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Russian Federation18 Posts
Hi again fellow gamers!
This time I would like to talk to you about motivation and motivation for gaming in particular.
Where do you get yours? How are you keeping that passion to ladder after losing several games in a row? I also feel like mentioning ladder anxiety and a useful nifty article on liquipedia about it.
As for me, I try to think positive after losing and find my mistakes in replays rather than saying "screw it" and leaving starcraft 2 for several days. Of course, quite often it feels really difficult to stay calm and ignore the sadness which overflows me every time I go on a losing streak. People recommend to remind oneself that it is just a game and it should not affect you that much, but I have problems with treating sc2 just like another time killer. It can be just an overreaction, but nontheless it's still an enemy on my way to become a better player.
So here's how I've been dealing with it lately:
1)After losing, watch my replay
It gives me something to do plus it is starcraft related and whie you may be upset when watching it you still can learn some important stuff which would help later on.
2)If it's a rolling losing streak, stop playing for 10-15 minutes, take a break or go play something "casual" where you can just relax and forget all the bad feelings.
I find it worth noting that one shouldn't take a really long brake because many people (if not all of them) need a few minutes to warm up before playing and if you come back several hours later and start playing again you may lose just because of own clumsiness with the keyboard. And by "losing streak" here I mean something along the lines of 3-5 games in a row where each game you feel more and more depressed and/or angry.
3)If I get ladder anxiety (hands shaking, heart beating fast, can't think clearly) I try to mentally calm myself like described in liquipedia article. That or drink some tea, wash hands with warm water and face with cold water. Or even get drunk a little bit. Now here I should say: I do not drink much because I dislike the taste of most alcoholic beverages but if it's just a little dose which will make your calmer and gives comforting warmth in your belly it's all good by my standards. Be aware though, it can damage you concetration, however if you are (like me) a really nervous person in real life and can get upset easily you should try this method for yourself and see how it goes.
4)Since my so-called advice here been mostly extracted from that article I should add something from myself. One cool thing I do to relax and get together from losing is look out of the window and pet my cat. Since many of you may not have a cat (or windows, for that matter) I suggest getting something small in your hands and playing with it for a while. Like a soft ball or maybe some kind of a toy you like. It keeps your hands busy and helps stimulate fine motor skill.
Now, let us be cool and play our games with clear mind and high spirits!
P.S. I will be streaming here in 15 minutes, so if you feel like watching some bronze league games come say hi. 
P.P.S. I know nobody is actually watching, but the stream will be resumed in an hour due to techincal difficulties.
UPD2: Steam is offline, going to get some rest, thanks to everyone who tuned in and watched me playing it really helped a lot and motivated me to play more! I am on a 10-something winning streak, all thanks to you guys! Especially Uncman and Robozaa who hanged out in chat and gave useful tips and advice. (Dat mothership rush, lol!). Will stream some more tomorrow, tune in guys, we have some relaxing music and a nobbie struggling to get into silver. :D
  
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For motivation, I usually pick something to work on and go for it. When I was starting out I told myself I'd get to silver within a month. Then I kept working my way up the leagues. Now that that's no longer an option, I set goals with builds. I practice a build and say that I'm going to keep working on this build until I can figure out how to survive the early game and learn what I shouuld adjust. Also when I lose I really want to keep playing because I now know something I need to adjust or I'm disappointed in myself for executing poorly[.
I never got the whole ladder aniety thing. If you lose it's because you didn't know how to adjust something in your build or you didn't play well enough mechanically. Those were always big motivations for me to play more. If you're worried about people smack talking you or w/e, just f11 and block communication for the game. Besides getting BM'd really bad, I never worried about playing ladder myself.
Gl.
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On January 06 2012 03:47 Alehan wrote:Hi again fellow gamers! This time I would like to talk to you about motivation and motivation for gaming in particular. Where do you get yours? How are you keeping that passion to ladder after losing several games in a row? I also feel like mentioning ladder anxiety and a useful nifty article on liquipedia about it. 3)If I get ladder anxiety (hands shaking, heart beating fast, can't think clearly) I try to mentally calm myself like described in liquipedia article. That or drink some tea, wash hands with warm water and face with cold water. Or even get drunk a little bit. Now here I should say: I do not drink much because I dislike the taste of most alcoholic beverages but if it's just a little dose which will make your calmer and gives comforting warmth in your belly it's all good by my standards. Be aware though, it can damage you concetration, however if you are (like me) a really nervous person in real life and can get upset easily you should try this method for yourself and see how it goes.
