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Hi, soooooooooooo
This one was actually in the drafts for a while because, I've been busy with the ikemen:void project and just life in general. you know the same old same old. and, usually I actually try to do these type of posts once a year because I did one in I think 2024, then 2025 then THIS year.
BUT, so much as happened in the mugen / ikemen community alone. that I decided to just say in general my mugen / ikemen opinions that really stem from me thinking a lot about not what's going on this year but just my thoughts on mugen / ikemen in general that has changed a lot. now as per the topic, this will be a bit controversial meaning I might say something y'all may not like.
But, it doesn't mean I'll be like vile or evil about it. so I expect like, some rational discussion regardless, so yeah. let's begin.
1. I will NEVER understand the APPEAL of Donald Edits.
Yes, you read that right. for the longest time for I have been on the cheapie side of the community yknow the same community that's obsessed with a fast food mascot, I never and I mean NEVER understood the APPEAL of donald edits nor will I ever will and I come with a VERY good reason why.
Ronald is not relatable, the average individual cannot relate to Ronald McDonald. so not only, people are being boring, and uncreative and contributing the creative drought that's happening in mugen by making 120319023 donald edits. but, he's not even relatable too nor relatable enough to even warrant the amount of attention he gets in this community than any other franchise. how? let's go from the beginning and describe what he is and what he actually does.
Ronald McDonald's purpose and full existence is to advertise the mcdonalds product. his main appeal was directly to children and families together. meaning, he mainly sold an experience for families to make mcondalds feel like a special event. and to make him appeal more, they made a series based off him and his gang called Mcdonaldland in the 1970s. therefore driving immense brand loyalty, making ronald the second most recognized fictional figure among American children after Santa Claus!
Pretty interesting right. so, the question remains, why is people in this decade continuously making edits of this guy, contributing to the repetitive, uncreative nature side of the mugen community? when, he is not even a character of relatability. donald has no relatable traits, yet to make things crazier, people use him as a SELF-INSERT, CRAZY RIGHT? we got people who thinks they relate to a mascot that sells an experience, that sells the McDonald's experience to KIDS and FAMILIES everything he does is to sell the product, that's it. so, it makes NO SENSE. and DON'T get me wrong he is a great character, he's nice and a great mascot. he does his job very well.
But, I just DON'T see the appeal. it makes so much more sense, when people would for example make dozens of kof, touhou project, street fighter, etc.. because those franchises have actual LORE and characters with interesting and unique stories. that's why you'll never see me drag people who make those edits because those franchises have been around for a VERY long time.
And, have ACTUAL DEPTH, the characters also have some to even MOST, relatability to them. HELL, it would just simply make more sense if someone made BTS characters, and made TONS of edits for them because all SEVEN of those guys are RELATABLE AS HELL. so, yeah. I am sorry but, donald in my eyes just over time does not seem like a character worth creating 102312093 edits for in the 2020s decade, ESPECIALLY since most of them operate the same. meaning, it doesn't matter what ideas, what movesets, new stances, etc.. you give to this base constantly. they just look the same but with different names, different effects, and even those get repeated. that's why there's people like me that genuinely get tired of it (yes im not the only one that thinks this way.) because, we could have new, fresh amazing characters from new, or underrated or pre-existing franchises that's never been added to mugen from the authors of today but instead, we're getting copy and paste.
I know someone will think that I've said this several times, and probably is getting annoyed with it. but, honestly, I wouldn't be having to repeat myself people actually made something different. when, I am getting or searching for NEW characters for my rosters, I don't see NEW characters anymore. LITERALLY. because, believe it or not. what do you think I do on my ikemen:void project? TEST CHARACTERS and how they run. in the past, I also would search every crack and crevice of mugen for new characters and sometimes I would get lucky BUT THEN, like as of lately I haven't been getting lucky. so, yeah I have the right to have this mindset because I love to collect characters, thats why I made these collections and such.
