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I stopped playing SC2 a while back... Probably about 5-6 months ago. Haven't touched the game since.
I still follow the SC2 competitive scene closely despite this, but have not kept in touch with the actual game itself (current metagame, balance tweaks, maps). I mainly just browse TL and reddit to catch up on results of various tournaments and to follow any ESPORT drama development. I haven't been watching any SC2 though. It's mostly just reading.
If you're wondering why I stopped playing... Well, I'm not 100% sure myself. I guess it was a mix of not having enough friends who'd practice with me (most of my friends quit very early) and getting severely frustrated on the ladder. I was on a pretty bad losing streak (after a bunch of similarly bad losing streaks) and every time I played it felt like I was only frustrating myself, instead of having any kind of fun. I had a bad case of ladder anxiety, but I forced myself to play and would be mentally exhausted after a few games.
It made me wonder whether I was truly enjoying the game or not... Since, well, you know... I had to force myself to actually play the damn game. And yeah, I'm still not sure if I actually like playing Starcraft 2 or not.
Prior to leaving SC2, I did invest a good amount of time in reading guides/articles, watching streams/replays, and playing the game. I probably read and watched a lot more compared to actually playing (like I said, ladder anxiety >_>) but I still laddered quite a bit (I probably had about ~200+ games under my belt... I think). Hopefully that tells you a little bit about my "level of commitment" before I left. I got into the platinum league fairly quickly as Protoss via 4-gate, then switched to Zerg and remained in platinum.
So I just finished my final exam paper of the year yesterday, and today I realized... That I am bored out of my fucking skull. My PC is pretty crappy (it's a wonder it can still run SC2) so I can't play any of the cool new fancy games. The only game I regularly play now is probably SSF4:AE for the PC, but I feel like I need an alternative as well since over-playing it can get boring. Then, today, one of my friends (one of the very few who still play SC2... probably the only one actually) tells me to play SC2 again.
On one hand, I quit SC2 probably because I felt like I didn't enjoy it. It felt lonely not having any friends to try new builds or just practice against, and laddering was rage-inducing and I can't really see how getting angry after every ladder game could've been "fun" for me at all.
On the other hand... I did kind of enjoy SC2 I guess. Apart from laddering which made me feel like the worst player in the world and would frustrate me beyond belief, I actually enjoyed every other aspect of it. I spent a lot of time in YABOT maps refining basic builds I memorized from TL and trying to macro well, I spent a lot of time watching pro-level replays (I FUCKING LOVE WATCHING REPLAYS... IN ANY GAME), spent a good time watching streams and just learning about the game. When it comes to playing games, I'm not a talented player by any means, but I enjoy being competitive and learning about the game.
... So yeah. I'm at a crossroads here.
TL;DR:
I'm pretty fucking bored and have nothing to play, and one of my friends tells me to start playing SC2 again. I quit because most of my friends quit and laddering only stressed me out. But at the same time I enjoyed doing stuff in SC2 that wasn't ladder.
An easy solution would just be to not ladder. But that just doesn't cut it for me. I want to be good at the game and I want to improve (i.e. climb up the ladder), but playing the game itself is often more stressful than it is fun.
So, TL... Should I give SC2 a second chance? Is playing the game not fun for me only because I get very frustrated on the ladder, or is it genuinely because I don't like the game itself? Perhaps you guys may know better (via experience or whatnot) but I guess it's ultimately up to me to find out. If I choose to give it a second chance, it means trying to overcome both ladder anxiety and frustration to finally be able to actually (maybe) enjoy the game, regardless of win or loss. Thing is, that's what I've been trying to do prior to quitting, and it never really worked out. Could it possibly work out this time!? I invested a LOT of time in SC2 before, only to end up quitting... And I don't want to give it my all a second time, only to end up quitting again!!!! But I'm bored!!! And it might be different this time!???!!? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHH I DONT KNOW ANYMORE!!!!
I'm sorry. I just...All I really need are some responses from you guys as to what you think I should do. Any kind of advice or personal experiences will be appreciated.
Thank you.
 
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Seeker
Where dat snitch at?36900 Posts
I understand what you're saying man.
I was this freaking addict at SC2 when I first got it.
Then, after losing some harsh games on ladder, I just kind of dropped it for 2 months.
However, I found friends in college who play SC2
And now, I am back to being an addict for SC2.
