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Would you support per-player input buffering?

Thane of Blue Flames

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Can we please accept that Wavedashing is an intended momentum transfer mechanic that players discovered new uses for, and was in fact discovered and widely utilized in Melee before even chain throws, dash-dancing and *the banning of items*?

Thanks.
 

Terotrous

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Why make a wavedash button when you can make a button that does all of these?
Because 95% of the time the perfect frame wavedash is the desirable one and the others are easy to do?


Can we please accept that Wavedashing is an intended momentum transfer mechanic that players discovered new uses for, and was in fact discovered and widely utilized in Melee before even chain throws, dash-dancing and *the banning of items*?
No, because if it was they would have kept it in Brawl and Smash 4. Sakurai has even specifically said that he didn't like the mechanic and the way it centralized the metagame around the execution of that technique.

It may be the case that a programmer who worked on Melee knew that the technique existed, but that doesn't mean it was part of the original design, and I would gather Sakurai himself didn't know about it. Of course, considering Sakurai seems to have been responsible for most of the balance decisions regarding Melee and Brawl, it's quite possible he knows very little about how the game actually works.
 
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Terotrous

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Dash dance into wave dash might actually be more difficult with this mechanic
It really shouldn't be, you can still reverse the stick during your prejump frames if you want to go in the opposite direction.


Anyway, like I posted before, allowing input buffering on a per player basis might be a tolerable substitute. That does come with some tradeoffs, like potential unintended inputs in some freeze frame situations, but I think people would probably view it as giving you an unfair advantage.
 
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DrinkingFood

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Because 95% of the time the perfect frame wavedash is the desirable one and the others are easy to do?
Wavedashing is easy to do to, what are you talking about lol
Even frame perfect wavedash is easy, and then if you miss it by a frame you're still going to get almost all the momentum
 

shairn

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Where in the world would you map it?

Considering people use x/y to footstool, l/r to attack/grab, z to jump/attack, I think it'd just clutter up controls even more. Wavedashing isn't even hard anyway, I don't see any use for a wavedash macro.
 
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Phaiyte

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Not to sound rude or flamey, but these threads are literally the dumbest things on these boards next to the spam bots that post weight loss topics with random words in the post.

Just get better at the game and stop trying to get everyone to spoon feed you, PLEASE. If I can manage 20 something characters, you can manage wavedashing manually.
 

Prince Longstrok

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Sure, why not. While we are at it, maybe the PMBR can also burp us and put us down for nap time.

I mean if you want them to baby us then might as well go all the way.




Sassy remark aside, I dont feel it is needed- I mean why bother running with a few characters? Luigi and samus would literally just want to hit the wavedash button over and over again to move around, it would be faster xD.
 

Rat

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I'd support a Wavedash button/macro. Simple inputs is one of the great things about smash bros. Lowering barrier to entry is good for a fighting(ish) game.
 

Chesstiger2612

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Salty thread... Well, I think it isn't needed and one more control option could be used better, for example implementing a new AT or for lightpress/fullpress issues.
 

Vashimus

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I find it very weird that someone who wants a high-execution game would play Smash and not, say, Guilty Gear.

I also find execution barriers to be a bad mechanic in pretty much every game that has them. The rewarding aspects of all fighting games are really spacing, footsies, and reads, and all execution barriers do is prevent newcomers or casual players from experiencing this part of the game to its fullest. TBQH, there's no other genre where people tolerate (or god forbid praise) a game where it's difficult to get the character to do precisely what you want them to.
In terms of execution at least, GG's difficulty is quite exaggerated. It certainly varies from character to character, but aside from FRCs, there's nothing about it that's particularly harder than other fighters. A lot of the difficulty comes from more abstract things like meter management and defense, which is a pretty big distinction. I am definitely far from an execution god and still play one of the more technically demanding characters in the game.

I will agree that making a game execution-heavy for the sake of it is bad design, as a lot of your time spent in the lab grinding out an arbitrarily difficult technique could be spent on actually playing the game with people. But as I've said before, lowering execution barriers can be a good thing only when it's done intelligently. Making something too easy can lead to some really silly, downright scrubby BS at nearly all levels of play, doing more harm than good. Wavedashing is difficult at first (more so in application), but it's demonstrably within human capabilities to do it consistently with practice, thus match-viable. Having a button for it really isn't necessary.
 