I need an event to prepare builds for in order to even touch SC2 for more than 5 games at a time. Daily/Weekly online tournaments are like "meh" because they are so common that they don't even have the competitive feeling in them. Then again the first LAN tournament I was in was like the best moment in my life. I was so excited I fucked up my stuff completely because I couldn't focus. I immediately felt that LAN events are what SC2 is for. SO good. What would really get me back to the game would be a lower level NASL type of league or even better, a league similar to TF2 etf2l league which has skill based divisions.
For me ladder anxiety, or anxiety in general, the only way to really kill it is experience. Not blind experience, which means just playing, but thinking and playing. If you panic, force yourself to think what the fuck you need to do and do that until you don't panic anymore. In TF2(because hell, I have played over a 1000 games in SC2 so I don't really experience anxiety on ladder anymore), playing Sniper in 1v1 is way different than playing Sniper in 6v6/9v9/12v12. 1v1 is way harder but there is really no way for me to panic in 1v1 because there is one target. In 6v6 I kind of know who to kill whenever I take the class, but in 9v9 and 12v12 there are just so many dudes to shoot at that I panic just from seeing so many dudes and miss way too many shots. I don't know who to shoot and I kind of try to shoot everybody at once and start missing a lot.
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Russian Federation18 Posts
That's a quite nice method, thanks Arisen, I'll try to do that.
As for laddering i suppose it just depends on one's personal character, I am a very nervous person so that's why I have some problems with it.
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I left you a message in your stream chat
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I was anxious before I started to have a feel for the game and could tell if I'm behind or ahead of the opponent. When I began playing I would just sit in my base afraid to even scout and just waiting for the enemy to come and then gg. We're often afraid of the unknown. I still lose a lot (most of the time, lol [BW]) but I don't mind anymore if I know why and how to avoid it next time.
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Russian Federation18 Posts
On January 06 2012 05:12 Airact wrote:Show nested quote +On January 06 2012 03:47 Alehan wrote:Hi again fellow gamers! This time I would like to talk to you about motivation and motivation for gaming in particular. Where do you get yours? How are you keeping that passion to ladder after losing several games in a row? I also feel like mentioning ladder anxiety and a useful nifty article on liquipedia about it. 3)If I get ladder anxiety (hands shaking, heart beating fast, can't think clearly) I try to mentally calm myself like described in liquipedia article. That or drink some tea, wash hands with warm water and face with cold water. Or even get drunk a little bit. Now here I should say: I do not drink much because I dislike the taste of most alcoholic beverages but if it's just a little dose which will make your calmer and gives comforting warmth in your belly it's all good by my standards. Be aware though, it can damage you concetration, however if you are (like me) a really nervous person in real life and can get upset easily you should try this method for yourself and see how it goes. I need an event to prepare builds for in order to even touch SC2 for more than 5 games at a time. Daily/Weekly online tournaments are like "meh" because they are so common that they don't even have the competitive feeling in them. Then again the first LAN tournament I was in was like the best moment in my life. I was so excited I fucked up my stuff completely because I couldn't focus. I immediately felt that LAN events are what SC2 is for. SO good. What would really get me back to the game would be a lower level NASL type of league or even better, a league similar to TF2 etf2l league which has skill based divisions. For me ladder anxiety, or anxiety in general, the only way to really kill it is experience. Not blind experience, which means just playing, but thinking and playing. If you panic, force yourself to think what the fuck you need to do and do that until you don't panic anymore. In TF2(because hell, I have played over a 1000 games in SC2 so I don't really experience anxiety on ladder anymore), playing Sniper in 1v1 is way different than playing Sniper in 6v6/9v9/12v12. 1v1 is way harder but there is really no way for me to panic in 1v1 because there is one target. In 6v6 I kind of know who to kill whenever I take the class, but in 9v9 and 12v12 there are just so many dudes to shoot at that I panic just from seeing so many dudes and miss way too many shots. I don't know who to shoot and I kind of try to shoot everybody at once and start missing a lot.
