Is "For Glory" a competitive scene?

[Jiggly]

I always seem to find a lack of competition on For Glory, and only use it to test characters I'm not good at. This seems to make my rank down of course, but is there any reason people want a high score on for glory? I just don't see the purpose in winning 9 times out of 10. Wifi matches with real people is the best plan imo How do you guys feel about for glory's simplicity, and do you think that it will get better?

 

[Her0Noi5e]

I don't feel like its an effective sort of competitive scene, because queuing for fights is kinda wonky in my opinion. I could play the same guy for like 3 hours, and he could be absolute garbage, but my win rate looks good, so what ever, but then he leaves and then you get stomped on.

So no, I don't think it's really a great thing to call "competitive" but I definitely do like the mode to get a little more actual practice in. Bots are cool, but playing humans I feel is a lot more rewarding, and is probably a better learning experience. I play a lot of For Glory mode, but I do it as a way to get better, instead to show that I'm already good, So I don't really care much about win-rate.

if that makes sense lol.

 

[LancerStaff]

Me, I see it as a way to advance from the more intermediate level to the advanced. It's not much good for a pro besides a warmup.

 

[SamuraiPanda]

I play single matches of For Glory until I find someone significantly better than me. Then I save replays and play them with all the characters I'm interested in potentially maining until they quit. I review the matches later to see where I could have done better, and why I lost.

Rinse and repeat.

Not very good for my win/loss ratio but I don't really care.

Occasionally I get games that are with someone that has very similar skill level and I enjoy those thoroughly for as long as I can as well. I figure when the game has been out for longer and everyone improves in skill level (pruning out the people who aren't a higher calibur), then For Glory will be a pretty decent competitive scene.

 

[Gunslinger]

I've found literally 1 good player on For Glory so far. I think the only reason to play it is to learn every characters' gimmicks. Better to be cheesed in For Glory than in tournament. I can't tell you the amount of times I've been countered out of my combos by scrubby Marths and Little Macs. But now I'm really good at baiting them out. Maybe once your Global Power Ranking or whatever increases, you'll fight smarter opponents. Either way, I don't go on For Glory for any real competition, mostly just to own scrubs and learn the moves of other characters.

 

[Jaxas]

Not sure if it's just me, but I think for glory would have potential as a decent training ground (somewhere you can mess around and try out new things against a human without really caring if you lose), if it wasn't so laggy...

Granted it's extremely likely that it's just my internet, but still. Even the games that run without hiccup have ~0.5sec input lag, which makes even simple things like Aura Sphere Charge -> Shield on Land really difficult, let alone teching/following up on strings, for example.

It does teach you how hard you can get punished if you commit to things early, though, so there's that.

 

[JC Ralls]

90% of the games I play on For Glory are against complete noobs, but sometimes I do find another great player. From there I look them up online (if they have a tag as their profile name) and PM them my FC to play friendlies. I now have a friendlist full of strong players that I practise with on a regular basis.

So while For Glory isn't somewhere to practise seriously for a tournament, it can be a good place to make contacts since you can pick out people you like fighting and people who have good a internet connection for you instead of adding random people in FC sharing threads.

 

[SamuraiPanda]

90% of the games I play on For Glory are against complete noobs, but sometimes I do find another great player. From there I look them up online (if they have a tag as their profile name) and PM them my FC to play friendlies. I now have a friendlist full of strong players that I practise with on a regular basis.

So while For Glory isn't somewhere to practise seriously for a tournament, it can be a good place to make contacts since you can pick out people you like fighting and people who have good a internet connection for you instead of adding random people in FC sharing threads.

Is there a way to add a person after playing them?

 

[GrnFzzTgr]

I wish there was, but the most you can do is try to google for them.

 

[Terotrous]

It's not nearly as good as it could be, IMO. Limiting it to FD only is really stupid, and I also dislike how the Mii fighters effectively don't exist from the perspective of this mode.

It's the best we're going to get without the added hassle of gathering friend codes, but at the same time it's really not a great substitute for the standard competitive Smash scene.

 

[Kooky Koopa]

Can't speak for everyone here but I've played over 700 games in FG and I would say at the very least, half of my opponents are supremely competent and always put up a strong fight. I think for competitive format the lack of items works wonders. But the FD format is questionable but then again with the rather haphazard nature of normal Smash 4 maps, I would much rather FD than a moving level.

I think as a whole its good practice to get better but to consider it a "Competitive" scene in the manner people here would consider, likely not. That said if you bump into a row of people who absolutely destroy you or are amazing and put up solid fights, I would say it comes pretty damn close. I've met some remarkable people on FG so for me, in those cases I'd consider FG competitive.

As for the system I think it's as good as it gets. As bad as it is that you can't contact people over online, I consider this a blessing than otherwise. One need not search very far to see the toxicity an online interface can bring out. Best improvement I can think is you play one match, and you and your opponent are given a choice to fight again. If you both say yes, you go on, if not you're automatically paired up vs someone new.

