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Ever "level up" in skill after a long break?

Blogs > TheRabidDeer
Post a Reply
TheRabidDeer
Profile Blog Joined May 2003
United States3806 Posts
July 28 2013 06:22 GMT
#1
Have you ever seemingly leveled up after you took a very long break from a game? It feels like something similar may have happened for me (though hard to tell as I have only been playing unranked). It seems like I fixed a lot of my old issues automatically.

I used to have poor overlord spreads, miss drops, forget to scout and some other very basic things that you need to succeed (how I ever got to master is really beyond me). Now that I have come back I have been spot on for everything so far. I spot drops from miles away and even split units to go from the 3rd/main, I scout what they are doing and havent been caught off guard, I send lings out to patrol, I set up flanks and my macro has been quite solid as of late. I have even been damn good at dealing with widow mines (at least compared to what I did before). My creep spread has suffered a bit, so it isnt a complete improvement.. but it feels damned good. In particular, it feels good to have my scouting improved... I would have lost quite a few of my games had I not scouted.

So, yea... map awareness and scouting. Feels good man.

Mothra
Profile Blog Joined November 2009
United States1448 Posts
July 28 2013 06:48 GMT
#2
Yeah I've noticed this (for other games). Maybe it's like muscle growth where the actual building takes place during your down time. Tax your system and it builds itself up stronger.
BisuEver
Profile Joined May 2010
United States247 Posts
July 28 2013 06:50 GMT
#3
I only level down fyi
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/10873775/pa-presents-diablo-iii-console-comic-by-katie-rice-9-13-2013
Capped
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom7236 Posts
July 28 2013 08:49 GMT
#4
Idk, ive had it with single player games where i get stuck at a particular point, then come back a week later after HOURS of trying before and ace in in 1-2 tries.

Can happen.
Useless wet fish.
Dingodile
Profile Joined December 2011
4133 Posts
July 28 2013 09:59 GMT
#5
On July 28 2013 15:48 Mothra wrote:
Yeah I've noticed this (for other games). Maybe it's like muscle growth where the actual building takes place during your down time. Tax your system and it builds itself up stronger.

Yes, the same in fitness-center. Your muscles grow up during the down time.
Grubby | ToD | Moon | Lyn | Sky
GTPGlitch
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
5061 Posts
July 28 2013 10:21 GMT
#6
On July 28 2013 17:49 Capped wrote:
Idk, ive had it with single player games where i get stuck at a particular point, then come back a week later after HOURS of trying before and ace in in 1-2 tries.

Can happen.


Second this lol

So ridiculous... I'll pick up a game where i had been stuck on a level for days and just abandoned it for weeks or even months and then just figure it out easy as pie when i come back... frustrating and entertaining at the same time :>:<:
Jo Byung Se #1 fan | CJ_Rush(reborn) fan | Liquid'Jinro(ret) fan | Liquid'Taeja fan | oGsTheSuperNada fan | Iris[gm](ret) fan |
Teoita
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
Italy12246 Posts
July 28 2013 10:35 GMT
#7
Yeah, happens to me all the time in sc2.
ModeratorProtoss all-ins are like a wok. You can throw whatever you want in there and it will turn out alright.
Wohmfg
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
United Kingdom1292 Posts
July 28 2013 11:03 GMT
#8
I've had this in poker. Over time your mechanical skills will degrade, but taking short breaks allows a few things to happen with regards to mental proficiency.

You come back and your play is more relaxed, allowing you to engage your subconscious mind in game, which is the most powerful part of the brain for certain skills that are used in SC2. When you are grinding out a certain mental skill, especially if you are trying to force yourself to do well, you can try and over think things in the heat of the moment with your logic. This means your mind is clouded and the solutions to your problems don't materialise, instead you talk yourself into doing something which is not necessarily ideal. These logical solutions also take time to think through during the game meaning you are slower to execute what you need to do in game. Have you noticed that when you are playing well in SC2, the right thing seems to happen almost automatically? Or that the solution to a problem jumps out of your head randomly and lands in your conscious thoughts?

