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Even without getting into actual cheating, there are a lot of things in PVP to dissuade players.
Even a modicrum of experience in playing Xenoverse 2 can get a lot of people a certain degree of system mastery that allows them to do things like - spam attacks (Super Broly Grab Spam, Jump Spike, God Fist, etc.). Then there's the mechanics abuse - the 3-bar majins, the overabundance of I-frames on certain attacks, infinite looping combos, ki stuns, etc. A lot of moves and abilities also require a "trick" to overcome so if you're using something that your opponent is unfamiliar with for any reason (power pole pro or turn giant for example), that alone can determine success or failure of a match. Then there's the connection issues - good luck to anyone from the NA servers hitting anyone from the ASIA server with their 1/2 second lag armor. I'm sure that applies vice-versa but lag has only very VERY rarely worked in my favor (in my experience, at least.)
Finally, there's another major issue with PVP that no one ever talks about - hardware. It's an issue that was pretty stark when the PS5 came out because DBXV2 players that still use the PS4 against PS5 players were at an automatic disadvantage. This has been a major issue that no one talks about on PC since the very beginning despite being an issue with any PC game by its very nature. Anyone using a better gaming computer is going to be at a major advantage to any "lesser" computer. Better framerate, smoother (therefore quicker) animations - all of these things matter. All of these things can be the difference between winning and losing because of how the game's combat mechanics work.
All of these things can look like cheating despite none of them being cheating, but you can't dismiss any of those. Even if your skill and experience allows you to compete in PVP despite all of those issues - you know the moves, the current meta in fighting style and best super attacks, you can fight through the lag, counter the spammers, etc etc etc... each of these is a disincentive to keep trying and the more that pile up or happen more frequently, the closer any potential PVP regular just says "screw that crap" and leaves forever.
Then there are the actual cheaters, the toxic players, the toxic winners, the sometimes completely empty lobby, etc etc... You really have to like PVP in this game to be motivated if your experiences involve a lot of those I've listed.
I also need to talk about losing. Let's ignore all the issues I mentioned above => the cheating, system mastery, etc. I can't possibly imagine anyone going into PVP with any realistic expectation that they won't lose (though obviously, such a general statement has its exceptions) especially when they're just starting out but "just work through it" only goes so far if you're throwing yourself into a PVP match where, no matter what you do or what you try, only ends up with you getting stomped hard. Combine that with the aforementioned issues above and maybe we can finally come to a clear understanding why we're at this point and why most people who try PVP don't stay.
You can't possibly expect balance from any game that offers you as many ways to attack your opponent as this one does, unless the differences between attacks are merely cosmetic.
I never said people don't abuse the game. That's why I said what I said in the last paragraph.
But let's be honest: How many three bar Femajins have you been fighting? My last one was months ago. Broly is a problem, yes. Even more so, I'd argue, than Hit or Cooler. Power Pole Pro is an even bigger problem than 3 bar femajins as well. I'm not saying there isn't any type of broken mechanics. I'm just saying to give a chance to the next person, because not everyone is here to make your life miserable.
In regards to hardware... I play with hardware older than the game itself. I can hold my own just fine. I'm not saying it doesn't help to have something more modern, but it's not impeditive.
Now, I'm someone that's been into tabletop RPGs (think dungeons and dragons) for over two decades now and a lot of the problems with PVP in XV2 sort of relate to the problems tabletop RPGs get when they're around for long enough and more and more "stuff" is published to add to that game. What makes those games fun and unique is the ability to make your own character and the dirth of options to make any character you can dream up. Something XV2 obviously borrows from perhaps more than other contemporary RPG games (your final fantasies and the like). However, enough bloat in the game resources eventually leads to similar problems that XV2 experiences - when you can select from any move for your create-a-character - you can abuse the system to get rather unbalanced results - usually because of the dirth of options but most often because some of those options are only dubiously balanced at best.
