Arth, any tips for ST then? What are Ryu's best 'basic' combos? What's the best way to play against Vega?
Bear in mind I've only got about 5 hours of experience more than you
For me, currently I do a lot of crossup HK, cr.HP, fireball. 40-50% damage. (use cr.MK instead of cr.HP if you arent right next to them)
The next step is probably jump-in attack, cr.MP, cr.MK, fireball. (jumping attack isnt necessary of course).
You can also cancel cr.HK into fireball. So if the sweep gets blocked, you still get more meter and pressure. If the sweep connects though, you'll have less time to set up your wakeup pressure.
I don't have much problems with vian's vega when using Ryu if all I do is diagonal jump mp. If you hit him during forward jump, jump again and do another mp (or Super). Jumping tatsus will probably work too.
Oh, and try some more wakeup dragon punches. Perfect reversal timing is difficult though. Instead of pressing one punch when you do the move, drum your fingers quickly over all 3 punches (dont hold any of them down). Personally, I find the timing to be earlier than in SF4.