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Wave emoji, I play Rivals of Aether II and Melee and write a bunch. Most of what I talk about here will probably be relevant to Rivals II and not Ultimate.

How I Write Character Pages

Note: because this is subjective, this is subject to change whenever I feel like it is no longer adequate for the writing style.

I've written a lot of character pages. Character overview pages should generally follow this pattern. And before you get on my behind, all of the examples I've listed are my own writing, mostly being past examples that I'm dissatisfied with.

This is mostly for my own reference, to justify to myself why I write things the way they are, and housekeeping, but others can feel free to reference it as well.

Remember, the ultimate goal of character pages is to provide frictionless experiences for newcomers and veterans alike. They should know immediately where to go and get what they need, and then get back to the game. Yes, some things might sound prettier in a blog post, but here, it's about accessible language and not necessarily prose or detail. Accuracy can only get you so far with poor presentation.

For overviews, this is really just about describing the character in a way that highlights what makes them shine. The intent of this overview is to really be a sales pitch for new players. Old players don't actually want to read this, since they'd rather read the strategy page, so this is where the hook happens.

Pros and cons. This one can be really tricky, but it needs to make sense in the context of universal characteristics. You can mention moves to highlight why a trait is there, but it shouldn't be overly emphasised. Should be one to two sentences, and be brief. Reference MvC2's character pages for this style.

General traits to explain that should be on each character:

  • Mobility
  • Recovery
  • Edgeguarding
    • Good offstage presence or no?
  • How would you characterise their punish game? Their neutral game?
  • Frame data, slow or fast
    • How do characters fare when they whiff?
  • Range, stubby or disjointed, projectile counterplay and stage presence
  • Combo food?
    • Dying early off of kill confirms and combo food is different, by the way -- it's what makes a character like Melee Fox and Melee Falcon distinct.
  • Ways of countering defensive mechanics
    • For R2, this includes shield pressure, CC counterplay
  • How strong is their defence?
    • Out of shield options, effectiveness of CC
  • Execution
    • Yes, this can matter. APM and consistency.

Moves should generally be kept to basic level, meant to be a pick up and play understanding to the move. Details on explicit follow ups and character specifics should be elaborated on in strategy, tech, or combo section, but they shouldn't be too too long. Should be split into three sections in general:

They should start with bullet points that highlight notable properties of the move. Anything that is not immediately obvious from the frame display. This includes tipper stun, or intangibility windows. Some of this might belong more in "Show Advanced Stats" section, but I would love to immediately see the intangibility window of a move, personally, as well as being unable to SSDI a move.

  • Good: Tipper hit grants 23 extra frames of hitpause.
  • Bad: Has a weird hitbox.

Then, a basic description of the move. Only needs to describe what the move does functionally and not visually, unless the move is particularly confusing and requires further clarification.

  • Good: A double swipe, hitting in front and slightly below her. The second hit hits slightly lower than the first hit. The first sour hit is incredibly weak and borderline useless, while the second sour hit is okay. Wanting to know where the placement of Clairen's Fair is valuable.
  • Bad: Forsburn strikes the opponent with the hilt of his dagger, and deals a fair amount of damage. This doesn't actually highlight anything about the move in terms of what it does. It's Forsburn Pummel Attack, by the way, but it's kinda just worthless to explain this over the actual function of it.

Finally, more information on how the hits work and function. Good and bad of each move. Try not to elaborate too heavily on what it combos into, and any huge technical details of it that aren't immediately obvious. For specials that are really complicated (ex: Maypul's Lily), try to explain what it can be useful for but keep it general. My philosophy is that if you're just reading a move section, it's trying to get you to think about possibilities and creative potential, not trying to pigeonhole you into an idea.

  • Good: The tipper is very strong, being one of her most reliable finishers in a combo. She has plenty of ways to combo into this move, including a reliable tipper from Forward Throw and Back Throw at high percents for a kill confirm. The sourspot can get the job done at higher percents too, or at the very least force the opponent offstage. This move has many flaws, however. Its reach is shorter than Jab and Down Tilt, making it a relatively obsolete callout option in neutral. It is also horrible on shield. This does a quick job of explaining that this move is both good and bad. It's Clairen Fstrong by the way, and yes, even if you intuitively understand that strongs are bad and laggy, you still have to explain that to new readers.
  • Bad: Forsburn sweeps downwards with his dagger. This move sends upward, but it has a sweetspot which acts as a spike, sending the opponent down. Both sour and sweetspot are useful for many things, including catching wakeup options and edgeguarding. It's a little vague and combines both parts of the move, which I don't like. Highlighting the power of separate hits through separate hitboxes is better. To be honest though, it's hard to get this section wrong, the only downside often being just "too long" and "needs its own page". Just don't get too bogged down by explaining follow up hits.

If there are moves with significantly different modes, they should just be split up into different cards. Mostly applies to specials.

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