Your hopes and fears for TFH?

[Lex-]

I don't mean to kill the hype for the game or anything and I know it's still early for speculations, but I think we all have hopes and fears for the final product. What are yours?

Apart from a good online-experience I also hope for an unpredictable, well-designed, non-cheating AI for the single player mode. Automated tournaments like in Starcraft 2 would be super fun too. Also, a bunch of more characters once the game has been out for a while would be nice since 6 (or 7 if you already count the goat) would be pretty few for a fighting game.

As for my fears, I'm a little afraid that Arizona might be noticeably easier to play and get victories with than other characters. Also, the usual balance issue is always in the back of my mind since it would be a shame not to see all characters in big tournaments.

 

[Ambris]

I'm quite confident in the dev team when it comes to balance. Considering Fighting is Magic was getting attention at EVO, it's safe to safe that TFH will probably be legit in terms of competitive play potential. The dev team obviously knows their what they're talking about. And getting balance right with a relatively small cast of characters is going to make it easier too. Any issues that do arise (and there will inevitably be some) will also likely get tweaked in patches.

I think Arizona's lack of ranged options is a pretty significant weakness for anyone who learns to get around it. She might be a bit pub-stompy, but like--well, you gotta remember that not every single character in a good fighting games are ever equally easy to just pick up and play--it's just the nature of the beast when you're trying to design a varied and dynamic cast. Some characters will simply have a lower skill requirement to play proficiently; It's actually a good idea to have at least a few "pick-up-and-play" characters, because otherwise you perpetuate a community lockout by discouraging players from even trying to get into the game. You want new players to at least feel like they're putting up a competent fight when they're starting out, else they'll just get discouraged and leave. But on other hoof, yes, you don't wanna make a character too powerful with minimal skill investment; that's the very definition of OP.

What you want, regardless of characters's minimal skill requirement, is for all characters to have a similar skill cap. Said skill cap would ideally be high enough that even the top players are always finding new ways to win a fight--the end result being that once you clear the very bottom skill tier, comparative skill levels with different characters would roughly normalize.

A good example would be Ryu from Street Fighter, and most shotos by extension. Such characters have a wide range of tools for dealing with most situations, making them versatile and relatively easy to just pick up and play. But they also have a plenty high skill cap, giving players who even take a bit of time to learn their characters a hell of a lot more options and power.

 

[Piemente]

My biggest concerns right now are the damage numbers. While I know these are changed on a daily basis it seems to me that the game has no noticeable damage scaling during combos during combos. As a result of this most attacks do negligible damage on there own. It seems to me that this would lead to the neutral game feeling awful as any stray hit will be almost meaningless. Finally, I think throws thus far to far to little damage to make them a viable mixup. Most players just wont be scared to eat a throw.

 

[StopShot]

My biggest fear is the game doesn't earn enough attention on Steam and the dev team would be unable to produce anything new after they make the goat a character due to lowness of funds at that point.

 

[Bass Drop]

I think the Devs know what they're doing, so let them do what they do

 

[Feanor]

My biggest fear regards the storyline, and I have posted it at other locations on the web, but I shall re-iterate nonetheless. As someone who doesn't really play fighting games, my primary interest in this thing would be the story-line, the characters, and the world-building. My greatest fear right now is that they don't put sufficient energy into this aspect of the game, focusing 100% instead on the gameplay and balance (good things, but like I said, I want story!)

More specifically, I am worried that the story mode will have too linear of a progress and ending, that does not allow for much future content. Big baddy is defeated and Predators are all locked away and Foenum returns to happy-land! I would greatly prefer a World of Warcraft type future, with an uneasy truce between - atleast a GROUP of - Predators and Ungulates. One of the things that made FiM so popular was how much they created and then left open to explore! Past wars referenced briefly, epic heroes mentioned, far away lands hinted at, background characters to be developed! These are the things that fed the fires of the Brony fandom during hiatus and beyond for all of the epic creations we have seen!

