Why isn't auto L Canceling an option?

[W.A.C.]

I understand the developers want the skill gap between casual and hardcore players to be as drastic as possible, but why not include an option to have L Cancelling be automatic? It doesn't sound like there's ever a time where you don't want to L Cancel, which makes me question why this mechanic is part of the game instead of just making it automatic by default. With this in mind, why can't Project M make it optional for players who don't want to deal with this annoying mechanic? I have very lousy finger joints, which makes it difficult enough to play Smash 4 competitively. With Project M in its current state, it's too demanding for my hands to consider playing it competitively. I find wave dashing difficult as well, but its existence in Project M doesn't bother me anywhere near as much because wave dashing is added depth that doesn't feel pointless and it creates unique gameplay opportunities otherwise not possible.

 

[himemiya]

Same reason why manual transmission is better.

 

[Boiko]

Read the pinned FAQ please.

Edit: you can also put the input buffer on.

 

[W.A.C.]

Read the pinned FAQ please.

Despite the fact that Manual L-Canceling has been in this game for over 4 years and I’ve been unsuccessful so far, I am going to continue to argue against Manual L-Canceling and demand Aerial Lag Reduction instead. Am I going to win?
No. Feel free to discuss the merits L-Canceling has as a gameplay mechanic, though, so long as you don't derail threads in the process.

I've heard no explanation from anyone part of Project M why the game is better with L Cancelling, just that they're against auto L Cancelling and reducing aerial lag.

Edit: you can also put the input buffer on.

I never knew that was a feature, but considering how it's not allowed at tournaments, I don't see the point of bothering with it if the game as it is in tournament play mandates manual L Cancelling, which makes me not want to bother with Project M competitively.

 

[NTG]

Because if you miss an L-cancel, it allows an opportunity to punish in higher level play. If you miss an L-cancel, you might drop a combo. It's one of the easiest things from a technical standpoint. It allows the players who've invested more time to have an edge, and it increases the skill cap.

The only argument people seem to have against L-canceling is "it's harder." I used to find these things hard too, and I'm still really new to the game from a competitive standpoint (coming up on two and a half months). But I practice my butt off and can L-cancel around 80-95% of the time most games now (you can see on the results screen). Not as good as top players, but it's something - getting better at the game feels good. It gives you something to strive towards. Maybe you should stop complaining and start practicing?

 

[Vashimus]

Maybe you should try setting shield to a face button if your joints truly are giving you trouble.

I'm also fairly certain there's an auto-Lcancel mod in the workshop, but I'm too lazy to find it.

 

[Boiko]

I've heard no explanation from anyone part of Project M why the game is better with L Cancelling, just that they're against auto L Cancelling and reducing aerial lag.


I never knew that was a feature, but considering how it's not allowed at tournaments, I don't see the point of bothering with it if the game as it is in tournament play mandates manual L Cancelling, which makes me not want to bother with Project M competitively.

Also, browse the forum a bit. There's like a 5 page thread about it.

 

[W.A.C.]

Because if you miss an L-cancel, it allows an opportunity to punish in higher level play. If you miss an L-cancel, you might drop a combo. It's one of the easiest things from a technical standpoint. It allows the players who've invested more time to have an edge, and it increases the skill cap.

So what are the benefits to not L Cancelling? Unless I'm misinterpreting what you're saying, not L Cancelling allows the opponent to punish and mess up a combo.

The only argument people seem to have against L-canceling is "it's harder." I used to find these things hard too, and I'm still really new to the game from a competitive standpoint (coming up on two and a half months). But I practice my butt off and can L-cancel around 80-95% of the time most games now (you can see on the results screen). Not as good as top players, but it's something - getting better at the game feels good. It gives you something to strive towards. Maybe you should stop complaining and start practicing?

It's not the difficulty that bugs me as much as it seems like a pointless mechanic. I find wave dashing difficult, but as I said in the original post, that doesn't bug me anywhere near as much because of how it can enhance the experience. In no way do I see how the game benefits from having L Cancelling not be automatic.

Maybe you should try setting shield to a face button if your joints truly are giving you trouble.

My thumb joints also suck.

I'm also fairly certain there's an auto-Lcancel mod in the workshop, but I'm too lazy to find it.

Not allowed in competitive play though.

Also, browse the forum a bit. There's like a 5 page thread about it.

Link?

 

[mimgrim]

2 words.

Because Melee.

 

[Narpas_sword]

Link?