 

[popsofctown]

Supremely competent is relative, most midlevel tournament players I know can hit 20 game winstreaks in for glory. It's not a competitive outlet long term.

In a related note, will popsofctown fit in my online tag?

 

[wmo_]

I'm not a fan that it's only FD, but it does test your skills pretty well. As cheese as some people can be in For Glory, you can't blame them. You're there to win and that's it, I've played against a lot of campy playstyles. As much as they're boring and frustrating, they do test your skills and require you to change things up and play more carefully. Yeah sometimes I wish people would play for fun a bit more in For Glory, but at the same time you can't expect anyone to. It's just really good for improving your skills, not necessary the best method for competitive practice though

 

[Kooky Koopa]

Supremely competent is relative, most midlevel tournament players I know can hit 20 game winstreaks in for glory. It's not a competitive outlet long term.

In a related note, will popsofctown fit in my online tag?

Well of course. Some players are great, some are very poor. Not the best choice of words but at the very least "competent" would have been a better choice. That said, you can keep beating the same opponent or two again and again which makes twenty game win streaks easy. If you shake it up a bit however, the variety of opponents and skill levels can fluctuate immensely. It just depends how you decide to spread your opponent pool.

 

[wmo_]

Well of course. Some players are great, some are very poor. Not the best choice of words but at the very least "competent" would have been a better choice. That said, you can keep beating the same opponent or two again and again which makes twenty game win streaks easy. If you shake it up a bit however, the variety of opponents and skill levels can fluctuate immensely. It just depends how you decide to spread your opponent pool.

I feel like I'm one of the only ones who backs out after winning over and over. I feel like For Glory is practice for me right now, so beating someone easily and winning games over and over just seems lame to me. I want my opponent to improve, but I want myself to improve as well. I need to be losing if I want to be improving. I think people should mix it up a lot and leave after win-streaks, better practice that way imo

 

[SmashBro99]

no, lag.

10char

 

[Kooky Koopa]

I feel like I'm one of the only ones who backs out after winning over and over. I feel like For Glory is practice for me right now, so beating someone easily and winning games over and over just seems lame to me. I want my opponent to improve, but I want myself to improve as well. I need to be losing if I want to be improving. I think people should mix it up a lot and leave after win-streaks, better practice that way imo

Aye I try to make it a habit myself. Sure, one win, that's fine, let's see how the second game goes. If that is also a little too smooth, I'll pop off and re-roll into FG to see what it delivers next. That said if there is nothing quite like meeting a formidable opponent in FG and having a host of intense rounds. Unfortunately there is also nothing like wanting to add them to your friends and you cant.

 

[ferioku]

I don't find it GREAT for a competitive standpoint because final destination encourages camping!

 

[Jabejazz]

It is, by definition, a "competitive" scene, since people queue in For Glory with the main intent of showing how good they are, winning, improving, etc. basically the definition of competitive.

Now whether it's a good place to do such things or not is completely relative.

 

[Jiggly]

It is, by definition, a "competitive" scene, since people queue in For Glory with the main intent of showing how good they are, winning, improving, etc. basically the definition of competitive.

Now whether it's a good place to do such things or not is completely relative.

Well that's the thing, I don't play for glory for the score, but just to practice new characters.

 

[Rosco]

It's not much of a scene given its random matchmaking and lack of communication between players. However, I've found it useful in finding new ways of thinking and approaches to characters that can be used to help myself competitively, so I guess there's that.

 

[ROOOOY!]

My win rate fluxuates between 60-70%. I don't care if I win or lose, after two or three games you can tell if the person you're playing is scrubby, if they're making no effort to adapt their playstyle then I'll move on and try and find a challenge. I find you'll have to go through two or three poor people at least before you find someone kinda decent. I've only played about 200 matches and wouldn't say I've played more than 5-6 'competitive' people.

 

[ParanoidDrone]

To directly address the question in the topic title, FG is competitive in the sense that you have some sort of stats system going on, and presumably some sort of ranking even though I don't remember if you can really see it directly.

But taking it seriously? Nah. It guts a few elements I think are important (namely custom moves and stages other than FD) and generally seems designed for quick matches that happen to record your W/L stats than anything else.

 

[JohnnyDelMidwest]

To directly address the question in the topic title, FG is competitive in the sense that you have some sort of stats system going on, and presumably some sort of ranking even though I don't remember if you can really see it directly.

But taking it seriously? Nah. It guts a few elements I think are important (namely custom moves and stages other than FD) and generally seems designed for quick matches that happen to record your W/L stats than anything else.

I don't think that it has to meet some arbitrary criteria to be a competitive scene.