Terotrous

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I will agree that making a game execution-heavy for the sake of it is bad design, as a lot of your time spent in the lab grinding out an arbitrarily difficult technique could be spent on actually playing the game with people. But as I've said before, lowering execution barriers can be a good thing only when it's done intelligently. Making something too easy can lead to some really silly, downright scrubby BS at nearly all levels of play, doing more harm than good. Wavedashing is difficult at first (more so in application), but it's demonstrably within human capabilities to do it consistently with practice, thus match-viable. Having a button for it really isn't necessary.
People are demonstrably able to perform Sakura's 1-frame combos in SF4 consistently. I still wouldn't consider that good design.


Anyway, generally the things you don't want to make too easy are things that involve mindgames / awareness. For example, Smash DI. We could make it so that if you held the control stick, it would continuously smash DI in that direction. However, this is clearly a terrible change as it completely destroys pretty much all multihit moves. You should basically need to know the attack is coming to be able to smash DI that effectively, and since your opponent is usually the one that initiates it this is difficult. However, wavedashing is almost always something you'll be thinking about doing in advance, because you initiate it yourself, it's just a matter of whether or not you'll perform the motion correctly. As such, I don't think automating it in some way significantly changes the game.
 
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Terotrous

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Anyway, I suppose if you don't like the idea of a wavedash button, another solution would be that if you input a shield input during your prejump frames, it will always come out on the first available frame. So basically there'd be like an 8 frame buffer window but only during prejump and only for the shield button. This shouldn't have any weird side-effects and doesn't interfere with triangle jump or waveland. It also doesn't affect the way you control the distance of your wavedash with the stick.
 

Scuba Steve

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Anyway, I suppose if you don't like the idea of a wavedash button, another solution would be that if you input a shield input during your prejump frames, it will always come out on the first available frame. So basically there'd be like an 8 frame buffer window but only during prejump and only for the shield button. This shouldn't have any weird side-effects and doesn't interfere with triangle jump or waveland. It also doesn't affect the way you control the distance of your wavedash with the stick.
I wouldn't mind there being a sort of buffer for the airdodge that ends right after the jumpsquat. I don't really find it completely necessary either, though.
 

Vashimus

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People are demonstrably able to perform Sakura's 1-frame combos in SF4 consistently. I still wouldn't consider that good design.
So you're comparing wavedashing in Smash to 1-frame links in SF4? Seriously?
 
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Terotrous

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So you're comparing wavedashing in Smash to 1-frame links in SF4? Seriously?
No, it's just to illustrate that the notion that "someone can do it consistently" doesn't necessarily mean that the execution requirement is reasonable.


I wouldn't mind there being a sort of buffer for the airdodge that ends right after the jumpsquat. I don't really find it completely necessary either, though.
Well the main thing is that here it has no effect on how the rest of the game works, it just makes the timing a bit more lenient. I can't really see any reason for that not to exist.
 

Vashimus

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I understand that, but the execution requirement for wave-dashing is not ridiculously unreasonable. The difference between having to press buttons 1/60th of a second between each other and 1/20th (at the strictest) is immense.
 
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Scuba Steve

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No, it's just to illustrate that the notion that "someone can do it consistently" doesn't necessarily mean that the execution requirement is reasonable.



Well the main thing is that here it has no effect on how the rest of the game works, it just makes the timing a bit more lenient. I can't really see any reason for that not to exist.
Dude... wavedashing really isn't that difficult. As for why it's not in the game, it's probably just because the PMBR is more focused on, I dunno, bug fixes, character balancing, and trying to figure out what to do with the clone character slots rather than cater to people who can't jump and airdodge.
 

Paradoxium

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I wonder what it would be like if every advanced technique was really easy to do, and there were buffers on every input.


Oh I know, it would make all of us look like a bunch of p*ssies!


"We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things. Not because they are easy, but because they are hard."-JFK
 
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Prince Longstrok

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Also, just throwing it out there, but.. Am i the only one that gets a sense of accomplishment when i practice hard on an advance technique and eventually get it down to the point where i do it subconciously?

Everyone if the people you see on streams practiced hard to master wavedashing- and you can to!