 

[Nimble Wing]

I think my biggest fear about this game will be in balancing the matchmaking system. I love fighting games, especially the faster paced ones, but I've always been the very definition of mediocrity. I have fun playing them, but I've never really excelled into anything beyond the skills required to pretty reliably complete the story/arcade modes on normal difficulties. Beyond that, I often fall short. And some games have poor systems for the matchmaking that have no consideration for the skills or experience of the players involved. In games like these, it'll be a coin flip on whether I'll have an enjoyable match, or whether I'll just be controlled and locked down for the fifteen seconds it takes for them to completely drain my health. It can be... frustrating when games throw you into battles with opponents of a much higher skill level.

My biggest hope, though, is that this game will manage to hold my attention, even if I continue to be destroyed in multiplayer. The best games are the ones that can still claim to be fun, even when you're in the middle of a defeat. I'm fine with losing matches, just as long as I can still have fun with the game. It's a tall order, sure, because losing isn't all that much fun. But there have been lots of games that have pulled it off before, and I'll keep my fingers crossed that the finished product will keep me smiling, even when I inevitably find myself outclassed by other players or even the AI.

 

[Stunthead]

From a boring, business-y persepctive, my biggest worry is that the implementation of future DLC characters will be poorly handled. Mane6 seems savvy enough to know the dos and do-nots of the video game world, but the fact that the Goat character will be "Free for backers" obviously implies that it will not be free for non-backers. Will other characters be the same? Or will Mane6 wait until they have enough money to create a new character without the need to charge people further for it?

Now, I'm not suggesting for a moment that Mane6 should not be paid for doing additional work. That would be stupid. I'd just like to know how they plan on handling DLC. I'd hate for TFH to end up as an example of a bad video game business model. I'd sooner support crowdfunding for DLC than see the game have over half its content locked behind a paywall.

 

[Ambris]

I think my biggest fear about this game will be in balancing the matchmaking system. I love fighting games, especially the faster paced ones, but I've always been the very definition of mediocrity. I have fun playing them, but I've never really excelled into anything beyond the skills required to pretty reliably complete the story/arcade modes on normal difficulties. Beyond that, I often fall short. And some games have poor systems for the matchmaking that have no consideration for the skills or experience of the players involved. In games like these, it'll be a coin flip on whether I'll have an enjoyable match, or whether I'll just be controlled and locked down for the fifteen seconds it takes for them to completely drain my health. It can be... frustrating when games throw you into battles with opponents of a much higher skill level.

My biggest hope, though, is that this game will manage to hold my attention, even if I continue to be destroyed in multiplayer. The best games are the ones that can still claim to be fun, even when you're in the middle of a defeat. I'm fine with losing matches, just as long as I can still have fun with the game. It's a tall order, sure, because losing isn't all that much fun. But there have been lots of games that have pulled it off before, and I'll keep my fingers crossed that the finished product will keep me smiling, even when I inevitably find myself outclassed by other players or even the AI.

I agree with this comment 100%

 

[DShou]

My biggest fear is for the game to not have enough content in the end. It'll be a nice roster I'm 100% sure, but I wonder if it'd be enough variety. Even if not characters considering developer POV, I'd love if new stuff can keep being added (even if it's just new hats).

My biggest hope is for a long-lasting and happy experience. I would absolutely love just, taking some part of my day to hang out in the visual lobby, play some casual matches, and have it keep going for just, a long, long, time.

 

[Nemesis]

My biggest fear is commercial failure. I think the chances of that are low, but that doesn't make the fear go away.

