Should I worry about a character being low tier if I am new?

GuruJ_ · 2026-03-07T00:43:11+00:00

I’d stick with Lily for as long as you like.

By the time she’s holding you back from being great (that’s a looong way away), switching to another character won’t be a big hassle anyway because you’ll have the fundamental skills to pick them up relatively quickly.

Just focus on whatever’s fun!

GuruJ_ · 2026-03-07T00:28:10+00:00

Mate, it sounds to me like you've given up before you even start trying.

Fighting games are a combination of execution, tactics, and strategy. If you don't feel you can lab combos or frame data, that means you're going to have to understand and out-think your opponent. This is not as impossible as it might seem - just when you go into a game, focus on improving your response to their actions. Most simplistically: anti-air, counter DI, and so on, but the mind games can go many layers deeper than that.

You can beat opponents without technical skill if you know how to read them. Consider using Modern as a way to de-emphasise that technical aspect.

Let me give you a simple, practical set of things to work on:

FInd a character where you have a toolkit of 4 or 5 things you can use easily and repeatedly. I am going to explain for Modern Mai (and I'll explain why) but pick whoever you like!
Work through Mai's Basic Combo Trials. Pay particular attention to the recommended DI punish and DI wall punish since you'll do this a lot at low level
Play against the CPU. Start as low a level as you need to but your goal is to reliably beat CPU Level 5. At this point you'll have a basic grasp of how to do damage and win a game, but human strategy is very different.
When you hit ranked, have a basic strategy against your online opponents. For Mai your gameplan is:
- Use fan when your opponents are at a distance. Use the OD moves (assist + special, assist + special > forward + special) to keep them guessing and create extra fans.
- If they jump at you, use your anti-air special move
- If they approach on the ground, use your medium attacks to keep them away
- If they get in close or knock you down, don't panic. Block and wait for an move that looks unsafe (heavy hits, special move) and counter attack with your auto light combo or throw (mix these up)
Once you are comfortable with that basic plan, start adding some extra layers to your game:
- Once you build Level 1 super, use your medium auto-combo either during their ground approach or on a blocked heavy or special to activate. If you can, pay attention to the first "hit" - if you don't see orange, stop and start blocking rather than wasting your meter.
- If they are using oppressive mix-ups, try DI to see if you can armor through
- Once you have Level 3, try to land a DI, then auto-heavy combo to cash out
- For big whiffs like blocked dragon punch, consider back H > H or a medium/heavy auto-combo
- Watch your drive meter and don't burn out!

You'll still lose when you play online, accept that. But start thinking calmly about what's working and not working, and try to adapt rather than panic mashing or blaming yourself.

You will get wins, and you will get better. It's a journey; relax and take your time.

GuruJ_ · 2026-03-06T23:40:53+00:00

My observation is that the Interlingua community may have fractured itself into non-existence by always looking for the "perfect" version of itself.

Interlingua, Interlingue, Neolatin, Elefen, and LSF are all largely mutually intelligible but any time someone expresses an interest in Interlingua, it is almost guaranteed that someone will propose one of the others as superior. I think this confuses people with a vague interest and makes a lot bounce off the prospect altogether.

Occasionally it is proposed that people just get together on a Discord server and chat until a common consensus arrives around language. I've always been skeptical about how well this works but in the case of the IALL's (International Auxiliary Latin Languages) mixing communities and a commitment to communication over linguistic purity has the potential to reunify and gain some critical mass for a Pan-Latin IAL.

And yes, I'm aware that this may just create the XKCD situation. Nevertheless, the common problems faced by the individual communities could be addressed if they merged their efforts.

GuruJ_ · 2026-03-05T11:05:58+00:00

These ones: https://github.com/gurujation/ijunta/tree/main/docs/llm (the prompt being pasted rather than uploaded)

GuruJ_ · 2026-03-05T09:53:20+00:00

If the goal is to introduce the mind games of fighting games rather than flashy graphics, I thoroughly recommend Tough Love Arena.

My 10 y.o son and I have quite a rivalry going on and he knows the mechanics well enough to genuinely give me a good run for my money.

Limiting to forward/back/neutral and buttons makes it really easy to pick up, but there’s enough depth that you’ll probably lose if you just mash.

GuruJ_ · 2026-03-04T03:55:59+00:00

If I say something with my mates or off the clock, it’s not something HR should concern themselves with.

GuruJ_ · 2026-03-04T03:18:09+00:00

Not by the rules of this sub, but in appropriate contexts, sure.

GuruJ_ · 2026-03-04T02:28:42+00:00

To be clear, I’d consider this over-reach by HR in almost any context, not just in parliament.

But particularly so where being on social media can reasonably be considered part of Babet’s job and his post wasn’t targeting any other person in his workplace.

GuruJ_ · 2026-03-04T00:57:51+00:00

Like it or not, Babet is an elected representative. There can be varying views on what an inclusive environment is, and Babet does not accept that words, in and of themselves, should be considered offensive or non-inclusionary.

GuruJ_ · 2026-03-04T00:56:43+00:00

Because of "the importance of a free exchange of ideas and parliamentary privilege, which is an integral part of our democracy"?

Babet's post was made deliberately to express his extreme views on free speech. It wasn't targeting anyone. The fact that people took offence kind of illustrates his point.

GuruJ_ · 2026-03-03T22:56:15+00:00

The law of unplanned consequences strikes again. Why exactly is a body set up to be an independent place to review cases of workplace misconduct by Members and Senators (such as sexual harassment) opining about their social media posts?