 

[mimgrim]

I got to play it over the weekend some. My win rater is pretty bad, like in the 30% range, but that's mainly because I SD'd on purpose, literally just walked off the stage to di, for 1 of 3 reasons; had to go do something else but didn't want to deal with getting banned for 10 minutes by DCing mid match, the opponent just spammed the same moves over and over, or the lag was way too bad. I started out fighting the spammers but soon got tired of them, and ran into a lot. So I just got to where I just kept fishing around till I found a few gems to fight against, which I did. And boy when I met those few gems was it awesome.

It really depends on who you meet. But on a general overall scale for what I am looking to play against, I'd say no.

 

[Dr. Tuen]

I treat it as one. People tend to play seriously there, and you usually get something resembling coherent play. This is really great for practice. I can practice spacing, try out combos I've seen online, or just try things I invent myself. As an example, I've been trying to ledge clip right after my opponent to force a bump (if they are too slow to jump off or roll up in response). The bump seems to not allow a lot of options, so I practice bumping them and following it up. Will it be useful in the future? Maybe. Will it REDEFINE THE METAGAME!? Maybe not. But this gives me a way to practice things like that to research and investigate on my own. Especially since botching it has meant suicides all over the place, ha ha.

Also, the fact that there are a nonzero number of low-lag games means I'm freaking happy it's not Brawl WiFi all over again.

Also also, the above implies that I think winrate protection is stupid. I think For Glory is most useful as a testing/refining ground. If you're not messing up, you're not pushing yourself.

 

[PolarPanda]

Can't speak for everyone here but I've played over 700 games in FG and I would say at the very least, half of my opponents are supremely competent and always put up a strong fight. I think for competitive format the lack of items works wonders. But the FD format is questionable but then again with the rather haphazard nature of normal Smash 4 maps, I would much rather FD than a moving level.

I think as a whole its good practice to get better but to consider it a "Competitive" scene in the manner people here would consider, likely not. That said if you bump into a row of people who absolutely destroy you or are amazing and put up solid fights, I would say it comes pretty damn close. I've met some remarkable people on FG so for me, in those cases I'd consider FG competitive.

As for the system I think it's as good as it gets. As bad as it is that you can't contact people over online, I consider this a blessing than otherwise. One need not search very far to see the toxicity an online interface can bring out. Best improvement I can think is you play one match, and you and your opponent are given a choice to fight again. If you both say yes, you go on, if not you're automatically paired up vs someone new.

Nicely written and I couldn't agree more. I see so many people saying nearly everybody only sees bad players but I've come across quite a few competent ones as well. It's definitely effective to get better at the game and to learn from your mistakes.

 

[ChronoPenguin]

I don't see all these horrible players. If I play 30 games with 30 different people, theres probably at least 14 decent people in that pot. Some of them lag though I am at 802 games in For Glory.

The way I see it.
If they're doing something really stupid on your initial play against them. Like rolling from one side of the stage to the other? Dismiss them and move on.
If it's very laggy, dismiss them and move on.
Then you'll start running into noteable people. Not everyone is going to be stellar, so what, my ideology is ignore people who don't try or don't have a connection that allows you to try yourself, and you'll run into enough competition.
Take note of the people you beat repeatedly but say only by 1 stock and at high %. Take note of the people you go back and forth with, and the people who beat you like a toy. Fight them till they leave and you wont have to complain about the quantity of quality fights.

 

[Burnsy]

I think For Glory is most useful as a testing/refining ground. If you're not messing up, you're not pushing yourself.

Quoted for emphasis

 

[Orngeblu]

No, it's not a competitive scene. I could see an online ladder having a competitive scene, though, but not For Glory. The players are chosen randomly, and the skill level varies.

It can be used for training like Tuen said, for lower level players.

 

[G.D.]

No. It isn't a competitive scene, but it's the closest you'll get to competitive gameplay without knowing the right people. If you want a competitive scene, then know the right people. As far as I can tell, that's your only option.

As a competitive-style player who doesn't know the right people and rarely attends tournaments, I've gotten "two-stocked" in about 1% of the serious FG matches I've played. (That is, 3 in roughly 300. I usually do the first matchup against a player as serious, then experiment after that.) I like to think this means I'm relatively good at the newest Smash. For the players who are better than me, I can only assume the entire "scene" of FG will become a joke that isn't worth any real attention. Ignoring the rarity of pro-level players, even the minuscule-but-omnipresent lag can break important facets of the game--like Marth's perfect spacing, Trainer's downB, perfect shielding, or often even teching.

If you wanna be the best like no one ever was, then FG is usually going to be something to play during down-time. It can be good practice and a good test-bed--if the lag isn't bad, and if you find decent players. It isn't going to be your main focus, and it isn't going to be how you become a tournament winner. Get to know good players and spend time sparring with them, instead.

