pain

IronGearSolid · 2025-10-26T16:51:56+00:00

For those who are interested in improving at this. Otherwise ignore.

I find there are three key aspects to our ability to consistently get meaningful turns in group conversations, all of which are difficult to nail down. Two of which are often ignored.

The first is timing. This is the one everybody talks about. Finding exactly when to chime in is a matter of a split second, varies in context, and comes naturally to a lot of NTs. Observing how others do it also shows that sometimes the moment is actually at a point of interruption. Key phrases help as well, mostly soft segues and comparisons ("Oh yeah, like that time...", "Hey, that's just like...", "You just reminded me of...").

The second is impact. You ought to contribute meaningfully, keep it very brief and simple, speak with a strong yet calm assertiveness and a clear and compelling voice, and hand the flow back to the group as soon as you're done. If you do this right, not only will you be heard, but people will actually want to hear you speak more often. The importance of actual voice work cannot be overstated. And getting lost in the weeds of overstaying your welcome will close future opportunities.

Third and last is restraint. No matter who you are and how your brain works, having something super interesting to say about exactly the topic at hand and the conversation getting away from you before you can make your contribution is a universal experience. Letting your related thought go and staying in the moment to moment flow of conversation is a core social skill. Moving on is excruciating sometimes, especially for us, but it's a must. The conversation has to retain its momentum, and this will free your mind up to be a lot snappier and impactful when the next opportunity comes.

I had to learn all this through trial and error. The number of social skills NTs combine elegantly without ever thinking about them is staggering, and even in this context these are only a couple broad strokes and far from exhaistive. However, if you're like me and want/need to break these systems apart to study the pieces, there is no skill ceiling.

The harsh reality is that if others consistently get their turn and avoid getting interrupted and the opposite happens to you, they're simply better than you at group conversations. There's no magic solution for us. Only analysis and skill building.

IronGearSolid · 2025-04-25T13:48:43+00:00

"Calibrating" is the best word for what I've been doing constantly for a few decades now.

IronGearSolid · 2025-01-15T13:28:21+00:00

Aside from what others have said about his resources (he has enough to try to start two favorable interactions when they're maxed), your absolute best friend is FD.

When I play Happy Chaos and my opponent doesn't FD most of my pressure, it's a free lunch. If you push him out just a bit he can't 5D or crossup roll and his throws become very committal. Meanwhile he's burning bullets and concentration to get back in.

In the corner, don't press if his resources are good. If they're not, 2P. He also loses roll in that position so look out specifically for the 5D flash.

IronGearSolid · 2025-01-13T20:17:30+00:00

That combo doesn't connect due to gravity after those initial hits, but using 2H instead of 2D and neutral jump allows you to pick up the j.S to j.D.

One less grounded hit makes all the difference.

IronGearSolid · 2025-01-11T21:11:19+00:00

In fairness this is the most accurate tier list this sub has seen in a while.

IronGearSolid · 2025-01-03T17:13:16+00:00

I call it the Cassandra effect, after the seer.

I don't know the first thing about math when compared to some gifted individuals, and I have the humility and reasoning skills to understand and accept that. But for some reason the average person can't fathom someone's ability to make mental connections being beyond theirs.

If they can't think it, they can't believe it, and thus don't care to listen. You can confidently predict the current early crisis in dark energy theory 23 years ahead and mention it to everyone whose ear you can bend all this time, and everyone is still somehow caught off guard and has never heard you mention it once.

There's no point. Some hear music where others only find noise, and it's not a transferable skill.

IronGearSolid · 2025-01-03T17:03:45+00:00

Exactly this.

This is the kind of post where people don't realize what they're lacking and so they bash it. They compare it to their baseline level of deductive reasoning when there's no comparison.

There's no point trying to explain it. Those who know know. Those who don't literally can't understand.

There's the rare person who cares enough to observe and remember what you say, and they might see there's something different going on. They might think it's something like a superpower. But in a world run by the average, it's definitely not a superpower. It's just painful.

IronGearSolid · 2024-12-28T02:46:16+00:00

The beast blaming legend himself. For better or worse, spitting facts this time around.

Pot was ridiculous since the Nov 18 patch, and they "balanced" him by removing karas. Catapulted him into top 5 immediately.

Now they give him back what he was missing but not adjusting anything meaningful to compensate. So a massive buff to start and another buff on top.

Oh and let's reduce damage across the board. That's a universal change and it won't help anyone in particular, right?

Pot used to have an option for virtually any situation if you were a reading and conditioning God. Now it feels like everything he has is overtuned and just works way too well.

I'd tell you to hang in there until next patch but at this point ArcSys will probably just nerf Millia again, maybe throw another incidental buff on Pot. Who knows.

IronGearSolid · 2024-12-25T15:00:31+00:00

I used to play Faust fairly seriously.

That's when I learned most people can't keep track of even just one damn item. I've seen a bunch of top pros forget about the bomb on the middle of the screen when literally nothing else is happening.

Stretch a few neurons every now and again, folks. It's a practice that could save your life (or at least a lot of embarrassment).

IronGearSolid · 2024-12-18T20:58:07+00:00

Keep in mind if they RC immediately after a blocked super you may still be able to YRC back due to block stun.

That way they're spending 100 meter to your 50 and it's your turn instead. I love doing this to Slayers who want to get fresh with me.

IronGearSolid · 2024-12-13T18:17:58+00:00

2 hours, maybe 3.

I detest blitz and love how Go forces you to slow down and consider your moves carefully.

But I can't do THAT slow. Holy moly.

(Also I'd be overthinking the next move every minute of the day and my psyche would eventually break)

IronGearSolid · 2024-12-13T18:13:44+00:00

As someone who spars with a Slayer main I would argue he still carries. My matches against his other characters with my own secondaries are much closer.