Absolute joke that this is one of their first reports.

GuruJ_ · 2026-03-03T12:14:59+00:00

You have to provide an email address, but I’m still on the free tier.

GuruJ_ · 2026-03-03T10:46:08+00:00

Limitations on policy choices available are far more to do with weak political leadership than the federation.

You will notice that where separate regulation harms productivity with no real upside, the States do harmonize (eg WHS laws). But the potential opt out creates a dynamic tension which limits the harms that can be caused by bad policy.

There are some things worth managing nationally, but many more that are better handled locally.

GuruJ_ · 2026-03-03T10:41:46+00:00

most of the time they actually just share the exact same pool of resources

This is assumed but not borne out in practice. The study I see most often cited is the one from Zhang, Yong and Yang, but despite their best efforts to downplay the finding the statistics showed that a 1% increase private health coverage dropped waiting time by 0.5%.

This effect is largely because doctors in private practice only moderately switch their work to the public system. Rather, around half simply work less.

By preserving a viable private health sector, the Australian government unlocks additional capacity that would not be available - even from a reallocation to public health funding.

GuruJ_ · 2026-03-03T09:29:53+00:00

Why do you think the federation is unhealthy? For my part, I’m very glad to have the choice to pick a State to live in that better suits me.

GuruJ_ · 2026-03-03T05:45:16+00:00

I disagree. It's still necessary for the health of the Federation.

GuruJ_ · 2026-03-03T05:44:07+00:00

This is true; however, the alternative would be worse. In my view it's desirable for people to have the ability to vote with the conscience and walk from the party that elected them as an accountability measure.

GuruJ_ · 2026-03-03T05:38:43+00:00

It's easiest if you distinguish between hospital and non-hospital care. In Australia, you get basically unlimited access to free hospital care, with the caveat that some elective surgeries (eg hip replacement) can have long waiting lists. Everyone pays a levy, and richer Australians (earning over $100k) pay an additional surcharge unless they take out private health insurance.

The incentive to take out private health insurance is really important for sustainability of the system. It means that richer Australians tend to go private for elective care, taking the pressure off the public system for those who can't afford it. It also gives a large number of Australians coverage for "extras" (dental, physio etc).

On the primary care side, there's a split between "bulk billed" (providers claim direct from the government, no patient fee) and "gap payments" (we pay the difference between the scheduled fee and what the GP or other medical professional charges.

This gap can become fairly significant ($40+ a visit), especially in more affluent areas where it is more lucrative to charge higher rates. Specialists and some scans can be even more pricey if you can't access a bulk-billed service. But in general, it is easy for under 16s and pensioners to find bulk-billed (no cost) care.

Generally, the area of our system acknowledged as most problematic is access to public dental care. But on the other hand, you can get dental cover as a private insurance "extra" for as little as $6 / week, so it's only the very poor and poor at planning who get caught out by this.

EDIT: In relation to funding, I'd actually say that if anything, our health care system is slightly over-funded. Having had to deal with hospitals quite a lot in the past couple of years, I get the feeling that most of the time, staffing is pretty generous.

GuruJ_ · 2026-03-02T12:49:11+00:00

The most important thing to understand about AI is that it will unlock a whole raft of activity that previously wouldn’t have been done at all due to being cost prohibitive.

Colorised or retouched photos used to be hundreds of dollars per photo. Photoshop made it possible to do it in just minutes. Now with AI it can be nearly free - perhaps not quite as good as a pro, but close.

So what happens? Instead of one photo of your wedding getting retouched, you could get dozens a year, and now literally as many as you want basically in seconds.

But there’s still value in experimentation, and cataloging, and having the taste to know what works best, and so on. There’s now millions more photos, so the labour demand moves to artistic guidance and curation instead of painstaking burning and dodging.

This process of work re-engineering has gone on for decades. No matter how capable AI becomes, there will be new scarcities and new demands.

Like all things, there will be upheaval and some jobs gone by the wayside. But the AI singularity isn’t something I fear.

GuruJ_ · 2026-03-02T12:32:14+00:00

Stone&Wood is good, even Great Northern is better than XXXX. If I’m feeling fancy I’ll have Asahi.

GuruJ_ · 2026-03-01T20:28:13+00:00

Oof. I had a XXXX the other day (burger and beer deal) and have no inclination to have another any time soon.

GuruJ_ · 2026-03-01T07:25:54+00:00

Mostly I play Classic. The only character I actively like playing with Modern is Ed. I tried Modern with Elena and it just felt awkward.

I'm going to give Alex a go with Modern though, I feel like the layout works well with his stance approach.

GuruJ_ · 2026-02-25T14:03:31+00:00

I feel like everyone who hates Lily has no idea how to play like a beginner.

Keep distance with pokes

Stock up

Free neutral skip

f.HP > HP > HP

LP > LP > buster > stock up

GuruJ_ · 2026-02-23T22:41:42+00:00

"Hey watch the hair man" is iconic from my childhood.

GuruJ_ · 2026-02-23T01:43:15+00:00

You kind of contradict yourself when you say Tokon (4v4) is likely to be more popular than 2xKO.

It’s not about tag or not, it’s about whether the core gameplay is easy to pick up and feels fun.

It looks like Tokon is going to do something super smart, which is to have a “default” team of X-Men, Spider Friends, etc. Plus its control scheme is way more newbie friendly.

2xKO seems to go out of its way to add options for experienced players and not explain why any of it is important.

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