Where is it?  The love that I felt for Street Fighter II back on the SNES?  For the Alpha series?  Third Strike?  What the hell is it that's preventing my interest in Super Street Fighter IV from rising above a passing interest born mostly out of nostalgia for the games of the past?  This shouldn't be happening.
 
The passion just isn't there.  The desire I felt to play games like BlazBlue and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom just isn't there.  I liked the original Street Fighter IV well enough, but to think that I could ever be competitive at that game was an outlandish thought.  I just didn't have the time or energy to master the intricacies of competitive play like some do.  While that still holds true, my lack of time to practice and become competitive didn't dull my interest in BB or TvC.  And this feeling really blows, because I love what Street Fighter is; there's just little joy in it for me beyond playing through the arcade mode on a low difficulty so I can see everyone's endings.
 
Maybe it's my general lack of competition?  I don't really have any interest in playing online; certainly not after the constant internet belligerence that led me to giving up on the online portion of the original Street Fighter IV.  It's hard to find anyone willing to play when seemingly nine out of ten matches drop out the moment they see my three-digit ranking point total, and then the one guy that does stick around invariably picks Ken the vast majority of the time.  Great.  Awesome.  Really.  And I'd love to play matches against friends sitting right next to me, except the number of friends I currently have with any interest in Street Fighter or fight games in general is fairly low, and they aren't always available for a visit.  I know Super Street Fighter IV has a much improved online component, but after my experience with the users of the previous version, I think I'd have more fun beating up cars.
 
Maybe its the community itself?  This is not a knock against those that play fighting games competitively.  It's just that you guys are by and large too hardcore for my blood.  I can read input charts just fine and follow a conversation on strategy without trouble, but a lot of you guys just take things to a level I'll never reach.  You guys are planning your strategies on how to take on highly-skilled Ryu players.  Me?  I'm happy just seeing Juli pop up in T. Hawk's ending.
 
Maybe the simple fact is that Street Fighter as a game just isn't for me anymore.  I hold more interest in the characters and the various crazy storylines than I do in achieving anything even remotely resembling Daigo-level wizardry.  Despite all the crap the genre gets for bad storylines and storytelling, the story is really one of the things that keeps my interest.  The fact that BlazBlue made an effort to go beyond the typical arcade mode opening/ending fluff and actually tell a full narrative with an established ending makes that game the more interesting one.  And one of the things that bothers me, and that makes me feel like the genre is being held back, is the generally dismissive attitude towards fighting game stories; people just write them off without a second thought.  And yet, I just stated earlier that one of the best moments of Super Street Fighter IV for me was a cameo by a semi-obscure Alpha 3 character that was my main back in the day.
 
Man, this has turned into rambling that is bordering on the incoherent.  Perhaps I should just leave it here and let the flood of tl;drs commence.

Same here. Well, kind of. My biggest problem is I only have a 360 and the controller just doesn't work well enough to pull stuff off. I'm not about to shell out a whole bunch of money to buy a stick either. Online gaming has yet to pull me in. It's too hard to do anything without getting hugely frustrated. I'm no good at shooters and only okay at fighting games. If only there could be an online Mega Man X...

I do hate Ken quite a bit.

I'll agree with you on the opinion that you are more interested in the wacky storylines and presentation.
 
Also, when someone says they "main" with somebody, or call the sf4 "vanilla", I want to smash their face in. Sorry, that has nothing to do with your blog post but I needed to get it off my chest.

" I do hate Ken quite a bit. "

" @Gabriel said:

" I do hate Ken quite a bit. "

I sold the game after I went online and got 50 matches where 90% where kens. And I got yelled in the few matches I won.  "

Eh, to each his own. Can't say I agree with him, how about you Zach? 
 
I really can't see your point of view though about online competition. I haven't fought more than 2 or 3 kens the whole time during ranked matches, and I've only had 2 or 3 people drop from matches in vanilla SFIV, none in Super. Everyone starts from where you are, I didn't even get into Street Fighter until IV came out. SFIV is a much simpler game than any you have mentioned, the competitive levels of those games in their prime is like gibberish to me. That said, if you have no passion for competition (which would be evident since you're not making effort to play matches with people here) then fighting games in general aren't for you. 
 
I enjoy the cheesy story sequences and character personalities, but the magic of Street Fighter is it's also an amazing fighting game.

