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Why do I keep playing this game -_-

Blogs > BobMcJohnson
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BobMcJohnson
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
France2916 Posts
August 31 2011 18:51 GMT
#1
God I'm so bad at this game it's depressing, I don't know... I spend the majority of my free time playing/watching sc2, and 1 year and 1k5 games later I'm still stuck in this stupid platinum division, it fucking depresses me T.T

These last three days, I have a whopping 5-23 record, with an incredible 12% winrate in TvT and TvZ... I'm seriously starting to think that I'm retarded or something. And Terran is supposed to be imba eh.

I managed to get to diamond at the end of S1, but after a 2month break I got demoted, and since then, impossible to recover the "level" I had before. I have no fucking clue how after 1year playing this game I'm still supply blocked every 10 seconds, I'm still at 30scvs after 20mn, I'm still not watching the minimap, I'm still not scouting anything, I'm still banking 1k minerals 15minutes into the game, It seems that my progress up to platinum was pretty quick but since then, zero fucking progression. It seriously annoys me...

The worse thing is, when I watch my replays, i can see the mistakes I make, they are so fucking obvious, but I keep doing them again and again and again... I know what I'm doing wrong but I'm unable to correct those mistakes.

Am I the only one being retarded at this point? When I read TL it seems that everybody just played like 10 games of sc2 while never having touched an RTS before and got instantly to GM. I really start to think that I'm wasting my time and that I'll never be good at this game. T.T

*
Romanes eunt domus
mrafaeldie12
Profile Joined July 2011
Brazil537 Posts
August 31 2011 18:52 GMT
#2
With that kind of attitude you'll never be good at anything.

You need to change your mindset if you wanna improve.
"..it all comes thumbling down thumbling down thumblin down"
pStar
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
996 Posts
August 31 2011 18:54 GMT
#3
Negative Thinking = Negative Gameplay

No point playing the game if you don't enjoy playing it :/
aguy38
Profile Blog Joined May 2011
131 Posts
August 31 2011 19:01 GMT
#4
Isn't there a daily about replay analyzing? If not I know for sure that there is a thread about it. You should look into it and watch your reps and get better. Also, if you are getting frustrated just take a break...
Pieismyign
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
United States176 Posts
August 31 2011 19:02 GMT
#5
maybe a race switch is necessary because your playstyle doesn't fit terran. You may fit zerg or protoss more than terran
how
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
United States538 Posts
August 31 2011 19:04 GMT
#6
I understand how it is. I am in a similar boat, I have been playing since beta and I am in plat. That being said though, you might want to consider a race switch. I was a terran player and switched to zerg about a month ago. I am bad a zerg, but I like it a lot. It is a little painful though, I am afraid I will be dropped into gold, but such is life.

Also, you wonder why you keep playing? It is because you must love the game! You do not have to be good, or even have the ability to be good, to enjoy the game ^_^.

If you do really want to improve though, I would say find a practice partner or even pay for coaching, but if there is someone telling you your mistakes WHILE you play instead of looking back retrospectively, your hands and mind will get more used to doing it during the game, instead of getting that "I must be retarded" feeling.

If you ever want/need a practice partner, hit me up!

glhf ♥
http://twitter.com/howsc
masterbreti
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
Korea (South)2711 Posts
August 31 2011 19:06 GMT
#7
OP I have a similar issue.

Though at this point i've stopped laddering altogether. I keep playing practice games and I can take a different look at the replay without having the ladder pressure on me. Heck I've done decently playing games against top players.

Though there are those matches that I can see all my mistakes and get angry with myself cause I should have saw it coming.

I think laddering espically for people like us who want to be better can be rather harmful as everytime we lose we see our rank go down and it hurts. Easy to lose in masters where no matter what your considered a good payer than in plat where the general idea is that plat is for noobs.

Just take things day by day and eventually things will change.
Demonace34
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
United States2493 Posts
August 31 2011 19:09 GMT
#8
I think you should do what Day [9] suggested and re-prioritize your to-do list in-game instead of caring about winning or losing. For example, do a game where you make sure that you are always making your scvs on time and you aren't getting supply blocked, don't even make an army if you don't want and then just GG out after you get beat. Another day, if you want to work on unit control, then only micro your units through the entire battle. Focusing on one part of you gameplay is paramount to you getting better. Mass gaming doesn't always work.
NaNiwa|IdrA|HuK|iNcontroL|Jinro|NonY|Day[9]|PuMa|HerO|MMA|NesTea|NaDa|Boxer|Ryung|
Count9
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
China10928 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-08-31 19:10:15
August 31 2011 19:09 GMT
#9
Try taking a break, gives you new perspective. Play some 4v4s, FFAs, just give 1v1 ladder a break.
N3rV[Green]
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
United States1935 Posts
August 31 2011 19:34 GMT
#10
You are playing the second hardest game on Earth, second only to the mighty BW.

Seriously the game IS hard. Stop being so hard on YOURSELF.

