Worlds Shoutout
Before I say anything, there's a major problem that's been plaguing my soul...
...PAUL PHOENIX IS BEAVIS! I'M SERIOUS, THE GUY IS THE GREAT CORNHOLIO! And judging from his artwork, I'd say he needs some tee-pee for his bunghole.
*in all seriousness, in most of his art, he does indeed look like Beavis. He has a large head, no thanks to his hair, and has a very Beavis-like grin. I want to ask people, "are you threatening me?" when I play his cards*
OK, cereal time...
So, yes, I spent one paycheck of 370 dollars (it was small because I hadn't worked as many hours as I usually do), relied on my step-dad to give me money, almost lost my job, and while gone in Indiana, I found out that my roommate's mom is kicking out both my roommate and myself...
...all for Worlds =D
And I don't regret it. At all. If I were to sum-up the entire trip in a word, it would be "rejuvenation". For two reasons really, the first being that this game is being "rejuvenated", which I will get into later, and the second reason being my, er hem, "reputation". I was able to meet...pretty much everyone, and as such, I have some shout-outs to do. Please note, if I do not mention you, it's likely because I forgot to do so, but it might be because I met you, and simply, we did not work out at all (I'm sure you know who you are).
First off, Joe AKA Viewtiful Joe. Dude, it was a marvel and a half meeting and spending time with you. I'm glad you were able to open up and basically find out who I was truly. The person you witnessed Sunday night (and all times prior, really) is the person I wish everybody was able to see. Of course, some people simply aren't worth seeing such complexity, which is why you're clearly special enough. I don't mean that with arrogance of course, rather, it roots back to our discussion of how a lot of people "don't think if they don't have to." Anyways, avoiding all personal discussion, you were truly great, and you were pretty much the only person I talked to religiously throughout the trip, and CERTAINLY the only person I talked to about my own personal life and stories. 'til next time wanker. Hope to see you American-wannabes in Texas sometime 
.
Second, Jasco Games, Just Doin' Work, and the rest of Lubbock's crew. Thanks so much for everything you guys did for me. You're all hilarious in every sense of the word, extremely nice and fun people. We Texans will stay in good contact, and once I revive the San Antonio playerbase, I'm sure we'll have plenty tournies together 
.
Next, Archimedes AKA "Antigoth" AKA "Antiguy" (not joking, people DID call him both Antigoth and Antiguy, for some reason lol). You're just as much a rival to me as I invisioned. Well you're...pretty much everything I invisioned lol. It was certainly both a pleasure and honor to meet you, and I look forward to trolling you and insulting you forever. Sorry we didn't ever do the rap battle; I totally Christian Bale'd after the latenight partying =/. But becuase you're Arch, and I'm Shinji...
WTF HILDE SUCKS NEXT BLOCK! OMFG SIREN'S CALL? STFU NUUB RASHOTEP *****! EAT A D! HILDE HAS NO SUPPORT THAT MATTERS! FIRE ALREADY HAS ASTRID! TROLL TROLL TROLL! WEREWOLF!
Jon Herr, Paul Bittner, and "*******" Matt Kohls. You guys were some pretteh cool people. Herr, not sure what a "Hat-Off" is, but once I find out, we'll totally engage in one (I'm assuming it has nothing to do with Hatman, who will naturally be interested). Paul and Matt, I much appreciated your willingness to participate in logical discourse, asking me questions GENERALLY without preconceived bias, or the intent to trap me. You asked, I answered, you listened, so I think we were able to establish some mature and intelligent ground, and in the future, even if we disagree, you guys are cool players, and I look forward to gaining more rivals in mini-blo...err...NEWFS (I pioneered it, fakk off everyone!). And don't worry, I think after Worlds things will be a bit better amongst the forums. I'm quite aware of how I am perceived, and how my words function on TEH INTERNETS, so I'll try not to piss people off anymore (unless it's Arch).
