Fighting games and taunt buttons .

[Neonit]

ehm, i never taunt. in any game. with the exception of awesomenauts when someone taunts my team (but even then, only to get to hear the new lines).

i dunno, i always try to be as sportsmanlike as possible. im always trying to be nice, especially when someone admits "sry guys, i fucked up".
i start most of the games with "good luck, have fun", i try to be nice to the other team.

since i started acting like this, i enjoy online gaming a lot more. my friendslist on steam also grew, so i guess other people appreciate it as well.

meh, i guess different tastes, different styles.

dont get me wrong, i can see the use of such things, especially in splitscreen, when you can always just slap the asshole sitting next to you

 

[Harlemura]

I don't mind taunts way too much, but you shouldn't be able to do them risk-free. I don't mind taunts so much in a really close match because then it's more likely to just be a bit of fun since they know you'll have a chance to do it back. At least, I hope that's part of the thought process.

Taunting because you're winning super hard is just being a knob though. I really hate taunts in Street Fighter 4 for this reason, because you don't even have to ride out the taunt animation, after like half a second you can start moving again. Not long enough to put yourself in danger but long enough to put that point across that you're a jerk. When someone's clearly better than me, I don't need their character yukking it up at me and then being able to stop yukking to start beating me up again. The fact you just beat me like four times in a row should be proof enough you're better, I'm fine with that. Don't go rubbin' it in my face.
[sub]All complaints voided if you're Dan because taunting is like, his thing. And you're probably not winning anyway because you're freakin' Dan.[/sub]

And post-match taunting is just disgusting. There's one Peacock player I keep finding in the Skullgirls PC beta that taunts after every round they win and oh my days I hate them so much for it.
It makes it so much worse that I don't even know how to taunt in that game.

EDIT:
I should clarify, I'm only really talking about online games here, where you fight a guy once and then they're gone into the ocean of everyone else in matchmaking. Taunting when you're playing against pals is fine because then you know it's all in good fun.

 

[The Lyre]

If you find your opponents frequently taunt you online, it's probably because you;

A) Stand at the age of the screen spamming projectiles.

B) Lie motionless on the floor because you're thinking the opponent is going to be stupid enough to let you sweep him.

C) Are playing the same irritating flavour of the month character as everyone else. That might not be your fault - maybe it really is your main, but as someone else has already said, your opponent has already fought ten Kiliks in a row.

If an enemy player has time to stand around taunting you, then they're either bragging about the fact that they're good enough to juggle you back and forth without resistance, or you're doing something really, really lame.

Either way, one of the players in a game like that is being an arsehole.

 

[Lugbzurg]

"Unsportsmanlike"? Not in the slightest. Frankly, it serves just as much purpose as a Fatality. It's expressive.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

On the one hand, the use of a taunt can exploit various psychological weaknesses of a person and thus be used for an advantage. Since good fighting games, at high levels at least, are little more than elaborate mind games comprised of bluff and counter-bluff, the use of a taunt is a perfectly useful and reasonable tool.

However, given that any sport that offers a related competition type (Fencing, Boxing, etc) not only forbids it (you can be ejected from a fencing tournament for such things on your first offense), I'd say it doesn't really have a place. Talking trash is designed to force an unpleasant mental state on your opponent which undermines the fundamental nature of the game (You tend to play those things to have fun) but also violates the spirit (you are exploiting a meta-weakness to achieve an edge).

I would also point out that in spite of it not being an action that directly impacts the game, the fact that it has the potential to impact how the game is played kinda undermines all arguments to the effect of "If they're taunting you they aren't doing something else". And people who argue against being sporting are the silliest people in the world.

If a game character was unbalanced, they'd cry foul (and call for the nerf bat). A person acting like a jerk is just as capable (if not more so) of ruining your fun as bad game balance. Being sporting, fundamentally, is simply a social contract designed to ensure the competition is fair (and fun if applicable). In fencing, whipping someone as hard as possible with a sabre is unsporting precisely because that freakin' hurts to get hit with. The rules do not deny the opportunity to make such a strike but people still generally refrain; you don't want to be whipped back in exchange.

 

[Furbyz]

The only person I play fighting games with is my friend who was one of the top 10 Fuerte's online in SSFIV. He's good enough to sometimes beat pros and orders of magnitude better than I could ever hope to be.

I have beaten him once in a fighting game. Street Fighter 2: Super Turbo. That was entirely because I used a taunt to frame trap him into a super. It was likely the single greatest move I've ever pulled off.

 

[SageRuffin]

In snip we trust again.

Well, there was your issue; everyone on this forum and the next knows that the online community for fighters in general is a bunch of fuckasses. Need I point to the few threads about rage-quitters (or even rage-winners) or even my own post about such a little ways back?

I remember a video from the EC guys about how the best way to make friends was to communicate during a match. I'm sure you don't need me to go into further detail about how little that actually works in fighters...