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Hello, Teamliquid! This is my first blog entry of what I hope will be many. Please bear with me when reading this, I'm not too experienced with blog writing yet.
So, to kick things off, a little about me. I'm a diamond level Zerg, though I'm having huge anxiety about playing on the ladder. My season ratings have been going up every season, with a Gold league in Season1, Plat in Season2, and now Diamond in Season3. Now, ideally I would be overjoyed that I've finally goteen into diamond league, but it isn't really the case. I'm deathly afraid to play 1v1 ladder now, because I think that I'll just be completely destroyed by some Diamond or Masters pro. Don't get me wrong, I think I'm a fairly decent player, but the intimidation factor of the ladder is huge to me.
I'm also not sure whether or not I should switch races. I started playing Starcraft 2 on the first day of retail release, as my friend persuaded me to get back into Starcraft. From then until now, I've been a Zerg player through and through, but now I'm having my doubts of the swarm. The zerg are seeming kind of stale to me now, and to compensate for it, I've been playing Random in team ladder games with my friends. I'll admit, I'm having a lot more fun with Protoss in team games than I do with Zerg in ladder games, but is that just because 1v1 games are much more 'serious' than team games?
So, I guess what I'm trying to get at here is: How do I overcome my ladder anxiety, and would it be a good idea for me to switch races and branch out my Starcraft experience?
Any help is appreciated, cheers! ^_^
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If you haven't played a lot of games, then play more games.
If you have played a lot of games, then stop playing. It doesn't make sense to play a game where you're just scared to play.
Race switching will likely result in you getting owned even harder.
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Playing Random in team games is a good way to decide if you want to switch and to be somewhat competent before you do. I had this same problem.
I used to ladder quite a bit before I hit diamond. And then I just stopped laddering cause I was too afraid of getting raped.
However, It didnt take long before I started to miss laddering and I was back on the horse.
I also switched to random on 1v1 ladder from terran in platinum cause I felt like playing terran only was a bit stressful and I could have some fun with awesome strats as zerg or protoss.
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This season, I've been playing a lot of customs and team games, but practically no 1v1 ladders.
And I'm not 'scared' per say, it just seems like it's a little overwhelming.
And I know race switching would result in me losing a lot more games, but it would put a little more fun into laddering it seems.
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Playing Random in team games is a good way to decide if you want to switch and to be somewhat competent before you do. I had this same problem.
I used to ladder quite a bit before I hit diamond. And then I just stopped laddering cause I was too afraid of getting raped.
However, It didnt take long before I started to miss laddering and I was back on the horse.
I also switched to random on 1v1 ladder from terran in platinum cause I felt like playing terran only was a bit stressful and I could have some fun with awesome strats as zerg or protoss.
Yea I think I may start playing as random in 1v1, just so I can make sure whether or not I want to switch
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Yea, I did lose quite a few games when I switched to random cause I had no idea what I was doing with zerg or toss but I didnt resort to cheesing and just kept at it for a bit.
Granted, I still have no idea what I am doing with protoss. =)
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I used to doubt myself a lot when I first started playing in regards to race switching. I would lose a ton of games and instead of watching my mistakes via replay I would just blame the race (Noob lol)
Time is a good friend though and as the game has matured I've just been playing more and more on the ladder. Anxiety is something I initially had a huge issue with, but as I played more games it got a lot better. I also found having a clear plan in my head as the load bar started really helped too. If I went blindly into a game without a plan, I started panicking pretty quickly. Even if my plan went to shit, it still gave me direction and an overall GOAL to at least get my game flowing.
You should try some team games or AI matches like others mentioned if you are keen to check out the other races, but I know it never helped me. Terran in BW and Terran in SC2 has just worked for me. BUT, you have to have fun and enjoy the race you play. 
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I used to doubt myself a lot when I first started playing in regards to race switching. I would lose a ton of games and instead of watching my mistakes via replay I would just blame the race (Noob lol)
Time is a good friend though and as the game has matured I've just been playing more and more on the ladder. Anxiety is something I initially had a huge issue with, but as I played more games it got a lot better. I also found having a clear plan in my head as the load bar started really helped too. If I went blindly into a game without a plan, I started panicking pretty quickly. Even if my plan went to shit, it still gave me direction and an overall GOAL to at least get my game flowing.
You should try some team games or AI matches like others mentioned if you are keen to check out the other races, but I know it never helped me. Terran in BW and Terran in SC2 has just worked for me. BUT, you have to have fun and enjoy the race you play.