Have fun and stop thinking about shit so much when you play. Thinking is for after and before, not during. During you should be running mostly on instinct and memory carrying out the plan you decided on before the game even started.
Never fear the darkness, Bran. The strongest trees are rooted in the dark places of the earth. Darkness will be your cloak, your shield, your mother's milk. Darkness will make you strong.
IceCube
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
Croatia1403 Posts
August 31 2011 19:40 GMT
#11
I agree with most post made here; find something you enjoy in starcraft and/or other stuff in life and do it with positive feeling about it and it should reward you. Worst thing you can go about something is beat yourself with it if your not just feeling good about it.
Forever Vulture.. :(
BobMcJohnson
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
France2916 Posts
August 31 2011 20:21 GMT
#12
Of course i love the game, otherwise I wouldn't spend most of my time on it, I guess I just have to suck it up and keep practicing and one day eventually I'll finally improve, but yeah, it just annoys me to see people who never touched a rts before, in master league with 10% of the games i played...

I'm not sure switching race would help, I like the Terran units look and feel the most, and my problems are not really Terran specific. Switching to Zerg won't prevent me from getting supply blocked all the time.

As said above, I watch my replays, it's not really hard to analyse them since my mistakes are kinda obvious ("oh look you have half the worker count of the other guy").

Actually, I wrote the OP while i was raging after a loss streak, and now that I calmed down, I'm starting to realize that it comes down to problems that I have IRL as well. Lack of confidence, and keep forgetting stuff all the time. Not really sure how to fix that though...
Romanes eunt domus
-_-
Profile Blog Joined November 2003
United States7081 Posts
August 31 2011 20:22 GMT
#13
Thanks for asking, but you need to answer this question yourself.
Demonace34
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
United States2493 Posts
August 31 2011 20:30 GMT
#14
On September 01 2011 05:22 -_- wrote:
Thanks for asking, but you need to answer this question yourself.


This is golden, but honestly how do people even address you? Do you go by an actual name, or are you just a face?
NaNiwa|IdrA|HuK|iNcontroL|Jinro|NonY|Day[9]|PuMa|HerO|MMA|NesTea|NaDa|Boxer|Ryung|
PenguinWithNuke
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
250 Posts
August 31 2011 20:37 GMT
#15
OP you should probably play zerg. I think that it'd fit you better than terran does. Even though terran is supposedly "easy", I find it impossible to play. Protoss is a little better for me, but I love zerg.

Anyways, if you're getting discouraged, I suggest playing some team games with a good friend. OFFRACE. Do crazy shit. If you insist on playing terran, nuke everything you can see. As protoss, it's a good feeling to warp in 50 zealots at once. Zerg is hilarious when you mass queens or banelings.

You'll be having fun, and that's the most important thing.
Shockk
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Germany2269 Posts
August 31 2011 20:45 GMT
#16
Stop laddering.

Why do I say that? Because I was in a similar situation, albeit "stuck" in Diamond since S1. I felt some weird sense of obligation towards the game, I desperately wanted to improve and win yet rarely ever wanted to play.

I tried several approaches - playing random, playing team games, taking prolonged breaks from the game hoping to return with renewed motivation, but nothing worked. Then I realized that I simply no longer enjoy laddering for a variety of reasons (see my signature for one of them), and stopped playing.

The last game of SC2 I played was a single placement match when S3 started, which I intentionally lost by destroying my CC with my starting SCVs, and I haven't touched the ladder since. This has increased the fun I have when watching streams and tournaments by a lot, and I don't miss laddering at all.
Vlare
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
748 Posts
August 31 2011 20:56 GMT
#17
It sounds like your practice regime is all wrong. In order to improve, you have to practice a certain way. You can't just mass games freestyling and assume you will the next flash.
Mass zerglings doesnt fail
DoctorHelvetica
Profile Blog Joined July 2008
United States15034 Posts
August 31 2011 21:13 GMT
#18
You might just be experiencing a lack of focus. Take a more active approach to gameplay and practice. In BW I would often get in this zombie mode where I wouldn't really be all there when playing, just kinda going through the motions of it, and I'd get supply blocked a lot or let my minerals rocket up to 1800-2300 maybe even more and it was only when I was actively participating in the game (checking my supply, looking at the minimap, thinking and asking myself questions sometimes outloud about what my opponent is doing) did all of that improve greatly.