Another thing that happens is that your mind has had time to subconsciously come up with solutions to certain problems in the actual downtime. So your mind being in a relaxed state when thinking about SC2 means your mind can internalise the right thing to do. Iif you were having problems with getting supply blocked for example, when you take your break and watch a stream and you see how a pro plays, your mind won't consciously be saying "how come he doesn't get supply blocked? I'm going to study this intently", rather your mind will in general be much more receptive to new ideas with regards to your problem and will internalise them subconsciously much more effectively.

Basically your subconscious mind is extremely powerful, and relaxing it means it can learn much more effectively.
BW4Life!
Targe
Profile Blog Joined February 2012
United Kingdom14103 Posts
July 28 2013 13:11 GMT
#9
On July 28 2013 17:49 Capped wrote:
Idk, ive had it with single player games where i get stuck at a particular point, then come back a week later after HOURS of trying before and ace in in 1-2 tries.

Can happen.

I don't know how many times this happened to me.
11/5/14 CATACLYSM | The South West's worst Falco main
EtherealDeath
Profile Blog Joined July 2007
United States8366 Posts
July 28 2013 13:22 GMT
#10
I always get worse
Epishade
Profile Blog Joined November 2011
United States2267 Posts
July 28 2013 16:18 GMT
#11
I used to play pool at my friends house idk maybe 6-7 years ago, and I was so awful. I scratched the cueball near ever time I shot and I would always "miss" hitting the cueball directly when I hit (so that I hit the side and it went almost nowhere). A few weeks ago, I went over to my friends house and played pool for the first time since those 6-7 years ago. I never scratch now (at least, not as much as I used to) and I always hit right in the middle of the cueball. I have no idea why I sucked so much back then, but it's funny how much I improved by doing nothing.
Pinhead Larry in the streets, Dirty Dan in the sheets.
TheRabidDeer
Profile Blog Joined May 2003
United States3806 Posts
July 28 2013 23:06 GMT
#12
On July 28 2013 20:03 Wohmfg wrote:
I've had this in poker. Over time your mechanical skills will degrade, but taking short breaks allows a few things to happen with regards to mental proficiency.

You come back and your play is more relaxed, allowing you to engage your subconscious mind in game, which is the most powerful part of the brain for certain skills that are used in SC2. When you are grinding out a certain mental skill, especially if you are trying to force yourself to do well, you can try and over think things in the heat of the moment with your logic. This means your mind is clouded and the solutions to your problems don't materialise, instead you talk yourself into doing something which is not necessarily ideal. These logical solutions also take time to think through during the game meaning you are slower to execute what you need to do in game. Have you noticed that when you are playing well in SC2, the right thing seems to happen almost automatically? Or that the solution to a problem jumps out of your head randomly and lands in your conscious thoughts?

Another thing that happens is that your mind has had time to subconsciously come up with solutions to certain problems in the actual downtime. So your mind being in a relaxed state when thinking about SC2 means your mind can internalise the right thing to do. Iif you were having problems with getting supply blocked for example, when you take your break and watch a stream and you see how a pro plays, your mind won't consciously be saying "how come he doesn't get supply blocked? I'm going to study this intently", rather your mind will in general be much more receptive to new ideas with regards to your problem and will internalise them subconsciously much more effectively.

Basically your subconscious mind is extremely powerful, and relaxing it means it can learn much more effectively.

Makes sense. It feels like I have been soaking things up from watching premier league and have been putting it all together better.
blade55555
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
United States17423 Posts
July 28 2013 23:16 GMT
#13
Yeah I play better, then later I play worse due to the break haha. I hate it, I will play amazing for awhile, then I go to playing like shit after a break. Wish I could just do the play amazing and not have the play like shit later
When I think of something else, something will go here
WombaT
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Northern Ireland25107 Posts
July 29 2013 03:23 GMT
#14
Only on guitar, my proficiency tends to jump a bit when I've had a big break for whatever reason, mostly due to arm injuries in my case.

Visualisation seems a rather underrated tool imo to keep your skills up. I mean the general concept makes sense, and some people swear by it, not sure if it's actually valid
'You'll always be the cuddly marsupial of my heart, despite the inherent flaws of your ancestry' - Squat
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