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How do people stay calm and relaxed in this game? I don't understand it. I could, some time ago, but seem to have unlearned it.
I had most of the day for myself today and decided to do some laddering. Queued for some 1on1 games. Lost some, won some, but after a couple of games I noticed something. This actually happens all the time, but today I was consciously aware of it for the first time: I don't actually have fun. I don't enjoy victories and I get furious or ridiculously disappointed with losses.
In 1on1s I'm always mad at myself for missing stuff or not reacting fast enough. Of course I should have made more mech. Of course I should have built that pylon. And why exactly didn't I build that spinecrawler on time? I know exactly whats wrong with my build or why I'm losing, but it's as if I'm too slow or too stupid to do it right. So I lose (or barely win) and the flaw in my play is there in plain sight before me and I'm just "Ahhh! Why did i DO that?" You know that feeling when watching replays and someone does an obvious mistake that makes you cringe? Yeah, exactly that.
I thought playing random would make it a more relaxing experience. It didn't. Playing three races only gives me two more reasons to rage at myself.
"So alright", I thought, "maybe it's time to slowly abandon 1vs1 for the day". Team games, then. This is even more horrible. Of course there's the old AT vs. RT issue, which is annoying enough. But the team mates ... oh my. 45% openly rage and insult me when losing, spewing all sorts of profanity and then quitting. Another 45% seem to play by rolling their head over the keyboard repeatedly and provoke me to almost the same reaction, but I force myself to remain calm and give advice for the next time while our bases are being demolished. 10% actually make a nice synnergy with my play and the game does have a certain flow.
My friends - the few of them who do play SC2 - often admire me for being in diamond league. Secretly, I admire them. They somehow manage to just play and have fun, and not be driven by this weird competetive craze that ruins all the fun for me.
I'm at a loss currently. I was somehow convinced that I was enjoying this game and I had a lot of fun in the Beta but that untroubled mindset somehow disappeared. And I want it back. Badly.
  
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Unfortunately, "learning how to play competitively" and "having fun when laddering" are mutually exclusive. Team Liquid was the red pill, and you wanted to see how deep the rabbit hole goes...
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This happens to me in BW a lot too. At this point, I'm just not really laddering and just having fun playing against my friends.
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Take a break, absence makes the heart grow founder. I got to your point at the end of beta and it really helped when I didn't play between the end and the release. I don't play as much now as I did in the beta so it's still almost a novelty.
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On November 16 2010 09:40 Kyuukyuu wrote:
Unfortunately, "learning how to play competitively" and "having fun when laddering" are mutually exclusive. Team Liquid was the red pill, and you wanted to see how deep the rabbit hole goes...
hahaha.
But op, just take a break its a good way to see how much you've improved as well. Also, try using hotkeys more, it makes the game a lot simpler with a lot less APM / mouse scrolling
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I can empathize with you. I feel the same way. I hit diamond league with 15 wins 9 loss. After that, I've only played maybe a handful more games. And with each passing day I feel like playing less and less because I convince myself I'm no longer good anymore so if I do start to play I'll just lose. It's a vicious cycle.
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On November 16 2010 09:40 Kyuukyuu wrote:
Unfortunately, "learning how to play competitively" and "having fun when laddering" are mutually exclusive. Team Liquid was the red pill, and you wanted to see how deep the rabbit hole goes...
just wanna say that this quote is awesome
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2919 Posts
I know what you mean. I was actually about to create a blog myself, but I decided against it since most people would just perceive as whining.
It is extremely frustrating to see the ranking system does not seem to be able to give an accurate depiction of people's skill level, even at Diamond. There are times when I play 2,000 Diamonds that are horrendous. There are times when you play 500 Diamonds that will absolutely wreck you. I even joined up with some 10 1700 Diamonds in a KOTH tournament where they kept observing each other play. The amount of BS coming from the Observer discussion was massive. Some 10 1700 Diamonds completely uneducated about the game? TBH, with that kind of talk, I have no idea how they got past Platinum. It makes me wonder how I ever lose any games at all. Then I wonder about all the Platinum people who are fairly good. It's like a big giant double u tee eff...
