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[CountAntonius]

My feeling on gems are they were made as a carrot on a stick mechanic like perks and unlocks are for FPS games. You will probably unlock them by playing or doing certain things in game. They want to add that addictive quality that made CoD blow up but for fighters, also create a possible DLC cash cow.

That's fine and I get it the problem is they aren't thinking of the competitive community at all. How do we know? Exclusive pre order gems. Not to mention the time it takes to select them and let's not get into gem counterpicking ever comes into effect.

Of course they are gonna say it's intrinsic to gameplay and balanced for competition but making some pre order bonuses and DLC shits on that theory.

I like the idea of gems. I want to play with Gems and collect them and mess around with builds but I want my No gems ranked matches and ability to turn them off in lobbies etc as well versus mode. Give this game it's competitive life as well as a fun new mode to sink some time into. Marvel has Heroes and heralds and they did it right by making it optional.

 

[-PXG-]

My feeling on gems are they were made as a carrot on a stick mechanic like perks and unlocks are for FPS games. You will probably unlock them by playing or doing certain things in game. They want to add that addictive quality that made CoD blow up but for fighters, also create a possible DLC cash cow.

That's fine and I get it the problem is they aren't thinking of the competitive community at all. How do we know? Exclusive pre order gems. Not to mention the time it takes to select them and let's not get into gem counterpicking ever comes into effect.

Of course they are gonna say it's intrinsic to gameplay and balanced for competition but making some pre order bonuses and DLC shits on that theory.

I like the idea of gems. I want to play with Gems and collect them and mess around with builds but I want my No gems ranked matches and ability to turn them off in lobbies etc as well versus mode. Give this game it's competitive life as well as a fun new mode to sink some time into. Marvel has Heroes and heralds and they did it right by making it optional.

Pretty much.

And I agree. Keep them in the game, but give people the option to turn them off, or include a separate mode where they're disabled. Going by some loose honor system of not using them isn't enough.

 

[CountAntonius]

New Devblog

Gem System announced

Information about the Gem system has just been officially released, but it’s already creating a lot of talk online about the potential pros and cons of it! We took a lot of time to think about how we could expand the general fan base of fighting games and what approach would be best, and we finally came up with this solution.

Nonetheless, I suppose that everyone who reads my blog and has that passion for fighting games would like a better explanation of the Gem system, and I would love to as well, but remember that the game is still under development, and there’s always a chance that what I explain may not make it into the final game, so please be aware of that point.

Gems can be generally divided into two categories.

Boost Gems

There are many types of Boost Gems available, but generally they give a character temporary boosts in Attack Power, Defense, Speed, etc. Using a Boost Gem, you can create an unexpectedly quickly Zangief, or a hard-hitting Chun-Li. However, Boost Gems have various activation conditions set, such as “land X number of normal moves” or “Take damage X number of times”. This means that the more difficult the activation condition, the bigger the benefit.

The cost of each Gem can’t be simply tied to the boost it gives, but also to the player’s play style, as well as the type of character they are using. When using Boost Gems, even in mirror matches, tactics and characteristics become more evident, so we expect that players are going to keep a much closer eye to every movement their opponent makes in battle.

↑A high-speed Zangief on the assault! Just thinking about it makes me shiver...

Assist Gems

Assist Gems do not affect the parameters of your character, but rather help out a player’s execution. The best example was the one we introduced at NY Comic Con, with the Auto-block and Auto Throw Escape Gems. If you equip those Gems, they will constantly be active. So they don’t have any special activation conditions, but instead have certain costs.

For example, with the Auto-block Gem, whenever it is used in a battle, it consumes 1 block of the Cross Gauge.
Kaoshi
↑In between these light kicks, the Cross Gauge has disappeared!

Renga
↑By the way, blocking continuously (such as during block strings) will not drain the Cross Gauge repeatedly.

The Auto-block is certainly advantageous, but on the other hand you lose out on a lot of Cross Gauge usage. However, you fighting game fans are accustomed to the classic cross-up situations, combos and high/low mix-up setups, right? SF X Tekken is a fighting game that is based on Gems, so good players will have to understand the true cost of a Gem and use it wisely!