But, I see I made the right decision to not work on collections while working on the ikemen:void project because it would've just looked the same like the other ones. sigh
Next thing...
2. Balanced obsessed people make no sense to me.
If you didn't know, I did have an encounter with people who love all things balanced judge my ikemen:void project, and recently saw reviews from who I am confident is a literal child on AK1 that's been going around leaving negative reviews on "cheapies" insulting the uploader/authors for making said characters.
NOW, don't get me wrong. but, what happened to the days where people actually PLAYED fighting games outside of mugen. the reason why I ask this because, I don't understand the hostility, annoyance and negativity that comes from that community. like, I understand broken and cheap characters not being your thing but, it should NEVER be that serious to where you outright, annoy, harass and insult people who make / enjoy said characters.
Because at the end of the day, there IS a space for you guys everywhere and that is in the average fighting game that can be EASILY pirated and played right from your PC or modded console. it should be common sense that when entering the mugen scene, anything to EVERYTHING happens on this very engine. meaning, you will meet, weird, broken, sometimes balanced, unpredictable, and so many other types of characters. That you wouldn't even see in most fighting games.
Even, IKEMEN GO isn't safe from this type of thing because, even some broken characters operate there as well. so, the reason why this makes no sense to me is that my mindset or how I see it, is that mugen is for people who are willing to embrace the chaos beyond the average fighting game. if you want a normal fighting game to play on, there is MANY out there. melty blood type lumia, under the night inbirth, capcom vs snk, etc.. all have their OWN games you can PLAY by themselves without having to interact with them on this engine. and they are guess what they are BALANCED.
Do broken characters exist in fighting games? yes sometimes, but they usually CAN be beaten. especially, if you have the skill. you have tekken, smash ultimate, street fighter etc.. all out there available for you. and CAN BE PIRATED TOO. we not in a time where you HAVE to pay for tons of games, like you can GET these niggas for FREE. I just don't get it yknow? and, if you don't want to play with those fine. then, actively SEEK balanced full games on the ikemen side and LEAVE PEOPLE WHO ENJOY MUGEN FOR ALL ITS GLORY (AKA INCLUDING THE CHEAPIE SHIT) ALONE.
Man, @god we are ready man. we are READY.
3. Things being vibe-coded is getting sorta ridiculous.
Now before, we FULLY start on this section. I want people to know that I am 50/50 on AI. meaning, I see and understand why people use it as a tool of course but I also, understand why people don't like it. for me, though despite me being 50/50 I still do sorta dislike a bit more than I am neutral about it.
Mainly because of a bad experience and, well because I sorta believe mugen is meant to be made on creativity. other than that I won't DRAG anyone for using AI. if you use it go ahead I just warn people that people will drag you if you do, unless you're in the ikemen discord community people just straight up use AI to BUILD modules and shit for them with NO PROBLEM. like they don't even learn just full on GENERATE. and yet they wanna get on MY IKEMEN:VOID SHIT? alright bro at least my shit is human coded.
So the issue for why this is ridiculous is because AI managed to make it's way / be normalized in the community. thus, nowadays when people make something new and it isn't vibe coded, people will still assume it's vibe coded which is very unfortunate. I actually had this happen to me in sesshuin/minase's discord where KD666 said, bro is this shit vibe coded? when I presented ikemen:void in the ad channel and I IMMEDIATELY SHUT THAT SHIT DOWN. I usually laughed at the THOUGHT of someone assuming this was vibe coded until when someone actually ASSUMED IT I was mad af. AI cannot even touch an engine properly AND, if we did use it that shit would be a buggy mess just like a certain engine that got called out for being vibe coded.
It's honestly, just sad man. like, if you don't care if something is vibe coded. cool. but, remember not everyone vibe codes we actually like to use what we know and the information that's already readily available for us. after all, that's what made mugen thrive.
Other than that, I think that's about it. what do you guys think? what are YOUR unpopular mugen opinions, especially with how the year ends.