Also, I'm afraid that I'll suck at it. The chances of that are high. :<

 

[venseyness]

I'm really excited for the art, music, and gameplay, as from the trailers we've seen thus far, they seem to have that kind of stuff down.
Beyond that, though, I have many fears. For one, I've seen too many crowdfunded projects fail because they didn't work with their money respectfully, and just threw it around everywhere. I trust Mane 6, of course, but they haven't 100% proven that they're doing their absolute best to conserve costs. Stuff like that has broken games like Broken Age and Mighty Number 9 just to name a few.
Another thing I'm fearing is that the game will be really good, but that people will be let down by it because of the hype surrounding it. After years of getting worked up for a game, and then being let down even though it WAS actually a really good game, I've learned to temper my expectations, and in many cases, even expect the worst, as that can lead to being pleasantly surprised.
Also, Mane 6 haven't done a spectacular job keeping us consistently posted since the indiegogo ended, and that, again, can commonly make or break many crowdfunded and early access projects. I'm hoping that this forum will change that, as status updates weekly and major community involvement have proven in the past to be really important at keeping players intrigued. If you need good examples of this, look to development cycles of games like Don't Starve or Prison Architect.
What I've been saying here has gotten pretty down, but I have to say that despite everything I've said, I'm REALLY looking forward to this one, and I hope beyond hope that Mane 6 gets over the pitfalls listed here, and whatever else may come their way as development continues.
-Hoping for the best, V

 

[♥ Vanilla Cream Killy ♥]

My biggest fear is probably how the story will be handled. It's been brought up before, but portraying predators as antagonists purely because of their nature seems unfair, and I'm willing to believe (or hoping to believe) that the story won't be as black and white in terms of what's right and wrong. I feel like the way some characters are set up, such as Arizona being idealistic to a fault, Tianhuo being part predator, Pom being protected by carnivores and Oleander delving into magic that's shunned by her society lend to a certain story direction that deconstructs the effects of having the predators sealed away. It helps that the act of sealing them was done a long time ago during an ancient age, and in Oleander's chapter her society is meant to be rooted against for only following old traditions and not expanding their knowledge, which could be expanded with the issue of the predators.

I would honestly be disappointed if the way the plot goes is an incredibly simplistic 'the good guys beat the bad guys'.

 

[Ambris]

My biggest fear is probably how the story will be handled. It's been brought up before, but portraying predators as antagonists purely because of their nature seems unfair, and I'm willing to believe (or hoping to believe) that the story won't be as black and white in terms of what's right and wrong. I feel like the way some characters are set up, such as Arizona being idealistic to a fault, Tianhuo being part predator, Pom being protected by carnivores and Oleander delving into magic that's shunned by her society lend to a certain story direction that deconstructs the effects of having the predators sealed away. It helps that the act of sealing them was done a long time ago during an ancient age, and in Oleander's chapter her society is meant to be rooted against for only following old traditions and not expanding their knowledge, which could be expanded with the issue of the predators.

I would honestly be disappointed if the way the plot goes is an incredibly simplistic 'the good guys beat the bad guys'.

As someone who identifies with wolves, I also kinda hope that "predators" will get some amount of redemption in the story. I even have a far off hope that a wolf could be a playable character in the distant future (assuming DLC characters continues to be a thing).

Having said that, if predators really are generally irredeemable, eh, I'll take the plot for what ti is and that's that. I'll continue to love the game regardless.

 

[Kyderra]

My biggest fear is people not giving this game a change because it was originally Fighting is Magic.
I'm worried because both Maximilian and Super Best friends never mentioned the kickstarter or have mentioned the game ever since.

Considering Super Best friends love for Freedom Plant which has a similar backstory, I can't help but feel that a few of the fighting game channels and communities are purposelessly dodging this game not wanting to take a risk of having to deal with dislikes and negative comments.

 

[LockeRobster]

My biggest fear is for the stagnation of the fandom. Basically everyone here is a backer, family of a backer or devs.

How do they plan to generate interest in the project to get more people into the fold? Because if the fandom doesn't grow beyond what it is now we wont survive long after launch.

At the end of the day I guess its on us as well as the devs and marketers to spread the word and grow the fandom isnt it.

This must be what Jesus felt like.
Perhaps our cause is a little more trivial than his.

 

[Cronnicossy]

My biggest fear is damage scaling.

