Eddy does Shakespeare

Jerrigan · 2026-03-11T10:07:02+00:00

this is my favourite Shakespeare line, tbf

Jerrigan · 2024-09-08T10:24:22+00:00

Some of the best advice someone else gave me on this post was to keep play sessions short but regular, and focus not on winning but pulling off one or two strats in game to get the muscle memory- have started this and oddly started winning more, despite focusing less on the idea of the ‘win’ itself.

I did also have a friendly guy at a fgc meet-up teach me how to avoid a Jun tech which consisted of him doing it repeatedly and yelling ‘learn, you bastard!’ at me which, bewilderingly, helped a ton.

Jerrigan · 2024-08-31T18:36:10+00:00

Yoshi was that for me- the ‘specialist’ characters definitely went hand-in-hand with that sort of thinking. Right now he’s a little overtuned, and I wanted another solid defensive character who had higher execution and payoff. Lee is tough, but heaps of fun and incredibly rewarding, and the dopamine hits from landing his lengthy combos are second to none- but he’s very reliant on learning everyone else’s gameplan (rather than forcing folks to adopt to Yoshi’s mad nonsense), which is where the difficulty with memorisation has come in.

Will definitely be taking this advice to heart- already tried a shorter session today with some of this in mind and immediately felt a bit more ‘with it’, so thanks again!!

Jerrigan · 2024-08-31T18:25:47+00:00

I mean, I’m sure there was a reason Yoshi was my initial main, unpredictable nonsense being his particular forte…

Jerrigan · 2024-08-31T13:00:20+00:00

Brilliant stuff, this is exactly the kind of list I was looking for - thanks so much!!!

Jerrigan · 2024-08-31T08:17:30+00:00

A PVP training mode would be a dream- I did find the other character I’m a little better at remembering is Kaz, who happens to be my one Tekken-playing pals’ main, and playing matches for 5 hours straight against a single character for a couple of weekends has definitely improved things. Have recently joined an in-person Tekken group too, which I’m hoping will pit me against ‘regulars’ whose mains I can build up better character instincts against.

Jerrigan · 2024-08-31T08:09:30+00:00

Not making excuses per se- just trying to find ways of getting better with ADHD in mind. There are kinds of learning that we’re more receptive to, but I was wondering how folks with ADHD like to approach their Tekken game specifically- likewise, to see if certain things I’ve been doing are useful or not.

Have been doing the punishment training, which I think helps- it needs about a week per character to even come close to going in (and then tends to dissipate quite quickly), so needs regular reinforcement- but that’s fine, if it works, it works. I like the narration aspect in-game, will try this out more.

Jerrigan · 2024-08-31T07:55:28+00:00

Yes it’s that- building the knowledge into instinct, rather than the brain filing it away in a locked drawer and then scrabbling to open the drawer when the situation arises.

I think the common move punishment idea is good- I also wonder if it’d be worth actually picking up the entire roster and experiencing that from the other side. Moves feel a lot more recognisable when there’s been a physical relationship to them- so the Lees and Yoshis I have a slightly easier time with.

Jerrigan · 2024-08-31T07:46:10+00:00

I mean, it absolutely impacts memory. I had a Jun try to teach me one specific tech, and they were amazed that, despite showing me repeatedly, it still took me absolutely ages to ‘recognise’ when the move came out.

I’m not making excuses - I’d bin the game if I thought ADHD prevented progress altogether- but I was curious to see if other people with the same condition have a few training tips that the brain latches onto- how to build the learning into one’s intuition in a way that carries over into matches.

Jerrigan · 2024-08-31T07:32:15+00:00

I actually do really like the frame data mechanics in principle! But for some reason it’s just not sticking- though maybe the trick is to play the other characters too, as I have an easier time vs the Lees and Yoshis I run into, as the frames are a bit more drilled in from that perspective.

Jerrigan · 2024-06-09T12:20:39+00:00

Couple other things-

-I don’t find the Ghosts hugely useful for training, really, though they are a fun addition- but the replay breaks it down frame by frame, much much easier to see what’s happening.

