I mean, I'm not talking about myself here. I already like fighting games. Even still, it's pretty obvious why people can't get into them. In order to have fun, you have to be good. In order to be good, you need you know the fundementals. In order to use the fundementals, you need to practice a lot. Currently, there's absolutely no fighting game that I know of that makes that process enjoyable. Not even Injustice. It's more of a boss rush than a tutorial. It doesn't teach you much at all.

I'm talking Mega Man X levels of organic teaching. Enemies that can only be defeated by throwing because they block too often. Enemies who only spam projectiles. Enemies who only attack with mix ups. Enemies who only attack low. Enemies who only attack in the air. Enemies who always try and lock you in a corner, etc. As the game goes on, the enemy design gets a little more coplicated, combining the patterns of two or three of the easier enemies, with boss battles being the test on everything that particular area had tought you, until the final bosses that put together everything you've learned throughout the game.

By constantly fighting these types of enemies over a 30-40 hour campaign, the player slowly learns how and when to deal with these types of situations and gets ample practice. Then, once you beat the game, the multiplayer mode unlocks with all the boss characters and the playable character(s) filling up the roster.

Obviously describing it so technically sound boring, buy Pokemon is the perfect example of how easy it is to make it engaging. Mega Man is another and so is Zelda. No one seems to have ever tried something like this with a fighting game, which blows my mind. I always say that a JRPG would be the perfect way to do it. Literally take the standard turnbased JRPG formula, but replace the turn based combat with a traditional fighting game instead. Badda-bing. Badda-boom.

You should explain why people shouldn't use Paul's deathfist unless they're 100% sure it will connect (or during Rage). That would help a lot.

I think the biggest problem I have is usually you get 2 types of people playing online :

1) those who are casual beat me up players
2) those who know their shit

When playing a fighting game online you stand no chance against those who know their stuff as they will know every combo and every move. The skill levels are miles apart and unless you have the time to invest to become that good there is no chance.

I play too many games and because of this I never get to stick to one to master it well enough. I think Street fighter is the only one I'm decent with as the moves haven't changed much since the arcade days so essentially I've been able to use what I've learnt over the last 17-18 years.

Lol.. Yeah, that's a good idea.

I play many games too, just look that how many I played to make the video... And all the fighters I own aren't even in it.  And, it really depends on when you get the game.  I've beaten people in MKX with over 300 games played, when I had less than 50.  There's no such thing as knowing every combo, as with most fighting games, combos are customizable and tailored to the person playing.  I know combos that can deal 50% health, but I opt for 48% as it's a small bit easier to do.  So, I don't worry about the extra 2%.  It's not worth me risking the entire combo.  And, even still, I have never pulled it off in an online setting.

But, you just gotta stick with whatever game it is, and play it early, so you can learn while everyone else is learning.  Mortal Kombat X is a good example, because some of the things from street fighter carry over.   The only real difference is the vertical attacks and attacks that hit left and right almost immediately.

But, waiting until after the casuals have left the game, and everyone who likes the game have learned it, you're going to find yourself having a tough time.