| The Jedi Academy - Light in the Darkness | |
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Balian - ex-Student |
This comes from Tido’s post in the other forum about the game and exploits but includes nothing about exploits. *NOTE* this is by all means not a personal shot at ANYONE in the Jedi Academy or a shot at how things are run, it is merely my perception of what I believe the JA to be* Now I am not a really outspoken person about the Jedi Academy but I have had something on my mind for awhile and think it should be said. This is not to be an insult or to show disrespect to anyone at the Jedi Academy and is highly opinionated. This also has nothing to do with me as well, except for the fact that I wrote it. I understand that this post may even destroy what relationships I have or even terminate my membership at the Jedi Academy but I believe it is for the good and hope that people will read this with an open mind and take serious thought about it. I know its long but please finish all of the post before commenting cause the most important stuff is at the end. The Jedi Academy should become a place where people can learn to navigate all aspects of the game at a competitive level, as Tido stated. If we can’t prepare people for the world outside of the Jedi Academy then I think we have failed in being a successful teaching Academy. For instance when I came to the JA sauce referred me and out of the goodness of his heart taught me the basics. I then actually got mad at some of the acts going on at the JA and swore it off for about 5 months. I came back and thankfully it had changed when I came back but I had learned a lot from the outside world. Now it is about the only place I play regularly because my BWN career is pretty much done. I think with the with new restructuring of the JA that the JAK+ should go outside the academy walls and fight and learn new techniques that are coming out or have been out but just hidden. Bring these techniques back and teach people to use them or how to fight against them. Even possibly take their Padawan’s to a CTF or Duel server with TS,and explain techniques and on how to strategize against other people. The reason for this is because in the Academy most students who have undergone classes or were taught by people there, is the same general style of play. Now everyone has their own variations but there are many more outside of the JA walls then inside them. I’m not saying everyone in the JA plays the same Id go with about 50 percent of the populous has similar techniques that they learned in classes or was passed down master to master. So for instance just a theory, we take people like Leif, Tido , Sauce, Masta, Kain or whoever else, who has played on various servers make them JAK+ and teach, then we’d have 5 or so people who have seen various techniques teaching different students all kinds of things. Students would be able to mirror a style they like that they’ve found in the outside world and the JAK+ would be able to teach it. With that we will have an Academy that is pumping out advanced students into the JKA world and making a name for itself not only as a really fun place to play with no flamers and lamers, but a good place to learn the basics but also to learn to be very skilled and be humble about their skills/winnings. The way I see the Academy is that it is the light in the darkness of JKA. It is THEE ACADEMY there is no place like it in the JKA world and I think it should be the best, have the best instructors and even better students.*not saying it doesn’t have the best instructors now either.* People should be able to come here and be taught how to be a well rounded player WHILE still having fun and obeying the written and unwritten rules of the game. Just think we make some sort of tag or way to identify that a person in the “Pubs” is in the JA. They play with great honor, respect and great skills on a public server. If just one person sees that, gets the info and comes to the Academy, learns great skills, humility, and more importantly to have fun that is one more person we can change in the JKA world and help bring back the honor the game once had and more importantly since it is the JEDI ACADEMY we can per say be “Jedi-like” in what we do. I think we are currently heading in the right direction with the restructuring. Please remember ---->; *NOTE* this is by all means not a personal shot at ANYONE in the Jedi Academy or a shot at how things are run, it is merely my perception of what I believe the JA to be* I personally would like to know what other people think about these ideas and my post. I hope this isn’t taken as an insult to anyone because it is not. It is just an idea to help spark other ones that people have cause face it as great as the JAC is 100 heads are better then 5  . I think other people have some good ideas too but haven’t thought to put them down on paper for others to read.To close I want to say that this post is not meant to be a flame fest and is not directed at anyone on an individual level it is just to spark ideas to better the Jedi Academy. I will not respond to flames or personal attacks as well and I don’t want this thread deleted either so please be civil and remember it is to better the Jedi Academy! *NOTE* this is by all means not a personal shot at ANYONE in the jedi academy or a shot at how things are run, it is merely my perception of what I believe the JA to be* So please tell me what you think! _______________ What man is a man who does not make the world better. This post was edited by Balian on Jun 12 2005 07:27am. |
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| Comments |
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Tido - Student 
