MORTAL KOMBAT!

Mortal Kombat is a great game. However, it’s also a frustrating game. I’ll admit this up front: I don’t play fighting games all that often, and I’m not necessarily very good. That being said, I feel like I’m in a position where I can’t have fun with the game. I’m not really someone who wants to dedicate hours upon hours struggling to get better. Hell, any time I’ve TRIED to get better, it never seems to help any. I always hear from fighting game pros that the way to get better when you are new is to repeatedly get your ass kicked, but honestly, that doesn’t seem to do much except aggravate the situation. Getting beaten into submission when you don’t really understand why doesn’t exactly help you learn anything except how far you can throw your controller down the hall.

Another suggestion I’ve seen tossed around is playing the arcade ladder as a way to practice. But to be honest, playing against AI is probably the furthest thing from helpful.The AI doesn’t function like a player; it just tends to rattle off combos constantly. I had to turn the difficulty all the way down just to beat the story (on a side note, I would love to sodomize Shao Khan with that hammer of his for that last boss battle).

I don’t know, I guess what I’m trying to say is that the game is very frustrating to play online, and I feel that the reason for that is there is no skill segregation. There are many open multiplayer rooms that are labeled “beginner” or “rookie”, but more often than not they seem to be filled with veteran players looking to beat up on people who identify themselves as not very good. I’ve always thought fighting games could use a Starcraft II style ranking system so people who aren’t very good don’t get subjected to repeated beat downs. It’s also really hard to get better when you can’t play people of similar skill level.

That brings up my last major annoyance. Whenever you do find people who don’t just stomp you into the ground, it’s usually people who just want to turtle in the corner and spam projectiles. It seems like I can’t catch a break.

I’m rambling now, so I think I’ll just end it here. What do you guys think? Am I on the right track, or are fighting games just not for me? Do you think there is a better way to group players in fighting games, or does it just come with the territory?

While I could be asinine and tell you to "Use more skill", I'm not going to. I feel like I've hit a bit of a brick wall in regards to Street Fighter IV (although, I still can do pretty well against online shmucks who are better at comboing than they are at actual fighting theory. Who knew that Bison's standing heavy kick still gets em every time?) and the ultimate problem with all these fighting games is the general difficulty in getting over a skill ceiling, mostly due to their rather poor conveyance of information past basic principles, like how to block. Unfortunately, this leads to you having to go to the internet for information, and what you want may not be readily available in a language you can read (as in, they may be talking about terms and techniques too complex for your scrub mind).
 
The good thing about projectile spamming in MK however, is that it's really easy to punish it. All you need is a character with an offensive teleport, like Sektor or Smoke and you're golden. Of course, Smoke and Sektor happen to be two of my best characters, so your results may vary.

@ArbitraryWater: I appreciate that you took the time to write a real response! I think you brought up another problem here, and that's the fact that you really can't play as any character when you are trying to learn. It seems like characters who have offensive teleports are the only way people can ease themselves into the game, but it seems wrong that I can't just pick up a character I like and have any level of success with them. Its certainly a difficult situation at times.

Use more skill.

Fighting games are tough to get into if you don't have a lot of time, but it's never been easier to start than the last few years.  Getting your ass kicked repeatedly will only help if you learn from it.  If you don't learn what you're getting beat by and how to counter it, you haven't gained much.  So don't expect to get better by just hopping into ranked and fighting random people. 
 
My advice is to go to a site like shoryuken.com (or w/e the main community site is for mortal kombat) or talk with a friend who is more experienced at fighting games to get a foundation.   You get what you put in with fighting games, like any sport; most people wouldn't be any good at basketball if they hadn't touched a ball before or learned how to play from someone.  Fighting games are both physically challenging (combos, reacting) and mentally demanding (reading your opponent, having a gameplan).  The more interesting and fun you want your experience to be, the more effort you'll need to put in.  
 
If you don't have a group of friends or a scene or anyone to play at your level, you probably won't be enjoying the game as much online unless you work at it.  Playing with these people can make it more fun though, and makes progressing fun rather than work. 
 
IMO, if you just like seeing fatalities, play w/ friends or on easy mode.  If you want the satisfaction of earning the chance to do a fatality on someone, you're gonna need to study and practice.   There are a TON of resources to help new players get into fighting games online.  It doesn't even need to be that much time if you don't want to get too serious, but watching the right video or reading the right article can make a ton of difference and help you start having more success.  Because for the most part, success = fun in FG's.
 
That's my 2 cents.

I wish that matchmaking in these games (and many games in general) was just better. I know you get the inevitable smurfing, but a good matchmaking system should have you having a 1 w/l ratio. But it just feels that constantly you are getting matched against players that YOU SHOULD NOT BE PLAYING AGAINST because they are so much better than you, but matchmaking will always pit you against these guys.

@ryanwho: It only took until the 3rd post!

@Casey25: Thanks for the suggestions. I've always found its kinda hard to read about fighting games and actually apply it, especially with all the jargon they sling around. I really wish there was a good player who decided to make some kind of tutorial video teaching new players the fundamentals of playing other people (something the game isn't particularly good at teaching you).

Just like with any competitive multiplayer game you need to practice practice practice. Top players did not play well overnight! If you want to get better then like the user above me said, read up in SRK using the guides that they have or watch tutorial videos.

@OllyOxenFree: I get that you need to practice, I just don't feel like there is a lot of help out there for people like me who are relatively inexperienced with fighting games. Getting beaten down often doesn't help you learn anything.

@President_Barackbar said:

@OllyOxenFree: I get that you need to practice, I just don't feel like there is a lot of help out there for people like me who are relatively inexperienced with fighting games. Getting beaten down often doesn't help you learn anything.

For me personally, I try to see why I am getting beaten down and find a way to avoid it and possibly a way to punish. See what mistakes you are doing and think of a plan to counterattack. If the opponent keeps leading you to a trap, then that means that he/she has already gotten into your head. Fight this by quit repeating whatever leads you to this problem. Example: if you are jumping a lot then stop. Jumping too much can leave you vulnerable to a combo. Only jump when you have the opportunity to follow up with an attack.

Speaking of combos, learn them. Practice in training mode until it is natural for you to pull one off in a tight situation. Like another user said, playing with friends whether it's online or in real life is the key. Here you can easily practice without depending on AI or just a standing character.

I love fighting games but I admit to totally sucking at them, although I am not the ass that sits in a corner throwing projectiles. I full on assault the other guy. I don't care if it's Diago from street fighter i'm fighting, I at least have a 1% chance of winning against such people for the fact that fighting pros can deal with spammers crap easily.

Well from my experience there is no perfect, unified, all encompassing, accessible destination to have everything you need to learn everything you need to know about fighting.  I'm not gonna post a million links to useful tools and tutorials.  This is something interesting i read recently, though.  http://sonichurricane.com/?p=5977

Also, pertaining to the convo in this thread:

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.