I think it was mainly because I took a break, and grew to miss SC2
I guarantee that if you went back right now and played a couple of games, it would spark your love for SC2 again.
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To be honest it sounds like you're definitely a fan but maybe not a player..
If you have fun watching the game why can't you just be a spectator? There are other things to do to consume your time.
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Well man, I think caring about ladder = frustation.
80% of players will always be in the "lower ranks". And even "low diamond" is considered noob by SC2 nazis. In the other hand, the only way to be platinum or higher is if you actually put some effort into climbing the ladder, as you did! So, IMHO, its like we have 40% players who are trying hard to rank up but never will. Because they´re competing with each other you see... and there is no room for these 40% in diamond/master!
Why don´t you accept loss? Not in a White-Ra fashion. Not to eventually get better. But you know. Accept loss, accept being platinum or even gold forever. So you can try out new strategies, switch races at will... just have a lot of fun, but in ladder.
Im Bronze but i´m here if you want company  . I am myself looking for people who just enjoy playing..
Oh man, and read this blog. So fucking awesome! Makes you laugh and is like therapy agains ladder anxiety.
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Go pick up BW. No but seriously, if you didn't enjoy SC2 back then and quit, I really doubt you'll find much enjoyment out of it now if you were to get back into it. Speaking from personal experience, I stopped playing SC2 quite a while back and every time I play a a few games, I just get back to realising why I stopped in the first place. Still follow the scene though. Well.. still follow NaDa 
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On November 08 2011 20:55 Existential wrote:Go pick up BW. No but seriously, if you didn't enjoy SC2 back then and quit, I really doubt you'll find much enjoyment out of it now if you were to get back into it. Speaking from personal experience, I stopped playing SC2 quite a while back and every time I play a a few games, I just get back to realising why I stopped in the first place. Still follow the scene though. Well.. still follow NaDa
I'm the opposite I'm done with BW for good. I use to think SC2 was inferior to BW in every way, but now I truly enjoy what SC2 has to offer. I love the tournaments, the pro community, the drama, the weekly news updates, and etc.
I feel like the SC2 ladder system is a hell of a lot better than things like Iccup. It's so much more forgiving to the casual player because they don't have to worry about getting steamrolled 20 games in a row due to MMR. Where as if you want to play competitively you can rapidly move up the ladder ranks and face tough players similar to your skillsets.
Yeah there's no LAN, but I think SC2 is only going to get bigger and better.
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Sometimes I don't understand why I play this game either. Except I've only played about 50 games total...because of my fear, and its still there, this uncomfortable feeling that I don't really want to hit the find match button. And then when I play...often the games are really close, or I end up playing against someone who's just better, while I feel like I've reached my limit for APM, and trying to get better is just going to make things even more intense and scary in the future due to the pressure of playing better players.
I think next season I'll just stop, and move on to games that are actually enjoyable. I think there's a lot of "this is the future of esports" hype, with many people equating this to esports, that can make people feel like its going to be the next big thing and that being good at the game means something. All I see is each season the number of players dropping across the board.
I think you should ask yourself, should it take more than 200 games for me to enjoy playing this? Is beating others and playing in a popular game the definition of fun, or is it just some sort of pride at being good at a challenging game? Why play a game that just stresses you out, causes anxiety, makes some people angry enough to break things...thats no kind of game at all.
I'm in the same boat...I think I'll continue to watch the pro-gamers, in the major tourneys...but me playing personally, its just not worth all the stress and anxiety. I'd rather have *fun*
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I had a similar situation. I moved to a different time zone (different server area actually) and was no longer able to play with most of my friends (they've also since gone over to LoL). I had some ladder fear at that time and didn't really know what to do to keep sc2 "fun". The solution (same as the solution to ladder fear) was to stop taking ladder seriously. The ladder is simply a way to easily and quickly play against similarly skilled players. Sure there is some debate about "ladder cheesers = same skill" but you have to get over that and realize that cheese (however you define it - apparently some think that simply playing race X is cheese...). Once you simply start laddering to play it can become fun. Now, I still have ladder fear from time to time and I'd rather play when I have bonus pool because part of me cares about how many wins it took to get those points... (As I write this I want to forget all that and just play... damn you school!)
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Find another hobby if you're not sure about SC2
Maybe one that has more intellectual and/or physical benefits than SC
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EPT