Yea, I usually have a general idea of what i want to do in a game before the game starts, but if the enemy does something that screw it up, my whole plan goes to shit, and I start playing poorly. I think I need to make an alternative plan to react accordingly with my enemy's build.
I do still have a problem of over-reacting though, say a protoss decides to put early pressure on me, I'll over-produce hydralisks in order to deal with the air, only to have them killed by the Protoss' transition into Colossi 
Analyzing a replay is something I don't do very often, but I think it would be a great help for me to avoid future screw ups like that ^^
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Maybe you should think about how pathetic it is that you're afraid to ladder on a video game. One of my biggest pet peeves is these kids who are afraid to ladder and post about it. This should be a meme in one of those funny first world problems things. And for starters, how about you look at one of the other million threads created about the same topic. Maybe Starcraft isn't for you, however, you could always message some of the other ladder anxiety kids on TL and you guys could play pattycake.
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A White-Ra quote has been floating around /r/starcraft as of late, and it is absolutely inspirational for anyone who has anxiety of any kind in any part of life.
If you want to make one goal to win, you must lose. You can't win all games. We are people, we make mistake. We are not computer. And if you understand your mistake, you can make analysis of game. And continue play, try and fix it.
More GG, more skill.
From the Star Nation documentary teaser. Absolutely inspiring, and brought a tear to my eye.
Some pretty pretty neat wallpapers with the quote floating around as well.
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Maybe you should think about how pathetic it is that you're afraid to ladder on a video game. One of my biggest pet peeves is these kids who are afraid to ladder and post about it. This should be a meme in one of those funny first world problems things. And for starters, how about you look at one of the other million threads created about the same topic. Maybe Starcraft isn't for you, however, you could always message some of the other ladder anxiety kids on TL and you guys could play pattycake.
I'm not exactly sure as to what prompted you to be mean, but I'm sure you were just trying to help
A White-Ra quote has been floating around /r/starcraft as of late, and it is absolutely inspirational for anyone who has anxiety of any kind in any part of life.
If you want to make one goal to win, you must lose. You can't win all games. We are people, we make mistake. We are not computer. And if you understand your mistake, you can make analysis of game. And continue play, try and fix it.
More GG, more skill.
From the Star Nation documentary teaser. Absolutely inspiring, and brought a tear to my eye.
Some pretty pretty neat wallpapers with the quote floating around as well.
I saw that quote soon after I posted this entry, and man, it's so good. I love White-Ra, he's one of the nicest SC players out there.
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On August 25 2011 08:26 CanadianHero wrote:Show nested quote +I used to doubt myself a lot when I first started playing in regards to race switching. I would lose a ton of games and instead of watching my mistakes via replay I would just blame the race (Noob lol)
Time is a good friend though and as the game has matured I've just been playing more and more on the ladder. Anxiety is something I initially had a huge issue with, but as I played more games it got a lot better. I also found having a clear plan in my head as the load bar started really helped too. If I went blindly into a game without a plan, I started panicking pretty quickly. Even if my plan went to shit, it still gave me direction and an overall GOAL to at least get my game flowing.
You should try some team games or AI matches like others mentioned if you are keen to check out the other races, but I know it never helped me. Terran in BW and Terran in SC2 has just worked for me. BUT, you have to have fun and enjoy the race you play. Yea, I usually have a general idea of what i want to do in a game before the game starts, but if the enemy does something that screw it up, my whole plan goes to shit, and I start playing poorly. I think I need to make an alternative plan to react accordingly with my enemy's build. I do still have a problem of over-reacting though, say a protoss decides to put early pressure on me, I'll over-produce hydralisks in order to deal with the air, only to have them killed by the Protoss' transition into Colossi Analyzing a replay is something I don't do very often, but I think it would be a great help for me to avoid future screw ups like that ^^
Definitely. I know it can be a pain but if you don't identify what it is that went wrong, you will que for your next game as anxious as you were before. You will not be able to adapt and improve either.
If you get just one mental "Oh, I should have done this!" from a replay, your time was not wasted.
Also, someone report that clown above - don't post if you can't offer something constructive. Also Thanks tomahawk for those great wallpapers!
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On August 25 2011 08:40 CanadianHero wrote:Show nested quote +Maybe you should think about how pathetic it is that you're afraid to ladder on a video game. One of my biggest pet peeves is these kids who are afraid to ladder and post about it. This should be a meme in one of those funny first world problems things. And for starters, how about you look at one of the other million threads created about the same topic. Maybe Starcraft isn't for you, however, you could always message some of the other ladder anxiety kids on TL and you guys could play pattycake. I'm not exactly sure as to what prompted you to be mean, but I'm sure you were just trying to help Show nested quote +A White-Ra quote has been floating around /r/starcraft as of late, and it is absolutely inspirational for anyone who has anxiety of any kind in any part of life.
