You said you wanted be caught up, so...

<Roman`Torchwick> I'm a little curious since it goes over game development topics you might have opinions on which I'd like to hear
<Roman`Torchwick> Like this one for example
<Roman`Torchwick> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVL4st0blGU
<HeartCard> See my problem with watching videos like that comes in two ways:
<HeartCard> #1. From the title of the video alone, I can already tell you damn near everything there is to say on the subject.
<HeartCard> #2. Their opinions do not matter.
<HeartCard> And #2 is pretty critical here. It's a nice thought to say something broad like that video itself does. That having more features is a downgrade to having more REFINED features.
<HeartCard> The idea of Quality>Quantity is nothing but a nice thought, it doesn't actually apply in reality as a standard at all. And it's pretty easy to figure this out for yourself.
<HeartCard> IE Mario Party and such games thrive on variety, not polishing each individual game.
<HeartCard> It's better to have a hundred 5/10 minigames than it is to have a Dozen of 7/10 games.
<HeartCard> So already you have scenarios where Quanity>Quality, but there are cases where the choice of Quantity or Quality is not available.
<HeartCard> There are points you may reach in development where improving the quality of a thing is just not viable or even possible.
<HeartCard> IE ProJared Criticized Metal Gear Rising for having a Turret Sequence. IE that it just added more content instead of improving the content that was already there.
<HeartCard> But I would stand to say that the turret is nothing but excess. It took nothing away from the actual combat which was already fine-tuned to damn near perfection other than the Camera functionality.
<HeartCard> You could argue that "instead of doing the turret, they could have focused on bettering the camera" but that's not how it works.
<HeartCard> Improving the Lock-On features could become cumbersome depending on how it is designed. And the most effecient way would be more straining on a person's hands for the controller because of how MGSR's control scheme is setup for OTHER buttons.
<HeartCard> Likewise many of the camera problems are extreme scenario examples that only apply when you, the player, are already putting the game to it's highest levels of complexity and depth by playing on the most difficult settings.
<HeartCard> This is why I don't listen to generic speeches of "Game should be This." or "Developers need to focus on That". Because it's all too subjective to the project at hand.
<HeartCard> Listening to your fanbase is critical, listening to OTHER games fanbases is a bad idea.
<HeartCard> Lost Saga is even an example of this.
<HeartCard> Frames are [unpassably vital] to competitive fighting games like Soul Calibur/Dead or Alive.
<HeartCard> Paying no heed to them will [cripple] your skill at tournaments and the like against players who studied the frames of their and YOUR character.
<HeartCard> But this is not the case in Lost Saga. Tiger still has the literally best guard in the game and fastest punish.
<HeartCard> In any competitive fighter, Tiger would be [banned] from tournaments for it's guard&first D hit alone.
<HeartCard> But because of how Lost Saga is structured, frame advantages...Don't matter. At all.
<HeartCard> Especially because blocking...doesn't matter. At all.
<HeartCard> And that's where LS really goes downhill. Blocking makes pretty much no difference in a competitive match.
<Roman`Torchwick> It's more invul. frames that do, right?
<HeartCard> Actually? It's Range.
<Roman`Torchwick> Hm
<HeartCard> Invul frames are too infrequent to make use of. What actually matters is Range.
<Roman`Torchwick> Yeah, that makse sense
<Inquire> IDK if I'd say it doesn't matter, but LS prioritizes being aggressive than being defensive.
<HeartCard> This is why Cyborg and Hazama are so cripplingly powerful when they came out
<HeartCard> Inquire: You can literally win a match without blocking once.
<HeartCard> And that's how LS Tournaments go generally
<HeartCard> Blocking is...not your best option because of how vulnerable you are while blocking.
<HeartCard> Fuck lemme say that shit again:
<HeartCard> Blocking
<HeartCard> Makes you
<HeartCard> [Vulnerable]
<HeartCard> Let the absurdity of that sink in for a minute.
<Roman`Torchwick> I think I can see what you mean by that
<Inquire> When you block, you are basically immobile while your opponent has free reign to do what he wants.
<Inquire> what they*
<Roman`Torchwick> Nah, it's not that I don't think
<HeartCard> No it's even simpler than that
<HeartCard> While you're blocking, you're not doing the thing that actually keeps you from taking damage from Skills in LS: Hitting your opponent
<HeartCard> or running away
<HeartCard> Getting past a guard is...at this point, not just easy but rather...A coincidence.
<HeartCard> Many of the better characters break through guard by sheer fucking coincidence to their combos.
<HeartCard> IE Kyo/Dragon Slayer/etc
<HeartCard> Cyborg is another example of this as well
<HeartCard> See in most games, getting around a guard comes in two ways: Height choices(low/mid/high) or Risk/Reward moves.
<Roman`Torchwick> It's like, you're setting yourself up to get because there are so many ways around it without really even making an effort to do so
<Roman`Torchwick> get hit*
<HeartCard> Risk/Reward generally come in three ways: Slow unblockable moves, Chargeup Abilities, and Grapples.
<HeartCard> All of which put you at a disadvantage to attempt to use when it's not the best time to do so.
<HeartCard> And Lost Saga features...Neither of these.
<HeartCard> You can't crouch, and jumping is a huge commit.
<HeartCard> And unblockable moves are LITERALLY faster than blockable moves often.
<Roman`Torchwick> Is that taking skills into account or not?
<HeartCard> I was actually referring to skills mostly tbh
<HeartCard> There are some unblockables that are pretty damn fast too though
<Roman`Torchwick> Ah. Yeah, that's true
<Inquire> Cyborg's single rocket can be pretty fast if close up.
<Inquire> Just intermix that and he's machine gun.
<Inquire> IDK, I can get your points about blocking. I just feel like I play better when I'm blocking when in certain situations instead of trading hits.
<Inquire> Which is why I can't really give a POV without being bias on my playstyle.
* Phonon (uid83455@protectedhost-B25F0DF8.irccloud.com) has joined
<HeartCard> Inquire, not to be a dick(because usually that's your job), but; Nigga you don't play LS competitively.
<Inquire> I know?
<HeartCard> Well it's like...
<HeartCard> Yeah where you played doesn't get that bad. But that's because of where you played, you know?
<Inquire> I know my viewpoint is narrow due to what I experience.
<Inquire> From the few matches I've seen of tournements in LS, I tend to see fast pace action where the people focus on getting key hits or knocking down the opponents.
<Inquire> I think I only see people block during then if they are against SM since the clones stay alive for a bit until they collide or run out of durration.
<Phonon> Rarely do I see KLS players block
<Phonon> Not in the high ranks anyway
<Inquire> Same.
<Phonon> It's easier to take the hit and make your opponent waste resources as you escape with a skill than to try to block due to the risk of being caught by a skill or some unblockable setup
<Phonon> It's a win-win for you for the former