[QUOTE="God's Beard!";162094252]Yes, I fully understand that. What I don't get is how that benefits gameplay.[/QUOTE]
The way it benefits gameplay is specific to what you are going for. The example where I mention some on like Zangief where you manipulate their retreat and when they block is important to him. You guys have seen a lot if people try to back up from green hands, go within block, then the hand whiffs and they get thrown. Correct me if I'm wrong but does Ken's step kick feint put them in a block stance? The whiffs do play on your opponents defensive tendencies since it gives the attacker something they can indirectly effect them with.
Range and frame advantage are huge in things like tick throws, you can't throw them in blockstun so the pkayer has to figure the proper range to walk up after a block normal. Specific to SF4, since throws are 2 frames iirc, if you are +1 or less you can attempt a throw on your opponent.
Edit: sorry if I'm seeming to respond even after you made another post because I'm on a phone and shit is tedious to browse neogaf.
Speculation on my part but in tgat SF2 retrospective that polygon made. They interviewed the team behind SF2. They didn't think of combos at the time and the design was around using your moves for their speed, range, and damage. Which makes it sound it was intended originally to be very footsie based. Since they obviously made balancing revisions I think they kept proximity blocking for that reason. If you throw out a jab at a retreating opponent, it may give you a moment to get youself into an effective range for cr.mk or something.