After thinking about it for a while I felt compelled to type this up. There are people who encounter struggles in life that they don’t fully understand, or perhaps people who know friends/family they just don’t get. I’d like to focus on how this affects the competitive scenes and personal improvement in fighting games.
I want to talk about introverted people. I am one myself, and I’m sure a chunk of the people reading this are as well. But what is introversion? It’s one of the most uncommonly known things about human behavior and development, and yet it is so critical to our society and everything we do. Allow me to point you toward some sites that accurately describe what this is:
http://www.infj.com/INFJ_Introversion.htm
http://www.learningplaceonline.com/relationships/friends/caring-introvert.htm
http://www.hiddengiftsoftheintrovertedchild.com/being.html
You may also read the forums of that last site to see the thoughts and opinions of introverted people in order to better understand them.
How we feel at tournaments
There’s a high chance that many of you, especially the extroverts, did not really know or understand this before. Many different sources claim that introverted people make up about 25% of the population, more or less. Judging by my own personal experiences and interactions with other people, I’d be inclined to agree.
This is important because we’re talking about the processes of the brain, the way we think, the way we gain energy or are drained of it. The world is predominantly extrovert-friendly, and tournaments are no exception. They are social gatherings, sometimes containing hundreds of people in the case of major events, all in the same place. We do not personally know everyone. Everything about this environment seems to nourish extroverts and sap introverts of our energy. It seems to directly clash with our interest of playing a multiplayer game, in which the whole point is interaction with other people.
So what does this mean for us who play fighting games competitively? Is it possible that we are naturally disadvantaged, because tournament energy whittles away at our life force?
Player types
It’s important to identify what type of player you are. There are many people who do not have the patience to sit down, play the game alone for hours at a time, and learn things through sheer focus. The majority of people will prefer to go to gatherings and tournaments and just play people all day, hoping they will learn in the process. Lengthy sessions of training and study eventually bore them, and soon they will crave more matches. These are extroverts.
On the other hand, if you like spending time alone pondering about how to make a particular setup work, how to get in the other person’s mind in the most effective way, and how to improve your own focus, consistency, and other things, chances are you are introverted and you must realize this if you hope to become an excellent player. It is crucial that you understand what your strengths are based on your natural personality, and how to go about using that knowledge to gain the upper hand.
Extroverts will tend to be more reckless. They will do things more on impulse rather than deep analysis. But this can sometimes be a strength, because sometimes you have to jump in there and get your feet wet in order to capitalize. It is a fighting game after all, the point is to ATTACK!
Introverts are often more conservative, playing safer and not acting until they know for sure what they want to do and how likely it is to work. This is necessary because you can’t just recklessly give anything to the opponent, you have to pick your moments wisely. At the same time, though, failure to act will result in lost opportunities, as well as more time for your opponent to open you up.
The best players will find a way to strike the correct balance between these. You don’t give away opportunities and you carefully think about what you should do, but at the same time you are daring enough to get in there and take the necessary risks to create opportunities and win. The hard part is learning how to do this when you naturally lean more towards one and not the other.
Our way of improving
I personally can use every character proficiently, but those of you who know me will only associate me with Link. Needless to say, I have my work cut out for me at major events (which I unfortunately cannot attend easily). Those of you who played me at Pound 4, especially the top players, understand (I hope!) that it has taken a ridiculous amount of preparation in order to achieve the level of performance I have with this character. But how is it possible I play the way I do if I can't travel often?
What I want to emphasize is that most of what I know came from solitary training! Where I live there were not too many tournaments or gatherings, even when the scene was at its best. I wasn’t satisfied with only snail-paced improvement, though, so I forced myself to go beyond the usual match/tournament experience.
As an introvert, this is easier for me because I am very pensive, reflective, and studious. I thrive off using my alone time to better myself, and more importantly it is the more effective way of learning the game and improving at it.
Introverts, all throughout your lives you’ve heard people tell you “Danny, you have to learn how to be more assertive” and “Carol, it’s not good to be quiet. Get out there and socialize with everyone!” If you’ve read the articles I linked to, you should understand that there is nothing wrong with this behavior, and what you really need to learn is not how to change your personality into something it's not, but how to use the qualities and strengths only YOU have that outgoing people do not. This applies to everything, including fighting games.
Getting down to business
The best way to improve is to simply study the game, test and experiment a lot of different things. Become a scientist and dissect everything to gain knowledge. But remember that “field” experience is also necessary! You will have to go out and gain experience in gatherings and tournaments if you hope to solidify any kind of knowledge/skills you’ve gained through study. Introverts, we EXCEL at this sort of thing, so ride that train all the way downtown.
The impact this has on scenes
Tournaments, like the world itself, cannot last with only one type of person. Variety is a necessary component for everything. We would not be playing this game if every character had the same style and only a few moves to work with. We cannot have a lasting scene without a mix of different personality types.
Extroverts, it's important that you stop telling introverts to talk more, get out more, and do all the things that YOU feel comfortable with. It's important to make them feel welcome and comfortable in a large competitive scene, and double that for new players who are getting into this sort of thing for the first time. Failure to do so will eventually drive these players away and the scenes will stagnate and die.
Some of the most famous and contributive people in the world were introverts. Lots of philosophers, scientists, inventors, artists, etc. People like Albert Einstein and Michael Jackson. Improve yourself as a player and a person, and eventually your silence will become respected because anytime you open your mouth, you will have something golden to say!