That's just being lazy.
Go find it yourself.

use the search function.

 

[W.A.C.]

2 words.

Because Melee.

That's a terrible reason to include a feature into a game.

That's just being lazy.
Go find it yourself.

use the search function.

Before I made this thread, I couldn't find a single decent explanation as to why L Cancelling should exist as it currently does. Also can't find that five page thread after searching again.

 

[Kaye Cruiser]

@ W.A.C.

http://www.reddit.com/r/SSBPM/comments/2nmz62/auto_lcancelling_in_35/cmfkj1a

You're welcome~

 

[mimgrim]

That's a terrible reason to include a feature into a game.

Welp, that's the reason. Whether you like it or not. And it answers the topic question.

 

[W.A.C.]

@ W.A.C.

http://www.reddit.com/r/SSBPM/comments/2nmz62/auto_lcancelling_in_35/cmfkj1a

You're welcome~

Unfortunately, that version isn't allowed in competitive play.

Welp, that's the reason. Whether you like it or not. And it answers the topic question.

If that's the entire basis as to why it's included, it's a pretty poor reason.

 

[Phaiyte]

Unfortunately, that version isn't allowed in competitive play.


If that's the entire basis as to why it's included, it's a pretty poor reason.

He's not necessarily saying "because melee" is a good reason, just that it's most likely the actual basis behind it. I do agree that it's a largely pointless mechanic, but it's so ingrained in my muscle memory that I'll probably never be able to stop doing it anyways so it's like w/e to me now.

 

[Soft Serve]

Theres very few reasons for it being in other than execution. Generally, you always want to L cancel, so for the most part its a needless tech barrier. In Melee theres interactions with Light shielding which causes more hitlag and thus can throw people's L cancel timings off, as well as in both games you can shield tilt to make them hit a bit early which can throw timings off as well. Other than those 2 situations (Which are just extra tech barriers) most of the cast has no reason to ever want to miss L cancels.

The exception is ICs. IC's are weird because you can intentionally miss L cancels with Popo and get it with Nana(and vice versa) only to get desychs off of your aerials. Its not a really often used tech but it has uses, and its enough of a reason to me to leave it in. I'd rather leave in a stupid mechanic than take away a slice of depth from a character.

yeah its pretty much only in because Melee, and thats not really going to ever change. Its not hard, but joint/finger pain is a legit reason to dislike it. I suggest doing what Vash said if you intend to only really play PM, set the jump button you dont use/use the least to shield and do it that way.

You can also L cancel with light press (unless you play Wifi build?) so you dont need a full press and its a lot kinder on your hands, a lot of players do it this way to save their hands. You only need the slightest input to get the L cancel.

Another option is to try to play character that doesnt need to be very input heavy. Diddy needs the buttons to be pressed, so do yoshi and MK.

 

[Narpas_sword]

Before I made this thread, I couldn't find a single decent explanation as to why L Cancelling should exist as it currently does. Also can't find that five page thread after searching again.

I typed 'l canceling' into the search box, looked through the results and found it.

http://smashboards.com/threads/improving-game-play-around-l-canceling.377223/

too hard basket?

 

[Kaye Cruiser]

Unfortunately, that version isn't allowed in competitive play.

Duh, which is why you can just use it on your own if you prefer it or do your own little mini-tourneys with it.

Either way, complaining about it pointlessly won't do anything, so quit it and just play the game however you want.

I don't like l-cancelling either but I'm not going to limit myself solely because of tourney play. I just taught myself to play with and without it. You should just do that, too.

 

[MegaMissingno]

Edit: you can also put the input buffer on.

Why isn't auto L-canceling at least just incorporated as part of the buffer option? Like if you turn buffer on, then they become automatic, but the default remains the same. I totally get why the default is never going to change, but this seems like a reasonable compromise so that casual players can have it without affecting tournament play.

 

[~Dad~]

oh look, it's this thread again

dae l cancelling too hard useless tech barrier high level casual gameplay optional control because melee

 

[EarthboundHero]

2 words.

Because Melee.

Trueeee!

That's just being lazy.
Go find it yourself.

use the search function.

y u being a ******** for bruh? come on fam you're supposed to link anyway if you mention something.

Duh, which is why you can just use it on your own if you prefer it or do your own little mini-tourneys with it.

Either way, complaining about it pointlessly won't do anything, so quit it and just play the game however you want.