No matter what in FiM it seemed like Background Orange was always dealing major damage, converting off any hit she lands into a full BnB.
I hope Light attacks penalize the rest of the combo in terms of damage.

I'm not scared of anything else because I know everything else will be perfect.

 

[TheOneZeelOne]

My biggest fear is for the stagnation of the fandom. Basically everyone here is a backer, family of a backer or devs.

How do they plan to generate interest in the project to get more people into the fold? Because if the fandom doesn't grow beyond what it is now we wont survive long after launch.

At the end of the day I guess its on us as well as the devs and marketers to spread the word and grow the fandom isnt it.

This must be what Jesus felt like.
Perhaps our cause is a little more trivial than his.

Keep in mind, with how registration goes currently, it's people coming in in bunches each day. The next batch will probably have more from outside of the campaign. And it's still a very new forum obviously. It's only natural that the earliest people to come in would be backers because those would be a lot of the most ardent followers of the project and thus the people that would be most likely to know exactly when it pops up in the first place. So, I wouldn't say how the forum looks is necessarily indicative of the size of the base, atleast not yet.

 

[Oreo]

I'm worried because both Maximilian and Super Best friends never mentioned the kickstarter or have mentioned the game ever since.

Someone asked Woolie on his Tumblr if they'd make a video about TFH, and his answer was more or less "as soon as we can play it, we'd love to."

 

[LockeRobster]

Keep in mind, with how registration goes currently, it's people coming in in bunches each day. The next batch will probably have more from outside of the campaign. And it's still a very new forum obviously. It's only natural that the earliest people to come in would be backers because those would be a lot of the most ardent followers of the project and thus the people that would be most likely to know exactly when it pops up in the first place. So, I wouldn't say how the forum looks is necessarily indicative of the size of the base, atleast not yet.

True, it really is still early days. Plus the more I frequent the forums the more optimistic I become about the future of the fandom and success of the game.

 

[Super Zat]

Hopes: TFHs expands to more games and content like cartoons and comics and so on.

Fears: The games release and dlc are as far as TFH goes and nothing else happens after that.

Regardless of TFHs future, I'm sure I'll have some good fun while its here.

 

[Ferettoko]

I think my biggest fear about this game will be in balancing the matchmaking system. I love fighting games, especially the faster paced ones, but I've always been the very definition of mediocrity. I have fun playing them, but I've never really excelled into anything beyond the skills required to pretty reliably complete the story/arcade modes on normal difficulties. Beyond that, I often fall short. And some games have poor systems for the matchmaking that have no consideration for the skills or experience of the players involved. In games like these, it'll be a coin flip on whether I'll have an enjoyable match, or whether I'll just be controlled and locked down for the fifteen seconds it takes for them to completely drain my health. It can be... frustrating when games throw you into battles with opponents of a much higher skill level.

My biggest hope, though, is that this game will manage to hold my attention, even if I continue to be destroyed in multiplayer. The best games are the ones that can still claim to be fun, even when you're in the middle of a defeat. I'm fine with losing matches, just as long as I can still have fun with the game. It's a tall order, sure, because losing isn't all that much fun. But there have been lots of games that have pulled it off before, and I'll keep my fingers crossed that the finished product will keep me smiling, even when I inevitably find myself outclassed by other players or even the AI.

That's my exact concern too. As much as I enjoy Skullgirls, it really does have a matchmaking problem it seems. Don't want to end up hearing stuff on how loosing in a 10-second beat-down will make me better, or that I have to look up other newbie players.(defeating the point of having a matchmaking system)

 

[Feanor]

My biggest fear is for the game to not have enough content in the end. It'll be a nice roster I'm 100% sure, but I wonder if it'd be enough variety. Even if not characters considering developer POV, I'd love if new stuff can keep being added (even if it's just new hats).

My biggest hope is for a long-lasting and happy experience. I would absolutely love just, taking some part of my day to hang out in the visual lobby, play some casual matches, and have it keep going for just, a long, long, time.