Trust me, youll feel better about it once you do it c:
 

Terotrous

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I understand that, but the execution requirement for wave-dashing is not ridiculously unreasonable. The difference between having to press buttons 1/60th of a second between each other and 1/20th (at the strictest) is immense.
Uh, Sakura's links aren't about pushing buttons 1 frame apart, they're about pushing buttons with a precise one-frame timing window. It's actually exactly the same timing as a perfect wavedash, which is also a one-frame window.

You may be confusing the concept of plinking (which is pressing 3 buttons in 3 separate frames to get the desired input a little easier) with a 1-frame combo, because plinking is usually used to make the timing for these combos a little easier (not all inputs can be plinked though). Note that Smash Bros does not have any equivalent of plinking, your timing has to be "legitimate".


Also, just throwing it out there, but.. Am i the only one that gets a sense of accomplishment when i practice hard on an advance technique and eventually get it down to the point where i do it subconciously?

Everyone if the people you see on streams practiced hard to master wavedashing- and you can to!

Trust me, youll feel better about it once you do it c:
I've mastered other things which are similarly technical, like the Dante Empty Cancel combo in Playstation All-Stars (actually, it's even a fairly similar motion). I don't find the simple execution of the technique satisfying in any way, though. What's satisfying is to have a good match and beat your opponent through smart decision making. I actually find it very unsatisfying to beat someone due to them making a technical error, because then you know you didn't outplay them, they just screwed up.

I think the main reason some people love the concept of ATs being unreasonably difficult to perform is because it allows them to gain an advantage at the game through grinding rather than fundamentals. This was certainly the case with Mario Kart, there was an extremely vocal minority advocating the continued existence of snaking because they "felt it gave the game more depth". Unsurprisingly, this was code for "I'm not good enough to win without it", which immediately became obvious when snaking was removed, the pro-snaking advocates usually had terrible driving skills and item management and couldn't beat any good players without their crutch.

I'm not saying that's true of everyone here, but if you're confident in your fundamentals, you shouldn't be opposed to the reduction of execution barriers. That just means that when you beat your opponents they have no excuse for losing.
 

Scuba Steve

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The thing about wavedashing is that it doesn't need to be a perfect wavedash to accomplish what you want it to do. You seem really caught up on this. You can leave the ground a little bit sometimes and that's completely fine. It's not like if you don't do a perfect wavedash and mess up a little bit that it's like you didn't do one at all. You still get the benefit of the movement and small spacing adjustments that comes with wavedashing. This is my last post in this dumb thread. I'm tired of trying to argue this lol
 

Terotrous

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The thing about wavedashing is that it doesn't need to be a perfect wavedash to accomplish what you want it to do.
It frequently does. If you're, say, 2 frames late, not only will you not go as far, you won't be able to act for 3-4 frames longer (since you not only waste the 2 frames when you're in the air but haven't wavedashed yet, but also the time it takes you to get back to the ground, before the 10 frame waveland can start). So if you want to punish something with WD OOS, losing those 4 frames will often turn a punish into something the opponent can block. Similarly, if you want to do a wavedash cancel off, say, Ike's Quick Draw, losing those 4 frames makes your grab or attack that much more reactable.

So yes, getting it right matters, and this could easily be achieved by allowing you to hit the button early.
 

Pickledpotatoes

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I think the main reason some people love the concept of ATs being unreasonably difficult to perform is because it allows them to gain an advantage at the game through grinding rather than fundamentals. This was certainly the case with Mario Kart, there was an extremely vocal minority advocating the continued existence of snaking because they "felt it gave the game more depth". Unsurprisingly, this was code for "I'm not good enough to win without it", which immediately became obvious when snaking was removed, the pro-snaking advocates usually had terrible driving skills and item management and couldn't beat any good players without their crutch.

I'm not saying that's true of everyone here, but if you're confident in your fundamentals, you shouldn't be opposed to the reduction of execution barriers. That just means that when you beat your opponents they have no excuse for losing.
But performing a wavedash is not very hard, and just being able to perform one doesn't make you better. You aren't becoming better when you just practice diagonally air dodging into the ground. You actually have to learn when to use it and how it will be helpful, kind of like the other fundamentals in the game. It isn't like l canceling where it's useful just by doing it. Wavedashing doesn't support grind2win, and to be perfectly honest, it Isn't difficult enough to need an auto-magical wavedashing button. Plus, there are more useful things to do with your 2 spare buttons.
 

Ace55

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Why no perfect shffl button, perfect moonwalk button, RAR button, JC grab button, DACUS button, etc. There are a lot of useful techniques in smash that require several inputs done with the right timing.

