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Hi readers,
I have enter a point in life where I can't decide whether I want to play games for fun or for "fame". On one hand I would like to relax and just have fun playing something simple and casual like D3 or LoL. On the other I want to push myself to the edge competitively with sc2 and see what I can make myself out of it.
I used to be an extremely competitive gamer when I had little to no obligation or responsibilities. I have participated in many tournaments or high end competition in games such as CS, Dota, WoW, etc
But now my life has changed, I worked a 10-12 hour shift every day, and only get about 4-6 hours a day for gaming. For the life of me I can't decide whether I want to invest time playing sc2 and become good at it, or just have fun playing casual and easy games. I have bounced between sc2 and casual games for the past weeks/months, and end up not having fun or any results to show for the time spent.
Yes, sc2 is not a fun game for me. It frustrates me to no end playing this game and usually I end up procastinating hitting that "find match" button. While playing games like D3 or LoL is alot of fun, but I miss out on being competitive and lack of "results" to show for on casual games; what is the point of being good at a game that nobody cares about?
So readers, any personal opinions or preference on what you prefer from playing games? Playing games for fun, or play games for competitive nature?
 
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Playing a game 'for fun', in my eyes is basically saying 'sure ill be terrible like everyone else but that is ok'. Never play anything for fun.
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I think about this quite a bit for no particular reason...and I'm of the opinion that playing competitively is fun! Suring, playing casually is inherently fun insofar as it's comparatively easy. However, playing competitively, again in my honest opinion, is by far the most rewarding, though it most certainly can be absolutely frustrating. There's a certain...feeling that comes along with beating people with a refined build and emulating what you see pros do!
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On June 28 2012 23:47 Swwww wrote:
Playing a game 'for fun', in my eyes is basically saying 'sure ill be terrible like everyone else but that is ok'. Never play anything for fun.
interesting, I don't hear this alot, though part of me completely agrees with you. I am leaning a bit toward forcing myself to play nothing but sc2, but its hard when d3 and LoL is so tempting.
Thank you for your input
On June 28 2012 23:50 Amaterasu1234 wrote:
I think about this quite a bit for no particular reason...and I'm of the opinion that playing competitively is fun! Suring, playing casually is inherently fun insofar as it's comparatively easy. However, playing competitively, again in my honest opinion, is by far the most rewarding, though it most certainly can be absolutely frustrating. There's a certain...feeling that comes along with beating people with a refined build and emulating what you see pros do!
I know that exact feeling, and I love looking at how much I have improve myself at the end of a competitive/hard game.
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I would play sc2 for "fun". Just because you have the capability to play sc2 competitively doesn't mean you have to. If you can't play sc2 for fun, then I would choose a different game to play competitively. This option also gives you the chance to drive yourself to play competitively should you ever want to.
Also, few things in life are ever completely black or white. You can play sc2 for a few hours each day and maybe leave an hour or so for more casual games.
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If you cant enjoy playing a game, how do you ever thing you gonna be good at it ?
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You can play for fun and still play SC2.
Get rid of ladder anxiety and just play the game, and be happy with the games you get. That's all I can really say to you.
Progaming is such a pipedream.. honestly, it's kinda like the NBA in a way, with slightly better odds only because the sample size is smaller.
But, being competitive doesn't have to mean being the best or professional.. remember that
All we can hope for is StarCraft remaining part of our lives for quite awhile, because sometimes we lose interest or lose time to play, and when we do come back it feels like the first time 
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On June 28 2012 23:47 Swwww wrote:
Playing a game 'for fun', in my eyes is basically saying 'sure ill be terrible like everyone else but that is ok'. Never play anything for fun.
You sound like such a fun person to be around.
Ignoring the fact that you're grossly oversimplifying what's going on, why isn't that okay? Your whole post only makes sense if you think the point of playing a game is to "not be terrible", as opposed to "to enjoy yourself", i.e. you've already decided that playing for the sake of competition is the only reasonable motivation. Why can't it be both? Why can't it be something else?
On the one hand, "what's the point of being good at something nobody cares about?" Well, I don't know, maybe you enjoy that.
On the other hand, "what's the point of doing something you're not good at?" Well, I don't know, maybe you enjoy doing it.