" I'll agree with you on the opinion that you are more interested in the wacky storylines and presentation.  Also, when someone says they "main" with somebody, or call the sf4 "vanilla", I want to smash their face in. Sorry, that has nothing to do with your blog post but I needed to get it off my chest. "

" Eh, to each his own. Can't say I agree with him, how about you Zach?  I really can't see your point of view though about online competition. I haven't fought more than 2 or 3 kens the whole time during ranked matches, and I've only had 2 or 3 people drop from matches in vanilla SFIV, none in Super. Everyone starts from where you are, I didn't even get into Street Fighter until IV came out. SFIV is a much simpler game than any you have mentioned, the competitive levels of those games in their prime is like gibberish to me. That said, if you have no passion for competition (which would be evident since you're not making effort to play matches with people here) then fighting games in general aren't for you.  I enjoy the cheesy story sequences and character personalities, but the magic of Street Fighter is it's also an amazing fighting game. "

" @lordofultima said:

" Eh, to each his own. Can't say I agree with him, how about you Zach?  I really can't see your point of view though about online competition. I haven't fought more than 2 or 3 kens the whole time during ranked matches, and I've only had 2 or 3 people drop from matches in vanilla SFIV, none in Super. Everyone starts from where you are, I didn't even get into Street Fighter until IV came out. SFIV is a much simpler game than any you have mentioned, the competitive levels of those games in their prime is like gibberish to me. That said, if you have no passion for competition (which would be evident since you're not making effort to play matches with people here) then fighting games in general aren't for you.  I enjoy the cheesy story sequences and character personalities, but the magic of Street Fighter is it's also an amazing fighting game. "

Right, because 1 frame links and 3-input roman cancels are so easy..  On a purely technical level, blazblue is an easier game to play-- it just has longer combos.  With it's input system however, basically all moves are min. 4 frame links or something.  I also have issues with SFIV's seemingly random choice of input selection and auto-sensing reversals.  At least when I play SSF2HDR I can tell what's going to happen when I do it. "

" @newt said:

" @lordofultima said:

" Eh, to each his own. Can't say I agree with him, how about you Zach?  I really can't see your point of view though about online competition. I haven't fought more than 2 or 3 kens the whole time during ranked matches, and I've only had 2 or 3 people drop from matches in vanilla SFIV, none in Super. Everyone starts from where you are, I didn't even get into Street Fighter until IV came out. SFIV is a much simpler game than any you have mentioned, the competitive levels of those games in their prime is like gibberish to me. That said, if you have no passion for competition (which would be evident since you're not making effort to play matches with people here) then fighting games in general aren't for you.  I enjoy the cheesy story sequences and character personalities, but the magic of Street Fighter is it's also an amazing fighting game. "

Right, because 1 frame links and 3-input roman cancels are so easy..  On a purely technical level, blazblue is an easier game to play-- it just has longer combos.  With it's input system however, basically all moves are min. 4 frame links or something.  I also have issues with SFIV's seemingly random choice of input selection and auto-sensing reversals.  At least when I play SSF2HDR I can tell what's going to happen when I do it. "

Here's something, I don't even know what roman cancels are. BlazBlue is not an easier game to play, there's more to a game than OOOOH COMBOS. Plenty of people get by on fundamentals of Street Fighter and not combos, the same can't be said about BlazBlue, there are no fundamentals. Also, HD Remix I get more fireball vs. uppercut mistakes, so I think as a whole SFIV is much more lenient...don't know why anyone would argue otherwise.  Managing barrier, guarding, mid-combo tech rolls, bursts, and 3 super meters at the same time while everyone is flying around on the screen. Yeah sounds hella friendly right? And you're dealing with a much more serious high/low mixup with overheads and low attacks happening frequently, and it's all happening at a much faster pace. Yeah don't know about that BlazBlue analogy. I can pick Ryu and win with some fireballs, footsies, and an uppercut. "

I'm the opposite. I have no desire to ever play through arcade mode, except for the time where I beat it with Zangeif on the hardest difficulty by spamming the lariat over and over again. Fighting Game stories generally *(always)* are disjointed messes of suck, and watching a confusing 30 second anime cutscene is not a worthy price for the 5 minutes of brain dead agony that arcade mode creates. I unlocked Seth in vanilla SFIV, and that was about as much as I could take of that.
 
On the other end, I am far more interested in competing online this time around, mostly because I have gotten to the point where I don't feel embarrassed by my skill level and there are plenty of people on these forums who are willing to play (although they are all still better than me).

This topic is full of absolute failure. You disappoint me.

Yeah I hate Ken also, only fucking scrubs use him. Damn cheaters throwing from half screen, I am going to report them all. Disgusting.

I have had quite a different experience online. I've only had 2  or 3 disconnects in all my matches online. And even though there are a lot of flowchart Kens online, the best part of this game (so far) was getting to the point where I could beat them (most of the time :-P ). Very satisfying.

" This topic is full of absolute failure. You disappoint me. "

" Yeah I hate Ken also, only fucking scrubs use him. Damn cheaters throwing from half screen, I am going to report them all. Disgusting. "

" @Hailinel:  Once you say this  "  I hold more interest in the characters and the various crazy storylines"  You should know your answer.  The simple fact if you still can't appreciate the gameplay of Street Fighter games you just need to move on.  There are a lot of games that you might keep interest but this one you just don't have it anymore.  For me I play it for the gameplay, the ending's are fun to have but there never worth playing if you don't like the actual gameplay. "

Normals and poking can get very frustrating for me, I understand they are a huge part of the game but playing online and fighting against poke, poke, turtle style is sometimes just not entertaining win or lose.  Overall though I have little desire to play this alone/online when there are so many great single player games I haven't yet picked up.  To me though SF and any fighter for that matter are 100% more fun when I'm actually playing against my buddies in person.  That is the real draw for me, and without that face to face interaction fighters are just not as enjoyable, there's also something about having a crowd watching you fight that brings out the best.  Awesome game though, amazingly balanced, and Capcom still rules.
EDIT: 3rd strike is still better :)

" Yeah I hate Ken also, only fucking scrubs use him. Damn cheaters throwing from half screen, I am going to report them all. Disgusting. "

Yo I main vanilla B.