I mean I'm not even against the idea, because I think technical barriers are the boring part of the game, but aside from seeming extremely unrealistic it also seems very arbitrary.
 

Terotrous

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But performing a wavedash is not very hard, and just being able to perform one doesn't make you better. You aren't becoming better when you just practice diagonally air dodging into the ground.
Well, you somewhat are. There's two parts to being able to wavedash well - the knowledge of where to use it, and the technical skill to perform it. The knowledge is useless if you can't do it consistently.

If you agree that the knowledge is the important part and not the technical skill, then you should agree with the suggestion to allow a buffered input during the prejump frames rather than requiring the exact timing. As you said, this doesn't mean you magically know when to use it too, it just means that if you know you want to do it, it'll come out.
 

Terotrous

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Why no perfect shffl button, perfect moonwalk button, RAR button, JC grab button, DACUS button, etc. There are a lot of useful techniques in smash that require several inputs done with the right timing.
Universal input buffering does simplify most of these. I proposed earlier that one solution could be to allow players to turn on buffering on a per-account basis, like you can with tap jump (the buffering is already in the game, you just can't enable it for each player individually, it's everyone or no one). This might have some unintended consequences, however, and I think pretty much everyone would use it if it was available.
 
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Pickledpotatoes

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Well, you somewhat are. There's two parts to being able to wavedash well - the knowledge of where to use it, and the technical skill to perform it. The knowledge is useless if you can't do it consistently.

If you agree that the knowledge is the important part and not the technical skill, then you should agree with the suggestion to allow a buffered input during the prejump frames rather than requiring the exact timing. As you said, this doesn't mean you magically know when to use it too, it just means that if you know you want to do it, it'll come out.
But the problem is that performing a wavedash isn't hard enough to warrant losing one of your 2 spare buttons that could be more useful for something else. Footstooling and an extra attack button come mind. Since using this buffer makes you have less options and therefore less potential, it'd be pointless in competitive play. And again, it really Isn't that hard.
 

9bit

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I think the main reason some people love the concept of ATs being unreasonably difficult to perform is because it allows them to gain an advantage at the game through grinding rather than fundamentals. This was certainly the case with Mario Kart, there was an extremely vocal minority advocating the continued existence of snaking because they "felt it gave the game more depth". Unsurprisingly, this was code for "I'm not good enough to win without it", which immediately became obvious when snaking was removed, the pro-snaking advocates usually had terrible driving skills and item management and couldn't beat any good players without their crutch.
This is a terrible, borderline infuriating opinion. You're suggesting that the way some people play is the right way, and another is the wrong way.

Do you even consider other sides or do you just blinding go with your first impulse? From the side of the snakers, the noobs who relied on items and just driving in a straight line toward the goal were not taking full advantage of their options to win. And when snaking was removed it let all the kiddies have a chance to finally casual it up and still win. You call snaking a crutch, like the people who did it were cheating. Which you probably think. I think that says a lot about how you view competition.

Snaking is probably a terrible analogue for wavedashing anyway. They're way too different. But what you posted about it being a crutch and the "I'm not good enough to win without it" pissed me off like you wouldn't believe.

The combination of both fundamental smarts and tech skill execution is what makes top level competitive video games so engaging and popular. You think certain executions are needless barriers or are pointless, but that's an opinion you seem to keep stating as fact. The player who presses the buttons better and smarter should have the advantage in Smash Bros. If you want to remove half of that, just play a turn-based game or chess or something.

A wavedashing button is a stupid idea. Learn to play.
 
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Terotrous

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But the problem is that performing a wavedash isn't hard enough to warrant losing one of your 2 spare buttons that could be more useful for something else. Footstooling and an extra attack button come mind. Since using this buffer makes you have less options and therefore less potential, it'd be pointless in competitive play. And again, it really Isn't that hard.
The idea behind the buffer is that it wouldn't take a button, it would just work that way automatically. You'd still have to perform the wavedash motion, the timing of the shield button just wouldn't be tight anymore.


Why would you want every technique simplified to the point where it takes almost no practice to perform?
Like I said before, controlling your character should be intuitive and natural. Knowing what to do in each situation is the part that should take practice and skill.


This is a terrible, borderline infuriating opinion. You're suggesting that the way some people play is the right way, and another is the wrong way.