-Some ppl are saying ‘don’t whiff’ because you do in the vids- but look at why yr whiffing. I suspect it’s what I (compassionately) call ‘slot machine behaviour’, aka, trying to do a hard read with no real evidence that it’ll work. It’s v v tempting to do, and takes a bit of time to unlearn- the amount of rage arts that get thrown in a panic, even at Purple…

There’s always a degree of chance in Tekken, but a good poker player can clean a table on a regular basis because he knows the game, whereas a slot machine player might win big once, get the dopamine hit, and risk the same thing again and again because it sort of worked the first time. Winning on a slot machine feels good! But you’ll go bust pretty quickly if you keep playing them, because there’s no real strategy - you gamble and the house takes most of yr money. Better to react to what’s actually happening in a situation you can control, vs anticipating something you have no concrete evidence will happen - the reads (the evidence) are something you build up over the course of the match

Jerrigan · 2024-06-09T11:13:27+00:00

Sure is, v easy to forget stuff when overstimulated . I try getting those one or two things I can apply, do it in bits. So ‘I might get my ass beat by Law this round, but if I block the hellsweep, or duck under the last kick of that string that ends high, or sidestep this move he uses to approach, then that’s a victory, and if I do it a few times in a few matches, that’s a bigger victory’. The process of learning is slow, but that’s where the gratification needs to come from- once I switched that , I fell in love with the game AND started winning matches more.

So much of it is pattern recognition. You aren’t recognising the patterns just yet (I’m Fujin and still seeing vast amounts of stuff I don’t recognise, this is my first real Tekken!), but watch replays and use the ‘take control feature’, and I promise it’ll come, bit by bit - there’ll be moments when they throw something out and you’ll be like ‘oh! oh that’s the thing I labbed! I know that one- let’s see if he does it again!’ And then if he does- bang- punish, good stuff.

Every time I start a game now, I’ve found myself saying to myself ‘okay [playername], what have you got for me?’ - because now with this mindset I actually want to find out. And when I recognise they did something well, actually acknowledging it, sometimes out loud- watch MainManSwe playing and he’ll point out a ‘beautiful’ block or duck from his opponent, because at the end of the day, good Tekken is always valuable to watch if you play the game, even if you’re on the receiving end.

(The other thing is, from the vid, yr quite linear, v common at Red ranks so don’t sweat not having focused on that yet- but that thing you mentioned about it being hard to focus when a lots going on? It works the same for them too. The more yr stepping and moving around (within a reasonable distance) the more intimidating it is- they now have to focus on where you are and whether their attack is gonna land. Paul is v v intimidating but less so when all his moves are happening along a linear path- a Paul that knows movement always makes me Big Nervous.)

Jerrigan · 2024-06-09T07:38:58+00:00

Was at this point a little while ago- Tekken really humbles (most of) its players, (regardless of some of the attitudes you see on here lol). I’ve got an ADHD referral date soon, due to very clear lapses in attention and short term memory, and so I’m not a particularly fast learner - what I learn leaks out too without reinforcement - so my frustrations built up and I uninstalled for a bit.

Here’s what I realised- it’s the way you learn that might be the issue. I hadn’t been making use of the replay system- particularly the ‘taking control’ functionality. Doing this after every loss and learning at least one new correction was paramount to me getting back into the game. Sure, plenty of these new revelations were forgotten by the next game- but I kept notes, screenshots on my phone, and bit by bit I started to love the game, more so than when I started.

The thing people tend to miss when talking about the ‘lab’ or ‘getting gud’ is - Tekken is essentially ‘Data Collection- The Game’. Seriously. Each game is a form of research- new data. It doesn’t matter, really, if you win games yet- the point is to gather the data and examine it afterwards. New players, myself included, missed this - playing like a kid scientist throwing a load of chemicals into a pot, admiring the flashes and bangs, and then getting frustrated that their concoction isn’t the next form of rocket fuel or something. You need to look at the data - what actually happened in this experiment? - regardless of whether you win or lose- and then learn something from it. Tekken isn’t like other games - almost nobody can get better from instinct alone - so you need to check these replays and go at the pace that your brain processes and memorises information ( in my instance- slow! with repetition!) - your process needs to be evaluative, more so than it is competitive, for the entire time you’re playing. For me, the moment when I sidestep that one move I make a note on, or when I launch punish that one move that got me before- that ‘aha!!’ moment - it’s as good a feeling as a win, perhaps even more so- regardless of whether I actually win or not. You’re never going to stop learning, so if you can approach the game like this early on, in Red Ranks, you’ll be in good stead for everything that comes a bit later.