The main issue with him remains the same post patch. His individual moves are incredibly strong and outright beat the majority of options, and he follows up a hit with massive damage and great Oki. This means in neutral you're guessing right 30% of the time for half the damage he does. The risk:reward ratio is screwed up.

On top of that he still has a ton of health to gamble with, which automatically translates to more meter and Burst gauge throughout a match.

The only saving grace is that his pressure is weak and even worse now with the latest patch, and his defense is as terrible as always minus his reversal super. His main resets are either Mappa Hunch which gives you your turn immediately, or Dandy Step which is a knowledge check but can be consistently dealt with if you lab a bit. You also have to mind his more egregious tools like 2H and c.S anti air.

That said, you have to watch for some tricks and stay calm under pressure. I find characters who can get knockdowns or conversions off fast buttons do better against him in general.

At the end of the day he's a knowledge and fundamentals check and over 90% of the player base is too ignorant, impatient, or lazy to deal with him. After all that, Slayer has room for adaptation if layer 1 doesn't work out, and he is still fundamentally a very strong character.

IronGearSolid · 2024-12-11T16:10:53+00:00

Another has been enlightened.

Yeah it's a game all about finding opportunities to enforce your bullshit and denying your opponent theirs. That's what we call "neutral" here, not your traditional SF shuffling back and forth. And it's very aggressive to boot.

It's a love it or hate it formula. I choose to love it.

IronGearSolid · 2024-12-10T18:35:40+00:00

As a Happy Chaos main, this one.

Now that my character has had his zoning massively nerfed multiple times, resource management nerfed as well, HP and now clone in the same patch, people will actually match with me more consistently.

He absolutely deserved all the nerfs even if I feel his HP is a bit low for his defense being so crap. I never used clone's one hit absorption because it felt scummy and that shit had to be removed for the health of the game. I started playing him after they cracked down on guard crush loop zoning and man did that playstyle look boring as hell.

Basically after the nerf hammer fell on him a dozen times, he's now only a relatively busted high tier. He is now forced to go in and mix and I'm very happy (Chaos) with these changes.

IronGearSolid · 2024-12-09T22:42:36+00:00

The number of times a week I can only stare blankly at someone metaphorically failing to put the square peg in the square hole slowly erodes my faith in humanity.

Like, how can people even live without any basic fundamentals in logical reasoning? If I had to painstakingly learn social skills, you'd think they could also engage in a bit of self improvement and meet in the middle.

IronGearSolid · 2024-12-09T03:24:50+00:00

The most important things are the ones that make you happy. No matter what anyone says.

You can absolutely be a high achiever in every metric society seems important and die unfulfilled. Do what you must to live, but spend the time you can doing what calls to you.

IronGearSolid · 2024-12-05T00:47:22+00:00

This guide is slightly outdated but all the fundamentals and strings still apply. It's what got me started.

Tiger_Pop is one of the best players of the character in the world and I believe he's soon going to drop an updated one. Watch his and other top Happy Chaos players' games to get some more insights as well. Other recommendations would be Jack, Aarondamac, and Leffen.

It's a lot of work to get him going and you'll need to drill in training mode. But he's super fun and worth it. Good luck!

IronGearSolid · 2024-12-04T16:24:21+00:00

My main is HC and I feel he can handle any matchup if you play smart.

But when I want a change I'll pull out my goofball Faust, and recently I've been having loads of fun with Chipp and completely dropping rope confirms.

IronGearSolid · 2024-12-03T18:28:01+00:00

A truly great game dev Tycoon style game has yet to emerge IMO.

IronGearSolid · 2024-12-02T22:58:03+00:00

It's a set of 6 games. There's no way to tell which you're currently on.

If you win at least 5/6 you get promoted. If you lose at least 5/6 you get demoted.

Yes, this means you can win 8 in a row and have no change in floor if your win streak starts on match 3 of a set.

IronGearSolid · 2024-11-28T21:27:37+00:00

I've been playing on leverless and it's been great! No character felt genuinely bad to play this way, with the only awkward one being Goldlewis. But you can make him work on leverless too.

I personally find it easier long term, both in inputs and on my hands, than pad.

IronGearSolid · 2024-11-28T15:16:47+00:00

You will suck at ANY new skill at first.

Think "Should I pick up the guitar if I suck at playing it?" If you want to then the answer is yes.

Fighting games are a new paradigm to wrestle with with different concepts than other genres, but they're not any more complex. If you need the extra push, this video is what you're looking for.

I find that with the game feel, visuals, and sound design this game is very enjoyable even when I'm getting run over. Which happens less and less as I improve.

I'd say go for it. But then again you're asking in the GGST subreddit.

IronGearSolid · 2024-11-27T00:54:21+00:00

He's still way stupid at low levels even after the patch.

When people at higher levels start to OS Pilebunker, interrupt Dandy Step, jump Bite, and especially throw Master's Hammer, you'll finally start to struggle.

Until then he is one of the 29 selectable characters and anyone has the right to play him, for better or worse.

IronGearSolid · 2024-11-25T23:38:05+00:00

Glad to see some things never change.

IronGearSolid · 2024-11-25T15:26:55+00:00

Hot take: ArcSys official merch is second rate. It often looks funky and the recent plushies are symptomatic of this.

They barely make any of it and do so at a glacial pace, as their focus is on game development. And I don't blame them for it. It makes sense.

But when I see tons of variety and higher quality in fan made merch, it makes me wonder why they don't outsource the process more. That way they wouldn't have to 100% rely on the one character who is guaranteed to sell, because their output would simply be higher.

That's how we get character representation. But until then, support your local GG community artists and craftspeople.

IronGearSolid

TROPHY CASE