John Numbers (Same @ on BlueSky!)

It's a bit slapdash, but I think it's high time I advertised the fact that I stream! Every Thurs. + most Sat/Suns. Twitch: twitch.tv/johnnumbers Discord: discord.gg/PtADXXb Switch FC: You'll have to join and find out! Share this around! I'd really appreciate the support!

@CONEY @AuroraFGC Sure, whatever, here’s my on-cue agreement that floorhug is a bad mechanic and I think is *very much* hurting the game. I don’t like publicly bellyaching but I guess I have to to some extent

@AuroraFGC being able to hold a direction at any % where you get hit but something mysterious and enchanted MIGHT happen is a Slap City mechanic

rivals 2 "defenders" will tell u floorhugging is fine btw

@RockManSSB One thing I'll throw onto the pile that technically counts as Utilt counterplay; Steve mines with his Axe on Smashville and Town & City, so if they're not banned and you're comfortable fighting him there, it could be a way to interfere with his available durability.

THE DEFINITIVE STEVE UP TILT COUNTERPLAY GUIDE IS OUT NOW!!! Took a lot of time and effort to get this done so any likes or RT's are super appreciated. Hope you all enjoy! Full vid on YT below

To celebrate the release of the Fun-For-All update, Rivals II is at its deepest discount yet! Pick up the game now for yourself or a friend at 50% off from 4/7 - 4/21.

@ZekeWhere @toothbrushbutt @im_torna Right, I am aware of that; my general objection with FH is that you can use it while inactionable, and the tradeoff of taking more damage doesn’t counterbalance how strong of an impact it has on games. But that aside. For CC, if I Crouch from Idle, it takes 6F to kick in?

@JohnNumbers @toothbrushbutt @im_torna FH is just ASDI down before being fully crouched when grounded what you described is how floorhugging works btw it is just weaker CC, full CC allows for later knockdowns and reduced pushback

we are really complaining about floor hugging in the big 2026 still huh genuinely don't understand why people feel the need to do this, if you don't like the game please just stop playing and do something else with your time :)

@toothbrushbutt @im_torna I was under the impression that CC was Frame 1; if it’s actually Frame 6, then having a weaker version of it activate on F1-5 would be interesting, yes. Though I’d say that would be quite far removed from FH as a mechanic; feels like more of an extension on CC.

@JohnNumbers @im_torna iirc crouch has a 6f startup. i’m suggesting that you can afh in hitpause only if you were actionable in the frame before getting hit, i.e. if you are still in your move’s animation and you are not actionable, you cannot afh. kind of spitballing, just wanted to see what you think

@toothbrushbutt @im_torna The post in question: rivals-of-aether-ii-patch-150.nolt.io/461

@toothbrushbutt @im_torna I made a post on Nolt about this, but if FH has to stay in some manner, my idea would be to make it so only certain moves can be FH’d (cancellable moves, and certain ‘spammable’ moves), and anything else simply functions without the FHable restriction.

@toothbrushbutt @im_torna -they almost never outweigh *being able to stop your opponent's pressure/intended combo before it starts.* And unlike CC, there's no real risk/reward to FH outside of taking a bit more damage on a singular hit. You're not giving up your action to activate FH, compared to CC.

@toothbrushbutt @im_torna FH's main problem is that you can use it while inactionable, meaning that you can use it to protect yourself any time you whiff a move, or the opponent allows you to touch the ground while mid-combo. There are some downsides, of course, but-

@im_torna I wholeheartedly agree on this point, but this is a point in favor of CC, not FH; as the former is a system where you deliberately give up your action for a chance at a counter. FH you just get to use to patch up when you whiff moves or make mistakes that should be punished.

@JohnNumbers fh in general also brings nuance to the game because many options in this game are safe on shield, meaning fh is a better option to be + while getting hit with the trade off of taking damage.

@sophiloR2 @im_torna This is seconded from me, who interacts heavily with the NY Smash scene. And YES, I know there’s the argument that Smash players only play Smash, and they would have eventually quit anyway, but FH (and Clairen) is the one constant complaint that gets picked out when they play R2.

@im_torna @JohnNumbers don’t agree with this at all a lot of the people i’ve talked to who no longer play the game have floorhug / cc as one of their main reasons for not playing anymore (this is coming from lower end competive players) but yes there are other factors

@im_torna Sorry if I’m taking this too seriously, but I’m still trying to get a grasp on the reasons why FH is alright in its current implementation in R2, especially when there are seemingly plenty of solutions available to address this. * I’m ONLY talking about FH. CC is okay (enough).

@im_torna Note: Yes the above has nothing to do with if FH is a good or bad mechanic. All I can say on that is that I have a myriad of reasons to say its current implementation is not good design, with my near-two decades of platfighters hopefully giving my words some amount of weight.

@BONKfrys Of course, if you’re using Sm4sh as a base then I suppose that’s a given already? However, I would say that Rage and also roll/airdodge framedata as implemented in Sm4sh is no good. The Ult. incarnations of these are actually right on the money imo

@BONKfrys I would also include the reversion of jumpsquat/ascension and aerial landing lags back to their Sm4sh incarnations. The general power level of characters should also be reduced back to around Sm4sh High Tier level.

Smash 4’s engine was probably the closest to getting everything right. It had a great balance of universal and character-specific tech that made picking random in that game so addicting. If it was just slightly faster and borrowed a couple more Melee mechanics it’d be perfect