Bad Execution? Pity? or a Smart Non-action?

If you've played me online, you can tell right away that I'm not even 1/3 of level of play that you guys are on. It's a great privilege to play with you guys to get better. During these matches I often notice that you guys sometimes show mercy in certain parts of the match. One example is at the end of a match, you start off a combo that would definitely KO by the end of it, but instead of finishing it, you back off with an unfinished combo, and leave me with an inch of life left. At this point I'm like: "Yaay! another chance for a comeback", and at the same time like: "Why did he do that? He could have finished me off." Another time would be when I do something random and leave myself open for extreme punishment. The fellow DSB'er would, again, start off a combo and not finish it, or just back off completely, sometimes with an ultra that would finish me off. Here are 3 reason why I think you guys do this:

1.) You accidentally drop a combo or mess up the execution on a punish move.
(Which I know EVERYONE does this one.)

2.) You make a decision not to do anything in retaliation of one of my mistakes.
(Sometimes the best thing to do is back off and do nothing in certain situations.)

3.) You feel sorry for me, or any other upcoming scrub, and give me a little breathing room.
(I have no problem with this reaction, But It's VERY ok with me to get pummeled beyond recognition. In fact, I prefer it that way. I love getting no chance to land a hit in matches, then going back to the training room and figuring out how to stop what it is I can't get through. But, Sometimes (For other people I know) it's not fun for the other person to just get beat mercilessly 58 times in a row. If I'm playing a game that I know I'm 50 times better than the other person at, I cut them some slack because I know it may not be fun for them if I'm in rushdown mode.)

So here's my question:

Do any of you guys implement #3 on this list at all? or does only number #1-2 apply when fighting someone like me?



*Hope this makes sense and sorry if I over-typed here and I may be over-thinking it a bit, but I'm a super gamer and SF4 has me so hooked into that (even though I'm super low-tier) I like to explore EVERY single pixel of it that I can. Also...my preference is to play peeps who show no mercy against me, I know after I shake the salt from my shoulders, that that match shows me what I need to work on*

I fall under #1 an #2 most of the time, I often want to finish matches with specific combos, and more often than aught, I'll not finish my opponent at my earliest convinience, and then end up dropping the combo anyways, lol

Mince wants me to practice showing a bit of mercy to the weaker members, and I have occasionaly, but I'm not really all that good at holding back.

So, I guess my answer is D: All of the above.

aha! I see! I can sense it when fighting you and other guys here, you're doing pretty good at holding back at times. Which is totally understandable. If you went Beast on every newcomer they probably wouldn't have fun or want to grow here. Thanks for the input dude

It depends on who it is so I am guilty of #3 at times. But here is my reasoning:

Option 1: I drop a s**t load of combos all the time. Often times I want to go for the maximum damage combo but because that means I need good execution (especially online) I tend to drop them and get angry cause it would have been cool/damaging. I also tend to have robotic combos. This means that my muscle memory just wants to do the tried and true combo that works. My mind, however, wants to do it differently and try to deal more damage. This confliction often has me stumble during the combo and drop an easy opportunity ("why on earth would I punish with a jab? I should do something else instead!" and hit many buttons simultaneously, just as an example)

Option 2: It depends on the mistake of my opponent. If it has fast enough recovery, I might not even do anything because they could be baiting. I've often been baited by a seemingly unsafe move only to be tagged by another, more damaging one. Especially if the opponent is in the distance, there isn't much I can do (all my favorite characters have no range)

Option 3: Now this is the boundary that is tough for me to decide on. First of all, I almost "never" go easy on my DSB brethren. I like to destroy all in my path bwahaha But seriously, I always try to do my best. In order for all of us to get better, why would going easy help? That only reinforces bad habits and that is something we all must move well beyond. I admit, if we're learning a new character, I'll take it down a notch just so I can test what you have learned with him/her and what you can do. I'll watch the match (even while playing!) to see how I/you can improve our game.

On new players though, I do go easy. I don't want to completely discourage them from playing anymore. I don't completely drop how I trained and leap into doing mistakes but I don't hold up my defensive wall as much.

For you Proto, I never go easy lol You are my DSB brother and I will make you work for that win

It's basically the same as DG & Mince. Only time #3 comes into play is when the person is new to the game. 9/10 it's always #1. I tend to drop combos, usually rushing inputs or something like that. Or just go for the safe punish of throw

I'm breaking out of that habit of throwing as the best option. I've noticed several of us, after jumping over a whiffed FA, will just throw when there are better options available. Let's break this habits! lol

For me, its usually because I messed up the combo. Or I wasn't expecting an opportunity to punish something so I kind of freeze up, which I guess sort of falls into #2.