I don't like l-cancelling either but I'm not going to limit myself solely because of tourney play. I just taught myself to play with and without it. You should just do that, too.

My L-Cancel percentage is always like 8% bruh and I think I play solidly. L-Canceling is very important, but other mechanics and styles can offset it if you don't use. Play like you man, find ways around your hurdles, don't wait for someone to just take it away.

 

[moonfolk]

Since no one has explicitly, painstakingly explained why l-cancelling is important, (which is what OP wants, I guess), I'll give it my best shot:

As stated previously, L-cancelling gives you an edge; it makes your character perform better, but if you miss an l-cancel input, you are more likely to drop a combo or get punished. The result is that the pressure you were applying is suddenly halted in some way, and consequently, that your opponent can gain some sort of advantage. This gives the game a more interesting flow. No one gets every l-cancel ever single time. If it was just automatic, you would see less dynamic gameplay, more zero-to-death combos, and overall, less hype gameplay. It helps the game be more dramatic. It helps the game be more dynamic. It's something to improve on. It's a good thing; it's good design.

A final point: honestly, you sound like you're being whiney or trolling, both of which don't help your case at all. What competitive videogame has EVER been designed with ergonomics in mind? I mean, it sucks that you have ****ed up knuckle joints, but you don't ever hear someone with a missing finger/hand complaing that a game is too complicated and poorly designed for them to play, they just deal with it. I have a painful metatarsal condition that makes it hard for me to ride a bike without experiencing pain, and yet I ride my bike 10 miles to work every day; I don't ***** about how hard it is or how poorly designed bicycles are or some other nonsense; it's my CHOICE to ride a bike to work. You seem to like playing the game casually—maybe that's all you'll be able to do. Deal with it. This is a free mod that has taken THOUSANDS of hours to work out and it's not so simple as "adding an auto-L-cancel mode."

 

[Phaiyte]

Since no one has explicitly, painstakingly explained why l-cancelling is important, (which is what OP wants, I guess), I'll give it my best shot:

As stated previously, L-cancelling gives you an edge; it makes your character perform better, but if you miss an l-cancel input, you are more likely to drop a combo or get punished. The result is that the pressure you were applying is suddenly halted in some way, and consequently, that your opponent can gain some sort of advantage. This gives the game a more interesting flow. No one gets every l-cancel ever single time. If it was just automatic, you would see less dynamic gameplay, more zero-to-death combos, and overall, less hype gameplay. It helps the game be more dramatic. It helps the game be more dynamic. It's something to improve on. It's a good thing; it's good design.

A final point: honestly, you sound like you're being whiney or trolling, both of which don't help your case at all. What competitive videogame has EVER been designed with ergonomics in mind? I mean, it sucks that you have ****ed up knuckle joints, but you don't ever hear someone with a missing finger/hand complaing that a game is too complicated and poorly designed for them to play, they just deal with it. I have a painful metatarsal condition that makes it hard for me to ride a bike without experiencing pain, and yet I ride my bike 10 miles to work every day; I don't ***** about how hard it is or how poorly designed bicycles are or some other nonsense; it's my CHOICE to ride a bike to work. You seem to like playing the game casually—maybe that's all you'll be able to do. Deal with it. This is a free mod that has taken THOUSANDS of hours to work out and it's not so simple as "adding an auto-L-cancel mode."

tbh all of your words are kinda extremely dumb. I'm not an extreme advocate of removing the need to L cancel as it's second nature now and I literally do it without even thinking, but your whole first paragraph only reiterates the point that there's no sense in not L cancelling and the fact that it is a needless tech barrier. If your positioning sucks so bad that you could possibly end up being 0-death'd, quite frankly you deserve it, and depending on your opponent to miss an L cancel is a /ridiculous/ crutch. That is not really "good design" at all, and I'd be hard pressed to believe you even know what that means lmao

Your second paragraph was just a slew of personal attacks and misinformation. Literally almost every good arcade game in the universe is ergonomically sound, especially some of the more recent ArkSys games. No one gives a **** about your pretentious bragging. And there's already a code that exists for auto L cancelling I'm pretty sure.

Please shut the **** up now.

 

[CORY]

eeeh, lcancelling is around, as others have said, "bcuz maylay". the translation for that, is basically, dogma.

that's not to say there's no counterplay to it, there is. in melee there was light shielding, combined with shield angling, giving you ways to try to mess up the attacker's approaches, but they didn't really change the timing that significantly, and one of those options is gone in pm (the light shield).

because of the precedent that's been set, it's not going anywhere, like it or not. it's a bit harsh to say it, but just deal with it, it's not going anywhere in pm's lifetime.