This one was actually in the drafts for a while because, I've been busy with the ikemen:void project and just life in general. you know the same old same old. and, usually I actually try to do these type of posts once a year because I did one in I think 2024, then 2025 then THIS year.
BUT, so much as happened in the mugen / ikemen community alone. that I decided to just say in general my mugen / ikemen opinions that really stem from me thinking a lot about not what's going on this year but just my thoughts on mugen / ikemen in general that has changed a lot. now as per the topic, this will be a bit controversial meaning I might say something y'all may not like.
But, it doesn't mean I'll be like vile or evil about it. so I expect like, some rational discussion regardless, so yeah. let's begin.
1. I will NEVER understand the APPEAL of Donald Edits.
Yes, you read that right. for the longest time for I have been on the cheapie side of the community yknow the same community that's obsessed with a fast food mascot, I never and I mean NEVER understood the APPEAL of donald edits nor will I ever will and I come with a VERY good reason why.
Ronald is not relatable, the average individual cannot relate to Ronald McDonald. so not only, people are being boring, and uncreative and contributing the creative drought that's happening in mugen by making 120319023 donald edits. but, he's not even relatable too nor relatable enough to even warrant the amount of attention he gets in this community than any other franchise. how? let's go from the beginning and describe what he is and what he actually does.
Ronald McDonald's purpose and full existence is to advertise the mcdonalds product. his main appeal was directly to children and families together. meaning, he mainly sold an experience for families to make mcondalds feel like a special event. and to make him appeal more, they made a series based off him and his gang called Mcdonaldland in the 1970s. therefore driving immense brand loyalty, making ronald the second most recognized fictional figure among American children after Santa Claus!
Pretty interesting right. so, the question remains, why is people in this decade continuously making edits of this guy, contributing to the repetitive, uncreative nature side of the mugen community? when, he is not even a character of relatability. donald has no relatable traits, yet to make things crazier, people use him as a SELF-INSERT, CRAZY RIGHT? we got people who thinks they relate to a mascot that sells an experience, that sells the McDonald's experience to KIDS and FAMILIES everything he does is to sell the product, that's it. so, it makes NO SENSE. and DON'T get me wrong he is a great character, he's nice and a great mascot. he does his job very well.
But, I just DON'T see the appeal. it makes so much more sense, when people would for example make dozens of kof, touhou project, street fighter, etc.. because those franchises have actual LORE and characters with interesting and unique stories. that's why you'll never see me drag people who make those edits because those franchises have been around for a VERY long time.
And, have ACTUAL DEPTH, the characters also have some to even MOST, relatability to them. HELL, it would just simply make more sense if someone made BTS characters, and made TONS of edits for them because all SEVEN of those guys are RELATABLE AS HELL. so, yeah. I am sorry but, donald in my eyes just over time does not seem like a character worth creating 102312093 edits for in the 2020s decade, ESPECIALLY since most of them operate the same. meaning, it doesn't matter what ideas, what movesets, new stances, etc.. you give to this base constantly. they just look the same but with different names, different effects, and even those get repeated. that's why there's people like me that genuinely get tired of it (yes im not the only one that thinks this way.) because, we could have new, fresh amazing characters from new, or underrated or pre-existing franchises that's never been added to mugen from the authors of today but instead, we're getting copy and paste.
I know someone will think that I've said this several times, and probably is getting annoyed with it. but, honestly, I wouldn't be having to repeat myself people actually made something different. when, I am getting or searching for NEW characters for my rosters, I don't see NEW characters anymore. LITERALLY. because, believe it or not. what do you think I do on my ikemen:void project? TEST CHARACTERS and how they run. in the past, I also would search every crack and crevice of mugen for new characters and sometimes I would get lucky BUT THEN, like as of lately I haven't been getting lucky. so, yeah I have the right to have this mindset because I love to collect characters, thats why I made these collections and such.
