Re:Valve bans 40k accounts after laying a trap for cheaters ...
by rlonstein on Thursday February 23, 2023 @07:48PM
(#34919108)
> An example is Tekken where I play as Lei Wulong. He's extremely uncharacteristic and idiosyncratic, to the point that if you fight actual Lei players -- it's immediately obvious that bots don't play the same. One of my friends (a newer fighting game player) particularly hates my playstyle and tried to scrim against Lei bots to practice, but instantly realized they play nothing like me or any other Lei. Lei is a rare character to play. So he had to just keep scrimming, really.
Fellow Tekken player here (since 1994 in the arcade even have a full-size arcade stick so the play feels similar). You're right that most of the practice bots don't fight anything like humans. You can, for lack of a better word, "bully" them by executing short combos and pushing them to stay on defense by advancing and they're usually terrible at take down reversals (the consistent exception is King). This tactic fails against a skilled human player who will jump, dash, side-step, or even slip in a low kick. Humans will also make you chase them around the arena when they're low on health.
An example is Tekken where I play as Lei Wulong. He's extremely uncharacteristic and idiosyncratic, to the point that if you fight actual Lei players -- it's immediately obvious that bots don't play the same. One of my friends (a newer fighting game player) particularly hates my playstyle and tried to scrim against Lei bots to practice, but instantly realized they play nothing like me or any other Lei. Lei is a rare character to play. So he had to just keep scrimming, really.
Many fighting games also have literal handicap mechanics that might be seen as equivalent to cheating in some capacity, but for the same reasons, it doesn't matter. They are often there to level the playing field, which is considered fair. Basic Combos in Tekken allow even the simplest of players to pull off powerful moves like Wind God Fist, but it doesn't matter how easy Wind God Fist is, I can and will still beat them even with that handicap, with no special moves of my own, because I can just read their attacks and respond and punish all of them and set them up and bait them endlessly.
That said cheating does happen but often it's the last thing on my mind. Bullshit characters that are unbalanced is where all the complaints go. ;)
TL;DR Humans have distinct fighting styles, and fighting games are largely mind games once you get into them. Cheats that are subtle enough to avoid detection can often easily be outplayed because of it.