Why Tetris Friends (TF) is Better

[Noogy]

Alright I decided to write this because there's been a lot of badmouthing against TF...
ill edit this once in a while if i find any stuff to add to it

The purpose of this thread is not to justify TF's superiority over other games (or even suggest anything of the sort), but to answer people who ask, "Why do you play TF?"

Today there were 1206 players online at Tetris Friends Arena, and 0 players online on Nullpomino

So here are the reasons (in no particular order of importance) of why Tetris Friends (TF) is better than other Tetris's [knockoffs]

Ranking System
- the ranking system is great because it allows you to track your own progress as you play over a large sample size of 1000+ games
- it's pretty much accepted that the ranking system isn't accurate (i.e. lots of noobs in platinum etc)
but it is still a good indicator of where you stand
- compared to TOJ's ranking, you could be playing against a level 60 with a poor graph; nullpomino has no ranking system
- allows you to play in rooms without noobs joining your game or pros joining and destroying you

Large Population
- again, having a variety of players to play against is a better way to get a feel of where you stand among others
- you'll always find a match to play someone as opposed to empty lobbies like bb/np
- large population ensures that there will always be people of your rank to play against, therefore allowing you to get fairer matches; playing on nullpomino means there's a 50% chance you'll run into Blink and just get destroyed repeatedly

Room Settings
- everything is FAIR; there is no bias/penalty towards players who are higher ranked/more wins, garbage is sent to random people at an equal probability and the garbage isnt messier for pro players or any thing of the sort
- compared to TOJ, there can be spectators
- also, the whole 1v1 system is bogus; SS even said so himself

The Lack of a "Ready" System
- although the ready up system may be nice, it can be perceived as too fast-paced, making some people get tired more easily; TF's 20 second break is a nice break for people to crack their knuckles or rest or w/e (the actual length of the break is still up for debate); TOJ's method of starting the game through host is also ridiculous
- there's more talking going on in TF rooms, which provides for a friendlier environment; rooms like TOJ are especially silent

Garbage
- has garbage blocking
- clean garbage; many people complain about this a lot, but if you think about it, just because clean garbage does not require as much skill to downstack, it doesn't mean that it's noobish; there's a lot of strategy involved in sending clean garbage and handling your opponent's garbage & using it to prepare for counter attacks and whatnot
- random, single targeting: increases the longevity of each game, making them more exciting; with blockbox, most games would end so quickly as people would just stack on top of existing garbage because there's not enough time to clear it

Upgrades
Here are some numbers:
50 rubies - $5
120 rubies - $10
full das - 18 rubies
full arr - 18 rubies
room settings - 50 rubies

now compare that with TOJ's prices...gg TF. (has anyone noticed that people hate TF more than TOJ even though TOJ did the exact same thing except worse?)
compared with nullpo & bb, it's a different story, you guys win there.

in conclusion, there are definitely some [small] benefits to nullpo/bb/toj, thats why pros play it. but for the rest of us, TF can accommodate all of our needs

"Tran [Blink] mainly practices his skills on the online Tetris website Tetris Friends, where he regularly scores high in the leaderboards. " - Kotaku.com

"noogy i want to have your babies!" - ohitsstef

[Blink]

If you were on last night, Nullpo had about 12 players on.  The netplay is still very new so it takes time to build a playerbase.  NullpoMino is great for its customization, and I think will become very popular one day because it pretty much almost has everything that BB offers + is still actively developed and is a standalone client.

I have to agree that there's alot of badmouthing on TF around here, but I don't feel like most of it is warranted.  The game can be fun if you have the DAS/AR unlocks.

Bad things about the game:

Garbage is too neat (even then this is just player preference)
Flash is laggy
Auto handicapping
Rankings are useless because of the handicapping and because there's an item that prevents you from losing rating.

Besides these problems, the game is very playable.  It's like TOJ except with neater garbage and spectators support.  Yes the average skill level isn't very high on TF, but that's not a problem with the game itself but rather because TF is attracting new players to try out Tetris for the first time.  In the platinum rooms you'll find some pretty good players.

Anyways, every game has its positives/negatives so no more bashing!

P.S. *I never said I mainly practiced on TF to kotaku, they sort of added that on their own lol.  That's why they didn't quote me on it, I never said it lol*

[Noogy]

there's no handicapping at all in E+ rooms;
i was one of the 12 online in np, and i recall someone was saying how np was laggy/took up alot of memory;

and yeah flash is laggy but its not something people primarily complain about

[ZeroT]

and yeah flash is laggy but its not something people primarily complain about

cough...cough...cough.................