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Quote: So in summation: Sploits exist, and their fierce and dirty. That doesn't mean we can learn how to get overcome them, right? Well said my padawan, however, you are not an English Major yet!!  Anyways, I guess what Gradius is saying is the JAK+ classes and teachings are there to build a base for you to grow from. They give you your start but soon after you depart from them and seek training from more specific sources. So basically JAK+ provide introduction courses and admin. For most of us though, that's just not what we invisioned when we think of this place that we have grown to love so much... Doobie mentioned he never liked how the JAK+ were always getting smoked by the students. I've always felt the same in that I have personally wished that the JAK+ were 'the source' to learn everything you could about the game. Granted it's incredibly tough to find someone who has the attitude, the activeness, the dedication, and the skill to be our 'ideal' Knight. Leif was a Knight and Trainer who believed in being the 'source', and he worked hard to always keep in shape as a fighter so that he could be a better teacher. *Most* Knights are at their skill peak when they take their trial. After that they remain at that point or decline. It's understandable as there is no real 'quality-control' in the JAK+ and nothing to motivate them to stay sharp post-trial(except, maybe now there is with the restructuring ). Also people have real lives and might not be able to keep themselves razor sharp all the time. I've always wished that part of a JAK+'s job is to get the best training that he/she possibly can so that they may distribute it throughout the Academy more. After all when you're talking about our official methods of learning (classes, padawanships, and just JAK+ to student teaching), our students can only be as good as our JAK+. So therefore improving our JAK+ will in-turn improve the students. Something I noticed myself was the better I got and harder I pushed on my students, the harder they ended up pushing back on me. Everytime I improved or learned something new, multiple people under me would pick it up quickly. Understandably we don't have a lot of JAK+ yet, so realize I am thinking of this when the JA is in good working order. In my perfect JA (rofl), becoming a JAK is not at the peak of your abilities, but just the beginning. Knights would still be held to all the strict standards we hold them too now, with attitude towards others being at the top. But it would be established that once you are a JAK, you are now expected to become a true class-A fighter. To do this JAK+ training would be frequent and intensive. In workshop training environments, the JAK+ would work together to introduce new techniques, perfect old ones, and constantly help each other to improve. Also they would be expected to spend a little time outside of the JA just to keep their hands on the pulse of jk3. Effectively you are creating a 'quality-control' for your staff to ensure they represent the top of the line in jk3. The idea is the more skill and knowledge you infuse your Knights and Trainers with, the more it will disperse into the students. Unlike the JA of a few months ago, where you have a full compliment of JAK+ but the students only consider just a handful 'the source'. These few are then overburdened with training requests from the students. This system of training the staff wouldn't take nearly as much time as you might think. It could be enough just simply to prevent the JAK+ from becoming complacent as they have in the past. This requires a thick-skinned JAC unfortunately, who is willing to let someone go who is inactive, or has lost their motivation. The quality must always be more important than the quantity. Anyways I could write all day about reforming 'the system'. It's a dangerous topic that is very flame-prone. What we really need here is the goal of the JA; laid out in plain english. The way I interpret the goal of the JA is simple: to be "THE place for Jedi training". This comment was edited by Tido on Jun 14 2005 01:36am. |
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Balian - Ex-Student |
Sm00th - I agree with the demos they would be very useful and would add to the archives. Yun- I dont think we need to go that far we can just have the in game demo no need to do all that otherstuff. Its a good idea but would take too much time and be near impossible. This post has nothing to do with teaching exploits just to help people be aware of them and how to get around them. I THINK EVERYONE KNOWS WE NEED MORE JAK+ GUYS THAT IS NOT THE ISSUE THE COUNCIL IS CURRENTLY WORKING ON THAT so please no more posts on that.Grad I respectfully disagree I learned alot by watching others fight mainly cause thats all there is to do if you lose on a duel server and when i started I lost a whole whole lot. If you actually watch me play I have no original moves I just stole them all from Masters, Wovians, and whoever else Kain good post. Entertaining and made a good point. R2D2 hit me up I can show you some intermediate duals vs single. But I got no clue on Duals vs DUals or staff n00b good post, someone has to disagree and you and I like that you voiced your opinion becuase everyones opinion is wanted.  But I am not belittling any creators or anything that people have put into this place because it is an awesome place. According to several people and one JAM it is not dribble. the rest turned into flames so... anyways... <3 ya n00b.Um I forgot whos post it was that said student master ratio should be 1:1 I think thats a bad idea but I would agree with 1 master to 10-15 pads. Good posts guys some good ideas coming up especially the in game video one. Keep it rollin boyz! Cya on the servers EDIT: Also this not a coo de ta(sp) it is meerly ideas to parallel the new reconstruction to help further improve the Jedi Academy. _______________ What man is a man who does not make the world better. This comment was edited by Balian on Jun 14 2005 12:44am. |