I usually don't go easy but that's because against most of you, because we're generally even, and if anything I'm at a slightly lower skill level (not saying by a lot, just slightly). There are times when someone will whiff a combo into ultra and I won't do too much because I've been there myself.

But its hard to decide between helping to encourage someone to keep playing or doing them a disservice by not going all out and making them think they're improving if they're not. So generally, I just try some combos I still need practice with as my form of "going easy".

I will always mercilessly destroy a weaker opponent. There's no reason to show off, be lazy, and lose because of it. That's why some teams when they're up 14 in football get beaten, and usually get come back on relatively quickly. They get cocky, and yeah... that's bad. I've never played you, and I have no idea if I can crush you or not. Since you use Guile, I would teach you by showing you how he should not be used, and encourage you to make better decisions. I guess it's an Indiana thing DG. In the words of StickDeath.com, "Fuck em all, no mercy!"

So for your answers:

1: I do drop combos, yup.
2: Sometimes I'll wait, to avoid a possible trap or bait.
3: Read paragraph above.

1.

Gotta be option 1. Which really irks me, cause offline I land 80 to 90% of my combos, including Fei's one framers, and chains that turn into links that turn into hit confirms / super cancels. So instead, online, I generally play Fei a little bit more patiently, except when I get reckless with CWs.

The only time option 3 comes into play is when I'm specifically trying to teach, be it a setup, a punish, or FADC (whatever). I'll do this with Shaady alot, not so much anymore since he's improved vastly, but back in the day I'd throw a match or two to keep him from getting too discouraged. Like Sagat vs Dan storywise... :p

option 2 is where I fuck myself. I'll either miss a damn good opportunity to punish, or I'll try something reckless for big damage and eat a massive combo or an ultra.

And while I agree that throws aren't the best punish, it allows 100% of the time for an untechable knockdown, which can play heavily into crossup, mixup, and other character specific options for those with a strong game on the opponent's wakeup.

I think we're all in the same boat when it comes to rather being rocked that being sandbagged. I'll option 3 in ranked when I feel like trollan. My favorite troll is to stun only using light attacks.

YAYs! didnt know there would be so many replies, also, my intentions weren't to put anybody on the spot or talk down on how things are run around here, I'm just very curious about small the small things in SF4


Mince: Ken is really good at baiting those SRK's and following up with another one immediately, I fall for it every time, even his Shuryureppa has crazy recovery. I can tell you don't hold back any punches when training me and trust me: that is GOLDEN! hope to see you online soon, I'm kinda juggling and don't really have a set main. learned so much in the past couple of months that I'm kinda scatter brained on picking 1 or 2 to dedicate practice to.

Smooth: That throw is really powerful. It's way better than what I do on punish. 60% of the time, I forget who I'm playing with and mash out a combo or special from another character and make myself look half retard lol.

Umataro42: As far as not expecting a punish, I'm the same way dude. It rarely happens, but at this point my mind goes: "You can throw...or you could deal some heavy damage with a nice combo." If I don't throw, I just slip into mashing lol

mrmajikbus45: Thanks bus. Along with him being my fav character, I use Guile when I just want to have fun bc he's....IDK....just fun. I have trouble beating other peep's attacks that come out early (if that makes sense) I end up in the corner within 15 seconds of the match. If I start out with some good pokes to keep 'em out, then I end up with a good match. IDK, hopefully we can get some matches in soon and you can tell me what Im messing up on with him.

Fei: I feel the same way about my Blanka. I play with him online because he has really good pokes, normals, and AA's, and I can catch a lot of noobs with his tricks. But bc of the lag, even if I was great with 14+ hit combo characters, it wouldn't matter when playing in a lag-fest because at the end of the day, it all comes down to who can poke before the lag catches them. (maybe that's exaggeration) Now...offline? that's a completely different story! EVERYTHING counts offline. I completely understand the throwing a match thing. It's kinda why I stopped playing MVC3. The night I bought the game, I played about 13 matches...and lost them all....very badly...I took the game back after a whole week of beatings. I didn't want to play anymore. (lol soooo salty) So it's cool you guys let up sometimes. Also, you don't have to worry about that with me on SF4, I don't care how bad I get beat by anyone, I'm never taking it back, or ceasing to play. This is a different animal than anything I've ever played. Hell, I would never TYPE this much about anything! Not even in school or to a chick lol.

@ trolling with lights

I would have to say either 1 or 2 for me. I mess up HHS quite often, and when I do it usually ends up being an EX (And I'm still learning the timing for that link).
For punishes, sometimes it just doesn't 'click' soon enough for me to realize that I can punish things.
As for number 3, I seriously don't know how to go easy on a person. Hell, I made a troll account for Marvel in which my plan was to play bad for a match or two, then destroy them and I literally can't hold myself back long enough for that to happen.