Goo. You're probably the nicest person around dude. You offered me a room at last year's Worlds, you offered me a seat at Buca, you shook my hand without me acknowledging you first...you were just a good guy in all meaning of the word. NO GLOVE NO LOVE! SPREAD DEM LEGS CHUN-LI! Sorry I had to tag-in for you on DDR, but well, OH SNAP SON! CAN'T DO IT LIKE ME! IT'S TOO INTENSE! YOU CAN'T HANDLE IT! Also, dude...
STOP MILLING! WARRIOR'S POET IS NOT A MILL CARD! WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU! T_T...
Omar. You're hilarious, as much as I had thought you were. I much appreciate the room, and yes, I was most certainly afraid I'd be robbed over night (for obvious reasons) =/. Hehe, but you're a great guy, simply put. Oh yeah, and stop playing fat chars dood. ZANGIEF DOESN'T JUMP! JESUS KICK! JESUS KICK!
Iv(e?)y. You're a sweetheart, simply put. I'm sorry I still don't know you well enough to "tell you what I think of you", but from what all I witnessed and heard, you're definitely a cool person, and I'm glad it was such a feat to meet me XD. Don't worry, maybe one day Ivy will work =P. Lookin forward to seein you around, and just for irony's sake, you ought to dress as Mai for GenCon. Either Mai, or one of those giant walking walls from Mario Party, the ultimate conservative cosplay.
J-Ray. Sorry we never really talked, but just in general, you seemed like a pretty cool guy. Oh, and I'm sorry that so much trouble followed you when Joe licked frosting off your face XD.
Other British people. Thanks to all the other blokes from jolly old England: Kyle, Matt, Ross. It was fun spending time with you, especially Kyle, who realized the miracle of Taco Bell. Maybe once you guys lose your Communist government and convert to the wonderful Capitalism that makes America the greatest province in the world that it is, you'll get your Taco Bell =).
Thanks to everyone who partied hard in general. All those who went to Buca di Beppo, The Ram, and then to GenCon to participate in Werewolf (I'm not there werewolf you assholes 
), as well as those who joined us at GameWorks to witness me smash face at DDR. Hopefully by the time this is posted my pics are uploaded as well.
Anyways, all gayity aside, it's time to fold my arms, put on my butterfly mask, and show everybody "my serious face" (everybody should know exactly what I'm talking about ).
About the game and its rejuvenation...
#1. Just to get Legacy out of the way, let me say a few things. I managed to buy those lovely 19 dollar boxes, two of Flames of Fame to be exact, all because I needed Aquakinesis, which I got, and it helped me at Worlds. Furthermore, even after Worlds singles was over, I met a guy who bought 1 box Cutting Edge, 1 box Flames of Fame, and 1 starter box of Cutting Edge (including Blood Runs True). I reluctantly told him about the whole rotation thing, and he said, "I don't really mind. I'm just buying stuff to show to people at my card shop to establish a playerbase, and from there we'll probably just play to have fun."
That's how it needs to be, and after playing with "Legacy" cards, I remembered...Legacy CAN be fun, indeed. People need to stop complaining about "there isn't good enough prize support for Legacy" or "there's no incentive." Two things: you don't play a game for its prize support (if you do, you're playing for the wrong reason), and two, you want to know the incentive for playing Legacy? TO HAVE FUN, THE ENTIRE F REASON FOR PLAYING A CARD GAME IN THE FIRST PLACE! Also, that whole "why not let the winner reprint a card" isn't going to ever happen; that's James' job.