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Devlin - Student 
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First I wanna admit that I haven't read through all the previous comments, so if anything I say is a repeat then I apologize. That being said, here's my opinion on this subject: I agree with everythin Deqlyn said. The academy has pretty much changed my life, both in and out of game. I feel like this is the place to be for online gaming. I simply love it. When I first started here I was lucky enough to become good friends with Tido, and then his padawan. I cherish everything that he has taught me, and I take what I've learned out on the pubs with me. As most of us know, the pubs are a completely different story compared to the JA. But they are part of the jk3 world, and because of that we should be able to kick butt on them just like we do at the academy. For me, this isn't the case most of the time because I'm unfamiliar with the styles of play in the pubs, and unfamiliar with the differences in the mods and all that other stuff. That other stuff being "sploits" and other things we just don't do at the JA, and I don't think they should be done at the JA either. But I don't think that we should be prohibited from teaching what these techniques look like and are capable of. Because once you can recognize what is going to happen you can find a way to take advantage of it. I think the idea of having masters and their paddy's adventuring out to public servers is a good idea and I think it would be a good bonding experience too. I've gone pubbin with fellow members of the JA before and it's always a lot of fun. So in summation: Sploits exist, and their fierce and dirty. That doesn't mean we can learn how to get overcome them, right? _______________ Be at peace, and you will discover things you never dreamed possible. |
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Jeramia Adept - Student 
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I have to agree with Gradius on this subject, because talking with my master us padawans do bring alot of stress because our actions really take a toll on them. Thus bringing them more and more stress, so if you are, or become, a padawan be grateful because most in the academy are not that lucky _______________ The Force is my ally, and a powerful ally it is. Padawan Brother to Darth Sirius |
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Gradius - Ex-Student 
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Another thing with the whole Master/Padawan discussion while it's being brought up. Even when we had about 30 JAK+ before the purge, we didn't take on everyone who just asked to be our Padawans. We look for certain qualities in people we choose, be it attitude, skill level (usually low so we have more to teach them), relationships with other students, activity, etc. Padawans are a reflection of us, and we are very picky with this. If they go something wrong, it comes back on us. That's why most people who ask for Padawanship don't get responses or are turned down. We do watch the students, everyone, every chance we get. The better of a person you are (attitude, student relations), and the better you follow the rules, the greater of a chance you have of a JAK+ asking you to be their Padawan. _______________ - Proud padawan of Kueller. - We really are at the beginning of it all. The trick, of course, is to make sure we never find the end. - Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything - <gen-e-sis-happy> Liek, you can train, liek, a n00b, but he'll just be a trained n00b... --> Wise words! - "daer SOE me likes your a company i am having your some money for letting me do stuff cos mes the best amd i do it all meself" - Slider |
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Wolfwood - Student 
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Well like I said. The JA is still in the middle of the restructure so I am pretty sure more Knights and Trainers will arrive in time. Just be patient . _______________ ~ Honor is a fool's prize. Glory is of no use to the dead ~ |
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Krazzed - Student 
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Quote: look at how it goes in the Star Wars movies. The younglings get trained by the masters and once they are good enough, they get taken on by a master as their Padawan. However, when that happends, the Master and Padawan get send out on missions and errands to gain experience in the fields (Public servers anyone? ). well the way i see it is its practically impossible to get a master when there are only a few of them...there are tons of ppl in the academy...and only few masters.... i just think the main problem now is that we have to go out on public servers and train there and that the academy needs more masters to take on padawans _______________ (\__/) (O.o ) (> < ) This is Bunny. Copy Bunny into your signature to help him on his way to world domination. |
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Tido - Student 
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I <3 the Auroch's Demo Library. That reminds me I got some new additions and I would love to have some of sm00th's demos! |
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Masta - Jedi Council 