Yeah, having experience in somewhat extreme situations helps a lot. Although I suffer of low confidence too sometimes, so one blocks the other.
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Russian Federation18 Posts
On January 06 2012 05:26 slammered wrote:
I left you a message in your stream chat
Thanks, checked it out just now!
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Russian Federation18 Posts
On January 06 2012 05:26 Stratos wrote:I was anxious before I started to have a feel for the game and could tell if I'm behind or ahead of the opponent. When I began playing I would just sit in my base afraid to even scout and just waiting for the enemy to come and then gg. We're often afraid of the unknown. I still lose a lot (most of the time, lol [BW]) but I don't mind anymore if I know why and how to avoid it next time.
Have you ever had a feeling that if you play more you will just end up losing more? It's so pessimistic, I know, but it appeared in my head several times.
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On January 06 2012 06:49 Alehan wrote:Show nested quote +On January 06 2012 05:26 Stratos wrote:I was anxious before I started to have a feel for the game and could tell if I'm behind or ahead of the opponent. When I began playing I would just sit in my base afraid to even scout and just waiting for the enemy to come and then gg. We're often afraid of the unknown. I still lose a lot (most of the time, lol [BW]) but I don't mind anymore if I know why and how to avoid it next time. Have you ever had a feeling that if you play more you will just end up losing more? It's so pessimistic, I know, but it appeared in my head several times.
Hey, I'm uncman from your stream. I understand what you're saying but the more games you play who cares if you lose some more? The way I've seen it, if I'm only playing three games in one night, and I lose two of them, it sucks. If I'm playing 7-8+ games a night then I feel a lot better even if I lose the first couple, just because I'm warmed up and can get on a roll.
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On January 06 2012 06:49 Alehan wrote:Show nested quote +On January 06 2012 05:26 Stratos wrote:I was anxious before I started to have a feel for the game and could tell if I'm behind or ahead of the opponent. When I began playing I would just sit in my base afraid to even scout and just waiting for the enemy to come and then gg. We're often afraid of the unknown. I still lose a lot (most of the time, lol [BW]) but I don't mind anymore if I know why and how to avoid it next time. Have you ever had a feeling that if you play more you will just end up losing more? It's so pessimistic, I know, but it appeared in my head several times.
Well of course! I often go in to the match with the mindset that I will lose. What else shoud you do if you have a score of 2-25? But I also keep in mind that if I remember what I messed up before, I might 'get closer to beating' the opponent or that the opponent might actually be someone just new to the game as me and he won't have a clue. That way I never feel bad about losing, I just feel bad if I do the same mistake twice and focus on fixing that. My goal isn't beating the opponent. My goal is to get better at the game.
Obviously the opponent is a big part of the game and sometimes he will outplay you without a significant mistake on your side, but from your point of view it still is just your mistake or inability and you have to focus on that. If you know how to play a perfect game, no opponent will stop you. I know this is an impossible goal, but it is my goal and I am trying to reach it. And I know I will fail often but overall, with the number of games you play, you just have to feel an improvement. And that's what keeps me going.
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On January 06 2012 06:48 Alehan wrote:
Yeah, having experience in somewhat extreme situations helps a lot. Although I suffer of low confidence too sometimes, so one blocks the other.
Having low confidence is due to having little to no results and in my opinion, ladder play simply cannot provide those results to get your confidence better. There might be some little things like getting more comfortable with matchups etc. but at least I don't get that much confidence when I destroy some ladder people(I'm low Diamond now as Terran because I just begun playing again after a 4-5 month break and haven't even played that much after).
However, when you know your opponent is simply higher ranked than you(and that's why the point system is bad in ladder) and you beat that guy, "you feel like 'Holy shit I'm beating MC'"*, feel all pumped up and want to destroy some more dudes and have the confidence that you will destroy some more dudes. And then you get more results and you either get more motivation from that or it gets too much into your head and you fall back down again.
This is connected to the fact that I want some lower level competitive leagues because there people would know their "true" skill level(assuming skill based divisions exist). I mean anybody can get high in SC2 ladder by cheesing, but in a league where there is max. 2 bo3's a week, people take it way more seriously. Throw in the fact that you know your opponent and his race right after the previous match(or even before) and we might have some very nifty strategies going on.