Amen

Keep in mind, with how registration goes currently, it's people coming in in bunches each day. The next batch will probably have more from outside of the campaign. And it's still a very new forum obviously. It's only natural that the earliest people to come in would be backers because those would be a lot of the most ardent followers of the project and thus the people that would be most likely to know exactly when it pops up in the first place. So, I wouldn't say how the forum looks is necessarily indicative of the size of the base, atleast not yet.

Keep spreading the good word (ye minion of evil)! Tell your friends, and remind your online frequents!

My biggest fear is probably how the story will be handled. It's been brought up before, but portraying predators as antagonists purely because of their nature seems unfair, and I'm willing to believe (or hoping to believe) that the story won't be as black and white in terms of what's right and wrong. I feel like the way some characters are set up, such as Arizona being idealistic to a fault, Tianhuo being part predator, Pom being protected by carnivores and Oleander delving into magic that's shunned by her society lend to a certain story direction that deconstructs the effects of having the predators sealed away. It helps that the act of sealing them was done a long time ago during an ancient age, and in Oleander's chapter her society is meant to be rooted against for only following old traditions and not expanding their knowledge, which could be expanded with the issue of the predators.

I would honestly be disappointed if the way the plot goes is an incredibly simplistic 'the good guys beat the bad guys'.

Exactly! Not to mention all of the future possibilities for lore expansion it opens up if they don't 'end' the story like this!

 

[Sutekh94]

Personally, I'm hoping for an animated web series, maybe on YouTube? Also, as somebody who isn't the biggest fan of fighting games, I'm hoping for a good storyline and well-developed characters. Not just a simple "good vs. evil".

My biggest fear can be summed up in one word: stagnation. As in, the game gradually losing support from Mane6 after release and the initial wave of DLC and/or suffering a fading playerbase. I don't think it'll happen, considering the huge amount of potential the game has as it is and how many people are active on the forums right now, but it's still a possibility.

 

[Tsukaa]

I hope that this game will in the end become some more Characters and maybe some cool short cutscenes like Blaz Blue or such would also like the already told Short series for it
and in the end the only thing i would fear is that this game goes unseen and only has in the end those who already backed it playing instead of an increasing ammount of players.

 

[BDNation]

my fear is me having lack of skills in the game.
my hope for this game is to do well in sales and be release on other platform's and JP arcade's.

 

[LoveIsBlue]

One of my absolute biggest fears for this game is that it won't have good netcode for online play.
Whenever I played Skullgirls with a friend of mine, we'd reach almost 250 ping between us, with him in Ireland and me in Chile. Despite that, even with the frame delay set to 0, the matches went relatively smoothly, with only a couple of hiccups in between. If Lab Zero could manage this, I'm sure other games (including this one) can do so too.
One of my hopes is that no one character ends up taking over and becoming the standard "all the best players use this one" character, especially for watching videos or streams of the game. I like to watch fighting game matches quite a bit, and nothing is more boring than watching mirror matches of the same character over and over again because that character ended up having some sort of distinct advantage over the rest, whether it's because of a skill ceiling or not. Even beyond watching, it's also not fun to fight against only one character in-game. I'd be pretty sad to go online only to find out that literally every single match is against yet another Velvet, even though she's who I've been fighting for the past 3 days.
Ultimately, though, my biggest hope is that the game is good. That's rather vague, but that's honestly all I can ask out of a game. If it's fun, then that's what matters in the end.

 

[Patthecat]

My biggest fear is that the general interest for the game will die down after a year of it being released. Too many fighting games have fallen to this situation, I have a feeling it might happen again.

 

[Arcanel]

Annnnnnd I'm an idiot because I completely confused what exactly the Keep It Legal. Sorry about that guys x_x (I guess I also couldn't help myself either...)

But you know what, I still abide by what I said. I still think Pat might drive people away with his Oleander skills

And to actually contribute on some actual posts here my own hopes are particularly for the story to have an interesting development to it, for the gameplay to be as keen as it shows and for the new characters that will probably come out later to surprise me quite a bit! (And I think I certainly will haha).