 

[trash?]

l-canceling is an arbitrary input but it's one so many people from melee do as a muscle reaction (including myself) that it's basically in for the purposes of comfort more than anything else nowadays

if there was some level of advantage to not l-canceling it would be justified, but beyond some rumblings of "some aerials auto-cancel" there's never been much of an excuse

 

[Stryker]

So what are the benefits to not L Cancelling? Unless I'm misinterpreting what you're saying, not L Cancelling allows the opponent to punish and mess up a combo?

If you throw a ball to a quarterback in the endzone and it touches him but he drops it, do we give him the points because "Well catching the ball is a pointless technicality. Why would you ever not want to catch the ball?"
No. he doesn't get the point because one of the expectational barriers to playing football is catching the football. If you mess that up, you get punished cause you can't catch the ball.

 

[waygu]

I understand the disability factor unfortunately. I've found making a face button grab allows me to attack and l cancel with the same button as well as save my finger some pain getting to z.

Muscle building over time 'may' help but you may just develop arthritis straight out :/
Stretch your hands and surrounding muscle groups and try to supplement your joints man, even gaming can do damage

 

[trash?]

If you throw a ball to a quarterback in the endzone and it touches him but he drops it, do we give him the points because "Well catching the ball is a pointless technicality. Why would you ever not want to catch the ball?"
No. he doesn't get the point because one of the expectational barriers to playing football is catching the football. If you mess that up, you get punished cause you can't catch the ball.

ah yes, the technique of catching a ball is clearly just like hitting a single button when you're near the ground

 

[KayB]

Benefits of having L-Cancelling: Adds another barrier of skill

Benefits of not having L-Cancelling: Adds another barrier of skill


Basically what I'm trying to say is that there will never truly be an ultimate consensus because you can't prove that either side is anymore correct than the other, it's simply a matter of how you interpret/feel about the facts given. Therefore, I doubt the PMDT will add auto-cancelling since they really have no motive to do so.

 

[W.A.C.]

He's not necessarily saying "because melee" is a good reason, just that it's most likely the actual basis behind it. I do agree that it's a largely pointless mechanic, but it's so ingrained in my muscle memory that I'll probably never be able to stop doing it anyways so it's like w/e to me now.

Yeah, but my point is "because Melee" should never be the primary reason for a game design decision.

Theres very few reasons for it being in other than execution. Generally, you always want to L cancel, so for the most part its a needless tech barrier. In Melee theres interactions with Light shielding which causes more hitlag and thus can throw people's L cancel timings off, as well as in both games you can shield tilt to make them hit a bit early which can throw timings off as well. Other than those 2 situations (Which are just extra tech barriers) most of the cast has no reason to ever want to miss L cancels.

The exception is ICs. IC's are weird because you can intentionally miss L cancels with Popo and get it with Nana(and vice versa) only to get desychs off of your aerials. Its not a really often used tech but it has uses, and its enough of a reason to me to leave it in. I'd rather leave in a stupid mechanic than take away a slice of depth from a character.

So it sounds like this dumb mechanic made made sense in Melee and only really benefits Ice Climbers in Project M.

yeah its pretty much only in because Melee, and thats not really going to ever change. Its not hard, but joint/finger pain is a legit reason to dislike it. I suggest doing what Vash said if you intend to only really play PM, set the jump button you dont use/use the least to shield and do it that way.

Even if I map it to a face button, it's still annoying to have to constantly press that extra input. It just makes the game way less fun for me to where I can only enjoy playing Project M casually with the game's current state.

You can also L cancel with light press (unless you play Wifi build?) so you dont need a full press and its a lot kinder on your hands, a lot of players do it this way to save their hands. You only need the slightest input to get the L cancel.

Still annoying regardless.

Another option is to try to play character that doesnt need to be very input heavy. Diddy needs the buttons to be pressed, so do yoshi and MK.

Basically my mains.

Duh, which is why you can just use it on your own if you prefer it or do your own little mini-tourneys with it.

Either way, complaining about it pointlessly won't do anything, so quit it and just play the game however you want.

I don't like l-cancelling either but I'm not going to limit myself solely because of tourney play. I just taught myself to play with and without it. You should just do that, too.