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Quote: Anyway, I've talked to a few friends of mine (wink) and have started compiling demo's of JKA legends already. =x Oh and i believe that theres a difference between learning something with the intention of using it and learning something with the intention of countering it.In the long run, its knowledge and its up to the person on how he deals with it. As sir WW has stated already, he possesses the required skill and knowledge about exploits.Still, he isnt using them at all though, which means that the knowledge alone isnt what we should fear.Its the person who is going to either abuse it or use it to develope useful counter-measures against it. _______________ Find out more about the Jedi Academy Aurochs here and more about Masta here! Married to Kain. |
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Wolfwood - Student
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Nice post Kain, I remember that tournament well, those matches were awesome indeed . But on a more serious note I have been following the discussion quite close and figured I'd drop in my opinion. The way I see it the JA is the place where someone starts. If you are not that good of a fighter and you are willing to learn how to become good, you sign up here and we teach you the basics. I mean, look at how it goes in the Star Wars movies. The younglings get trained by the masters and once they are good enough, they get taken on by a master as their Padawan. However, when that happends, the Master and Padawan get send out on missions and errands to gain experience in the fields (Public servers anyone? ). That is how I see it. The JA is here to show you the basics and several advanced techniques, and then it is your turn to reform that which you have learned into a personal style. If you look at my Padawans, you will see they all have a similar thing in their style. Yet, all of their styles are different. Tido for example fights way different the Setementor or Mace, but all three of them have something that they all use because that is one of the things I have taught them. On the 'teaching all the game has to offer saber wise' I disagree. I mean, I for one will never teach my Padawans how to instantly kill someone using some cheap exploit. I feel that it is much more fun and much more respectfull if you win by standard honorable means. That is the reason I would never teach those exploits. However, the fact that I do not use or teach them, does not mean I do not know them. Those of you that have been here for a longer period (over a year or so) know what I am talking about here. Anyone that wants training can come to me for anything they want. Be it Sabers/Force/Guns/CTFmovement and strategy's/2on1's/etc. But I would never teach them how to exploit. Bottom line of my post is. I think the JA is doing just fine as it is. The restructure is not even close to being done and already people are making posts about things that have to change. To quote my 'movie' Padawan (Anakin Skywalker). I say patience. Have some faith in the council. They have got us this far and they are extremely busy with restructuring the JA at the moment. I suggest we see how it is when its done, and if there is still room for discussions like these by the time the restructure is ready, then yea, by all means have them. But for now, have some faith in the Council, and remember: Patience is a Virtue Thats all from me _______________ ~ Honor is a fool's prize. Glory is of no use to the dead ~ This comment was edited by Wolfwood on Jun 13 2005 09:59am. |
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Carve - Student 
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On a slight derail, I would prefer the setting to be in the Chu'unthor than the Coruscant Jedi Temple. But I'm that old-skool. _______________ © |
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n00b - Student 
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I don't think the people who run this community are failing in any respect. Every one of the JAK+ contribute their spare time to keeping this community going. They ask nothing in return but for us to listen to them. Many hours of hard work have gone into building this awesome place and in just a few paragraphs, Deq has managed to belittle everything that is here. Somehow he feels that the leaders of this group should go out and beat everyone on the internet and pass that knowledge on to the students so everyone becomes top players. What a load of bunk! Deq, please get to know people here before posting such ridiculous dribble. The hardest lesson to learn about the Academy is that the structure of the community is not up for debate. I love the second half of your post where you give some kind of mock praise about how the Academy will only be great if these winning players act with respect toward the losers. It sorta reminds me of Yoda teaching the younglings. Oh how glorious it would be?? I don't think so. This post should have been given the standard, "E-mail fixtheja@thejediacademy.net" response. _______________ Gone but hopefully not forgotten... This comment was edited by n00b on Jun 13 2005 06:48am. |
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R2D2 - Staff 