This is really bad for PVP but part of why I'm trying to hammer in the "you don't play XV2 for serious PVP play" because this is 95% of why people pick up the game to begin with and why even the people that otherwise enjoy this game don't bother with PVP at all or they might try and give up - because even though this is what makes the game fun - this also can be what makes the game very not fun for PVP.
What's worse is just how few moves are "meta" for PVP play. How often are people using soaring fist in ranked play? Ki stuns? How many ranked players use gogeta blue or DBS gogeta when they select a cast character? Personally, I'd say "more than half" for some combination of those, except ki stuns because people that don't use ki stuns or ki cancels is a rare exception but no matter how normal it is - it's still abusing the game mechanics in the same way that grab-spamming with DBS broly is or whatever. It's amazing how little variety there is in PVP among ranked players considering the dirth of options available. Before moving on, I will note that I'm not listing these points as a complaint - just identifying them for what they actually are regardless of any associated feelings about them.
I faced one earlier this week (or was it last week? I don't remember exactly). He (if he was a he) was a veritable bingo card of the worst XV2 has to offer. Used a 3-bar majin, spammed jump spike at first but moved on to spam pearl flash because I grab-spammed specifically to screw up his jump spikes, and he had lag armor thanks to being from the ASIA region.
When I talk about abusive players and abusing mechanics, I often use 3-bar majins because they're easy to make and even easier to identify when someone else uses one against you - not because they're a plague that every other trash player uses. However, the same mentality that leads people to make 3-bar majins also leads to similar abuse elsewhere that can be far less noticeable and perhaps not even quite as unbalanced - but just enough to give greater advantages thanks to the fact that the developer(s) might have given that move one too many I-frames or a firing animation that's just a little too fast or something. All of this stuff adds up.
The fact that just selecting a particular character (DBS broly, Final Cooler, Awoken Hit) screams "cheeser" is indicative of these problems. I honestly feel sorry for people who select those characters because they actually just like those characters.
The ultimate point being that "these people can be beaten" is not a solution. It's just a mindset that'll lead to more frustration whether you're able to beat them despite their stupid play or not. More imporantly, it's not fun regardless of whether you can beat them or not. It's boring for anyone on the receiving end of this kind of PVP fight.
It doesn't help that abuse of the game mechanics is meta for PVP play (ki stuns and ki cancels) and I've watched far FAR too many people (not burchol or steedoj or whomever) - but people who play PC XV2 who happen to have their own youtube channels. Whose PVP matches are 75% jumping around and maneuvering while launching ki stun after ki stun in an attempt to maybe get in a good punch or two every fifteen seconds until someone runs out of stamina and expends their limit burst and/or just falls for a trap of animation loops they can't escape from though combos and/or super attacks.
I honestly don't know who could look at that and say "oh boy, spending most of my PVP session boost-dashing to avoid infinite loops and unavoidable in-combo stamina breaks as well as launching ki stuns/cancels like like a lawn sprinkler and facing people using the same characters and/or handful of super attacks over and over and over again looks like such fun!".
That 3-bar majin I mentioned earlier? Single digit rank on the leaderboard. What worse than someone that cheeses? Someone that has skill and still cheeses.
These issues are far more systemic than you think and that's the point I'm trying to carry across to you, because there's no "you just need to learn the game a little better" or "just accept losing every now and again" - because while those people exist, I don't think that's the main reason PVP in XV2 is as anemic as it is because I think you're undervaluing the issues these problems cause.
So given all that I've mentioned in this and the previous post, I hope I'm giving a clear idea of why I think people just don't PVP in XV2 because they see and/or experience all of this and just nope right out or they try and that one a-hole that jump spiked them the whole match is top-ten on the leaderboards for the week.
I do think there are solutions to this, in a manner of speaking, and I'll get into that in a moment.
It's not the difference between "PVP is playable" versus "PVP is unplayable" but you can't deny the inherent advantage. You just can't. If I set my own graphical settings to above what my laptop can handle, it becomes noticeable in PVP - including to your opponent.