I just reason this that as young as the game is, the system doesn't have enough information to match people up properly yet. I used to think the system just sucked, but after viewing the video from Blizzcon explaining the system, I think it should get more accurate in the future. But that leads me to the problem, what happens when ladder resets? I guess, as people get better, this should be fairly similar to iCCUP rankings. Still, the system will be fairly inaccurate for the first bit of a new reset.
Also, the way the matchmaking system forces you to have a 50% winrate can mess some stuff up, unless I'm not understanding it completely. Short story, it'll force everyone towards a normal distribution. If that's the case, there will be common situations in which a 500 Diamond, or even high platinum that will be comparable to a high Diamond, and other like comparisons. Which leads to the main point, in that it's very hard to determine how good someone is based on their rating. In which case, a better guessing point will be their winrate. But if everyone is forced to have 50% ish winrate, that's pretty hard to do so as well.
Oh well, I guess that's just how the cookie crumbles, for now..
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play some custom games with your friends!
there are a lot of good ones out there
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Even though I had to grin at the red pill reference, there's a certain sad truth to it. Taking a break may be an option, but I'm not playing that much to begin with. Today was a rare exception with 10+ games, usually I manage only a handful of games every 1-2 days.
I'm using hotkeys btw and averaging 80-100 apm in games - I'm pretty sure that mechanics aren't the major issue I feel frustrated, but my mindset alone is to blame.
I'll take a break now, though ... it's 2 AM here and I'll go to bed. Thanks for reading and posting, and maybe some more people read this and someone comes up with a foolproof method to calm me down and instantly return my lost gaming fun.
(Haha ..  )
*edit: As my last action of the day, I added Kyuukyuu's post to my signature. Upon second and third thought, I liked the reference more and more.
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Well, there are a couple of ways I know to relax. You can invite friends and have a SC party (maybe get some friends who don't play it to come check it out). I get the feeling that you are better than your friends so you can do the second part. CRAZY STUFF. Going mass ghost against zerg is amazing fun. So are mothership rushes, planetary fortress rushes, lifting off to an island at the start... All of this is a fun break from the ordinary. Lastly, play a couple of UMS maps. They are a fun, relaxing break from the ladder where you can do different stuff without caring whether you win or lose. I'm in the same boat as you, as laddering is only fun as you win.
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I enjoy raging on 4v4s. I tell my opponents that I'm going for ridiculous strategies (mass overlords) and have a blast. I don't have fun 1v1s, it's true, but that's just on ladder. It's fine during KOTHs.
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On November 16 2010 09:40 Kyuukyuu wrote:
Unfortunately, "learning how to play competitively" and "having fun when laddering" are mutually exclusive. Team Liquid was the red pill, and you wanted to see how deep the rabbit hole goes...
This. The fun perhaps does not come from playing or winning. It comes from learning, and realizing that you have improved, that you understand the game better now, that you are now a better player not because you win more, but because you are coming closer to 'owning' the game, the nuances.
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Step 1: Stop caring about useless stuff. Don't care about your practice results or place in the ladder and your profile stats. Stuff like that doesn't matter at all, just keep playing the game.
Step 2: Don't overestimate your skill level. Diamond means shit, you still suck at the game. The only way to improve is playing it. If you made a mistake, learn from it. If you do the mistake repeatedly, focus on fixing that specific mistake. And keep in mind that you don't get better from just a few games. Also, you might have better and worse days, you'll have to ignore their effects.
That should abandon any rage and frustration you get. From my own experience and experiencing other players those two are the main causes of your problems.. If it's not fun for you then, just stop playing it.
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I kind of know how you feel. A few days ago i got tired of trying hard and decided to try a bunch of ridiculous strategies that have no chance of winning. It's hard to win a zvp by making only spines, queens, and nydus worms. Ultimately, it's not fun at that level because it requires a lot of work. Exercising generally isn't fun either but the feeling you get after a tough workout is great. Similarly, playing well and winning against a tough opponent feels really good too.
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Had/Have this exact same problem dude, what you need is to find some online buddies or better yet a clan, and just play practice games and micro map games and 3v3 games with them and you will feel better and sooner or later want to start 1v1ing again so you can get better for your team.
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On November 16 2010 09:40 Kyuukyuu wrote:
Unfortunately, "learning how to play competitively" and "having fun when laddering" are mutually exclusive. Team Liquid was the red pill, and you wanted to see how deep the rabbit hole goes...
