Why do I suddenly suck?

[Graystripe]

I'm a bit new here, so I'm sorry if this is in the wrong place or if this is a stupid question.

I've been playing smash 4 since it came out. This week I seems like I've gone from a decent player, able to challenge my friends and beat them, to the worst player in the world. I won only 3 or 4 online matches out the many I played this week. I feel like a total newbie, and the game feels... foreign.

 

[Octagon]

Hey don't worry man...we all have days/weeks like that. Its just a phase and it will slowly pass and u'll play like ur old self again

 

[Serperior]

Some days are better than others, we all have those and as long as you keep playing you'll get back into it!

 

[Deleted member 269706]

I'm familiar with this. Honestly, from what I can tell, being stressed out or tired or just out of it really does affect your play. There have been days where my win ratio was probably under 20% for that day, and other days where I cannot be stopped. I've also noticed that when I'm feeling "out of it" I tend to get really aggravated when I lose, which ultimately just infuriates me more than before, and then I lose again. See the cycle? If you're having an off day, don't worry, it happens to the best of us. As silly as it sounds, there really is a mind-set you have to be in to play this game.

 

[Game Master Jack]

I would have to agree with the other answers, but as well insure that your ego stays in check. I've noticed that when you start winning more and more. You become more careless because you think your better than them by default. Make sure that does not happen always think of yourself as worse then your opponent.

 

[Graystripe]

Alright, thanks everyone. I'll try and go into it with a different mindset and see what happens, and it could very well be one of those days/weeks.

 

[misterbreadcrum]

Meh, this meta is garbage. If you play against a lot of spammy players this is bound to happen, and I've never played a Smash that encourages that style of play more than the officially memetic "Final Destination" online mode of Smash 4.

You're not bad, the game (online) is.

 

[LusterGuru]

I think it's just natural. If you always hold yourself to a strict standard you may not perform as well because you're just a bit more tense. That's what happens with me; So just do ya thing.

 

[Graystripe]

Yeah, I played a while more last night and lo and behold: I actually had fun! XD

I definitely think there are improvements to be made to online mode. The final destination only thing kinda sucks. Lag also gets me killed sometimes.

 

[GhostUrsa]

Yeah, I played a while more last night and lo and behold: I actually had fun! XD

I definitely think there are improvements to be made to online mode. The final destination only thing kinda sucks. Lag also gets me killed sometimes.

Yeah, router configuration, location, quality of internet service, where you live and how you have your Wii U hooked all are contributing factors for the lag. If you have days where it seems that when you hit the buttons, there is a delay to what you should be getting it may be one of these things.

-Forced to use Wifi and live in an apartment complex? You'll want a LAN adapter to fight off the Wireless interference.
-Live with other people, or own multiple electronics? You'll want to look at your Quality of Service setting to make sure your router isn't giving bandwidth priority to services you don't really care about. Seriously, most routers will default to have Windows updates steal priority, or give streaming all the bandwidth it needs.

If the randomness of the lag seems more due to times of day or the week and less about what specific opponent you are fighting, these are somethings that can help. I've been feeling a little down about my performance lately too. Brushed up on how the pro have been fighting the matchups that are giving me trouble and found out all my tactics were fine, that when I played offline they worked more reliably but when online ever 4th move would either be delayed, eaten or exaggerated. Made some changes to my router setup and it has helped reduce the problem, and I'm currently getting my apartment fixed up so I can move my router closer to my home theater setup for a hardline to my Wii U.

 

[visvim]

I'd step back a bit and focus on tech skill and play some friendlies. Or do something else other than Smash. Definitely sounds like you're a little too inside your own head atm - you'll be really feeling it again in no time

 

[misterbreadcrum]

Yeah, I played a while more last night and lo and behold: I actually had fun! XD

I definitely think there are improvements to be made to online mode. The final destination only thing kinda sucks. Lag also gets me killed sometimes.

Would a client/server model work better for lag? I don't think it would. I think p2p is probably more efficient in almost every scenario, but I feel you. In any case, when I saw my 70% winrate go down to the high 60's and then eventually 65 I kind of just took that as a sign that the online mode was no real indication of skill.

 

[GhostUrsa]

Would a client/server model work better for lag? I don't think it would. I think p2p is probably more efficient in almost every scenario, but I feel you. In any case, when I saw my 70% winrate go down to the high 60's and then eventually 65 I kind of just took that as a sign that the online mode was no real indication of skill.

