>Some days I can go online and get it in with either Chun Li
>or Honda. Other days I can't buy a victory. Depends on how
>late, how tired I am, how focused, etc...
>
>I try not to worry about player points at all. That shit just
>gets depressing, Just get my battle points up!

This is all real. I'll regurg and add a little...

Step one is on you, though...stop throwing out whiffomatic ultras. That was my biggest problem when I started (ask Amon and crew from 360..I'm PS3 now). People see a random ultra coming a mile away most of the time and it has the probability of a half-court shot of hitting. Hell, folks even trick you into throwing a desperation ultra. Once I reduced that (I still relapse every now and then), I was better off.

You have to stay with it and know that your player points are gonna vary depending on streaks, who the hell is online (I played one 5 match streak with nothing but B+ and A cats), and, most importantly, how you're playing at the moment. Yes, you again...

- I had one Saturday morning where I ran into a fatal mix of really good people and really cheezy folks. And I found ways to lose to all of them. Whiffing clear counter opps and all of that. Like some ole' winning 2 out of 15 shit. I tossed a controller on some Dudley tossing a rose shit. I was straight peeved. So peeved that I couldn't concentrate well enough to beat a few gimme opponents.

- I've been in a zone where I was whooping almost everybody, so if I lost it was either much respect to the better man or 'eff you' to some shady ass cheeser bullcorn. I like those zones.

- Other times, I've been thinking about Black Angelika or Rebecca Linares (I hate that they both went fake on a nigga, but still...), some chick that's coming by later on (insert R&B cooings about tearing it up) or just getting ready to head to the gym/club/bar. That's when I take some unneccesary losses to lame folks cuz I don't play Gouken patiently enough to aggravate a would-be cheezer into creating their own exit strategy from my screen.

I've lost 500 points in one session and got them all back the next. Its a game of runs as long as you stay cool, don't become so combo setup-happy that you forego the fact that interrupting, countering, winning the mindgames and just plain out doing damage is the key to the game, and ignore the cheezers while learning from the Gs (I've played a couple of amazing Gens).

Last thing...pay attention to how YOU are getting punished. Are you jumping into damage when you know better? If so, stop it. Figure out how to get where you want to be spacing-wise without so much risk. Are you getting jammed up trying to survive a rush? That's when you have to get your counter game tight. What cancels what? SOMETHING that you have with Sagat cancels what they are trying to do to you..most of the time that is. Besides max damage combo-ing, this is my biggest weakness..I just don't know how to punish some things at all, and I refuse to believe that almost anything is completely safe in this game (beside tick-throw cheesery online). I'm getting better as I play more, but I don't have it yet.

One more last thing..the mindgame..err..game. Are you getting Daffy Duck/Bugs Bunny'd, duck season/rabbit season'd into being damaged? Get in their heads, not the other way around.

Jimaveli