Do you even consider other sides or do you just blinding go with your first impulse? From the side of the snakers, the noobs who relied on items and just driving in a straight line toward the goal were not taking full advantage of their options to win. And when snaking was removed it let all the kiddies have a chance to finally casual it up and still win. You call snaking a crutch, like the people who did it were cheating. Which you probably think. I think that says a lot about how you view competition.
I can tell you're not particularly good at Mario Kart. It was snaking that allowed the casual players to have a chance, because it rendered more nebulous concepts like item strategy and race positioning less important. To casual players who don't understand these concepts, the outcome seems random, but if you have a high level player in a room full of moderate level players they'll win almost every time, hence the game is actually not very random at all.

If you want to learn a bit about how the strategy in high level Mario Kart works, you can check out the video below. It's got some pretty good commentary that explains some of the strategies that are in place.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WReLnCEnow4


The combination of both fundamental smarts and tech skill execution is what makes top level competitive video games so engaging and popular.
Except it's not really. Most of the most popular games are those where execution barriers are low. There's a reason Mario Kart is much more popular than, say, F-Zero or Wipeout. Similarly, there's a reason Street Fighter 4 was much more popular than Street Fighter 3.

I suppose you could consider something like Starcraft a subversion, but the entire RTS genre is pretty niche because it's so hard for new players to get into.

It's also worth noting that execution and competitiveness aren't necessarily related. A pretty strong case can be made that Mario Kart is actually more competitive than F-Zero. The mainstream fighting crowd also used to believe (some still do) that Smash is not competitive because it is not execution-heavy, but anyone who plays Smash knows that is not the case.
 
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Prince Longstrok

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Uh, Sakura's links aren't about pushing buttons 1 frame apart, they're about pushing buttons with a precise one-frame timing window. It's actually exactly the same timing as a perfect wavedash, which is also a one-frame window.

You may be confusing the concept of plinking (which is pressing 3 buttons in 3 separate frames to get the desired input a little easier) with a 1-frame combo, because plinking is usually used to make the timing for these combos a little easier (not all inputs can be plinked though). Note that Smash Bros does not have any equivalent of plinking, your timing has to be "legitimate".



I've mastered other things which are similarly technical, like the Dante Empty Cancel combo in Playstation All-Stars (actually, it's even a fairly similar motion). I don't find the simple execution of the technique satisfying in any way, though. What's satisfying is to have a good match and beat your opponent through smart decision making. I actually find it very unsatisfying to beat someone due to them making a technical error, because then you know you didn't outplay them, they just screwed up.

I think the main reason some people love the concept of ATs being unreasonably difficult to perform is because it allows them to gain an advantage at the game through grinding rather than fundamentals. This was certainly the case with Mario Kart, there was an extremely vocal minority advocating the continued existence of snaking because they "felt it gave the game more depth". Unsurprisingly, this was code for "I'm not good enough to win without it", which immediately became obvious when snaking was removed, the pro-snaking advocates usually had terrible driving skills and item management and couldn't beat any good players without their crutch.

I'm not saying that's true of everyone here, but if you're confident in your fundamentals, you shouldn't be opposed to the reduction of execution barriers. That just means that when you beat your opponents they have no excuse for losing.

Not making mistakes IS a skill..
 

Paradoxium

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Except it's not really. Most of the most popular games are those where execution barriers are low. There's a reason Mario Kart is much more popular than, say, F-Zero or Wipeout. Similarly, there's a reason Street Fighter 4 was much more popular than Street Fighter 3.

I suppose you could consider something like Starcraft a subversion, but the entire RTS genre is pretty niche because it's so hard for new players to get into.
@ 9bit 9bit just came in, popped off, and said what i have been trying to say this whole time, you see i am very bad at expressing myself and my views.

Simple execution is for p*ssies, im just gonna be honest. Seeing people pull off difficult things is exciting, pulling off difficult things is exciting. Like when you see a quarterback throw a hell mary, like god damn is that difficult. your strategy doesn't mean **** if you cant execute that pass.

Dance Dance revolution, that was my ****. Its very impressive when your feet are moving like lightning

And technical difficulty is what makes **** like this so impressive

Making things really hard for the sake of it is pretty stupid, but at the same time lowering technical requirements is boring and lame. I would rather have a game that requires speed, precision, and smarts rather than a game with only smarts.
 
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