It just sounds like it's not your cup of tea. I had the same experience with the HALO series but love this. Getting into a game is like hooking up with a chick sometimes, it just doesn't work.

I wish that the Street Fighter forum had some sort of filter system, the amount of redundant topics stop this from ever becoming anything serious. This could be SRK for normal people! But no, most of the topics are rhetorical questions filled with opinion and ignorance.  

" @Napalm said:

" This topic is full of absolute failure. You disappoint me. "

But I've succeeded in disappointing you, which means that this topic is not actually full of failure.  But if that's the case, then what can you be disappointed about, if success in fact exists in this topic?
 
@Stang said:

" Yeah I hate Ken also, only fucking scrubs use him. Damn cheaters throwing from half screen, I am going to report them all. Disgusting. "

I don't hate Ken.  I just got sick of going online when it honestly seemed like he was the only character I'd ever face on a consistent basis.
 
@agentboolen said:

" @Hailinel:  Once you say this  "  I hold more interest in the characters and the various crazy storylines"  You should know your answer.  The simple fact if you still can't appreciate the gameplay of Street Fighter games you just need to move on.  There are a lot of games that you might keep interest but this one you just don't have it anymore.  For me I play it for the gameplay, the ending's are fun to have but there never worth playing if you don't like the actual gameplay. "

The gameplay is fine; it's fun.  It just doesn't have the same spark for me that it did back in the day, which makes it very difficult for me to maintain the interest that I'd like to have. "

I really really like IV and Super IV a lot, but now with Super IV, much sooner than with IV, i'm feeling the inescapable pull back to Super Turbo. It's not that I feel IV is too complex (although FADC's angers me greatly) or whatever else, I just feel like Super Turbo is the better game, and it's one my passion for never ever seems to die. Alpha 3 is another I find myself drawn to time and again, Alpha counters were such an elegant mechanic, next to them Focus Attacks seem clumsy and ham-fisted in comparison. 
 
I long for the day when Alpha 3 gets a playable XBLA release. We've already got MvC2 (stopped playing due to death threats...) and I can finally put Super Turbo to rest for a while. Characters and storylines are not relevant to me very much, I like a lot of them, but I always end up rooting for the gameplay above all else with fighters.

" Blaz Blu easier than SFVI..... what? Every Character in Blaz Blu is like learning an entirely new game.... atleast there is some continuity between the fighters on SF and you find a style you're comfortable with and roll wit it. I feel you tho OP, I dont like SFIV either. I loved SFII and all the VS. series games. SFIV is a slow game to me, i am used to the frenetic pace of Blaz Blu,  SSFIIHD remix, and others. SFIV seems very plodding, but I found a lot of value in the game while playing it online. The unpredictibilty of the human opponent really helped mask my issues of the character's slow speed in the game.     "

"Characters and storylines are not relevant to me very much, I like a lot of them, but I always end up rooting for the gameplay above all else with fighters. "

" I wish that the Street Fighter forum had some sort of filter system, the amount of redundant topics stop this from ever becoming anything serious. This could be SRK for normal people! But no, most of the topics are rhetorical questions filled with opinion and ignorance.   "

" It just sounds like it's not your cup of tea. I had the same experience with the HALO series but love this. Getting into a game is like hooking up with a chick sometimes, it just doesn't work. "

 
 
@The_A_Drain said:

"Characters and storylines are not relevant to me very much, I like a lot of them, but I always end up rooting for the gameplay above all else with fighters. "

Gameplay is important in a fighting game; the shoddy gameplay in Mortal Kombat is one of the reasons why I can never take that series seriously despite its story that's supposedly more thought-out than other series.  (And even that is up for debate, seeing as Armageddon felt like the writer's way of throwing in the towel.)

" Eh, to each his own. Can't say I agree with him, how about you Zach?  I really can't see your point of view though about online competition. I haven't fought more than 2 or 3 kens the whole time during ranked matches, and I've only had 2 or 3 people drop from matches in vanilla SFIV, none in Super. Everyone starts from where you are, I didn't even get into Street Fighter until IV came out. SFIV is a much simpler game than any you have mentioned, the competitive levels of those games in their prime is like gibberish to me. That said, if you have no passion for competition (which would be evident since you're not making effort to play matches with people here) then fighting games in general aren't for you.  I enjoy the cheesy story sequences and character personalities, but the magic of Street Fighter is it's also an amazing fighting game. "