If you want to make one goal to win, you must lose. You can't win all games. We are people, we make mistake. We are not computer. And if you understand your mistake, you can make analysis of game. And continue play, try and fix it.
More GG, more skill.
From the Star Nation documentary teaser. Absolutely inspiring, and brought a tear to my eye.
Some pretty pretty neat wallpapers with the quote floating around as well. I saw that quote soon after I posted this entry, and man, it's so good. I love White-Ra, he's one of the nicest SC players out there.
What prompted me to be mean was just hoping you realize how silly it is to be afraid to ladder. I promise you if you make yourself ladder 10 games three times a week you'll enjoy yourself. I think to some extent everyone is afraid to begin laddering, I know when i first started SC I felt a bit nervous. That didn't stop me from playing a ton of games though. Make yourself ladder, realize its a game, and enjoy yourself. Good luck.
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You don't get destroyed by 'better players'. You get destroyed by builds that you don't know how or can't counter consistently (as in, you see it and you're like lol I'm going to eat this build alive while drinking a soda with your left hand), or tactics/grand strategy that just gets mistimed against you - hence the prominence of cheese, sudden massing etc etc. Mechanics are one thing but in the end just know that the more you play, the more types of play you can find - and it's just about seeing that play, building a counter against it, repeat until you've got pretty much every variation down. Then you roll. Once you've got knowledge of that and can pull off the winning strategy consistently, you ARE the 'better' player, no matter what the statistics are. So laddering is simply a way to gather what the opponent can throw at you.
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You don't get destroyed by 'better players'. You get destroyed by builds that you don't know how or can't counter consistently (as in, you see it and you're like lol I'm going to eat this build alive while drinking a soda with your left hand), or tactics/grand strategy that just gets mistimed against you - hence the prominence of cheese, sudden massing etc etc. Mechanics are one thing but in the end just know that the more you play, the more types of play you can find - and it's just about seeing that play, building a counter against it, repeat until you've got pretty much every variation down. Then you roll. Once you've got knowledge of that and can pull off the winning strategy consistently, you ARE the 'better' player, no matter what the statistics are. So laddering is simply a way to gather what the opponent can throw at you.
Thanks!
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I've been setting a goal of 5 games a day to get back into SCII. I did the same thing, got to diamond as zerg, dropped to plat, got back to diamond and then feared playing anymore and getting a demotion. Just set easy goals at first and eventually work up to playing more.
Also, having a good mindset when going into a game helps. For example:
My first day back laddering went something like this:
PvZ Win - 6 gate, said gl hf man, played bad and had a ton of mistakes I looked at after the game.
PvZ Loss - 6 pool into roaches that I didn't hold well at all, I gg'd and knew I should of got my cyber core out earlier to be able to get a sentry at my ramp.
PvZ Loss - Rematch with the same guy from last game, was still a bit tilted that I lost to the 6 pool, so I decided to 4 gate, but he had too many spines and units up by the time I got there. GG
PvZ Loss - Went for forge expand on Shakuras but left 1 space open and he got a ton of lings in my base, I microed my probes around for a couple minutes and decided it was unwinnable and that I Should just learn to wall better. GG.
PvZ - Win - Last game of the day, I decided to do a 3 gate sentry pressure into expand, he only made drones and I won.
What you should do is always gg and even if you don't, you have to keep a positive mindset. Figure out what you did wrong or right, find those little places in your game that you could refine more. Look back at the replay and see how often you forgot to make probes or SCVs. If you can keep the bad thoughts like "I suck" and look at the game external to your own real abilities then you will get better and have a happier time playing.
Main points:
1. Set low attainable goals. (build up to bigger goals) If you are in bronze don't say I'm going to make it to masters league by the end of Season 3. Something like 2-5 games a day, only do more if you feel like you want to continue playing.
2. Keep a positive mind-set. This was actually my biggest problem, I'd throw shit across my room and throw a fit about my mistakes. You just have to stay positive, and LEARN from mistakes instead of worrying about losing. More GG, more Skill. -WhiteRa
3. Gather inspiration from players and emulate their playstyle, this can keep strategies new and fun.
Keep your head up and have fun, this is a GAME and you should play it because you are having FUN and are PASSIONATE about playing/getting better.
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