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Actually, I, being in the minority of somewhat trained dualists (yes, w/o the e heh) out there, didnt do too bad pubbing. Of course, ffa is always crazy, but with one-on-one duels many ppl take dualists for granted for having no technique. With the simple techniques I have learned in the JA thanks to ppl like Motrec and n00b, I stand a chance on the pubs. However, on the JA servers, it's pretty tricky.... I have observed single saberists and have fought some of the best, yet I still miserably lose to most of them =/. I am determined that dual sabers is as capable as single saber, but through all my duels, there isnt much progress. Hopefully, there will be more advanced duals classes. Anways, Deq has a good point about keeping our minds open to different ideas, but I think the JA is the place for traditional Jedi training. I agree more with Gradius' stance on this subject. Our JA members can teach fellow JA members different techniques out there OFF the JA servers. The Jedi Academy, although the times may change, should always be traditional (weird that I say this even though I'm more of a liberal heh). I have one point to make though...we definitely need more JAK+ as soon as possible. Classes are what make the JA a learning experience. The more the better . I'm sure that the JAC are working on this, so this will be taken care of soon.About observing ppl and learning... well... as you find out in school, some ppl learn better through direct one-one-one instruction. But, demos will be good to be available for those who are interested. _______________ "Do or do not, there is no try" Jedi Master Yoda Dual Saberist |
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Ian Jandos - Student 
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Oh also...I think a visual tutorial should be devised here to serve as a supplement or perhaps replace the Holocron's current iteration. I have already taken initial screenshots...and am willing/able to put something together if webspace were afforded me here. True, you can't learn everything by putting it in a book (webpage), but it could be done in a way to serve as a more efficient educational tool  _______________ Member #7625 | Since 7.6.04 The Archives |
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SaZ - Student 
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yes ja is incredible school almost everything i know was learned from the academy students,trainers,knights ^^ anyway i think ja teached some of the best jka players in the world  long live JA _______________ playing jk3 since 30th of january (2005), member since 1st of february. [Unofficial Master to Vision and Z�diac ] If you can make a fool of yourself infront of 300 people you can do anything - Jaiko D'kana |
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Ian Jandos - Student
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Some very good points all around I began playing the "game" part of JK3...without any prior JK experience. I later began exploring the online servers. I did some minor research and joined a clan. I stayed like a day, as I didn't feel I wanted to be attached/restricted to a clan but wanted something more representational of what the movies promote...Jedi/Paddy instruction. I've been playing online for a good portion of a year now and have been very pleased to be a member at the JA, but... The skills I have developed have been from a combination of pub'ing and instruction here...from both JAK and helpful students. I usually gauge improvement by how I perform on pub servers. The results have been encouraging...I now, play with some degree of dexterity and intuition. The completeness of training is only what you make it however. Without a Master...you are on your own in a sense. The Jedi Masters has always been iconic beacons to this crowd. I know for the sake of practicality, they bear the functional burdens, but I agree with the thinking that we need more knights. It is my (movie purist) opinion that the padawan count for Knights should be 1, so that paddies can do 1-1 training where they can be brought up relatively quickly and become JAK's themselves. A Master could be akin to Yoda and assume a group of younglings (noobs) under his wing and then assign them to be paddies when/if they are ready. This might be limited thinking, but its just a viewpoint... I am purist in my game playing...which I suppose is the allure of vicariously wanting to be a knight like we see portrayed in the films. I hope the new map is the Jedi Temple @ Coruscant, because I've always wanted to stroll the halls with the crew we have here...it seems more Jedi-like to me to train where the Jedi were at their pinnacle of strength. I do my best to promote the academy, and conduct myself the same outside as I do onsite here. For that reason, I don't change names when leaving...and I spread the word, where appropriate. -Ian _______________ Member #7625 | Since 7.6.04 The Archives |
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JK13 /// jaws. - Student 
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hehe, funny you should mention a demo archive becuase Sir leif posted a thread on the JAA forums called "Teh demo archive" and it began, he posted a few, I posted a few, masta posted a few, and all of a sudden we have a pretty cool little archive, I cant wait to see what intrepid comes up with though, because IMO watching demos can teach you ALOT! If you really pay attention to the nuances of a person's style you can definitely pick stuff up that you havnt seen before. For example.. Masta reciently posted a few demos in the JAA demo archive, i said w00t! he has demos of a euro staffer (eviLwindu) fighting pokers, this should be good. so of course, i watched each of the 3 demos a few times. i noted everything i could of his style, and why he was effective in his battles against some noted pokers. Evilwindu won 2 of his fights and lost to Dureal, 10-6. Point is, that i learned alot from watching this guy, now i dont want to Carbon copy his style, but i do want to emplement some elements of his into my own. Finally, the demo archive is a great idea because we americans could get the demos of Europeans like eviLwindu and Dureal, to see the styles on the other side of the world that we so frequently miss out on, another part of the whole "bubble effect" In that, I personally want to familiarize myself with as many styles and techniques as i can, and that means going outside the JA to see how everyone plays. That dosnt mean that the JA teaches tactics that dont work, it juat means that theres outher stuff out there (sploitz and non sploitz) that someone who ONLY plays on the JA servers will likely never see. And i personally want to see every style i can in order to learn new tecniques and learn how to beat some styles that i dont know how to beat. In short, the JA is a GREAT school, and a great community, but you cant see it all here, you have to hang around the publics too, to really get the whole picture of JKA, the good, the bad, and the ugly. _______________ It's a false hologram, it IS artificial... |