This is quite possibly the best reply to a blog I have ever read.
I'm so glad I'm somewhere between the two. I still enjoy playing this game, but I can still see room for improvement and act upon it.
However, I have absolutely no aspirations to be great at this game. Maybe something like the 97th percentile or something of the like. And I know I'm not too far from there at the moment.
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You know what's worse? When I get mad at myself even though I win. At first I feel pretty good after the win, but when I reflect on the game I realize I didn't win because I'm good, I won because my opponent was horrible, and if I had played a better player I would have lost.
But I don't take 3v3's seriously at all(a lot of that has to do with how goofy the maps are), and have a bit of fun with them, though after a while I get bored with them.
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I don't really enjoy playing ladder that much either mostly because people are rude and I prefer more of a casual community setting. Try playing some custom games and looking for some friendly people on TL to play with.
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Name stealer!...
Nah, but I just play the game for fun and when I did play competitively, I just always told myself to relax before I went on a rage. If I fucked up in something, I would always just make sure I never made that mistake again.
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That's why I almost never ladder. In BW it was so fun, when after game you could ask for re, or even play BO3 or smt. Now it doesn't work anymore (and no.. playing a custom game against a previous ladder opponent isn't the same thing, cos it isn't ladder)
For me it feels like laddering is only for winning, nothing else matters (of course). Not for having fun. And cos i don't have time to play anymore, I don't play ladder.
So shame SC2 doesn't have the same social atmosphere SCBW did (no chat channels), it would be so much more fun (don't get it wrong, i'm not saying SC2 is in any ways worse game than BW, i don't wan't to compare).
So: No ladder -> No rage 
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Find a friendly competitive clan. It's amazing how much better and fun Starcraft becomes once you're integrated with a tight knit small community.
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I am in the similar situation as you my friend. Forgetting the days of when laddering and Starcraft in general was fun and not all about winning. I however, do not regret developing such a competitive nature as it has brought me the skills and social status amongst my SC2 peers that my old causal self would never be able to achieve. Losing is inevitable and being mildly to overly upset/raging over these instances is psychologically unhealthy. I am also trying to find the balance between being competitive, having fun and taking it easy when losing due to stupid mistakes.
My only advice is to play the things that you enjoy. I occasionally enjoy playing League of Legends because I like playing casually as a team and it's good to take a break from the competitive scene of Diamond laddering from time to time.
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On November 16 2010 11:37 raynpelikoneet wrote:That's why I almost never ladder. In BW it was so fun, when after game you could ask for re, or even play BO3 or smt. Now it doesn't work anymore (and no.. playing a custom game against a previous ladder opponent isn't the same thing, cos it isn't ladder) For me it feels like laddering is only for winning, nothing else matters (of course). Not for having fun. And cos i don't have time to play anymore, I don't play ladder. So shame SC2 doesn't have the same social atmosphere SCBW did (no chat channels), it would be so much more fun (don't get it wrong, i'm not saying SC2 is in any ways worse game than BW, i don't wan't to compare). So: No ladder -> No rage
Agreed.
Ladder now feels like somewhere you go to test your skills and win at all costs. I prefer custom games so much more for having fun and practicing :/
Got to my ladder point goal, stopped playing ladder games, never felt better.
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On November 16 2010 11:13 happyness wrote:
You know what's worse? When I get mad at myself even though I win. At first I feel pretty good after the win, but when I reflect on the game I realize I didn't win because I'm good, I won because my opponent was horrible, and if I had played a better player I would have lost.
But I don't take 3v3's seriously at all(a lot of that has to do with how goofy the maps are), and have a bit of fun with them, though after a while I get bored with them.
Oh gawd yes
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i have had this exact problem im only at 1100 diamond and now my win ratio is evening out at 50%. i was used to dominating in lower leagues and 2v2 . i just find that i put to much weight on winning, i always would tell myself im just trying to get better and that sounds great when your winning, but when i loose 3 straight im raging so hard i cant even focus
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I took some of the advice and tried a much more casual approach to the game today. I played some custom games and 4vs4 random. It did make for a much more relaxed experience, but I also missed the thrill of normal laddering.
Kinda weird to say that, because that thrill is just what ruins my fun in the first place.
I guess I'll actually have to consciously practice having fun in SC2.
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EPT