Other Assist Gems also exist that have various properties, so please look forward to finding out what they will all do in due time!

Also, some websites have stated that you can filter matches to have fights with and without Gems. However, this is incorrect. We would like to state that when searching for matches, there is no such feature to turn on or off Gems. The Gems is a fundamental part of Street Fighter X Tekken and a highly important piece of the system. Be on the lookout for official information regarding the effects, conditions and costs of the Gems revealed thus far.

 

[Kimosabae]

Is the last paragraph referring to online or in general? It's as if they're purposefully being ambiguous about how much control we have over the Gem system's prevalence.

 

[Professor Beef]

Is the last paragraph referring to online or in general? It's as if they're purposefully being ambiguous about how much control we have over the Gem system's prevalence.

Filtering matches is almost exclusively used when talking about online play, so....yeah.

 

[Kimosabae]

Filtering matches is almost exclusively used when talking about online play, so....yeah.

Right. But considering the context due to the discussion surrounding the gem system it's not explicit enough to put to rest any questions concerning whether or not they can turned off, generally. Hence, the ambiguity.

 

[kirblar]

They truly don't understand what a can of worms they're opening here. I feel like I need to write something for the community here, because I've got nearly two decades of M:TG experience, and their usage of it in analogies is setting off alarm bells for me.

 

[Professor Beef]

Right. But considering the context due to the discussion surrounding the gem system it's not explicit enough to put to rest any questions concerning whether or not they can turned off, generally. Hence, the ambiguity.

...Really?

We would like to state that when searching for matches, there is no such feature to turn on or off Gems.

Seems to me that at least for online play, they're gonna be on. I'm expecting there to be no option to turn them off offline or online, which is no big deal to me at least.

 

[Kadey]

Capcom is getting too greedy. I'm all about customization but this is tying directly into game play which will upset the balance of things. Things like walk speed and move priorities means nothing when you have certain gems equipped.

 

[Oldschoolgamer]

Can you use that shit in tandem with Pandora activated?

 

[Kimosabae]

...Really?

Missed that part. Or at least, it stand out enough for me.

 

[Skilletor]

lol.

Fuck this game.

 

[FallingEdge]

no... just no....

 

[The Return of]

I don't think this has been posted yet.

http://www.eventhubs.com/news/2011/oct/20/gems-are-unique-each-fighter-your-team-sfxt/

 

[GrayFoxPL]

I want gem that makes pussies out of my opponents.

 

[Lost Fragment]

My feeling on gems are they were made as a carrot on a stick mechanic like perks and unlocks are for FPS games. You will probably unlock them by playing or doing certain things in game. They want to add that addictive quality that made CoD blow up but for fighters, also create a possible DLC cash cow.

Didn't they say that you unlock gems by doing things in single player? Playing a fighting game against the CPU is about as fun as chemotherapy.

This game has gone from "probably gonna pick it up" to "I might pick it up in a year when the price drops to $10. Maybe." pretty quickly for me.

 

[CountAntonius]

I don't think this has been posted yet.

http://www.eventhubs.com/news/2011/oct/20/gems-are-unique-each-fighter-your-team-sfxt/

So tournament organizers need to wait for people to choose ten gems. Yeah right.

 

[Kai Dracon]

Capcom has become the master of trolling fighting game players.

It's quite innovative when you think about it.

You know what? Screw it, I'm there on day one. This is something new, different for a Capcom game. I want to see how it works out for real. It's clear that the system actually has its balances, and gem powers have strategies and tradeoffs. How the heck is it "noobifiying" to have a guard ability that drains meter like crazy? That sounds like it would just frustrate and cripple actual casual players.

I suppose it's just that, every time a new game comes out and has an idea that overturns the apple card, a lot of people sound like they want the next new fighting game to play just like the last fighting game. The sheer controversy the Gem system is causing, may be an indication that it's pushing the right buttons, and tipping over sacred cows.

But it's still epic trolling, lol.

 

[Degen]

lol.

Fuck this game.