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Gradius - Ex-Student 
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Quote: I learned how to drive from watching my parents. You're no help _______________ - Proud padawan of Kueller. - We really are at the beginning of it all. The trick, of course, is to make sure we never find the end. - Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything - <gen-e-sis-happy> Liek, you can train, liek, a n00b, but he'll just be a trained n00b... --> Wise words! - "daer SOE me likes your a company i am having your some money for letting me do stuff cos mes the best amd i do it all meself" - Slider |
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Setementor - Jedi Master 
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Quote: To be honest guys, we can't show all of you the best techniques to fight people outside of the JA. That's your job. Most people within the JA have the same style, with variations. So you know how to beat them. The only way you can truely learn how to fight those you consider to be the best, is to go out and fight them, figure out your own techniques. We can give you a start, but you have to take the initiative to do the rest. And to be honest, every basic technique that I've learned throughout my time at the JA as worked just fine on the public servers. I always get compliments on how good I am, although I use an alias so nobody knows it's me. Take baby steps. I agree. Quote: But watching demos of others play? I fail to see how that can be useful at all, other than to show you how other fights. You can't learn from watching other people. That's like saying you can learn how to drive by watching your parents. I'm going to have to disagree. I've watched people duel and learned lots from doing so. See, you can see how people get out of situations you fail to get out of yourself, for example. Stuff like this has helped me greatly. This comment was edited by Setementor on Jun 13 2005 05:23am. |
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Fire - Student 
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I learned how to drive from watching my parents. |
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Hitokiri - Student 
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I have had no problem fighting in other servers with what I learned from the Jedi Academy. I used to play all the time off of the Jedi Academys servers, but I do a lot better on other servers since learning from the teachers of the Academy. My favorite thing that I learned was the countering of red style while using yellow style. I found that this type of countering works in all servers, and I have had no problem with using it. I personally do not believe the teaching of the Jedi Academy "out of date". EDIT: Btw, nice post Deq. _______________ Ph34r m1 1337 5k1llz! This comment was edited by Hitokiri on Jun 13 2005 04:12am. |
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Carve - Student 
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Just wanted to say... watching demos can be beneficial but I don't know how useful they are against more than one person because everybody fights slightly differently. When I actually cared enough to single out individual people and dueling styles to beat, I would often take demos and search for weakpoints in their technique and, while it rarely suddenly "made me win", it always made me improve. _______________ © |
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Kainz00r - Jedi Knight 
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Yeah it makes story telling awesome =D. And, it'd be super cool if you could do that, we'd all appreciate it a lot. Lookin' forward to it. _______________ Fervent supporter of duelling - leave a message if you would like to battle! Married to Masta. |
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sm00th! - Student 
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Haha kain, i like that you continually refer to yourself in the third person. Anyway, I've talked to a few friends of mine (wink) and have started compiling demo's of JKA legends already. _______________ Go Ahead, Enlighten Yourself. This comment was edited by sm00th! on Jun 13 2005 02:39am. |
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Kainz00r - Jedi Knight
