Poll: Fighting Game Fans: Tired of the Tier?

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

I've been a fighting game fan since Karate Champ in the 80's. Yes, I'm old.

But there's something I've been noticing for a while. It used to be you picked characters because you liked their special moves or you like the way they looked. That's fine. you work with what you have.

But now looking at the fighting game tourney scene, I see a lot of the same characters being used. In a game with 50 characters (I'm looking at you, Tekken), you see the Mishima bloodline, Miguel, Bob, and Steve dominating that tournament. Go over to UMvC 3 and most of the gameplay will be Doom, Wesker, Spencer, Dog, Morrigan, and Zero infested.

When fighting games have huge character selection, but only took the time to make 10% of those characters a good selection if you want to win, i find it to be a wasted effort. I want a variety of people to fight against. I want to go against the whole library. But why should anyone pick a character that doesn't have the godly priority, power, or frames that the beloved ten percent have?

So, I ask fighting game fans. Are you ok with the Tier system that's dominated the fighting game genre for years? Or would you like a return to when any character was a decent choice? Does the tier system add reality, or just makes all the rest of the characters that aren't top superfluous?

 

[Razentsu]

Or would you like a return to when any character was a decent choice?

I believe developers are getting better with balance nowadays. None of today's popular fighting games are so horribly imbalanced that bottom-tier characters are almost completely unviable for competitive play. We've come a long way since the days of 3S and MvC2. Even going as far back as ST, balance seems much, much better today.

People just picked who they liked back then because organized competition wasn't much of a thing back then for fighting games.

I personally do not counter-pick or tier-whore, but I respect other people's decisions to do so. I understand that nobody likes losing. It's just unfortunate that character variety has to suffer because of some imbalances.

I'm fine with tier-lists, but I'm always hoping for improved balance.

 

[Ordinaryundone]

UMvC3 is actually very well balanced, given its heritage. About half the cast is considered tourney viable, and even a good chunk of the "bad" characters are still useable in the right teams or gimmicks. And this is only after a year! Remember back when everyone thought Morrigan was gonna be terrible? And yeah, the pro scene tends to play follow the leader a lot with top characters and teams (Vergil. Vergil everywhere). that will change as new stuff is figured out.

As far as tiers go, I'm part of the camp who says tiers are in the eye of the beholder. While some characters will always be better than others, I feel that tiers only really come into play at the very highest level of play, which most people will never reach. And even then, it makes it all the more exciting when someone goes against the grain and wins with a "low" tier. If a game has characters which literally dominate the entire competetive scene, its not because of tiers. It's because the game is broken.

And trust me, there has never, ever been a time when any character was a decent choice. The only fighting game I can think where almost every character saw play is SF: Third Strike. And thats only because its been out for 10 years, and it still has some characters who are chosen above others.

 

[Fappy]

The BlazBlue titles have been incredibly balanced and keep getting better with every release. I don't think there has been an official tier list that all the pros would swear by since the first game.

I usually don't pay attention to tier lists because I'm not a professional player. At lower levels of play you should be able to win any match-up if you're good with the character.

 

[Asuka Soryu]

Reminds me of YGO. Sooo many choices, but people only go for what wins fastest.

I imagine it'd feel the same. I dislike tiers, I myself prefer to pick the character I like the most.

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

The BlazBlue titles have been incredibly balanced and keep getting better with every release. I don't think there has been an official tier list that all the pros would swear by since the first game.

I usually don't pay attention to tier lists because I'm not a professional player. At lower levels of play you should be able to win any match-up if you're good with the character.

I find this to be true and somewhat damaging. There are a few friends I know who are trying to get pro who use this as an excuse when we play. That it makes sense to have Godly tier characters for pro matches, and characters that you can just mess around with during causal play. In Tekken, I main Raven and damn, every match is a close one. Now, I like him because he's not a dial a combo player, but I do feel the pressure when I go against a combo machine like Jin who also happens to have a huge amount of damage per hit.

I think I'm wondering if it's possible to make every character feel unique without making them feel useless. Like Violet/Lee is a good example. You can't get more combo heavy than him, but he kicks like a 12 year old girl slaps. You have to work his magic to get some wins. Compare that to a Heihachi or a Bruce who have godly speed, power, and priority. Sometimes I wonder why I pick anyone else when all I want to do is grind my friends into dust.

 

[gigastar]

The tier lists have thier place in the FGC. Its up to you whether you want to take note of them or not.

I like picking characters that i like, however on occasion i also like to win.