#2. About the rotation, it needed to happen. Everybody knows me as the number 1 advocate for swinging the Banhammer (and in typical fashion, I've already picked out a card in need of banning in the next block), of course. However, after seeing our game go from "denegerate I-cant-escape" scenarios to "LOL, attacks? What are those?" format, and then looking at the design of prior sets, one thing was clear: in every single set, there are certain cards designed for the fast-paced, BS format, and then there were cards designed for the type of format we are about to enter: the balanced, properly-costed, attack-based format. What am I getting at? There was no cure for the game BUT to rotate. That, and well, EVERYBODY loves mini-block (except Druids, who are jerks anyways). For those complaining about "OMFG WHAT ABOUT FIGHT NIGHT? WHAT ABOUT SET 10 AND 11 THAT BARELY HAD TIME TO BE PLAYED?", in all cerealness, STFU, and this is Shinji talking. Play Legacy. Give away your cards to new people to get them interested. Use them as drink coasters. I don't know, something. Steve has another "kit" similar to Fight Night coming out later in the year, so, as Horvath put it, "put down your pitch forks and guns" and just try the new game. I promise you, it WILL remind you of your very first time (except without the tears, awkwardness, bleeding...oh, wait, no not that first time).
#3. The new format should be called the "Diversity can eat a D" format. Diversity IMO doesn't really exist. I witnessed a very hasty and mini version of a Set 12 tourney my friend Jason (Jasco Games) hosted, with people such as Dani, Kohls, Olexa, and J-Ray participating. We managed to see Sieggy, Lu Chen, Hilde, Cassandra, and I believe a Ragnar and/or Daiyu somewhere. Me, Lubbock Crew, and British, discussed viability, and we're in general concordance that every character but Algol is playable, and even then, Algol may get some useful stuff in the future (MAC > Algol, lo siento pobrito). Also, after seeing Tekken, ALL Tekken chars are playable. Paul has a built-in Pommel Smash (and shares all 3 symbols with it, wtf?), Christie has access to a loop...that requires multiple control checks to pass. Kazuya's ability cannot be stopped (I say that because no smart Kazuya would attack a Rashotep if they were gonna use his F), but even then, there isn't really a "wall" he can hide behind, even if he builds first. King is Throwtastic, and is gonna deny the HELL out of your opponent's draw. Nina's UR attack combos off of itself (or any Kick, for that matter), and its Combo E makes it unblockable, so uh, GG?
#4. Just gonna say this because this thread is WAY too logical and nice, so let me ****** it up. Ban Path of the Master. No, seriously, no facetiousness hurr, ban Path of the Master. With Christie's loop (that has Water, Life, and All enhances), she's not just looping kicks, but has drawn a mammoth handsize (in addition to her printed 7) should she fail it. The R and static aren't the main reasons. It's E is merely too costless for too much damage. Pretty much every Ragnar pump is balanced (I say pretty much because I'm going through dysentary over Heir to the Storm, a Ragnar eat-face card), as they require vitality payment, tapping out, and some destroying cards just to give some damage. PotM just adds some horizontal lines to your staging area, and you win the game. Jasco and I agreed that it should be "+1 damage for each card in your card pool that shares 2 or more symbols with your character", that way it can still get to +3-5 at no cost but commit, but requires some Orange. Also, its R needs to commit one foundation. Free draw is simply never good, unless in an action (which isn't really free since it clogs your card pool). As far as other bans go, I'm not a fan of cards like Martial Arts Champion, and other cards coming out that are R Commit: Cancel X-ability. I realize everybody here is going to say, "MAC is balanced. 2/4 no block that commits itself", and to that point, you're pretty much correct. However, Martial Arts is basically the Red Lotus of Draw, and honestly, a lot of people felt Red Lotus covered too much for too little cost. Again, MAC isn't OMFG BREAK THE GAME, but it shuts down Algol just by turning sideways, ROFLs at Christie, and makes the already garbage Yi Shan cry tears of crimson as he tries to Pendant/Tieh Lei. Ban it? Maybe not, but please, let's not get too crazy with control; we just escaped a format where it had unparalleled dominance.