And to make the previous points of beating higher ranked people and having lower level competitive league being beneficial to ones motivation and confidence a bit more valid: In TF2, my team, that is pretty newly made with no league experience with that particular team, we almost beat a team that is 2-3 divisions above us(Being div 3/4 while our team is going to div6 next season), losing 2-3 in both maps we played.
Even when we lost, our whole team was pumped as hell because we almost beat a team that should have been WAY above us in skill: The difference between div6, 5 and 4 are way bigger than the difference between 4, 3 and 2. Then there is another skill gap between 2 and 1 and one more between 1 and Premiership, which is considered at least semi-pro level(Placing in top3 div1 gets you hardware prices, placing in top3 Premiership gets you money and hardware, although I'm not absolutely sure about this)
*HSC IV ClouD v MC with InControl, Socke(was it Socke? I didn't hear their names in the cast, had to indentify from their faces) and Goody casting.
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I'm a high masters P and I'll try to give you some helpful advice.
I think the anxiety might come from lack of knowledge and lack of confidence. SC2 is a highly competitive game, especially in 1v1 format so I can see how people (and how I, myself, in my early years of playing sc, sc2) can suffer from anxiety while playing.
Here is an example to explain the knowledge idea:
If you were stranded in the middle of the ocean and man eating sharks were swimming around underneath you; it would be very understandable to have anxiety about your situation. You'd probably be thinking "I don't know when or if they will attack me, I don't know how they will do it, I don't know how to defend myself, etc..."
But, if you knew how the particular sharks acted, how they attacked, and how you could defend yourself - you wouldn't have as much anxiety and you'd be a lot more calm in the situation.
The more you learn about each match up, the less anxiety you will have because you'll be confident to start off with a decent build, react to their build, attacks, defence; and you'd find yourself more calm in most situations.
I suspect you're also going into each game thinking your opponent is a lot better than you. This happens to players a lot when they participate in their 1st few tournaments, especially lans, and they disqualify themselves despite how good they actually might be. Go into each game thinking you're good enough to defeat your opponent. Don't go in over confident, but go in thinking "I'm guna win! I can do it!" Also, reinforce this thinking by reflecting on your past wins, knowing that it wasn't fluke, it was skill and you can play that way consistently to take more games.
There is also the old saying "No pain, no gain". This saying relates to anything in life that takes a lot of commitment to become successful at. There will always be times in your SC2 career where you hit a wall and you start losing a lot. You're not getting worse, you're actually getting better when this happens. It means that you've hit a skill cap in your game, and when you continue to play, through the pain of loss, you will learn to adapt and become better at the things you're bad at. For example, about 3 weeks ago I was really bad at the PvT match. I sat down and watched a few streams and checked out some new strats, and tried really hard during the rest of my PvT matches. Now, after a lot of pain, I've experienced a lot of gain. PvT is now my best match up and I attribute that to the "No pain, no gain" theory.
Ladder anxiety can be experienced a lot during the "pain" stage. Do not let this affect your resolve. Settle to become a better player, and play through the pain. If it helps, find a partner to play with outside of ladder - because, since we attribute being "competitive", and playing "good players" with ladder, its less stressful to play non ladder matches. Also, us humans like to give worth to basically everything in our lives to justify our existence, therefore, our ladder rec means a lot to us, and we stress out when we start to lose lots on ladder.
The "pain" might also be linked to your mentality and resolve, and it might not have anything to do with your actual skill. You might have hit a skill cap in your mental capacity to move forward in learning and confidence. Continue to raise the bar of excellence in your mind and continue to challenge yourself mentally and physically. SC2 is a lot more mental than it is physical! (I wrote a post on this called "Becoming a better player part 2" just search my name on the liquid search thing and you'll find the link) Don't let your mind fall to the "pain" of loss.
One last thing. I still experience small doses of ladder anxiety. It usually happens during my 1st game of the day, and sometimes when i play pvp cause that match up can be very micro intensive and stressful at times. If I feel anxiety, i just take a small break after the game and let myself calm down. I might play a song on my guitar, and then start to ladder again. Now a days, when I lose, i get angry thinking "I'm better than that guy i shouldn't have lost!" and i drives me to play again.