It's like reading when you go through a sentence four times and never process it. You need to sharpen your focus and really take in every detail. Don't ever let a single moment of monotony occur.
RIP Aaliyah
TiTanIum_
Profile Joined August 2011
Brazil1335 Posts
August 31 2011 21:17 GMT
#19
I am having the exact same issue. Been in platinum for what feels like ever now. Was promoted to diamond in the end of S1 as weel, and have been having a gigantic losing streak. Just analyse your game, try to see your mistakes, be it strategical or mechanical (micro - macro), and practice just that.
I have played BW for 12 years, though I have stopped playing it in the last 2 or 3, but never stopped watching or learning about it, and I know how you feel. The games ARE hard, and most importantly, they ARE different. Do not worry about people with no prior RTS experience being better than you.
Just have fun and try to make the most efficiente practice. If you die to banelings, go to a unit tester and practice 1 hour of marine splitting. If you can´t macro while in battle play against the AI, or a practice partner (just push trough the middle while macroing for 1 hour, don´t kill the AI). Create certain restrictions on your play. Funday mondays used to be a lot less about fun, but more about constraints in your play and what you could learn with them (i.e. no queens, expand every 5 minutes, etc).
There are always a lot you can improve and if you are in a bad mentality for learning you will not learn. Just chill a bit, drink a cup of water, breath in and out and think about it.
BobMcJohnson
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
France2916 Posts
August 31 2011 21:28 GMT
#20
On September 01 2011 06:13 DoctorHelvetica wrote:
You might just be experiencing a lack of focus. Take a more active approach to gameplay and practice. In BW I would often get in this zombie mode where I wouldn't really be all there when playing, just kinda going through the motions of it, and I'd get supply blocked a lot or let my minerals rocket up to 1800-2300 maybe even more and it was only when I was actively participating in the game (checking my supply, looking at the minimap, thinking and asking myself questions sometimes outloud about what my opponent is doing) did all of that improve greatly.

It's like reading when you go through a sentence four times and never process it. You need to sharpen your focus and really take in every detail. Don't ever let a single moment of monotony occur.


Actually, this is really accurate, This zombie mode you talk about is the kind of thing that happens a lot during my games. Thanks for the insight, I'll try your tips tomorrow
Romanes eunt domus
Demonace34
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
United States2493 Posts
September 01 2011 05:29 GMT
#21
On September 01 2011 06:13 DoctorHelvetica wrote:
You might just be experiencing a lack of focus. Take a more active approach to gameplay and practice. In BW I would often get in this zombie mode where I wouldn't really be all there when playing, just kinda going through the motions of it, and I'd get supply blocked a lot or let my minerals rocket up to 1800-2300 maybe even more and it was only when I was actively participating in the game (checking my supply, looking at the minimap, thinking and asking myself questions sometimes outloud about what my opponent is doing) did all of that improve greatly.

It's like reading when you go through a sentence four times and never process it. You need to sharpen your focus and really take in every detail. Don't ever let a single moment of monotony occur.


This is actually so true it hurts. I would get that frustrating feeling after floating minerals and getting supply blocked that I started realizing that I went into zombie mode and never looked at the top right for most of the game. Another bad habit I have is to be so focused on creating one unit (stalker in PvZ) that I will only make that unit and stop expanding because I'm OCD about keeping my warpgates always on refresh.

Thanks for reminding me of what happens whenever you get so used to the game that you stop actually going through all the motions.
NaNiwa|IdrA|HuK|iNcontroL|Jinro|NonY|Day[9]|PuMa|HerO|MMA|NesTea|NaDa|Boxer|Ryung|
Xyik
Profile Blog Joined November 2009
Canada728 Posts
September 01 2011 14:01 GMT
#22
you fool. You've played so much you've engrained terrible habits into yourself. Take an active approach to always be on the look out for improving your play, not just playing. What did you do well that game? What did you not do well? Look at games you've won as well as the games you've lost. Mentally make a check-list of things to do and avoid and go over it every game. Decrease the size of the map-pool to make it easier for yourself to promote good habits without worrying about extra maps.
Malyce
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
Switzerland112 Posts
September 01 2011 14:06 GMT
#23

Perhaps just focus on one thing at a time?

Like "this game I'm gonna make SCVs and depots non-stop". Play a custom game against a scrub and focus on just that. Don't care about minerals, unit prod, hell not even about expos.

Then do that 10 times.

Then the same for your build order and unit production. Then same for expo. Don't try to focus on everything at once, or else it becomes overwhelming.
Salivanth
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
Australia1071 Posts
September 08 2011 23:56 GMT
#24
Yeah, I definitely agree with Malyce here. And SC2 is very hard: Even by staying in Plat, you're better than most players out there. Also don't worry about the people who just seem to coast into Masters on natural ability, I spent 300 games in Bronze, 200 in Silver, and now 200 in Gold, and I've yet to reach Plat, but I know I'll get there, it'll just take longer. Focus on what you can control, which is your ability to improve. If your macro is that bad, load up a build order tester and hammer out your build again and again, or check out this post:

http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=246676

Good luck mate, hopefully you start progressing soon.
<@Wikt> so you are one of those nega-fans <@Wikt> that hates the company that makes a game and everything they stand for <@Wikt> but still plays the game <@Wikt> (like roughly 30% of blizzard's player base, maybe much more...)
Kid-Fox
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Canada400 Posts
September 09 2011 01:18 GMT
#25
Sometimes when my macro starts slipping in diamond I think "forget scouting, micro, minimap awareness.... it's macro time". I'll legit allow banelings to kill every marine I have and still win because I spend every mineral I earn.
If it's something else that's putting you in a slump, I don't really recommend taking a break because you'll be worse off than before, but if it's an attitude problem then by all means stop laddering for a few weeks.
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