What I've learned is that being frustrated is also very demotivating and increases ladder fear.

My Personal way of dealing with frustration:

+ Show Spoiler +

Whenever I do a mistake I imagine Day[9] commeting on the game and shouting OH NO, makes me giggle everytime

Waxangel

United States33404 Posts

October 27 2011 19:55 GMT

#44

more seriously, I think it's good to adopt the philosophy of losing is learning, while you don't gain anything from winning. To get better, you should always be looking for better people to lose to :o

MasterKush

United Kingdom568 Posts

October 27 2011 23:06 GMT

#45

Thanks a lot for this thread Plexa, your comment (now my favorite quote!) about never being as good as that list of GM players was what really pushed me over the line. It's pretty ridiculous how caught up we can sometimes get about being perceived as "a beast" instead of just enjoying the damn game!

Nazza

Australia1654 Posts

October 27 2011 23:09 GMT

#46

If you are still having troubles with ladder fear:
1) Play the hardest game (BW).
2) Get on the korean server (fish) so you are playing against ppl that actually know the game.
3) Play the hardest matchup (TvP/ZvT).
4) Acknowledge the fact that you are a complete scrub after going 0-50.
5) Convince yourself that SC2 isn't that bad.

Personally it's not the game that freaks me out, it's the 1+ minute wait that happens sometimes.

iSometric

2221 Posts

October 28 2011 00:02 GMT

#47

Just accept losing. I just think that "life is unfair" and "you can't win at everything" and proceed to lose 60% and be ok with it.

Dalguno

United States2446 Posts

October 28 2011 00:37 GMT

#48

Thanks for the thread Plexa.

I agree with it, especially where you say the cure is mass gaming, but getting to the point where you can mass game is half the battle. And I apologize again for cheesing you on ladder a month or so ago

Phenny

Australia1435 Posts

October 28 2011 13:48 GMT

#49

Well I just played 5 placement games in a row and lost 4 but feeling great! I've played more 1v1s today than since the start of the year haha. Time to get some builds organised for each matchup though cos that was just silly.

Well at this stage it looks like this thread has been my miracle cure, thanks a bucketload Plexa <3

Steel

Japan2283 Posts

October 28 2011 14:27 GMT

#50

On October 28 2011 00:29 Inori wrote:

Show nested quote +

It's actually not as bad as one might think.
For example I just returned from 3 months of inactivity (didn't even have sc2 installed). Took me 2 days to remember stuff and now I'm holding even against mid masters people. In fact I feel like I improved for some reason.

Weird. I didn't play for 2 weeks due to midterms, and I feel like shit. I make stupid mistakes I would never make. I feel like I have to mass games to go back to what I was before when I take a break, but this just isn't possible for me right now. I was high masters last season and after losing 10 games I was playing low masters and was evenly matched. feelsbadman. Maybe it's cause I play Zerg and since I mess up my timings I lose to DT and stuff. Pretty annoying anyway.

UltimateHurl

Ireland591 Posts

October 28 2011 15:35 GMT

#51

Great blog, the 'losing as learning' approach is something I think I really need to get into, that 'expanding search' wait is a killer for me, feels like I'm in a booth at GSL or something suddenly

Spikeke

Canada106 Posts

October 28 2011 20:32 GMT

#52

When SC2 first came out, I was anxious to play on ladder. First time jitters I guess. But now I don't care, learned to embrace loses and wins. I can't understand why people are still scared to play. Get over it already, what do you have to lose?

I like to remember this:
1) Remind yourself that this is one of the hardest games online
2) Nobody cares what your rank or win/lose ratio is. (Who are you impressing?)
3) Ladder is the best way to improve your play
4) It's just a game and you're not a pro (making a living off of it) so have fun.
5) Stop procrastinating and just do it, lol

This applies to all games. :D enjoy

Bebop07

United States291 Posts

October 30 2011 19:07 GMT

#53

On October 27 2011 16:53 intrigue wrote:
when i had this, it was all about getting that first game played. after that, your brain kicks into analysis/adrenaline/love of the game mode and dampens your fears. if you find yourself sitting there staring at the button and afraid, it's because of your ego. don't try to rationalize it, it's 100% an ego issue. this is one of the main reasons i find starcraft (yes, even sc2 ROFL) is such an absurdly difficult game - it demands so much of a person that their sense of worth can be inextricably bound to the results they achieve in it.

That last sentence is so true..if I ever lose to someone or feel like I was outsmarted/played stupid and didnt see something coming..i will literally question my own intelligence..like..am I just stupid? Is everyone smarter/better than me? Than if I win it's like..wow..I am one smart mother fucker, I can conquer the world! Such a trippy game..

VWSChe

United States144 Posts

November 25 2011 11:16 GMT

#54

I used to just do it. There are a million things in the world worse than losing a ladder game.

Steveling

Greece10806 Posts

November 25 2011 12:02 GMT

#55

I found all my ladder fears gone after I played some broodwar for some weeks.

Fuhrmaaj

167 Posts

November 25 2011 14:56 GMT

#56

My SC2 gaming group (including myself) has huge ladder anxiety. I'm not sure exactly what the problem is, but sometimes we just can't bring ourselves to press that "Find Match" button. For some reason however, we love team games and we play those all the time. I think the reason might be that one person suggests team games, and nobody wants to look like a coward in front of their friends so we all agree. The thing about ladder anxiety is that you want to ladder, but you just can't bring yourself to do it. If you can bring up the suggestion to your friends, then you should be laddering team games in no time.

I think that if we can coordinate our schedules a little better so that we play more often, it should hopefully desensitize us to the 1v1 fear. I've been wondering if FFAs might be a sort of gateway drug which gets you into 1v1 games because you're alone but the games are less serious. I think the key is that you're not getting paid to play this game, so you shouldn't need to take it so seriously.