I just think it's great that these frequent problems are finally being addressed

 

[BiggNife]

Man, I was really looking forward to this game, but everything about the gem system rubs me the wrong way.

Ah well, guess I'll be playing ME3 on March 6th instead.

 

[Sixfortyfive]

Didn't they say that you unlock gems by doing things in single player? Playing a fighting game against the CPU is about as fun as chemotherapy.

This game has gone from "probably gonna pick it up" to "I might pick it up in a year when the price drops to $10. Maybe." pretty quickly for me.

This is pretty much where I'm at on SFxT. Waiting for "Super" now, lol.

I'd like to have another fighter to supplement Ultimate for me next year though. Here's hoping Skullgirls lives up to its potential, I guess.

 

[CountAntonius]

Yeah though I'm completely confused about this game is still seems like it will be fun. All those 4 player modes online will be a blast. I'll still be playing AE of course but there's no doubt I'll be buying this game and waiting to see how it does on the competitive circuit.

 

[Anth0ny]

lol.

Fuck this game.

bahahahahahwhahahawhawhwa

 

[ArjanN]

I don't think the gems are that big a deal, it's basically Modern Warfare 2's perk system and IMO they've been pretty clear from the start SFxT was supposed to be a more experimental off the wall type game.

So tournament organizers need to wait for people to choose ten gems. Yeah right.

Ever watched a DOTA tournament? Character selection takes like half an hour in those.

 

[-PXG-]

lol.

Fuck this game.

This image alone will cause many aneurysms.

This is just wow...I'm a mediocre/okay player, and I think this is complete bullshit.

 

[Professor Beef]

I wanna buy this, if only for the salt.

 

[CountAntonius]

I wanna buy this, if only for the salt.

Building completely broken builds and trolling with them online will make inboxes great to read.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

lol.

Fuck this game.

This is the future of how Capcom fighters will be greenlit

"No, we promise this game will sell more than to the EVO crowd! We'll make it so everyone can play evenly, regardless of skill!"

 

[gundamkyoukai]

I really don't see how auto blocking going to help a casual player if uses his super .
Good players will make him use up all his super then he fucked .
Gems also looking like easy mode expect now you can customize it .

 

[SapientWolf]

I just think it's great that these frequent problems are finally being addressed

lol

 

[DjangoReinhardt]

They truly don't understand what a can of worms they're opening here. I feel like I need to write something for the community here, because I've got nearly two decades of M:TG experience, and their usage of it in analogies is setting off alarm bells for me.

I'm genuinely fascinated to see how bad the balance is for v1.0 of SFxT. Between the huge cast, the tag team element, the massive amount of mechanics, and now the gems, there are so many moving pieces. Just imagine if any of these gems change frame data . . .

 

[Skilletor]

I'm genuinely fascinated to see how bad the balance is for v1.0 of SFxT. Between the huge cast, the tag team element, the massive amount of mechanics, and now the gems, there are so many moving pieces. Just imagine if any of these gems change frame data . . .

Wouldn't any gem that has speed buffs do just that?

 

[Khal_B]

So this is what it looks like when you CoDify a fighting game. Interesting.

 

[sleepykyo]

I'm genuinely fascinated to see how bad the balance is for v1.0 of SFxT. Between the huge cast, the tag team element, the massive amount of mechanics, and now the gems, there are so many moving pieces. Just imagine if any of these gems change frame data . . .

Good question with MVC3, they gave you so many options that it resulted in a very tactics and compositions being viable, trying to account so many variables seems pretty daunting.

 

[Kimosabae]

I suppose it's just that, every time a new game comes out and has an idea that overturns the apple card, a lot of people sound like they want the next new fighting game to play just like the last fighting game. The sheer controversy the Gem system is causing, may be an indication that it's pushing the right buttons, and tipping over sacred cows.

But it's still epic trolling, lol.

Yup.

The funny thing is that there will be a competitive community for this game, whether people laugh the game off or not and I can't wait to see how the game evolves.

 

[CountAntonius]

Yup.

The funny thing is that there will be a competitive community for this game, whether people laugh the game off or not and I can't wait to see how the game evolves.

