True competitive fighting game play should be kept delegated to offline, sure.But I don't believe just because the high-level of play possible in local compeitition may not be possible online (given certain circumstances, which I'll go over), doesn't mean that it should not provide a fun experience for the player, regardless if you're excellent at fighting games or not.
I'd like to say a fun experience in online games is possible, if the following points are considered:
Net Code / Online backend: This is more of a developer's side issue rather than the players, but I'd venture to guess that the net code / online backend in fighting games may not be as mature as those found in more established online gaming genre's (for example, PC First Person Shooters.) Given online fighting games, as they stand, are more of a rarity in comparison to other games, I would imagine that this aspect could only improve over time as more online fighting games are released.
Intelligent matchmaking: Latency is an inevitabilty, regardless of what aspect of the internet you're talking about. Truth is, lower latencies are still preferable in any type of online gameplay you engage in, regardless of game genre. Therefore, it would be wise in the game and players' interests to minimize this lag as much as possible, and make it clear to the player when such latency minimization may not take place. Make it so the player may only specify matches within a certain ping range, or warn the player where the higher latencies may have a more drastic effect on gameplay. In the second scenario, the player has two options, either deny such a match from taking place in the first place (a viable option,) or accept the match and be prepared to compensate for the additional lag, which leads to the next point.
Compensation: An online game player will need to compensate for latency at any level, just the compensation will be higher at higher pings. However, the compensation needed for low latency gameplay (100ms at MAX, I would say,) is not all that drastic. Even at 100ms, such a delay would only be 0.1 tenths of a second, or in terms of frames, 6 frames. This delay in frames will increase at higher pings, but despite this, it should be possible for the player to compensate depending on the situation.
Compensation is unavoidable. It takes place all the time in online shooters. At higher latencies, it forces the player to predict the enemy's actions ahead of time. This means expecting where your enemy will be, and shooting where he will be based on your delay. Again, the extent of this is dependant on ping, and it only gets noticeable once you stray above 150ms. Point is, it should not be impossible for the player to compensate for latency in the fighting game arena by either predicting your opponent more, or relying on much safer strings and approaches.
To quote Gamespot on VF5's upcoming online play directly:
We tried a few matches, and, with our total hypersensitivity to lag, of course we noticed it. However, what we experienced wasn't game-breaking. It's definitely there, but it's possible to compensate for it.GameSpot
Balance: This one should be self-explanatory. The game should not be broken, balance-wise.
And lastly, on the point on whether the player will have fun playing game given that these circumstances are met, will still rely upon the player him/herself. Given the broad range in player skill possible in an online environment, it's only inevitable that there will be players on a skill level far higher than most normal players are capable of. It's what the player makes out of such an experience, whether the player accepts the defeat and possibly learns some tactics from it, or simply dismisses it because said player is "cheap." All in the eye of the beholder.
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