I want to talk about introverted people. I am one myself, and I’m sure a chunk of the people reading this are as well. But what is introversion? It’s one of the most uncommonly known things about human behavior and development, and yet it is so critical to our society and everything we do. Allow me to point you toward some sites that accurately describe what this is:
http://www.infj.com/INFJ_Introversion.htm
http://www.learningplaceonline.com/relationships/friends/caring-introvert.htm
http://www.hiddengiftsoftheintrovertedchild.com/being.html
You may also read the forums of that last site to see the thoughts and opinions of introverted people in order to better understand them.
How we feel at tournaments
There’s a high chance that many of you, especially the extroverts, did not really know or understand this before. Many different sources claim that introverted people make up about 25% of the population, more or less. Judging by my own personal experiences and interactions with other people, I’d be inclined to agree.
This is important because we’re talking about the processes of the brain, the way we think, the way we gain energy or are drained of it. The world is predominantly extrovert-friendly, and tournaments are no exception. They are social gatherings, sometimes containing hundreds of people in the case of major events, all in the same place. We do not personally know everyone. Everything about this environment seems to nourish extroverts and sap introverts of our energy. It seems to directly clash with our interest of playing a multiplayer game, in which the whole point is interaction with other people.
So what does this mean for us who play fighting games competitively? Is it possible that we are naturally disadvantaged, because tournament energy whittles away at our life force?
Player types
It’s important to identify what type of player you are. There are many people who do not have the patience to sit down, play the game alone for hours at a time, and learn things through sheer focus. The majority of people will prefer to go to gatherings and tournaments and just play people all day, hoping they will learn in the process. Lengthy sessions of training and study eventually bore them, and soon they will crave more matches. These are extroverts.
On the other hand, if you like spending time alone pondering about how to make a particular setup work, how to get in the other person’s mind in the most effective way, and how to improve your own focus, consistency, and other things, chances are you are introverted and you must realize this if you hope to become an excellent player. It is crucial that you understand what your strengths are based on your natural personality, and how to go about using that knowledge to gain the upper hand.
Extroverts will tend to be more reckless. They will do things more on impulse rather than deep analysis. But this can sometimes be a strength, because sometimes you have to jump in there and get your feet wet in order to capitalize. It is a fighting game after all, the point is to ATTACK!
Introverts are often more conservative, playing safer and not acting until they know for sure what they want to do and how likely it is to work. This is necessary because you can’t just recklessly give anything to the opponent, you have to pick your moments wisely. At the same time, though, failure to act will result in lost opportunities, as well as more time for your opponent to open you up.
The best players will find a way to strike the correct balance between these. You don’t give away opportunities and you carefully think about what you should do, but at the same time you are daring enough to get in there and take the necessary risks to create opportunities and win. The hard part is learning how to do this when you naturally lean more towards one and not the other.
Our way of improving
I personally can use every character proficiently, but those of you who know me will only associate me with Link. Needless to say, I have my work cut out for me at major events (which I unfortunately cannot attend easily). Those of you who played me at Pound 4, especially the top players, understand (I hope!) that it has taken a ridiculous amount of preparation in order to achieve the level of performance I have with this character. But how is it possible I play the way I do if I can't travel often?
What I want to emphasize is that most of what I know came from solitary training! Where I live there were not too many tournaments or gatherings, even when the scene was at its best. I wasn’t satisfied with only snail-paced improvement, though, so I forced myself to go beyond the usual match/tournament experience.
As an introvert, this is easier for me because I am very pensive, reflective, and studious. I thrive off using my alone time to better myself, and more importantly it is the more effective way of learning the game and improving at it.
Introverts, all throughout your lives you’ve heard people tell you “Danny, you have to learn how to be more assertive” and “Carol, it’s not good to be quiet. Get out there and socialize with everyone!” If you’ve read the articles I linked to, you should understand that there is nothing wrong with this behavior, and what you really need to learn is not how to change your personality into something it's not, but how to use the qualities and strengths only YOU have that outgoing people do not. This applies to everything, including fighting games.
Getting down to business
The best way to improve is to simply study the game, test and experiment a lot of different things. Become a scientist and dissect everything to gain knowledge. But remember that “field” experience is also necessary! You will have to go out and gain experience in gatherings and tournaments if you hope to solidify any kind of knowledge/skills you’ve gained through study. Introverts, we EXCEL at this sort of thing, so ride that train all the way downtown.
The impact this has on scenes
Tournaments, like the world itself, cannot last with only one type of person. Variety is a necessary component for everything. We would not be playing this game if every character had the same style and only a few moves to work with. We cannot have a lasting scene without a mix of different personality types.
Extroverts, it's important that you stop telling introverts to talk more, get out more, and do all the things that YOU feel comfortable with. It's important to make them feel welcome and comfortable in a large competitive scene, and double that for new players who are getting into this sort of thing for the first time. Failure to do so will eventually drive these players away and the scenes will stagnate and die.
Some of the most famous and contributive people in the world were introverts. Lots of philosophers, scientists, inventors, artists, etc. People like Albert Einstein and Michael Jackson. Improve yourself as a player and a person, and eventually your silence will become respected because anytime you open your mouth, you will have something golden to say!
If anyone seriously believes that, don't. Competing in a video game might be abnormal, since it isn't what most people usually do, but it doesn't make you as a person abnormal!