Yeah but it's not a simple game mechanic they are throwing in it's a dlc focused, pre order exclusive cashgrab that fundamentally changes the gameplay itself and it's not optional.

It's kind of a big deal and I think it's OK for people to worry. It's also a very slippery slope as far as fighting games go.

 

[Snakeyes]

"No igems, Steve Fox only, Final Destin... Oh wait."

I was actually looking forward to this game though, so I'm kind of bummed.

 

[zlatko]

Don't give a fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. Buying day one for Rolento. Not every fighting game HAS to be SUPER DUPER HARDCORE made for pro scene. I mean shit are the 900 others not enough? Plus, we still don't know how balanced the gems are or aren't. Who gives a shit if some noobie wants a gem to tech throws for them? That's 1 less slot that they could have used for something you can't manually do yourself like damage buffs or quicker recovery. Pro players will have some fantastic gem builds, and I like the strategy element behind gems.

The only thing that sucks about gems so far is that there is pre order/DLC gems. That is a big mistake if they wanted this game to use gems in a competitive scene. Oh wells though to me since I'm not Justin Wong or Daigo, and I'll be repping team NAH as I play Rolento and Steve Fox at home.

I'll totally be using the tech throw gem by the way. That's one of the things in SF4 online that pisses me off when there is input lag. Even option selecting tech throws can go out the window with some lag with the throw windows.

Day one buy.

 

[CPS2]

Honestly I don't think it not being a tournament viable game is the worst thing in the world. Tournaments are only one way to play, and it's not a format that everyone really enjoys. There can still be FT5's, money matches, streams, whatever. Just probably not a whole lot of 32+ brackets unless they really augment the rules in a way that seems smash-esque. Most people will just play online anyway, and it won't matter too much.

 

[zlatko]

Honestly I don't think it not being a tournament viable game is the worst thing in the world. Tournaments are only one way to play, and it's not a format that everyone really enjoys. There can still be FT5's, money matches, streams, whatever. Just probably not a whole lot of 32+ brackets unless they really augment the rules in a way that seems smash-esque. Most people will just play online anyway, and it won't matter too much.

Yup, and tournaments could just restrict what gems are tournament viable and not. It's lazy fucks like the EVO guys who sit on top of their mountains who just want to shit on new systems and not give games a chance before they even play it that bug me. Seriously it'd take like 1 whole month to find the most broken stuff, especially with guys like Desk in the community.

If there is a LOT of crazy combos that can lead to stupid shit, then it should make it pretty easy to just find the gems that are worthless and if you HAVE to equip them in the game like they are saying, then just force players to use 5 crappy ones that don't effect the game at all, and go from there.

 

[Chindogg]

Honestly I don't think it not being a tournament viable game is the worst thing in the world. Tournaments are only one way to play, and it's not a format that everyone really enjoys. There can still be FT5's, money matches, streams, whatever. Just probably not a whole lot of 32+ brackets unless they really augment the rules in a way that seems smash-esque. Most people will just play online anyway, and it won't matter too much.

While we're at it lets just add a feature to the game where you pay $10 to be able to instantly win by pressing jab once. Don't have the time to practice and actually be good at the game? Just buy gems to make yourself instantly top tier. Basically defeats the purpose of a fighting game.

Yup, and tournaments could just restrict what gems are tournament viable and not. It's lazy fucks like the EVO guys who sit on top of their mountains who just want to shit on new systems and not give games a chance before they even play it that bug me. Seriously it'd take like 1 whole month to find the most broken stuff, especially with guys like Desk in the community.

If there is a LOT of crazy combos that can lead to stupid shit, then it should make it pretty easy to just find the gems that are worthless and if you HAVE to equip them in the game like they are saying, then just force players to use 5 crappy ones that don't effect the game at all, and go from there.

 

[zlatko]

While we're at it lets just add a feature to the game where you pay $10 to be able to instantly win by pressing jab once. Don't have the time to practice and actually be good at the game? Just buy gems to make yourself instantly top tier. Basically defeats the purpose of a fighting game.