I go to Smash tournaments regularly, but never bother to enter Project M's tournaments because I currently don't play that game competitively and probably never will unless they include the option to have automatic L cancels. I don't see the point of practicing it with a mod that gets rid of it if I can't play the game competitively that way.

Since no one has explicitly, painstakingly explained why l-cancelling is important, (which is what OP wants, I guess), I'll give it my best shot:

As stated previously, L-cancelling gives you an edge; it makes your character perform better, but if you miss an l-cancel input, you are more likely to drop a combo or get punished. The result is that the pressure you were applying is suddenly halted in some way, and consequently, that your opponent can gain some sort of advantage. This gives the game a more interesting flow. No one gets every l-cancel ever single time. If it was just automatic, you would see less dynamic gameplay, more zero-to-death combos, and overall, less hype gameplay. It helps the game be more dramatic. It helps the game be more dynamic. It's something to improve on. It's a good thing; it's good design

A final point: honestly, you sound like you're being whiney or trolling, both of which don't help your case at all. What competitive videogame has EVER been designed with ergonomics in mind? I mean, it sucks that you have ****ed up knuckle joints, but you don't ever hear someone with a missing finger/hand complaing that a game is too complicated and poorly designed for them to play, they just deal with it. I have a painful metatarsal condition that makes it hard for me to ride a bike without experiencing pain, and yet I ride my bike 10 miles to work every day; I don't ***** about how hard it is or how poorly designed bicycles are or some other nonsense; it's my CHOICE to ride a bike to work. You seem to like playing the game casually—maybe that's all you'll be able to do. Deal with it. This is a free mod that has taken THOUSANDS of hours to work out and it's not so simple as "adding an auto-L-cancel mode."

So basically, the benefit of this stupid mechanic is to make the game more difficult to play so more skilled players can punish those who mess up this dumb mechanic. That is not good game design, that is bad game design. It's just a needless tech barrier that makes the game way less accessible to those who would enjoy playing a faster paced Smash Bros. game if it weren't for the pointless bloat.

if there was some level of advantage to not l-canceling it would be justified, but beyond some rumblings of "some aerials auto-cancel" there's never been much of an excuse

Pretty much. It would be one thing if every character benefited from not L cancelling depending on the situation, but there's never a reason to not L cancel for almost the entire cast, which makes the mechanic seem so dumb.

If you throw a ball to a quarterback in the endzone and it touches him but he drops it, do we give him the points because "Well catching the ball is a pointless technicality. Why would you ever not want to catch the ball?"
No. he doesn't get the point because one of the expectational barriers to playing football is catching the football. If you mess that up, you get punished cause you can't catch the ball.

The sole objective of football is to catch the batch and get touchdowns. You can't have football without people catching the ball, where as L cancelling is not a needed mechanic, which makes your comparison poor.

I understand the disability factor unfortunately. I've found making a face button grab allows me to attack and l cancel with the same button as well as save my finger some pain getting to z.

Muscle building over time 'may' help but you may just develop arthritis straight out :/
Stretch your hands and surrounding muscle groups and try to supplement your joints man, even gaming can do damage

Yeah, regardless of what I set things to, if I want to play this game very competitively, it would probably screw with my hands. I hate my finger joints so much to the point where sometimes it makes me wish I was dead.

 

[waygu]

I happen to have ehler-danlos syndrome which affects joints severely with daily dislocations and soft tissue damage not healing and resulting in increased pain and chance of arthritis etc forming. a few joints and in turn discs in my back are out due to this and i can completely understand it being so painful/frustrating that you'd rather be dead some days, if you need any information on things that could help supplement wise or stretches or just information on dealing with the pain and limitations daily i wouldnt mind, feel free to private message me, i understand what you're going through to a good extent

 

[AuraMaudeGone]

The way I see it:
L-Cancelling cuts your landing lag in half, which would imply landing without doing so is bad. If landing normally is always bad, why even keep landing lag that long by default? Why not just cut it in half and remove L-Cancelling altogether?

I don't think much would change if you're already used to L-Cancelling and if you're not I doubt it would immediately make you a better player.