See how that works both ways? OP, think about all the things you could be doing the next time you have a few hours with nothing to do. How high is "play SC" on your list of options? It's doesn't matter why you want to play, it matters how much you want to play. People that say "oh I don't play for fun, I play to ____" are just using the word "fun" in a very narrow sense. Some people think the adrenaline rush of tight competition is fun. Some people think wacky strategies and big explosions are fun. Some people think grinding hundreds of worker rushes for achievements is fun. Some people think practicing a new build in customs vs. friends is fun. Play however you want to play; that's what fun is for you. Or if you'd have a better time doing something else with your life, do that instead.
tl;dr: Do things for fun, but decide for yourself what's fun and what's not fun.
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On June 28 2012 23:47 Swwww wrote:
Playing a game 'for fun', in my eyes is basically saying 'sure ill be terrible like everyone else but that is ok'. Never play anything for fun.
Wow, that's a terrible attitude to have. I play plenty of games for fun while expecting no long term reward and I see nothing wrong with it unless you really have some kind of obsession of getting something lasting out of everything you do.
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You should play something you have fun at. Being competitive is fun, so is getting rewarded through hard work and practice. It's all about how you look at it and how much time you're willing and able to commit to it. You can make D3 and LoL competitive if you really wanted to.
I don't think you should worry too much about it and play what gives you the most satisfaction. If the frustration of SC2 outweighs the winning or learning, then it's probably not a game you should be investing your time into.
People change, and it's completely normal to play games casually and not expect long term results, even if you were highly competitive before. Playing games for fun does not mean you're excusing yourself from being terrible. Games are supposed to be fun.
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For me the question is not playing for fun OR for competition, since playing for competition IS fun.
I enjoy trying to climb the ladder, I enjoy to refine my gameplay and try to get better, I even enjoy losing most of the time.
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You shouldn't play the game solely for "fame." That's sort of like selling your soul for a job that makes a lot of money while being miserable, lol. There are a lot of people who don't enjoy competition, but there are also a lot of people who do enjoy the competition. I like playing competitive starcraft - it pushes me to my limit and it gives a great feeling when I win! However, I don't need to be a big name. If you look at sports, such as basketball, there are a lot of leagues out there that isn't the NBA. Just have fun while being competitive and if you get good, go for the big leagues.
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i think it was nony that said something along the lines of how using goals as motivation to become good at something can be bad for your mental health. if you reach your goal without enjoying the process then you may end up feeling empty after your goal has been reached. instead of thinking "once i reach my goals i will be happy" a better way would be to find something that is rewarding throughout the entire process and then you will have more motivation to reach your goals. this varies from person to person so who knows how much relevance it has to yourself.
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Thats funny you saw that whats the point of being good and games that nobody cares. For instance on LOL if you can get to high elo and stream. You can probably get much much higher numbers then sc2 can. The top streamers in LOL can get up to 20,000 so you could be well known and make money if your are actually as good on lol like you say. While I may agree with you that SC2 is alot higher atm LOL has a much bigger portion of the viewers.
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Have fun while doing it? Change you attitude. Or is this a question of whether or not you want to go "pro"?
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Just do what I do, have your competitive game and have your casual games. When you get mad at sc2 for example go play one of the casual games that you play for just entertainment. I do that i'll go play D3, battlefield 3 or something and just chill.
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As others have been saying, if you want to play competitively it should be fun. I pretty much only play competitive games because that's where I find my enjoyment in games (as well as the social experience and, with a few RPGs like Morrowind, the story.) So I play pretty much only PvP games and I almost always end up getting very good at them. StarCraft's a little different in that the skill ceiling is much higher than most competitive games so I'm not near being the best yet, but even the iOS games I play are PvP games and I'm very good at them too.
So for you, if you don't actually really enjoy the experience of competing with people, then I'd say playing competitively isn't for you. Play UMS maps and 2v2/3v3/4v4 games and have fun with that instead of worrying about whether you should be competitive, unless you just really enjoy competing.
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On June 28 2012 23:45 iky43210 wrote:But now my life has changed, I worked a 10-12 hour shift every day, and only get about 4-6 hours a day for gaming.
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I have an 8 week old baby. I get 1-2 hours every second day... I envy you.
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EPT