But, I see I made the right decision to not work on collections while working on the ikemen:void project because it would've just looked the same like the other ones. sigh
Next thing...
2. Balanced obsessed people make no sense to me.
If you didn't know, I did have an encounter with people who love all things balanced judge my ikemen:void project, and recently saw reviews from who I am confident is a literal child on AK1 that's been going around leaving negative reviews on "cheapies" insulting the uploader/authors for making said characters.
NOW, don't get me wrong. but, what happened to the days where people actually PLAYED fighting games outside of mugen. the reason why I ask this because, I don't understand the hostility, annoyance and negativity that comes from that community. like, I understand broken and cheap characters not being your thing but, it should NEVER be that serious to where you outright, annoy, harass and insult people who make / enjoy said characters.
Because at the end of the day, there IS a space for you guys everywhere and that is in the average fighting game that can be EASILY pirated and played right from your PC or modded console. it should be common sense that when entering the mugen scene, anything to EVERYTHING happens on this very engine. meaning, you will meet, weird, broken, sometimes balanced, unpredictable, and so many other types of characters. That you wouldn't even see in most fighting games.
Even, IKEMEN GO isn't safe from this type of thing because, even some broken characters operate there as well. so, the reason why this makes no sense to me is that my mindset or how I see it, is that mugen is for people who are willing to embrace the chaos beyond the average fighting game. if you want a normal fighting game to play on, there is MANY out there. melty blood type lumia, under the night inbirth, capcom vs snk, etc.. all have their OWN games you can PLAY by themselves without having to interact with them on this engine. and they are guess what they are BALANCED.
Do broken characters exist in fighting games? yes sometimes, but they usually CAN be beaten. especially, if you have the skill. you have tekken, smash ultimate, street fighter etc.. all out there available for you. and CAN BE PIRATED TOO. we not in a time where you HAVE to pay for tons of games, like you can GET these niggas for FREE. I just don't get it yknow? and, if you don't want to play with those fine. then, actively SEEK balanced full games on the ikemen side and LEAVE PEOPLE WHO ENJOY MUGEN FOR ALL ITS GLORY (AKA INCLUDING THE CHEAPIE SHIT) ALONE.
Man, @god we are ready man. we are READY.
3. Things being vibe-coded is getting sorta ridiculous.
Now before, we FULLY start on this section. I want people to know that I am 50/50 on AI. meaning, I see and understand why people use it as a tool of course but I also, understand why people don't like it. for me, though despite me being 50/50 I still do sorta dislike a bit more than I am neutral about it.
Mainly because of a bad experience and, well because I sorta believe mugen is meant to be made on creativity. other than that I won't DRAG anyone for using AI. if you use it go ahead I just warn people that people will drag you if you do, unless you're in the ikemen discord community people just straight up use AI to BUILD modules and shit for them with NO PROBLEM. like they don't even learn just full on GENERATE. and yet they wanna get on MY IKEMEN:VOID SHIT? alright bro at least my shit is human coded.
So the issue for why this is ridiculous is because AI managed to make it's way / be normalized in the community. thus, nowadays when people make something new and it isn't vibe coded, people will still assume it's vibe coded which is very unfortunate. I actually had this happen to me in sesshuin/minase's discord where KD666 said, bro is this shit vibe coded? when I presented ikemen:void in the ad channel and I IMMEDIATELY SHUT THAT SHIT DOWN. I usually laughed at the THOUGHT of someone assuming this was vibe coded until when someone actually ASSUMED IT I was mad af. AI cannot even touch an engine properly AND, if we did use it that shit would be a buggy mess just like a certain engine that got called out for being vibe coded.
It's honestly, just sad man. like, if you don't care if something is vibe coded. cool. but, remember not everyone vibe codes we actually like to use what we know and the information that's already readily available for us. after all, that's what made mugen thrive.
Other than that, I think that's about it. what do you guys think? what are YOUR unpopular mugen opinions, especially with how the year ends.