Client/Server isn't ideal for fighting games, as you get a median effect with the latency. Yeah, the highs don't get so bad, but your best ping will never get as good as a direct connection between players with good internet. Currently you can have lag free matches to ones that time out when it gets worse than over a second lag, which would get traded off for everyone having roughly a 1/4 to half second lag regardless of their good quality internet. And that doesnt' take into account that the players with the worse internet will still have a bad 2 second ping anyway, so you'll more than likely be giving the premium paying internet players a worse lag for no real benefit. (Obviously, I'm using general knowledge based on how Client/Server works with other systems. I'm sure someone who has developed networking software will be able to give a better analysis/deduce issues that would arise with such a system)

That and Client/Server systems are more expensive for the developer to maintain, so probably won't have as long of a shelf life as p2p. And from a hacking standpoint, if it does go down we can get workarounds for the p2p connections. This is something that has started to happen with Wii titles that had online components since GameSpy went down.

As for win rate, it's isn't a good test of skill because of how easy it is to manipulate. People with a high win rate could theoretically only play one match against a superior opponent and lose, quit and find a weaker one that doesn't quit right away and grind away a better percentage. From what I've read on this forum, most Smash players that play competitive and use For Glory as one of their training tools don't do this. They usually leave the weaker opponents after a few battles and look for equal/better rivals to practice against.

It's anecdotal evidence, but from what I've seen on the Spectate mode so far is that the players with the highest win rates are usually pretty terrible. When against an opponent with better fundamentals they usually get dominated, and those better fighters are usually in the 40-60% win range. I'd not let win rate worry you too much. (Hell, the best matches to watch in Spectate have always been the ones where the combatants are around the same % and in that 40-60 range.)

 

[StokeTheForge]

I've found (not saying that anyone else is wrong) that wanting to play smash is the most important part of doing well. I'm not talking about the larger desire to play well, but rather the immediate "I wanna play Smash Bros.!" Wanting to just have fun is a key part of playing better, because you find yourself trying new combos, experimenting with characters or methods of play, or otherwise loving the game.
This also is related to something else that can help: not playing as much. Without sounding too much like an overprotective parent, playing too much can hurt your skill level. Especially when playing locally with the same person/people, the players are encouraged to dominate each other based on individual weaknesses, and when you learn too much how to defeat individuals, you won't learn what works for you and what makes you better at the game overall.
Not playing for a period of time (a couple of days, a week) can improve your game by helping you to think less seriously about the game. Thinking less about competition and more focus on being in the moment with your mind in gear is always going to prevail over overpracticing, especially when you take each match as it comes.

 

[Graystripe]

Yeah, I agree with you. There's plenty of times that I do better at a game after taking a break for a few days.

 

[GhostUrsa]

I've found (not saying that anyone else is wrong) that wanting to play smash is the most important part of doing well. I'm not talking about the larger desire to play well, but rather the immediate "I wanna play Smash Bros.!" Wanting to just have fun is a key part of playing better, because you find yourself trying new combos, experimenting with characters or methods of play, or otherwise loving the game.
This also is related to something else that can help: not playing as much. Without sounding too much like an overprotective parent, playing too much can hurt your skill level. Especially when playing locally with the same person/people, the players are encouraged to dominate each other based on individual weaknesses, and when you learn too much how to defeat individuals, you won't learn what works for you and what makes you better at the game overall.
Not playing for a period of time (a couple of days, a week) can improve your game by helping you to think less seriously about the game. Thinking less about competition and more focus on being in the moment with your mind in gear is always going to prevail over overpracticing, especially when you take each match as it comes.

I'll clarify that playing less has less to do about changing your mindset, and more about using how the human brain learns to your advantage. There is a reason why you are supposed to take a break after every hour of studying during school, and it's because your mind on average will only work through the last hour worth of data it has in short term storage and convert it to your long term memory. So if you play 2 hours a day straight, every day, you'll work your muscle memory up but may be stunting your growth when it comes to remembering tactics and adapting to discovered weaknesses. If you have the time to put in multiple hours a day in practice, you'll want to break it up with rest time between every hour to make sure your mind get the time needed to 'process' the data you've learned and properly take it in.

It has to do with the old adage, "Inspiration comes by distraction" which comes from the knowledge that you'll have breakthroughs in problems that have you stumped when you are focused on something else.

 

[dahuterschuter]

For Glory will become better as time goes on because:

1. Casual players will drop for other games, leaving only the hardcores.
2. The people who stay will get better.]

Even 4glor will reach its own version of 20XX with enough time. Gotta keep up breh.

 

[The Big Wang Theory]

always think of yourself as worse then your opponent.

To add on to this, just don't get too cautious of your opponents. Even if you think of yourself as worse than your opponent, don't let that affect your gameplan too much. You still have your options and such over your opponents, no matter who they are. It's all an exercise in moderation. Moderate your ego, moderate your respect for others' playstyles, etc.

