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Totally in the same boat as you man. I think part of the issue with me is that I have only one friend that plays games in the same competitive manner as I do.
Been playing SC for so long but my biggest accomplishment is hitting C- on ICCup a few seasons ago. Mind you, the most I played in recent years was like 100 games in a month a few times so I can't say I deserve to be much better. Might be too early to tell for SC2 but I get the feeling the situation will be the same since I'm like 8-8 in a gold division atm. I thought the easier mechanics (MBS, mass unit selection) would help my shitty APM keep up a bit better but it doesn't seem like it's enough. Everyone else is getting the same boost as me I guess.
I was pretty big on CS (both 1.6 and Source) as well, but getting a decent team together takes so much effort (always one person with an attitude or that doesn't want to commit to practicing 1-2x a few hours a week), I've never really amounted to more than a pub-stomper. Now I'm only playing the game for 2-3 hours a week tops, don't even wanna try so much anymore. Maybe when cspromod finally comes out with a good version, I'll be motivated a bit again.
LoL, I've played a few hundred games and still feed like an idiot some games. Some games, I dominate. Most games, I pull my weight. But I'll never be a top player at that either or any of the other games like DoTA or HoN.
Whatever though, I still have fun at it ;p
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Great read, but just keep at it and you'll become better eventually!
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I suck at tekken 6 if it makes you feel better
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So very true, competitive gaming > all other types of gaming =S I've had my run in CoD 4 along side with a lan victory in CoD 2 and once in BF1942  Those were without a doubt one of my greatest moments, I don't know why but playing games for a point other than just playing it somehow makes the game tenfold in entertainment value.
I myself was never that great at SC1 tried my best at playing but never got the hang of it. That was way back when I was younger Going to give SC2 with my super advanced 21 year old brain
Yet I'm 90% sure it won't end in any glories 
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dude awesome blog i liked it a lot, i feel the same way about a lot oft he things you do. my first game i played competitively was MechAssult for the original xbox, it was one of the first games that was made for Live!. man i was hooked, from the it was RTCW and some of the rainbow six series.
i quit video games for a while after getting bored of halo 2, and my friends got me hooked on brood war, so i got a beta key and here i am playing sc2.
if being good means i gotta dedicate 12 hrs a day to starcraft then fuck it, i like being average waaay more.
:D
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Awesome blog man, reminds me of myself haha
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I feel exactly how you feel. I switch games every few months all the time. I've never really sat and dedicated myself to one game.
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ahaha good post
well worth the read
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Great Read. I recently got frustrated with Dota and gave up.
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I know what you mean. I've tried to break out of the same sort of cycle of mediocrity with Brood War, but I ended up getting discouraged after having a constant 30% winrate and never being able to pass D+. Hopefully this will be different for SC2!
Also, this story/concept kind of reminds me of a quote from Civ IV:
"If you chase two rabbits, you will lose them both."
With the rabbit in this case being excellence toward a specific game.
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I saw this in the news thread. Great read, thanks for sharing.
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Noticed you mentioned TGM3 which I thought wasn't a very common game for people to play.
I actually played/play Tetris competitively still starting with tds and then moving on to the tgm series among other things and finally settling on tetris of japan (which I'd suggest you check out if you like tetris... not sure if linking is allowed but check out harddrop.com forums for an english version)
Among the competitive tetris players I'm extremely mediocre; some of the top players can play at twice my speed. But when my friends have seen me play they're always mystified.
It goes to show , like a lot of people have mentioned, you're probably a lot better at these games than it seems. Oh and also, being average is okay too.
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I got into SC BW way to late to be any good.....
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Wow that was awesome, hell of a write up.
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Was a nice read.
You talk about having to use 10000 hours to become pro in a game. I have seen exact same number in "illustrated science" magasin, but according to your life and experiences i wouldn't count this hypothesis out. Just a little math...
10000 hours = 1.145 year
1 year = 8730 hours
If you invest 1 hour a day to gaming (casual gamer): 27 years
If you invest 3 hour a day to gaming (average gamer): 9 years
If you invest 5 hour a day to gaming (hardcore gamer): 5.4 years
If you invest 16 hour a day to gaming (Should get a life/Extreme pro): 1.7 years
So I say no wonder that you are not pro... Cause I strongly doubt that you have dedicated that amount of time in just 1 game...
According to Illustrated science Magasin, it is enough with 6000 hours to become really good, but to get the level of perfection you must use 10000 hours.
I think you have underrestimated the amount of time that is needed to become professional at a game.
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Glad this was linked from the front page.
I'm also an average-skilled gamer living in San Diego who goes from game to game.
Average SF4. Average 3S. Average Brawl. Average CvS2. Average DJ Max. Average Tetris. Average Tetris Attack. Average Starcraft (if D is Average).
Hell, it's even like that in other aspects of my life. Average TaeKwonDo. Average Karate. Average Graphic Design. Average Writing. Average SAT Scores. Goes on and on.
I can get to the point where I'm impressive to people who aren't well-versed in the scene ("Wow, you're so good at SF4" from rhythm game players, "Wow you're so good at video games games!" from friends, etc.), but I can't get to where I can ever successfully compete with the local scenes (much less regional/national). Hell, I too also meet the people who just show up in the scene and shortly after I leave it, I would find them winning tournaments left and right.
I am average... but damn do I just love picking up something and learning new shit, getting to know the community, breaking personal milestones and all that other good stuff that you already mentioned. It's all such a great feeling and a great experience, even if I am just average.
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Great post by the op, and I share a lot of your feelings man, although the games are different, I have had a lot of similar experiences (quake, quake 3, sc, bw, cs, cs:s, dota, wow, tf2) now I feel its all happening again with hon + sc2... I always get to a "decent" level, good enough to beat the casuals but bad to anyone who is into it.
Personally though I don't have a problem with it. I look at games as a hobby, I have absolutely no doubt that if I committed 8 hours solid a day playing, every day I would have the skill to be up there in any game I chose to commit myself to... The simple fact of the matter is I am not willing to commit that time.
There are Wayyy too many other things I want to do in life, things that are more important. This wouldn't be the case if I could definitely make a living off e-sports, but in this world, the way it is at the moment (at the very least in Australia), that just isn't possible... Or maybe it is but the amount of time that would need to be invested to reap profits that are just totally incomparable to other industries isn't worth the effort.
I love games, and I would love for there to be a day when competitive gaming is a solid career choice, but until that time comes, I'm quite content being that average player...
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<3
I bet you get girls tho! XD
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EPT