I've experienced times of "pain and gain" to the point of finding a lot of pleasure and fun while laddering. I can honestly say that laddering for me is SO MUCH FUN! I didn't think laddering could be this fun, but it is when you have the knowledge, the confidence and the ability to move forward with skill. It will truly become a wholly pleasurable experience for you in the future.
I hope all of that was helpful. GL HF!
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Russian Federation18 Posts
On January 07 2012 03:51 ComebackKid wrote:
I'm a high masters P and I'll try to give you some helpful advice.
I think the anxiety might come from lack of knowledge and lack of confidence. SC2 is a highly competitive game, especially in 1v1 format so I can see how people (and how I, myself, in my early years of playing sc, sc2) can suffer from anxiety while playing.
Here is an example to explain the knowledge idea:
If you were stranded in the middle of the ocean and man eating sharks were swimming around underneath you; it would be very understandable to have anxiety about your situation. You'd probably be thinking "I don't know when or if they will attack me, I don't know how they will do it, I don't know how to defend myself, etc..."
But, if you knew how the particular sharks acted, how they attacked, and how you could defend yourself - you wouldn't have as much anxiety and you'd be a lot more calm in the situation.
The more you learn about each match up, the less anxiety you will have because you'll be confident to start off with a decent build, react to their build, attacks, defence; and you'd find yourself more calm in most situations.
I suspect you're also going into each game thinking your opponent is a lot better than you. This happens to players a lot when they participate in their 1st few tournaments, especially lans, and they disqualify themselves despite how good they actually might be. Go into each game thinking you're good enough to defeat your opponent. Don't go in over confident, but go in thinking "I'm guna win! I can do it!" Also, reinforce this thinking by reflecting on your past wins, knowing that it wasn't fluke, it was skill and you can play that way consistently to take more games.
There is also the old saying "No pain, no gain". This saying relates to anything in life that takes a lot of commitment to become successful at. There will always be times in your SC2 career where you hit a wall and you start losing a lot. You're not getting worse, you're actually getting better when this happens. It means that you've hit a skill cap in your game, and when you continue to play, through the pain of loss, you will learn to adapt and become better at the things you're bad at. For example, about 3 weeks ago I was really bad at the PvT match. I sat down and watched a few streams and checked out some new strats, and tried really hard during the rest of my PvT matches. Now, after a lot of pain, I've experienced a lot of gain. PvT is now my best match up and I attribute that to the "No pain, no gain" theory.
Ladder anxiety can be experienced a lot during the "pain" stage. Do not let this affect your resolve. Settle to become a better player, and play through the pain. If it helps, find a partner to play with outside of ladder - because, since we attribute being "competitive", and playing "good players" with ladder, its less stressful to play non ladder matches. Also, us humans like to give worth to basically everything in our lives to justify our existence, therefore, our ladder rec means a lot to us, and we stress out when we start to lose lots on ladder.
The "pain" might also be linked to your mentality and resolve, and it might not have anything to do with your actual skill. You might have hit a skill cap in your mental capacity to move forward in learning and confidence. Continue to raise the bar of excellence in your mind and continue to challenge yourself mentally and physically. SC2 is a lot more mental than it is physical! (I wrote a post on this called "Becoming a better player part 2" just search my name on the liquid search thing and you'll find the link) Don't let your mind fall to the "pain" of loss.
One last thing. I still experience small doses of ladder anxiety. It usually happens during my 1st game of the day, and sometimes when i play pvp cause that match up can be very micro intensive and stressful at times. If I feel anxiety, i just take a small break after the game and let myself calm down. I might play a song on my guitar, and then start to ladder again. Now a days, when I lose, i get angry thinking "I'm better than that guy i shouldn't have lost!" and i drives me to play again.
I've experienced times of "pain and gain" to the point of finding a lot of pleasure and fun while laddering. I can honestly say that laddering for me is SO MUCH FUN! I didn't think laddering could be this fun, but it is when you have the knowledge, the confidence and the ability to move forward with skill. It will truly become a wholly pleasurable experience for you in the future.
I hope all of that was helpful. GL HF!
This post was helpful indeed! You're absolutely right especially about the "no pain, no gain" thing in terms of starcraft. I guess I should just man up and live through it. Thanks!
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EPT
