that almost no one uses him, so there aren't enough people saying "Hey, this character is bad, Sakurai should buff them."

Robin's one of those characters where it's hard to fix him in 1v1s without breaking him in FFA. Actually, everybody with the holdable charge projectiles are pretty hard to balance since that's basically all they'll ever need in FFA.

 

[Kurri ★]

Every other game I play have constant patches and they turn out for the better; I'm not scared at all.

 

[KawKa]

As of now patches are starting to worry me some nerfs like diddy kong's 1st nerf was necessary, but their kinda going overboard on the nerfs I rather see buffs, people keep on complaining about sheik being broken which is a joke. She's not in the same realm like her predecessors.

 

[Xermo]

As long as the devs don't break tradition and nerf ness's back throw, I'm good. Losing replays is a pain though. Hopefully 3ds can upload to youtube as well.

 

[link2702]

not really. At first i was kinda slightly worried, but so far nintendo hasn't been *too* extreme with some nerfs/buffs most extreme were diddy's nerfs and the very first 3ds patch. If anyone like rosa, shiek or luigi gets nerfed, i doubt it will be so extreme as to make these characters non-viable.

 

[outfoxd]

I play DHD. It is clear no one cares about him. So I'm not worried. Just. ...sad.

 

[Dokokashira]

I don't see how anyone could be so afraid of patches that they don't learn a character, especially high-tier ones. If you pick them up, you'll still have knowledge of their combos, setups, and options, AND you'll still have a pocket character. (These points are much more applicable to high-tier characters) There's no reason to avoid a character just for a fear of potential nerfs... and even if they get nerfed, the nerfs could potentially lead to new tricks or not even be THAT big of a deal. Just go for it!

 

[Mizzy Moe]

not at all i tend to play alot of different characters so i feel like if a main was to get destroyed due to a nerf (honestly probably only sonic but i still doubt they will nerf him too much harder they just seem to give him random nerfs after side side b and back throw nerf but still a really great character)

and absolutely loving sonic even if he got a huge nerf to bring him down to low tier i would probably still try to use him as a main and try and find if there would be anything redeeming but thats just because sonic has always been one of my favorite series

 

[mario123007]

If it's patches that will ruin replays,yes.

 

[TheHypnotoad]

As long as the devs don't break tradition and nerf ness's back throw, I'm good. Losing replays is a pain though. Hopefully 3ds can upload to youtube as well.

Ness's bthrow being powerful is only kind of a tradition. It KOs at like 130% in Melee (which is extremely powerful for Melee), whereas it can kill as early as 90% in Smash 4. Smash 4 is definitely its most powerful iteration to date.

 

[Gibbs]

I don't see how Sakurai could nerf Pika without severely crippling his competitive viability. If quick attack is made unsafe on block, then Pika becomes mid/high-tier instantly. So yes I'm reasonably scared.

 

[Xermo]

Ness's bthrow being powerful is only kind of a tradition. It KOs at like 130% in Melee (which is extremely powerful for Melee), whereas it can kill as early as 90% in Smash 4. Smash 4 is definitely its most powerful iteration to date.

There's no "kind of" to it, Ness has always had the most powerful back throw since melee. How early it can kill based on theoretical positioning in smash 4 doesn't matter.

 

[Roukiske]

I don't care if my main is going to receive nerfs deserved. I do care that Nintendo doesn't know how to nerf and will make them suck.

 

[Antunee]

Nope. The nerfs and buffs have been, for the most part, handled really well. If/when Sheik gets nerfed, I'll still play her. The only way I'd switch mains is if she gets nerfed AND Ganondorf gets buffed enough to be viable. Until then, he's staying in my pocket.

 

[warionumbah2]

Look at my main, i have absolutely nothing to fear ahaha. He's been getting nothing but buffs and fixes.

 

[Deus]

It's frighting that they can't give any remotely decent patch notes and force people to speculate and datamine for weeks in order to get some sort of idea what the hell they did.

 

[Raijinken]

To the few mentions of "going overboard" with Diddy, isn't it strange that after being "nerfed to death" he's still high-tier viable? He would have to literally be nerfed to Zelda levels of bad in neutral and punish game to actually fall from favor, so favorable are his innate attributes.

 

[Scarlet Jile]

Absolutely not.

 

[Purin a.k.a. José]

Only in losing my dear replays... otherwise, I love patches!!! The wait for Kirby/Jiggly buffs is pretty hype.

 

[W.A.C.]

My main since the original 3DS version came out has been Diddy Kong. Needless to say, I'm not too fond of how balance patches have been handled. -_-

 

[Diddy Kong]

****ing yes.

 

[Dr. Bread]

the way the patches are going, it feels like the devs have mostly been afraid of brawl meta knight part II, with a focus on heavy nerfs instead of buffs to mid-tiers. Now with sheik and to a greater extent, diddy kong, neutered it seems like they are moving on to the area of mid-tier buffs.

I kind of wanna see shields and magnet hands get nerfed, but i doubt that will happen and i dont think anyone else is asking for that either.

 

[A_Kae]

the way the patches are going, it feels like the devs have mostly been afraid of brawl meta knight part II, with a focus on heavy nerfs instead of buffs to mid-tiers. Now with sheik and to a greater extent, diddy kong, neutered it seems like they are moving on to the area of mid-tier buffs.

I kind of wanna see shields and magnet hands get nerfed, but i doubt that will happen and i dont think anyone else is asking for that either.

That's not true at all. There have been way more buffs than nerfs.