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Advice for a Casual Player - Goals Etc.

Blogs > CooDu
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CooDu
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
Australia899 Posts
March 01 2011 22:55 GMT
#1
Hi guys,

As mentioned in the title of this topic, in the last couple of years leading up to the release of SC2, my life has turned from studying/being able to dedicate a lot of time to StarCraft to having a new family and a marriage. As such, I'm wanting some frank, honest advice about where to move forward with my beloved game series from here.

A bit about me: I'm 23 years old, currently living in a small town in regional Australia with a partner and now wife of 6 years and a 9 month old baby. I currently work full time as a computer technician having completed my cert IV/diploma in Information Support.

Just a few short years ago I was still living at home playing Brood War for many hours a day and often long into the night. As such, when SC2 was released, I felt pressured to try and achieve the same level and commitment of play as I put into BW. Due to the aforementioned circumstanced I am now on about 3 hours of SC2 a night, with about 7-8+ on weekends.

I'm a gold league player (SEA) currently with about 300 games played. The advice I am after is what sort of goals I should try to achieve as a casual player. I know I will probably never make Master's League, but have this thought at the back of my head every time I play that I want to be that good which I'm not sure is the right mindset.

Ultimately, I just want to hear some thoughts from other people who have had to make the swap from being a huge player to just a casual player. I also try and find time to fit in the GSL vod's that I pay for each season too. Don't have much time to watch anything else except the odd Day9 daily.

Thanks for reading,



Just a simple guy, going wherever this journey takes me.
ieatkids5
Profile Blog Joined September 2004
United States4628 Posts
March 01 2011 23:19 GMT
#2
It's difficult. But maybe you can gradually just change your way of thinking from "gotta practice practice practice and beat everyone with my perfectly executed stats and super macro mechanics!" to "find cool or creative ways to beat people who have better mechanics than i do." Since perfecting execution and honing your mechanics and micro are things you don't really have the time to do any more, i guess focusing your game plan on something else may work.
Zeroes
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States1102 Posts
March 01 2011 23:30 GMT
#3
just have fun with the game not everything is about being the best unless of course you want to beat the hell out of your friends
Check out my SC Lan pics Here: http://picasaweb.google.com/bunk.habit
Chef
Profile Blog Joined August 2005
10810 Posts
March 01 2011 23:47 GMT
#4
If you play that often and that long and are still Gold, maybe you should just accept that you aren't very good at video games haha. (You wanted "honest and frank")

If I were you I'd just enjoy the game for what it is and not worry about getting good at it. Play UMS, play team games, play 1v1s on occasion etc.

If you really want goals.. just make small ones. Like "I want to beat my friend in a 1v1" or whatever.
LEGEND!! LEGEND!!
chocopan
Profile Joined April 2010
Japan986 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-03-02 00:21:52
March 02 2011 00:20 GMT
#5
my 2c

Family is the most important. That doesn't mean you can't work a worthwhile sc2 life around your rl though. Since spamming games dusk to dusk to hit Masters isn't an option, I'd turn to the more general goal of Being a Better Gamer. By which I mean, try not to rate yourself too much by League and Rank, and instead look at what sort of game you -can't- win at your current level, and work on that.

In my case I've realized I could play my current style a fair way further up, but I really want to develop a strong macro style. So I'm losing games all over the place on my smurf NA account. My League is bleargh. But I enjoy it because I know I could win a lot of these games if I was playing any way I wanted - I'm choosing to invest time/lost games in improving partic skills I want to get down.

So yes in summary I'd set yourself really specific skill goals, and do what you can to minimize League/Rank paranoia (eg. NA smurfing if you are SEA.)

Go SEA!

gl
Dance those ultras
krndandaman
Profile Joined August 2009
Mozambique16569 Posts
March 02 2011 00:31 GMT
#6
--- Nuked ---
Dhalphir
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
Australia1305 Posts
March 02 2011 02:47 GMT
#7
Uh, 3 hours every night and 7-8 hours on weekends is far from "casual" and you should probably stop doing that if you have a wife, a full time job, and such a young child.

That said, thats a lot more than I play and I've still managed high Diamond, so maybe you just aren't as good at the game as you thought you were going to be.
Supporting TypeII Gaming - www.typeii.net - TypeReaL, TypePhoeNix, TypeSuN, TypeDBS!!
chocopan
Profile Joined April 2010
Japan986 Posts
March 02 2011 04:32 GMT
#8
My other 2c (makes 4)

These sorts of threads always attract a set number of "maybe you have to just accept you suck at sc" responses. Please filter them out. People respond intending to be helpful but sometimes that sort of thing slips out, don't take it seriously. Just play and enjoy your game and they can play and enjoy theirs.

gl!
Dance those ultras
CooDu
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
Australia899 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-03-02 09:54:21
March 02 2011 08:59 GMT
#9
Thanks for the advice, I expected a bit of backlack from folks but that's fine.
Gives me something to work on now.

Also, 3 hours a night + 4 hours per night on weekends is hardly hardcore, get a grip
Just a simple guy, going wherever this journey takes me.
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