Oh they added gems like that? Care to link me to those?

Get over yourself Jesus Christ. They aren't adding auto win buttons by any means. They are giving good players tools to utilize to make them even scarier. You really think a top player will be using an auto tech throw gem when they can opt for + damage? Fuck no, because they are probably confident that they can tech a throw 9/10 times if not 10/10 times.

If you think gems = you become the next Justin Wong, then you are seriously dense as shit, because you didn't even stop to think about what happens if you give gems to Justin Wong. Scrubs will still be scrubs. :/

 

[Kai Dracon]

Don't give a fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. Buying day one for Rolento. Not every fighting game HAS to be SUPER DUPER HARDCORE made for pro scene. I mean shit are the 900 others not enough? Plus, we still don't know how balanced the gems are or aren't. Who gives a shit if some noobie wants a gem to tech throws for them? That's 1 less slot that they could have used for something you can't manually do yourself like damage buffs or quicker recovery. Pro players will have some fantastic gem builds, and I like the strategy element behind gems.

The only thing that sucks about gems so far is that there is pre order/DLC gems. That is a big mistake if they wanted this game to use gems in a competitive scene. Oh wells though to me since I'm not Justin Wong or Daigo, and I'll be repping team NAH as I play Rolento and Steve Fox at home.

I'll totally be using the tech throw gem by the way. That's one of the things in SF4 online that pisses me off when there is input lag. Even option selecting tech throws can go out the window with some lag with the throw windows.

Day one buy.

Here I must agree - game could have item boxes that drop umbrellas and laser swords, but it's got goddamn Rolento. I'm there.

Plus, it seems some are confabulating the gem system itself with the pre-order gem "scam" and calling gems bad because of it. It is a bit like saying alternate costumes are bad because you don't like paying for them as DLC.

Do folks not realize that any claim of "exclusive" DLC or pre-order bonuses are almost always marketing? It's almost always something that either gets released generally four weeks later, or is unlockable in the game itself via time investment. I would honestly be shocked if all the gems are not in the game already and the pre-order incentives are timesaver packs.

Also agree that tournament obsession is almost out of hand at this point. The attitude seems to be that we can't see fighting games spread out now that they're back and there are dozens of them. Every game must be Evo certified otherwise it will destroy the genre.

 

[Chindogg]

Oh they added gems like that? Care to link me to those?

Get over yourself Jesus Christ. They aren't adding auto win buttons by any means. They are giving good players tools to utilize to make them even scarier. You really think a top player will be using an auto tech throw gem when they can opt for + damage? Fuck no, because they are probably confident that they can tech a throw 9/10 times if not 10/10 times.

If you think gems = you become the next Justin Wong, then you are seriously dense as shit, because you didn't even stop to think about what happens if you give gems to Justin Wong. Scrubs will still be scrubs. :/

You'll see soon enough.

 

[Kai Dracon]

While we're at it lets just add a feature to the game where you pay $10 to be able to instantly win by pressing jab once. Don't have the time to practice and actually be good at the game? Just buy gems to make yourself instantly top tier. Basically defeats the purpose of a fighting game.

This is the kind of crazy cartoon slippery slope logic that seems to be going through the head of people in the fighting game scene. There's hardcore and then there's just plain silliness.

I like how people pick say, the auto-guard gem specifically to use as an example of how the ultimate "scrub" game is here, while conveniently ignoring that said gem, as a gameplay concept, is massively crippling: it eats a section of meter EVERY time it is used. Yep, that sure is a win button thar. Any pug on the internet will walk up and school Justin Wong with that gem, and fighting games will be destroyed forever.

There's actually something legitimately interesting going on with the gem concept; there is a reason why, unlike the lunatic (but fun) cards in UMVC3, the gems are the standard mechanic and not optional.

 

[Flying Wonkey]

Hmmm pre order gems and now pre order Dampierre.

What an irritating trend.

 

[Nyoro SF]

Capcom needs to clear up more about the gem system so we can make conclusions. They could of course be still ironing out details but having pre-order gems on the SE doesn't exactly instill me with confidence.