[ohitsstef]

the garbage is clean.. for the nooby players
but they make it messier for the better players

how's that fair?

the das may be adjustable huzzah for you, but it's not as stable as blockbox
even custom das on toj wasn't stable

crappy das, crappy garbage, crappy players

oh i forgot to mention, tetris friends is too much of a chatty place for little kids
when i'm in a room to play vs or ffa i dont want spectators in there chatting their little hearts out about their day.. and how their life sucks.. or how their love life is amazing. take that crap to another place.

and they censor way too many words in there.. i can't even say "you suck" without being censored out

[coolmaninsano]

I agree with Noogy. I'm not fast enough for a little lag to make me hate a game. I do like the social atmosphere of TF, and the ability to spectate and talk. I also think paying 1,000 coins per week for garbage blocking/private rooms is not outrageous, because I play enough to make about 1,200 coins per week. It may not be the best game for "pro"s to play, but it is my game of choice.

[Noogy]

ohitsstef: like i said, you shouldn't assume that clean garbage is for nooby players; if you're uber pro then you should have no problem downstacking it...i bet if you walked into TF you'd get embarassed by a bunch of players who know how to work clean garbage against you

and E+ rooms means that EVERYONE gets the same kind of garbage, regardless of rank/wins/etc.

quit being such an elitist for playing blockbox, thats what turns most people off the game in the first place.

[ohitsstef]

ohitsstef: like i said, you shouldn't assume that clean garbage is for nooby players; if you're uber pro then you should have no problem downstacking it...i bet if you walked into TF you'd get embarassed by a bunch of players who know how to work clean garbage against you

and E+ rooms means that EVERYONE gets the same kind of garbage, regardless of rank/wins/etc.

quit being such an elitist for playing blockbox, thats what turns most people off the game in the first place.

lol woah woah woah
I'm not being an "elitist" for playing Blockbox; but a lot of people would agree with me BB has a better gameplay than TF. Although BB doesn't have 12334234234 players on at once, at least we have quality players on. Quality > quantity yea?
Anyways, I play other tetris games besides BB like TOJ. I still play TOJ even with the das patch gone.

clean garbage on TF isn't going to help you when you move to another game where the garbage isn't as clean. Players who grow accustomed to TF have trouble transitioning to other games because they have very little downstacking skills.

Clean garbage is cheap to me and they should make it even for everyone, even if the room isn't E+

BB > TF

that's all i'm saying =P you said TF > everything
lol

[Noogy]

lol woah woah woah
I'm not being an "elitist" for playing Blockbox; but a lot of people would agree with me BB has a better gameplay than TF. Although BB doesn't have 12334234234 players on at once, at least we have quality players on. Quality > quantity yea?
Anyways, I play other tetris games besides BB like TOJ. I still play TOJ even with the das patch gone.

clean garbage on TF isn't going to help you when you move to another game where the garbage isn't as clean. Players who grow accustomed to TF have trouble transitioning to other games because they have very little downstacking skills.

Clean garbage is cheap to me and they should make it even for everyone, even if the room isn't E+

BB > TF

that's all i'm saying =P you said TF > everything
lol

sorry for what i said about you earlier... let's just agree to disagree! i know you have good intentions & whatnot...we just got off on the wrong foot

let's play some toj sometime okay?

[B1ink]

you can tell a game is bad when it has such terrible lag and thats not one of the things people mainly complain about.

[Alis]

Quality > quantity yea?

Not necessarily, I'd rather have 100 people around my skill level to play against, than 3 that are so much better than me that i wouldn't even be able to send a single line.

Besides TF has  both Quality and Quantity, maybe some of the best players choose to not play TF but there are still alot of "good enough" people to play with for most people.

[Boingloing]

TF never lags for me O.O

[ManOfMiracles]

The ranking system is trash. People always quit after they lose a few games because they seem to care too much about their "precious" rank. That's my biggest complaint.

[Noogy]

B1ink: the lag isn't terrible, it's actually very minor, which is why people don't cite it as a main reason not to play...many people will tell you they don't notice the lag

Alis: yeah to reinforce what you're saying... i remember times where i walk in and i see AA, apocalypse, and like anonymous or something like that....it's pretty difficult to practice in blockbox against pros of their caliber, and the blockbox garbage ko's people faster so you would hardly get any playing time against them anyway.

MoM: yeah dude there's always gonna be people like that...SS talked about how people wouldn't 1v1 him on TOJ because of ranks and whatnot... but that's just how it is
p.s. welcome to harddrop forum

[oxxquake3oxxo]

i only play survival mode in BB and TF

TF online is decent for a average skill level player like myself but the lag is ridiculous. And I keep getting confused since the preview pieces is in different places.

I'm trying to play NullpoMino right now, but is there a way to make the preview pieces appear on the right side?