I faced one person a long time ago. They selected hit but I forget if it was a player match, ranked match, or whathaveyou but I could tell his computer just wasn't handling the match because the connection was fine but hit was noticeably slower and sluggish. At certain points, it was like his character was moving in slow motion - not stuttering or jumping around or freezing like with certain forms of lag. From the perspective of my own limited system, I can also see when, such as if I'm using a similar character to another, when I'm actually firing off attacks - the same attack as someone else - much more slowly - such as using Bomber DX in a raid I've been able to count that my tiny waif of a female saiyan is launching maybe 2 BDX attacks for someone else's 3 or more.
No, it's not "impeditive" but you can't write it off just because the game is still playable because anyone with a lesser system is at an automatic disadvantage. No one can really do anything about that - I get that because obviously that's an out-of-game issue that not everyone has the cash to drop to solve. Regardless, it can still be a huge disincentive to play PVP if most of your opponents aren't as hamstrung as you are because they drop from your combos more often, have more opportunity to escape detrimental attacks, and can fire their own attacks or combos at you faster where your slower animations prevent you from escaping as easily.
It is what it is. A lot of this is.
Now I said I would speak more positively and offer solutions, so I'll do that now. A big part of what makes XV2 fun both in and out of PVP is the customization, the character selection (especially with the DLC but that's not necessary), and the online aspsect does add longevity to a game that people have said is dying and "just release XV3 already because I have 70$ to burn for the same game again" since around 2018.
A lot of the issues I've brought up are things you can't really solve without being on the game's development team and whoever makes decisions regarding this game's content. I also don't think "just work past the pain" or "all the problems will go away if you just git gud enough to beat spammers/cheesers and block toxic players."
I do think that leaning into the "this game is for casual PVP' aspect of it. It's great to promote discord groups and the like where people can find like-minded individuals or to post here or on one of the XV2 reddit groups so they don't have to rely on challenging randos while they're trying to do other things or impossible matches against the cliques of ranked players that often hang out there that are out of their league.
So in addressing newer players or players that are thinking about giving up or may have already given up on PVP, I think I would say to them that, yeah, you really can't go into PVP in XV2 with the idea that it'll be like FighterZ or Injustice or the MK franchise where it's just a contest of being skilled at the game. The game just is, in no way, supportive of that kind of experience. You need to have the same mindset that you would have if you were inviting a friend over for a friendly competitive game - not because you necessarily need to PVP against a friend but to find someone whose idea of fun PVP in this game is the same as yours - like what you would have with a friend (again - much like when you're gathering players for a tabletop RPG.)
In short - create and/or promote spaces for PVP play, including this community board at the very least. Acknowledge the inherent imbalances in the game so players can appropriately set their expectations for the kind of PVP experience this game actually offers - preferably without being negative about it and some things they can do about it.
People already do this (because they have to) if they want a multiplayer experience in a modded game and for the exact same reason (only moreso because modded moves can be even less balanced than the in-game ones.)
In general, however, I would avoid telling people to "just work through the issues" or to challenge the people waiting in the conton city time nest online play area - at least not without giving them a clear idea of what to expect when they do and how they can avoid the issues if they find the experience intolerable. Don't fret toxic players no matter what they do - you don't have to acknowledge them - win or lose, just don't challenge or accept challenges from them - kick them from your lobby (or leave) if you can, block them if necessary and move on. Life is too short to care about that kind of stress and no one in this game owes anyone anything outside of the social contract. We're all in this game to relax and enjoy ourselves, right?
... not that any of this is relevant.
This is still very off-topic. I'll answer this with one more post but I'm not addressing my own personal gaming habits in this thread any further.
I didn't fight you your anyone you know probably because I didn't fight you or anyone you know. I generally avoid ranked PVP and a lot of regular ranked players. Since that's a pretty small but dedicated group, even compared to the small PVP playerbase on the PC, that's not exactly difficult to do. I've still fought a few thousand matches over the last year or so since I started doing PVP.