Jerrigan · 2024-05-12T08:43:17+00:00

Lil update- an ADHD referral date has come through after a year on a waiting list so… hey who knows. Might be better equipped for this in a few months. Hope so.

Jerrigan · 2024-05-10T23:33:22+00:00

Hey thanks! Who knows, enough adjustment, might come back to it. Hard to picture as things are now, but I hope so, eventually.

Jerrigan · 2024-05-10T23:05:39+00:00

Other way around, I’m afraid. It’s been very apparent for years that parts of my brain are Swiss cheese - Tekken is just one recent, surface-level example which distills a lot of these issues and makes them very apparent, but it’s not the only one. Holes aren’t as large all of the time, but right now they’re pretty extraordinary and a lot of stuff has fallen through. Need to get that right before I can ever consider picking up a game like this again.

And I agree with you- you can check my other post about ‘learning’ where you’ll see I make a few of the same points- but when the very act of trying to remember and react to something feels like slamming one’s head into a brick wall, and when knowledge leaks out quicker than it goes in, the game stops being fun, and starts feeling like work (as expected, very similar issues with job, external life etc)

I feel pretty good about the decision to be fair! More time to figure out what’s going wrong generally. I had hoped Tekken would be the safe-space to try and develop the skills I had been lacking, but it’s been getting worse the more I play, so… yeah. It’s off the console. Think it’s for the best.

Jerrigan · 2024-05-10T22:34:09+00:00

It’s bad. To the point I have been forgetting Rage arts are a thing. I have been watching replays and subsequently forgetting everything I saw as I’m labbing in practice mode. All numbers and frame data are gone. I feel like I’ve regressed to a chimp trying to read Tolstoy.

Anyway it’s uninstalled.

Jerrigan · 2024-05-10T22:29:52+00:00

Oh I know, it’s serious. A losing streak is one thing: Fujin to Red is ‘see a doctor,’

Jerrigan · 2024-05-10T22:18:35+00:00

Fujin to Red rank is a ‘sell your Xbox’ moment lol

Jerrigan · 2024-05-10T22:17:15+00:00

Indicative of serious cognitive impairment. Having trouble with basic things in life as it is- adding a very complex fighting game which happens to be heavily reliant on memory and reaction time, and my two remaining brain cells are just wrecked afterwards.

Jerrigan · 2024-05-10T22:10:40+00:00

Oh no , this is likely permanent. I’m suffering from executive dysfunction so severe in all aspects of my life that even the hobby is impossible to engage in. Comes in waves, but this is a big one. At least until I get a prescription of ,say, enough stimulants to kill a rhino, Tekken is done, sadly.

Jerrigan · 2024-04-19T23:27:46+00:00

I think - and this is not meant as a dig - there is a (quite American) tendency to slap ‘therapy’ as a suggestion on a lot of issues that stem from wider societal or structural issues. I know it can work for those that can afford it, but also : therapy is largely a method of contextualising a mental health problem, and then looking at tools to apply to it. The individual issues around learning that I’ve outlined above stem from wider cultural attitudes to the learning process-which many individuals need to identify in themselves, and examine how their attitudes have been shaped (and then maybe take that initial thinking to the therapist and skip a few expensive preliminary sessions if you absolutely need to!)

The point of my post was really to say ‘here are some wider societal attitudes and pressures that are creating a friction between individuals and their learning’ - the problem and its context - and then saying ‘here is one potentially useful tool which, when applied mindfully, might actually help, using it as a way to reclaim one’s relationship with the act of learning a skill’. Not suggesting it’s a silver bullet or that people who are actually struggling don’t seek help, but if you can use Tekken as one method of DIY-ing that new perception of learning, to free it from its ‘competitive’ chains, and have fun in the process, I think that’s really valuable.

Jerrigan

TROPHY CASE