 

[Rugal Cuttah]

I'm a bit new here, so I'm sorry if this is in the wrong place or if this is a stupid question.

I've been playing smash 4 since it came out. This week I seems like I've gone from a decent player, able to challenge my friends and beat them, to the worst player in the world. I won only 3 or 4 online matches out the many I played this week. I feel like a total newbie, and the game feels... foreign.

Its not you are bad at the game. Your friends just have improved i think and now its your turn to figure them out again. Thats just how fighting game are. My friend tyler used to be horrible not even able to block anything i do but has gotten really good and has beaten me badly 5 time in row. You learn more on losses anyways. Hang in there and get better. You have to take the punishment of losses in any fighter to get better especially if your late to join the online. You really have to not be hurt by losses cause they are unavoidable to no one, fighting games, players always evolve and never stay new blood if they are willing to keep go forward from suffered defeats. Go and clam your talent in the fighters you love to play.

 

[Graystripe]

Its not you are bad at the game. Your friends just have improved i think and now its your turn to figure them out again.

There's also the fact that my friend plays Lucario (op pls nerf)

I'm kidding of course.

 

[Rugal Cuttah]

There's also the fact that my friend plays Lucario (op pls nerf)

I'm kidding of course.

Yeah lucario is very adaptive and gets stronger nearing death. Goku incarnate i tell ya that. Lucario mega form final smash is his super saiyan final form.

 

[Graystripe]

Yeah lucario is very adaptive and gets stronger nearing death. Goku incarnate i tell ya that. Lucario mega form final smash is his super saiyan final form.

Yeah, I would definitely argue that he needs to have more drawbacks than he does now. I saw someone's post on reddit about how he should have more drawbacks the more powerful his aura is, like his aura sphere taking longer to charge, stuff like that.

Anyway, that's a different topic XD

 

[Duplighost]

Everyone has their good and bad days, but a key point is that you have to be willing to play. Yesterday, I didn't really want to play For Glory, but I was so bored I tried regardless. I lost almost every battle against opponents I would usually win against. Being reluctant to play won't create a determined mindset during battle, so you won't be as inclined to succeed with combos and strategies. Remember that sometimes it's good to warm up in Training Mode before jumping into online play.

 

[JustDan]

Yeah I know how you feel. Sometimes I just have off days. I usually just take a break for a while and come back to it with a different attitude.

 

[StokeTheForge]

I'll clarify that playing less has less to do about changing your mindset, and more about using how the human brain learns to your advantage. There is a reason why you are supposed to take a break after every hour of studying during school, and it's because your mind on average will only work through the last hour worth of data it has in short term storage and convert it to your long term memory. So if you play 2 hours a day straight, every day, you'll work your muscle memory up but may be stunting your growth when it comes to remembering tactics and adapting to discovered weaknesses. If you have the time to put in multiple hours a day in practice, you'll want to break it up with rest time between every hour to make sure your mind get the time needed to 'process' the data you've learned and properly take it in.

It has to do with the old adage, "Inspiration comes by distraction" which comes from the knowledge that you'll have breakthroughs in problems that have you stumped when you are focused on something else.

That's it, all right.

 

[Saclam]

Off days are bound to happen,everybody has there moments when there losing to stuff they know they shouldn't.don't sweat it everyone goes through this at one point.

 

[Dustydog96]

Dude I can tell you i'm the same way. I find my self playing very slow and ****ty because my head isn't in it fully. Usually because I'm tired, stressed, or just out of energy in general. So maybe just step back, take a break, and start having fun with the game. Don't focus as much on if you're playing "well" or not. Find some friends or a group to play with either online or IRL.

 

[Doctor_Mario]

Yeah, that usually happens when I play excessively. Once I relapsed really hard and I actually forgot how to use most of my advanced techniques and I had to start from the bottom. Again.

 

[digiholic]

I forget if there's a term for it, but basically, you're getting so good you're sucking.

Bear with me here, when you're bad at the game, you just kinda... go. You hit buttons, throw out random smashes, and spam projectiles without regard to zone control. Your defenses may be either non-existant or near constant, but they're there.

Then you start to get better. You see an opening, and while before, you might have gone for "FSmash and pray" style of punish, now you find yourself thinking "Wait, maybe there's no time for that? I'll dashgrab instead." You might notice, that second thought is way longer than the first. That hesitation is likely only a frame or two, but it's enough to make neither punish work.