 

[zlatko]

This is the kind of crazy cartoon slippery slope logic that seems to be going through the head of people in the fighting game scene. There's hardcore and then there's just plain silliness.

I like how people pick say, the auto-guard gem specifically to use as an example of how the ultimate "scrub" game is here, while conveniently ignoring that said gem, as a gameplay concept, is massively crippling: it eats a section of meter EVERY time it is used. Yep, that sure is a win button thar. Any pug on the internet will walk up and school Justin Wong with that gem, and fighting games will be destroyed forever.

There's actually something legitimately interesting going on with the gem concept; there is a reason why, unlike the lunatic (but fun) cards in UMVC3, the gems are the standard mechanic and not optional.

Agreed. Plus, as far as I can tell every system they've introduced is super refined. Pandora at first everyone though was some broke ass come back factor like X-factor, and it was debunked. The team cross over stuff with controlling both of your characters at once is also a great way to set up mix ups and encourage team synergy.

Now gems get dropped and people poop thinking this won't be looked at for balance. It's clear as day Gems were on the table probably within a month of this games inception and the whole game was built around this mechanic in mind.

Oh and this game is coming out in the year 2012, and I heard games in the year 2012 will have this nifty feature called patches to fix things in case they are too broken or imbalanced. :O

 

[-PXG-]

Don't give a fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. Buying day one for Rolento. Not every fighting game HAS to be SUPER DUPER HARDCORE made for pro scene. I mean shit are the 900 others not enough? Plus, we still don't know how balanced the gems are or aren't. Who gives a shit if some noobie wants a gem to tech throws for them? That's 1 less slot that they could have used for something you can't manually do yourself like damage buffs or quicker recovery. Pro players will have some fantastic gem builds, and I like the strategy element behind gems.

The only thing that sucks about gems so far is that there is pre order/DLC gems. That is a big mistake if they wanted this game to use gems in a competitive scene. Oh wells though to me since I'm not Justin Wong or Daigo, and I'll be repping team NAH as I play Rolento and Steve Fox at home.

I'll totally be using the tech throw gem by the way. That's one of the things in SF4 online that pisses me off when there is input lag. Even option selecting tech throws can go out the window with some lag with the throw windows.

Day one buy.

Sawed Off Shotgun...

Think about it. Think about why it makes you mad and what it does to high level/ competitive play.

Okay, done? Good. Now think about how potentially destructive gems are, and you'll see the awful parallels between the two.

 

[zlatko]

Sawed Off Shotgun...

Think about it. Think about why it makes you mad and what it does to high level/ competitive play.

Okay, done? Good. Now think about how potentially destructive gems are, and you'll see the awful parallels between the two.

It makes me mad when lag is in play. It makes me mad because of how much map control it can give you.

The fact is in Gears 3 I come out on top of a SOS player 7 or 8/10 times. 1/10 times it's monkey shit/me playing poorly, and 2 are probably due to the lag when dedi's aren't up.

I hate how it changed the flow of combat, but this is still apples to oranges. I thought the SOS vs The Gnasher in pro hands would make the Gnasher the worse gun, but the Gnasher is still the better weapon in a better players hands to get more benefits from it.

So my argument is still valid with gems. Better players will find better strategies/builds with gems than simply the use of ones that baby a player to tech throws for them.

Again, no one here has a crystal ball to see what the full list of gems are. If there is some mega broken shit, then I'll gladly take a dump on this game, but until that passes I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt. People crapped on the focus attack system before SF4 came out, but I liked it, and I still do.

Wait till you see the full list before pooping your pants, and again I point to the fact that not every single fucking game in the fighting genre has to be playing it mad safe to be tournament viable. CvS2 had a ton of crazy shit in it and it still became a tourney viable game even with crap like roll cancelling. I think my first comment about this game after gems was announced that it'll be like Super Smash for big kids... is that so bad? If that idea turns you off, then write the game off, but I'm all for a fighter I play for just shits and giggles while I keep others for more serious competition. Sort of like I care about Gears 3 stats, but laugh at Call of Duty ones.