As far as the game's success is concerned, Arch pretty much nailed it when he proposed that the game get an official play-testing team, design team, and mostly, advertisement team (and Arch can elaborate or change it, if I got it wrong). I'd say UFS' biggest problem is its extreme lack of advertisement. I noticed a TON of people walking past Kazuya asking their friends, "Tekken? UFS? What is this game?" and their friends would say, "Oh, it's like a bunch of fighting games in a card game", and they'd just say OK and move on. We can't just use bad-ass banners of Kazuya or Tira. We need some actual movements. Jasco Games and I are going to start hosting our UFS tournies not at our card shop, but at our colleges. That way, tournies that generally take 3-7 hours can be hosted in a large area with constant passerby, and generally, people who have money but not many hobbies. I encourage all of you to promote the game in places NOT named card shops, OR to promote them in card shops that don't have UFS (or a UFS playerbase).
As far as ShadoWar is concerned, Horvath brought up an interesting point. The common insult is, "What Folklore are they going to rip-off next?" to which Horvath responded, "What Folklore includes a half-Chinese half-Norse girl who killed her father (Zi Mei)? What folklore includes a girl who, at times she can hear the voices of all the ancient warriors, but at other times she's a spoiled ***** (talking about White Crane)? I guess I must have missed those tales."
Although they are obviously inspired by either real-life people or archetypes, what you guys fail to understand is, HELLO! Most fighting game characters are inspired! Fei Long is Bruce Lee! Ryu and Sagat are rivals because of an actual martial arts fight between a Muay Thai fighter and a Japanese karate practitioner (in fact, said Muay Thai guy was MUCH taller than the Japanese guy). I believe it's Guilty Gear where most fighters' names are based off of rock singers. Almost EVERY character in Samurai Showdown is based off of either a real Japanese warrior, or merely a Japanese concept. Darkstalkers CLEARLY is inspired by folklore.
Now, I remember once saying Darkstalkers was inspired, and the response was, "Well, Darkstalkers have their own stories and backgrounds."
...and ShadoWar doesn't? Lu Chen isn't just, "Old Chinese Kung Fu master", he's "I used to be a little **** when I was a kid, and pretty much was my entire life, and then I realized that wasn't cool." As I'd also mentioned, to me, King of Fighters is a Street Fighter rip-off. SF came out first, is more popular, etc...
...but then I learned about KOF and all related games (AoF, FF, etc), and realized that, no, KOF isn't really a rip-off; it's just a 2D fighter as SF is.
Try to expand your horizons. If ShadoWar just DOES NOT INTEREST YOU (as Guilty Gear truly does not interest me), then fine, dislike it. But that ought be your only reason, that you're merely uninterested by its characters or their backstories. Of course, um, you don't play characters necessarily because you like them; sometimes, iuno, you play them because THEY'RE F--XING GOOD? You may not like Zi Mei, but she's kinda top 8'd everywhere, and just won Worlds.
As far as forum discussion is concerned, somebody at GenCon proposed an interesting idea: the MAJORITY of General Discussion threads need to be SOLELY discussion, as in, single card discussion, symbol-based discussion, strategy and combo discussion, etc. So, I came up with an idea, and I'll let you guys discuss it amongst yourselves in this thread.
I want to make a total of 13 threads. 12 threads will be official symbol discussion threads, which will be put in the 13th thread as URL links, the "reference", if you will. This "reference" will get stickied (if possible), and as such, whenever somebody who is new wants to learn about the game, or somebody wants to post their thoughts on a symbol, they merely go to my stickied thread, select their symbol, and there ought to be pages of insight and discussion.
I like the idea. If the majority of you guys do as well, I will make the 13 threads. And please, please, only bump said threads if you want to discuss them; I'd feel pretty bad having the entire GD CLOGGED by discussion, when there ARE other things to discuss (Worlds, Tekken, etc).
So to conclude...
UFS is badass. Things are going relatively well I believe, and anybody who has played mini-block can likely attest to that.
Now that I've met the majority of you, and I feel we've established mutual, understanding ground, if not just generic friendship. I think the forums and internet communication will go a lot more smoothly than usual. And by smoothly, I mean I want to become a part of the designing process, and I need lots of support from everybody for the resume, so don't **** this up for me >:|
. Bottom line is that they are 3 different games that while sharing mechanics, so do many other games in this type, but in the end, they're plenty unique from each other.
;;;