 

[smashbroskilla]

I'm wrecking people in 1v1 for glory with DDD :D

 

[Delzethin]

It's not quite competitive on the level we're used to. Only one stage, no custom specials allowed, occasional lag issues...it's no substitute to playing people in person, at least.

But it is a good stepping stone toward competitive Smash. It's a really accessible way for people to test their skills against other people, and a way for more casual players to get interested in the competitive scene...even if it's not perfect.

 

[DarkDeity15]

I really like how this thread is going. I thought the OP would be stupid due to the misleading title until I read it lol. But yeah, I'll have to agree with the majority of you saying that FG is competitive. You guys pretty much took the words out of my mouth. It's competitive in the sense that it's a great practice tool. I've leaned a ton since I had the demo. Believe it or not, I've met a lot of decent players in FG. Too many to count. Those of you saying they haven't met anyone good are either just lying, or have just had bad luck. I've even had people completely trash me at first, but I usually adapt and keep up in the long run. I only care that the fight is close. I'm pretty cool with losing a lot so long as I've kept it a tight battle. About it being a competitive scene specifically though, I'm pretty sceptical. You can play seriously, yeah. But you can also choose not to and just fool around with random characters.

I usually try more characters when I know I've come across someone less skilled then me, or when I'm less concerned about winning (depending on my mood). Shulk, Marth, Ike, Dr. Mario, Dark Pit and Toon Link are the ones I pick in these cases, because I want to improve with them before taking on those high level players. Shulk is the main character I want to get good at, but I haven't fully figured him out yet. Marth is my best secondary out of them all, but none even come close to my Link. I know how to perform all of his currently known ATs consistently (toss canceling included) and even found one, which I'll post a thread on later. Though I still need work on how to fully usilize them depending on my current situation. If any of you guys come across a good Dark Link named Sebastian, that's probably me lol. I mess up a lot though, so don't think I SD'ed or did something stupid when I really just made an error.

 

[TheBuzzSaw]

I play For Glory for the sole purpose of raising my win rate. I just take great pride in seeing how high I can push that number. I don't care how many newbs I crush in the process. I experiment against friends. :D

 

[Arturito_Burrito]

I had this idea that in a 2 or 3 years if the relationship between the smash community and nintendo continues to improve, we could maybe get them to start a sm4sh 2.0 where the only thing that changes is the online mode. Same game, same cast (maybe bring back ICs?) but the online has improved connectivity, the system is more inclusive, allows streaming to twitch and maybe uploads to youtube. It could even have online tournament modes and be like Mario Kart that promotes tournaments going on.

 

[OhPzNerd]

Im not that great of a player, but i do enjoy Glory 1-1 ive played some pretty bad players and ive played players who were amazing players and get my ass handed. i wish nintendo would let us play glory team battles with our friends that would be nice. i would say its competitive compare to other modes ived played.

 

[DarkDeity15]

I had this idea that in a 2 or 3 years if the relationship between the smash community and nintendo continues to improve, we could maybe get them to start a sm4sh 2.0 where the only thing that changes is the online mode. Same game, same cast (maybe bring back ICs?) but the online has improved connectivity, the system is more inclusive, allows streaming to twitch and maybe uploads to youtube. It could even have online tournament modes and be like Mario Kart that promotes tournaments going on.

That's a great idea dude. Though it may be a Wii U exclusive, because I don't think the 3DS will be able to handle a lot of what you're saying. Namely streaming and uploading gameplay. Ice Climbers have already been proven impossible, so that's definitely a no. Online tournaments should be a "with friends" mode. Having a ton of randoms join just wouldn't be right unless they need to type in some kind of code first, which I believe is what MK8 does and maybe have a feature where the host can boot out players who aren't welcome to the tournament or one that only allows invited players (or an Invitational Mode so to say).

 

[Arturito_Burrito]

That's a great idea dude. Though it may be a Wii U exclusive, because I don't think the 3DS will be able to handle a lot of what you're saying. Namely streaming and uploading gameplay. Ice Climbers have already been proven impossible, so that's definitely a no. Online tournaments should be a "with friends" mode. Having a ton of randoms join just wouldn't be right unless they need to type in some kind of code first, which I believe is what MK8 does and maybe have a feature where the host can boot out players who aren't welcome to the tournament or one that only allows invited players (or an Invitational Mode so to say).

Yah it would be awesome if it had all those things, maybe filter by regions, maybe if the disc can make online tournaments it can keep together a track record for circuits or season series tournaments.... when the time comes the smash community will have to band together to get this to happen. Muahaha

 

[ParanoidDrone]

I don't think that it has to meet some arbitrary criteria to be a competitive scene.

Technically you're right, but calling something a "scene" implies to most people a community of some sort, which For Glory lacks since it's literally random person vs. random person. It's competitive since it's still PVP, and it helps that the rules are stock + time limit just like tournaments already use, but anything else depends on who you ask.