Last time I played, it seemed like Noel Vermillion was the Ken of BlazBlue. My first five fights were all against her.

I've seen lots of Noels and Jins. Noel's the Maxi of this game with wild auto-combos that can be performed with minimal effort--I'll admit fighting against her is extremely annoying, but it's all worth it once you get your hands on her to wring her little neck.

Anyone else finding the online extremely playable and lag-free? This is the first online fighter I've tried in a long time, and I don't recall any other game that matched up in this regard.

Yeah, I've noticed that too. I guess it's not so bad, as long as it keeps the lag out of the match itself.

Lol, well, I recently went back to playing Jin myself, because I would either use him or Ragna in the Arcade.  After not doing so well with Arakune, I just decided to main Jin on a whim over Ranga. 

Although, I would say that Noel is the most popular character online, by far.  Then comes Jin and Ranga. 

My Win Ratio did go up a TON though, after I started maining Jin.  I'm now at like +60% Wins @ Level 16, playing mostly Ranked Matches now. 

Anyway, I find that gewd players who beat me usually always Barrier Burst out if they ever get caught in my "Cx10" Move, which I can usually only get on someone once a round anyway. 

Tager can be really hard to fight against for me as Jin, as he can destroy projectiles and get close to me.  Also, if I mess-up a Musou Senshouzan (Ice Sled), I'm in for big punishment... but I also find him really easy sometimes.  It just depends on the player I guess.  Also, Litchi can out poke me as Jin, with her range. 

Basically, Musou Senshouzan (Ice Sled) is not safe on block.  So punish that! 

As long as Jin can't spam shoryukens, it's all alright.

i see alot of Arakune and jin is wide open for an attack after doing ice sled if you block (i main jin too)

Jin is clearly the most spammable character than all newbs play. Hell, that's how I got the "Leonidas" and "Dante" achievements. Not even the computer can fuck with you! (Well they can when you get to Unlimited Ragna. God damn...) I play Noel myself but like to spam the drive button.

The Ken hate saddens me.

I have yet to play my copy, anybody want to whoop a true noob?

I think is the way the game is setup but the Jin stuff is not as bad at it is. Also as for Noel, her Chain Revolver is very easy to counter, just block the first attack and she wide open for a counter attack.

It may be the communities on the different versions. It's rare to see characters like Karl and V13, but most other characters appear about the same on the PS3 version.

For Noel's Chain Revolver, just hold (Back + A + B) while blocking.  She'll bounce back after a couple/few hits, then punish her to hell. 

For Jin's Musou Senshouzan (Ice Sled), if he does the B, C, or D variants, wait until after the second hit to retaliate after blocking.  If he has 50% Heat, be aware that he could Rapid Cancel (A + B + C) into another move, on the first hit, which I sometimes do to mix things-up.  If you're a real badass, I guess you could Counter Assault (Forward + A + B) after blocking the first hit, in-between the second, which requires you to have 50% Heat. 

This is why I play Carl Clover.

Maybe but theres nothing as annoying as Kens Firece  shuryukens in this game - I main Noel and Ive seen a lot of Jins, Noels, Ragnas, 13s, a few rachels and a Tigar.  The game is extreamly balanced.

Jin and Noel are the most accessible characters for people playing for the first time, which is everyone in america. I would say Ragna is a close second, people get stoked about his health draining ability. I feel this game is as balanced as SF4, possibly more.
I main Tager, sub Noel.

                                                                                                                                   Yes.

Side question: Is BlazBlue a standalone story? Like it's self contained and not a sequel or anything like that right?

Either him or Noel.

" Either him or Noel. "

" Side question: Is BlazBlue a standalone story? Like it's self contained and not a sequel or anything like that right? "

" @JJOR64 said:

" Either him or Noel. "

I honestly don't see too many Noels. If I do, they go down easily. I main Tagar and don't seem to have many problems with her "spamming" anything. Popular, sure, but not the "Ken." At least not in my opinion.

@LiquidPrince said:

" Side question: Is BlazBlue a standalone story? Like it's self contained and not a sequel or anything like that right? "

Correct. "

This is weird guys.  I definitely fight a ton more Noels than anything. 

I'm playing on PS3... maybe the 360 community Ken's Jin and the PS3 community Ken's Noel? 

To me, this is now the most interesting conundrum in the known universe. 

@Rmack: LOL! :D

I'm still thinking of picking-up the 360 version too and a stick as well, just for the Acheivements and for playing online with Giant Bombers... but, sigh... I just don't know if spending over $200 on BlazBlue sits too well with me yet or not :p 

I mainly get the PS3 version of fighters because I have 3 real life friends that are all hardcore about PS2/PS3 fighters and all have PS2/PS3 Arcade Sticks that we use on each persons PS3's. 

Anyway, I do agree that this game is way more balanced than most fighting games.  Even Carl, a Low-Mid Tier Character, won the last big BB Tournament. 

In Noel's defense against being "Ken-esque" (since I play as her) she's an extremely easy character to pressure. Despite having guns she's a close-range character and her only distance attack (Optic Barrel) has way too many frames of animation to be of any use. As such, she should be really easy to punish after an ineffective Drive spam session. I haven't been getting a lot of Noels on PSN though, a lot of Nu, Jin and the occasional Ragna/Hakumen.

The #1 Player right now on the PS3 Rankings for Wins is a Carl Player. 

Further evidence of the most popular Characters may be to take a look at GameFAQs:  http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/xbox360/game/958721.html 

The only 2 Character FAQs that exist, as of this writing, are Ragna and Noel... I bet Jin will be next? 

Yeah I think that's why I struggle and continue to refuse to play as Carl - I simply cannot multitask him the character and the manequin/doll at the same time.  I have been severely owned by many Carls online and they can dual wield the two so well its crazy.

ive been playing as Taokaka, who is like the everyman's Vega and Chun-li.

glad i picked a character nobody seems to use too much; was the same way in street fighter iv and starting with zangief and dhalsim.

as for jins, meh. taokaka has tons of counters for him, and it seems the noels im playing are too busy button mashing to avoid distortion drives.

whats the line? "there is no such thing as cheap"

you just got to learn to counteract these types of people and you'll crush them everytime

Jin players like to ride the Icening a lot.

Everyone uses him at some point but no. Ken is a horrible character all-around while Jin is one of the best characters in BlazBlue. I see more Noel and Ragna players than Jin.

I just got the game and am loving it.  Online these days though, Tager is the ken of this game.

I bought this game but then got the RROD after playing for 30 minutes. And once I got my xbox back I was more interested in playing other stuff and haven't gotten back to it. Maybe I'll try it again this week. Anyone have any links to basic combo videos or character tutorials or anything?