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Well, from my experience watching others play can be very beneficial. For example, back in my early days of JA I didn't know of this place, and when my inital clan died, poor Kainz00r was homeless. He had no home to go to, no friends to hang with except one who didn't play the game anymore, and therefore no one to teach him. The only way he was able to get better, was not through experience alone, but watching more experienced people duel. Whilst not watching a demo, this is the same principle. When I watched them duel, I noticed their general methods of how to counter certain techniques, and good offesive and defensive manouevures. I then tried these out myself, and soon got the general 'feel' of them myself. That is the role of 'experience', trying it out for yourself and adapting it into your playstyle. However I would never have learned them without watching others - Monkey see, Monkey do. The people I spectated were my teachers. Unfortunately though, strong stance was dominant on the duel servers back then, which is where I spent the majority of my time. In consequence, I was far more adjusted to red v red situations in comparison with red v yellow. Then one day my friend Skye said, "Hey man, want to check out the Jedi Academy? I'm gona start playing again, and just rediscovered this place, they could even teach you something I bet." And so, I agreed 'cos it's not like I was busy with much else at the time, and it sounded quite appealing, the idea of a Jedi Academy that is. I looked forward to numerous classes and highly skilled teachers to whom I could look up to. I wasn't let down either. Back then, the place was alive with choices, hell you had to choose someitmes 'cos some classes were on at the same time - that was really awesome, so much life in the JA. Now, being accustomed to red stance being the dominant stance, I was not prepared for yellow stance, which is exactly what the JA offered me. My first class was WolfWood's "Unusual Duels" class, which was really fun. I remember at the end of it we had an 8 on 1, and I managed to topple WW being the last one standing. It was really chaotic, luck involved, but everyone enjoyed it all the same. So I was off to a good start, feeling really enthusiastic about competing with the 'best' at the JA. But I wasn't prepared for yellow stance at all. Next class I went to was Virtue's medium stance, and the first lesson I received from him was 'parries'. Oh gee, my first real test with yellow stance and it's probably the trickiest technique. There was an off number of students, so when everyone paired up Kainz00r was left on his own. Thankfully though, good 'ol Jaiko came riding in on a white horse and shining armor and I could of swore shiny teeth to save the day, and carry Kainz00r, his fair maiden, off the spare matrix room. Being hopeless with medium stance, Kainz00r was confronted with quite the challenge. Eventually though, after watching how Jaiko did it... he was able to conceive how these parries were acheived, and in under 30 minutes he was sufficiently adepted to it to please Virtue's standards. Once again, this was achieved through "Monkey see, Monkey do" and applying it to different situations, with the same basics I saw Jaiko apply. As some time passed by, Kainz00r was becoming more and more familiar with medium stance, but still no where near capable enough of standing with the adepts such as Virtue and Jaiko. Kuellers "Great Inter-Stance Duel Tournament" came around and Kainz00r saw his oppertunity for some awesome competition, and entered with high hopes. All ran smoothly until he saw on the list "Kain vs WolfWoof". Uh oh, young Kainz00r had duelled sir WolfWood before and it wasn't pretty. His medium stance style was immensly inferior to that of WolfWoods, and it would take some more learning until he could stand equal ground with him. He pewped his pants, cleaned up, and decided to prepare himself for the trial ahead. As it would happen, young Kainz00r happened to wake up one morning and connect to the server whilst only two people were online - Tido and Obi-Wan Kenobi. So, Kainz00r happily joined the server in hope of learning something from the JAK. After connecting, Kainz00r was greeted warmly, and allowed to watch Tido's training. It was in this training session, that Obi-Wan Kenobi renamed to WolfWood and revealed to Tido his most effective medium stance technique. Kainz00r saw this, and once again "monkey see, monkey do" played it's role. Kainz00r practised this a lot until he could control the advancing scissors with occassional crouch, in order to stand a chance vs WolfWood in the upcoming match. So the match finally came around. It was a best of 7, if my memory is correct. And it was the closest match young Kainz00r would have in a long time. First duel, Kainz00r was beaten down as expected. "Argh, I so saw that coming! One of these days, i'll be able to efficiently use my aerials and counter that." Second duel, it was looking grim again, but somehow Kainz00r scrapped a win and won via a strong stance swing. It was 1-1, and still 5 matches to go. From this point on, it was medium v medium, and a very hard time for Kainz00r. However, in conseuqence of what he saw earlier that week, he was able to use the moves he saw WolfWood show Tido and win 3 of those 5 remaining. The end result was 4-3 in Kains favor, but due to how the tournament worked the end points for that 'round' put both Kain and Wolfwood on equal points. In an act of admirable selflessness, sir WolfWood stepped down from the tournament and allowed young Kainz00r to continue his journy. This is another example of how watching other people fight can be beneficial to yourself. In time Kainz00r crafted this technique into a finer art, through the tutelage of the unforgiving teacher known as Experience. He's nice once you can deal with his negative side though. And that was just the start of it. There would be many other awesome techniques Kainz00r would learn by watching others from such duellists as Leif and HardWired. The main point of this post though, was to show that watching others can and does have beneficial outcomes. For me, it was one of my best teachers. _______________ Fervent supporter of duelling - leave a message if you would like to battle! Married to Masta. This comment was edited by Kainz00r on Jun 13 2005 02:14am. |
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