Why make landing on the ground a trivial affair? (I have made L-Cancelling a habit before anyone assumes otherwise)

 

[NTG]

Another thing is that removing L-canceling would improve characters like Yoshi/Ness/Lucas/anyone with DJC a lot because it's significantly easier to make inputs if you don't have to L-cancel after DJC, might result in people calling for nerfs or whatever. Tech barriers might seem needless but without it Fox would reign supreme (ohwait)

If you throw a ball to a quarterback in the endzone and it touches him but he drops it, do we give him the points because "Well catching the ball is a pointless technicality. Why would you ever not want to catch the ball?"
No. he doesn't get the point because one of the expectational barriers to playing football is catching the football. If you mess that up, you get punished cause you can't catch the ball.

If throwing the ball to the quarterback seems typical you have bigger problems tbh

 

[Bleck]

Same reason why manual transmission is better.

"to make people feel better about their small penises"

l-canceling is an arbitrary input but it's one so many people from melee do as a muscle reaction (including myself) that it's basically in for the purposes of comfort more than anything else nowadays

I still l-cancel out of habit in smash 4

If you throw a ball to a quarterback in the endzone and it touches him but he drops it, do we give him the points because "Well catching the ball is a pointless technicality. Why would you ever not want to catch the ball?"

"correctly l-canceling" is not the victory condition in PM

The way I see it:
L-Cancelling cuts your landing lag in half, which would imply landing without doing so is bad. If landing normally is always bad, why even keep landing lag that long by default? Why not just cut it in half and remove L-Cancelling altogether?

Also worth noting is that the efficacy of an aerial attack is often affected heavily by the amount of landing lag it has, which means that shortening or lengthening landing lag is something that can easily be tweaked for balance purposes (eg. if approaching with short-hopped f-airs as [Character]was considered too safe of an approach, one could lengthen the recovery time on the attack to give players a more reasonable window to respond to it).

A lot of characters could really benefit from nerfs and buffs in this capacity, but too many people are unreasonably terrified of the game being "too slow" for it to ever be considered seriously. It's almost like people care more about "skill ceiling" and "competition" than they do about the quality of the game, or ¿something?

 

[Zoa]

I'd rather have the ability to reduce lag on my aerials instead of being stuck with a preset number of frames when committing to an aerial for any number of reasons. Too much landing lag leaves you more vulnerable, and makes committing to something that much more risky. Certain characters don't have options to play footsies, force options out of the opponent, lack air speed for approaches/punishes, or just straight up lack neutral options period. L-cancelling can potential give them a good SHFFL or aerial approach/punish. Even having a good aerial kit can be bogged down by crappy ending lag. Of course it can only serve to better those fantastic aerial kits even moreso as its a universal mechanic, but I'd rather have a mechanic that can expand my options rather than being limited to what was set by the developer(s).

Edit: Ganon in Brawl/Smash 4 being a primary example. Thank you for reminding me based CORY avatar.

 

[CORY]

the lcancelled lag is something set by developers.

just saying...

 

[trash?]

one thing that should always be noted forever in these conversations: it's not difficult to l-cancel, and that's exactly why "it's an execution barrier git gud etc" shouldn't be an excuse, because the second an average joe finds l/z-cancelling in a smash game that allows it, it's like twenty minutes of casual play AT WORST to do it semi-consistently. is it small enough to where few care? absolutely, but in terms of overall, functional game design, its strange arbitration should be discussed.

in fact, going back to this for a moment?

Same reason why manual transmission is better.

a majority of modern cars no longer have the option of manual transmission at all, period. after all, in a world where auto-transmission is good enough for 99% of the population, why waste space on it?

 

[Bleck]

I'd rather have a mechanic that can expand my options rather than being limited to what was set by the developer(s).

so do you think l-canceling just sort of magically wished itself into existence, or what

 

[Zoa]

so do you think l-canceling just sort of magically wished itself into existence, or what

No. My bad on the faulty wording. Should've said "preset landing frames" instead of the "limited by the developer(s)". Sort of contradicts itself there. Good eye.

 

[CORY]

the point the op was making still stands: if you have an aerial with 22 frames of landing lag, and it lcancels down to 11, why not skip the middle man and just make it have 11 frames of landing lag?

the answer is basically:

eeeh, lcancelling is around, as others have said, "bcuz maylay". the translation for that, is basically, dogma.

that's not to say there's no counterplay to it, there is. in melee there was light shielding, combined with shield angling, giving you ways to try to mess up the attacker's approaches, but they didn't really change the timing that significantly, and one of those options is gone in pm (the light shield).

because of the precedent that's been set, it's not going anywhere, like it or not. it's a bit harsh to say it, but just deal with it, it's not going anywhere in pm's lifetime.