What's important to note though, is that you are better now than you were before. Your results are worse, but you're actually playing now instead of just doing. Keep at it, this is the hardest part of improvement. It's really easy to just slide down that difficulty curve and sit in the flat part of the bell curve and win against people the next plateau down, but if you press on, eventually, that mental latency will go down, and you'll be able to make it over the hill to the next plateau and be able to beat all the people that used to be your equals.

 

[Conet]

You're auto-piloting.

 

[EpicManLuke]

My FG win rate is 50.72% (80% last 10) (72% last 50)
Is that good? Or am I just trash? Main:

 

[Trainermax]

My FG win rate is 50.72% (80% last 10) (72% last 50)
Is that good? Or am I just trash? Main:

this thread isn't even for that.. percentage doesn't mean much because none of us know if you were playing good people or bad people.. but from my experience, 66% and below is considered casual

 

[salaboB]

this thread isn't even for that.. percentage doesn't mean much because none of us know if you were playing good people or bad people.. but from my experience, 66% and below is considered casual

I'd swear there's matchmaking going on too (I don't see roll spammers that people talk about anymore, only briefly when I started playing FG) so having a lower win rate may not mean too much -- especially if someone experiments or doesn't always play their best character.

Also, win % is pretty easily manipulated -- just keep rematching someone you stomp as long as they're willing to play, and ditch after one game anyone who seems close to your skill/better than you.

Maybe the original poster got bumped up a matchmaking tier, is why the opponents suddenly got harder. I have no details or even much in the way of data to speculate with on that, but it could be done that way.

 

[Trainermax]

I'd swear there's matchmaking going on too (I don't see roll spammers that people talk about anymore, only briefly when I started playing FG) so having a lower win rate may not mean too much -- especially if someone experiments or doesn't always play their best character.

Also, win % is pretty easily manipulated -- just keep rematching someone you stomp as long as they're willing to play, and ditch after one game anyone who seems close to your skill/better than you.

Maybe the original poster got bumped up a matchmaking tier, is why the opponents suddenly got harder. I have no details or even much in the way of data to speculate with on that, but it could be done that way.

There is matchmaking, I remember seeing that there was. But, I'd assume that it's not reliable because of all the different match ups in the game so it's going to be a terrible system. Besides that, the higher % you have for wins, the more chance of running into spammers, because guess what? spammers actually win games, so they'll have a high % too. As someone with low %, I agree, I dont usually run into the 'constant rollers' and 'constant spammers' just people that always use the same 1-3 moves (and I can easily punish them for that)

 

[salaboB]

There is matchmaking, I remember seeing that there was. But, I'd assume that it's not reliable because of all the different match ups in the game so it's going to be a terrible system. Besides that, the higher % you have for wins, the more chance of running into spammers, because guess what? spammers actually win games, so they'll have a high % too. As someone with low %, I agree, I dont usually run into the 'constant rollers' and 'constant spammers' just people that always use the same 1-3 moves (and I can easily punish them for that)

So tanking your win rate to 50-55% by random character practice is the best way to get decent matches?

Who knew!

 

[Trainermax]

So tanking your win rate to 50-55% by random character practice is the best way to get decent matches?

Who knew!

No. the best way to get decent matches is to not play for glory in the first place.

 

[Tino]

It's only natural that we all have our ups and downs when playing Smash online, specifically For Glory. Hell, there were times when I ended up getting my ass handed to me five in a row and my win rate currently sits between 50-55% on both versions. xD

The main reason why this happens to me is because I haven't had much time to train with my main characters because of other games and, more importantly, my busy lifestyle.

 

[Deleted member]

It happens to a lot of us, really.
One day I play really well, the next I just lose it all.
We all have our ups and downs not only on For Glory, but Smash in general.
Maybe the reason why you feel this way is because:

• You are having an off-day. Maybe you thought you could play Smash when you really can't. Sometimes I force myself to play Smash just because and I do terribly in some matches as a result.
• For Glory's match-making is horrible. You could encounter a really good player that really knows what they're doing or you encounter a player who is way below your skill level.
• You might see a character that you have no idea how to fight against. On For Glory, you rarely see Olimars and Wii Fit Trainers, so you don't have matchup experience if they come up. If they do come up and you lose, don't feel discouraged.

Just relax and know your limits. Sometimes, it's better to put the game down, take a break, and then pick it up when you feel better.
Try to have some fun while playing Smash!

 

[EpicManLuke]

It sucks because the only practice I have if any is FG because I am wayyy better than anybody at my school or in my neighbour hood. All I have to judge myself compared to the rest of the world is my win rate. If I win 51% of the time, than that means that I'm not bad, but not good, at all. If I am 49%, than I am getting closer to the "is straight up garbage" side of things. So, idk, that's all I really have to say :/