- 8,438
- 3,292
Alright, so this has probably been on everyone's mind for quite some time (in some form of fashion).
Right now, we treat Speed Equalized has meaning "ignore the speed stat."
There are many reasons as to why this definition is completely ridiculous and does not work at all given certain conditions. It works perfectly fine for characters that have a singular type of attack that adheres to all their combat, and involve no time-based attacks. For everyone else, we have a problem.
So, what is the problem? Well... what about time? By this, I mean that certain characters have attacks or forms that last for a specific amount of time. For example, Dio Brando can freeze time for 9 seconds. In-universe, he is able to go grab a road roller and bring it back to the battlefield to use as a weapon and deliver a full speech. This is because he is very fast, and views these 9 seconds as far longer than what 9 seconds is to us. The same goes for Son Goku and Frieza. Goku had less than a minute in his MUI form, but was able to have a full battle in that time. Frieza gave Namek 5 minutes before it would explode, and fought for literally hours (to him) before it finally detonated. This is all because of their speed; if speed is equal, all abilities and forms that rely on a timer are either gutted or hugely buffed.
For a character that benefits from having an equal speed, we can look at World Guardia. WG cannot use the same Ultimate twice in 60 seconds, causing his Immortality ability to have a significant detriment, since he fights so quickly; he can easily die again in 60 seconds since that is plenty of time for a battle to end. Conversely, if speed becomes equal and time moves normally for the combatants, that 60 seconds seems like a reasonable goal to hit, and WG very well may be able to use Immortality again.
Now, for projectiles and attack speed. Many characters have attacks that outpace their normal combat speed and appear fast, even to them. For equalizing them, do we treat them as not being faster after all? Are these fast projectiles now moving as a brisk walking speed? For bullet, lightning, and light weaponry, do the bullets move at the speed of the user now? So many questions! Equalizing attack speed seems to completely destroy pretty much all ranged attackers, since their main form of attack is essentially easily dodged and worthless.
But wait... I have been saying "move normally" and implying that it slows speed down to normal human levels. Given our current assumption of "ignore speed," this is incorrect and we have absolutely no way of knowing how timer-based abilities work. We cannot gauge how long they should last, since the speed between the two is outright ignored.
The fact of the matter is: you can't ignore speed. Too many factors and variables play into this, and ignoring it outright simply isn't a plausible answer. We need to determine how we should treat speed equalization by giving it a proper number, not just pushing speed unsuccessfully under the rug. If we are to avoid "ignoring speed" for the reasons I have shown above, then what do we treat it as? Well, I believe there are three options:
1. Equalize High: For this, we take the slower character and equalize that speed to that of the faster character. For example, if Sylvanos went to fight Tree Rex, Sylvanos would have his combat speed raised to Tree Rex's level, essentially making his attacks fast enough to keep pace with Tree Rex's. For over-time attacks, this would buff them, as they would effectively feel longer.
2. Equalize Low: For this, we take the faster character and equalize that speed to that of the slower character. Using the aforementioned scenario, Tree Rex would instead be slowed down to Sylvanos' level, not the other way around. For over-time attacks, this would nerf them, as they would effectively feel shorter.
3. Equalized for Standard Perspective: For this, we take both characters and put them down to a normal level. That would mean their battle is perfectly visible for normal humans, and that both characters could move at 7.7 m/s. This would gut most over-time attacks and give a significant buff to cooldown-using attacks. For projectiles, the projectiles would function like their normal counterpart, if they have one, and, if they don't (some ambiguous, yet faster, energy attack), then they become the same percentage speed faster than they were previously. For example, if an energy blast travels 200% of that character's combat speed, then that blast is treated as 15.4 m/s.
Setting up these bounds gives a defined way to measure speed in matches that would be a blitz without giving the incredibly lack-luster and problem-ignoring "ignore it."
TLDR: How many types of speed are equalized? What do we equalize for (faster character, slower character, or normal humans)?
Right now, we treat Speed Equalized has meaning "ignore the speed stat."
There are many reasons as to why this definition is completely ridiculous and does not work at all given certain conditions. It works perfectly fine for characters that have a singular type of attack that adheres to all their combat, and involve no time-based attacks. For everyone else, we have a problem.
So, what is the problem? Well... what about time? By this, I mean that certain characters have attacks or forms that last for a specific amount of time. For example, Dio Brando can freeze time for 9 seconds. In-universe, he is able to go grab a road roller and bring it back to the battlefield to use as a weapon and deliver a full speech. This is because he is very fast, and views these 9 seconds as far longer than what 9 seconds is to us. The same goes for Son Goku and Frieza. Goku had less than a minute in his MUI form, but was able to have a full battle in that time. Frieza gave Namek 5 minutes before it would explode, and fought for literally hours (to him) before it finally detonated. This is all because of their speed; if speed is equal, all abilities and forms that rely on a timer are either gutted or hugely buffed.
For a character that benefits from having an equal speed, we can look at World Guardia. WG cannot use the same Ultimate twice in 60 seconds, causing his Immortality ability to have a significant detriment, since he fights so quickly; he can easily die again in 60 seconds since that is plenty of time for a battle to end. Conversely, if speed becomes equal and time moves normally for the combatants, that 60 seconds seems like a reasonable goal to hit, and WG very well may be able to use Immortality again.
Now, for projectiles and attack speed. Many characters have attacks that outpace their normal combat speed and appear fast, even to them. For equalizing them, do we treat them as not being faster after all? Are these fast projectiles now moving as a brisk walking speed? For bullet, lightning, and light weaponry, do the bullets move at the speed of the user now? So many questions! Equalizing attack speed seems to completely destroy pretty much all ranged attackers, since their main form of attack is essentially easily dodged and worthless.
But wait... I have been saying "move normally" and implying that it slows speed down to normal human levels. Given our current assumption of "ignore speed," this is incorrect and we have absolutely no way of knowing how timer-based abilities work. We cannot gauge how long they should last, since the speed between the two is outright ignored.
The fact of the matter is: you can't ignore speed. Too many factors and variables play into this, and ignoring it outright simply isn't a plausible answer. We need to determine how we should treat speed equalization by giving it a proper number, not just pushing speed unsuccessfully under the rug. If we are to avoid "ignoring speed" for the reasons I have shown above, then what do we treat it as? Well, I believe there are three options:
1. Equalize High: For this, we take the slower character and equalize that speed to that of the faster character. For example, if Sylvanos went to fight Tree Rex, Sylvanos would have his combat speed raised to Tree Rex's level, essentially making his attacks fast enough to keep pace with Tree Rex's. For over-time attacks, this would buff them, as they would effectively feel longer.
2. Equalize Low: For this, we take the faster character and equalize that speed to that of the slower character. Using the aforementioned scenario, Tree Rex would instead be slowed down to Sylvanos' level, not the other way around. For over-time attacks, this would nerf them, as they would effectively feel shorter.
3. Equalized for Standard Perspective: For this, we take both characters and put them down to a normal level. That would mean their battle is perfectly visible for normal humans, and that both characters could move at 7.7 m/s. This would gut most over-time attacks and give a significant buff to cooldown-using attacks. For projectiles, the projectiles would function like their normal counterpart, if they have one, and, if they don't (some ambiguous, yet faster, energy attack), then they become the same percentage speed faster than they were previously. For example, if an energy blast travels 200% of that character's combat speed, then that blast is treated as 15.4 m/s.
Setting up these bounds gives a defined way to measure speed in matches that would be a blitz without giving the incredibly lack-luster and problem-ignoring "ignore it."
TLDR: How many types of speed are equalized? What do we equalize for (faster character, slower character, or normal humans)?