And as for my own fears... I guess really the same as Pat too. Fear for the interest in the game to lower down and therefore for it to not reach as much of its potential as it could if more people wanted to play the game...

 

[danmiy12]

My problems that could crop up that happens in many multiplayer games are really laggy servers, servers that crash often, bad matchmaking, cheating ai (if it has single player) who reads your button presses and counters almost immediately <really bad to if a counter character <I had my fill of them in smash>, always online, drm (if servers go down game cant load), requiring multiplayer to finish single player would also hurt it a lot esp if someone gets this long after the multiplayer died.

Also forgot unbalanced roster, broken hit boxes, game losing popularity and dying too fast, lack of extra content too quickly, solo is too short.

I would love too see adjustable damage in non ranked battles (just in case of inbalanced matchups players themselves can set the power level of all character to balance it better (really loved it in street fighter 2), story with a lot of depth (wishful thinking but this has potential for it), fast matchmaking that pick opponents around your level, punishment if you leave the game too much to avoid rank lost, titles like street fighter 4 that can be earned and shown off, and ya amazing voice overs since we dont know what they will sound like.

 

[Rich Jammer]

Probably my biggest fear is that TFH will get negative press for whatever dumb reason people may write about.

Maybe the beta will come out buggy as heck then the game gets slammed for some reason.

The game gets delayed and gets negative press for that.

Maybe a dev writes something on twitter, people get offended for some reason then gets the twitter mob against them.

Someone writes an article saying that the game/dev team/ fans are (insert derogatory term here).

 

[BDNation]

lets just all hope it doesn't end up like mighty no 9

 

[Moon Drops]

My biggest fear by far is balance... FiM was a mess in regards to balance, but I'm going to wright that one off due to the fact that it wasn't finished. I don't want this game to become a sort of MvC3 where a light jab will turn into a crippling combo that takes forever to finish.
Also, the last stream I saw with Paprika showed her with a very fast overhead that looked a tad disgusting, even if it is a charge move.

 

[Galaxy Heart]

I think my biggest fear is that people will just throw it away straight away.
"Oh? It's not Street Fighter? It's not Marvel? Eh."
And just isn't given a chance. It's why I plan to stream it a fair bit, to at least bring awareness.

 

[Ambris]

I'm definitely hoping for good stable servers.

I've got like, no one to play with locally so I'm depending on completely lagless play.

 

[Gamerdude854]

I'm worried that the game might be a commercial failure, even though I doubt it will happen, it's still a possibility.

 

[TwistedSheep]

I hope it does well enough to get a console port I'd pay for a DS release with a potential custom screen background

 

[Silver Rain]

As long as the characters are balanced, but are also varied enough in playstyle so the experience feels refreshing when switching from one character to the next and so forth.

 

[Nexus]

Personally, I fear that the expectations of those who follow the project might hurt the Mane6 Devteam's future endeavors. Everyone will hype so much over what TFH could be, they won't recognize the success of what TFH might be. The game could "only" get seven characters, a concise story, and a balanced system. It could "only" end up being a completed game, and that's... fine. That's fantastic. That's exactly what was promised, and it was delivered.

I just don't want to see the Devteam receive spite if they finish this project like they say, want to move on to other projects, and previous fans reject them due to a feeling of betrayal. No creator should feel pressured to stick with a work if they feel it's done, especially by their own supporters. Other than that, I have no concerns. Mane6 has proven themselves as reliable time and time again.

 

[Oreo]

One of my absolute biggest fears for this game is that it won't have good netcode for online play.

Our plan is to use GGPO, the same netcode system used by Skullgirls and Killer Instinct. You can see the GGPO logo at the end of the Gameplay Teaser trailer.

I'm definitely hoping for good stable servers.

I've got like, no one to play with locally so I'm depending on completely lagless play.

Well, fighting games don't use servers. They use a Peer-To-Peer connection. If you have a friend to play with, you should always be able to get a game.