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StarCraft burnout is intense. Of all the mechanics in the game, there is no forgiveness mechanic. You may be tired and desperate, but there are no courtesy games. If you're not where your MMR happens to be, chances are you will probably fall pretty hard.
The word "happens" is crucial here, because MMR itself is estimated. Let's assume for a moment that the concept of MMR is perfect, that it is possible to perfectly encapsulate the skill of a player in all matchups in a single number. Even so, MMR is still estimated. It changes algorithmically according to the estimated MMRs of other players. If we are even more optimistic, we believe it oscillates around a true skill level, and as the number of games played increases, the oscillations become very small. But we would have to be very optimistic.
Like any downward spiral, it begins with the first loss. It was probably a stupid mistake. Perhaps you engaged when you shouldn't have or botched some micro in a horrendous way. Then comes a second loss--this time it was more unexpected, perhaps it was losing one of your stronger matchups. For some reason your hands don't listen to you like they did before. You're not remembering to build more units on time, you don't have as many workers as you usually do, and somehow you lose a game you normally would have won.
Then comes the mirror matchup. These are often the worst to play in the middle of a losing streak. Perhaps your familiarity with your own race amplifies each mistake and every second you are behind. At every moment, you doubt yourself, because you opponent couldn't possibly have made the mistake you did. Why did you even go for this build order? Now you're already behind. You don't pay attention to his army position for a second, and he's either doom dropped you or established an unbreakable contain. How does he have a third base too? No one did that before.
That build order was working flawlessly five games ago. Why isn't it working now? That timing used to be easy to hold, why is it a problem now? The problem is that there are a lot of dead ends on the path to becoming a bonjwa. Perhaps you were climbing a tree when you were really trying to land on the moon. You got fifty feet closer, but is this really the path you should be going down in the long run?
Like an annoying cold, on the surface nothing serious is happening. If you're lucky, there's someone nearby who could even begin to understand the sheer quantity of silent frustration that could be created by some lights on a flat rectangle blinking in just the wrong way. Like an annoying cold, there's really nothing to do but to wait for it to pass. But unlike a cold, writing about it helps immensely.
  
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dam i enjoyed the shit out of reading this
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My main complaint is the social isolation of SC2 compared to many other games that can also be very social despite its competitive and solitary nature.
Recently, I've been playing loads of solo Path of Exile, but despite the lack of direct interaction with other players, the constant chatter of global chat certainly helped make me feel integrated into the social community of the game.
This problem of course can be alleviated in SC2 through vent, mumble, skype, and such, but for individuals that lack first hand friends that enjoy the same game, this simply is not feasible.
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On December 25 2013 18:00 ktimekiller wrote:
My main complaint is the social isolation of SC2 compared to many other games that can also be very social despite its competitive and solitary nature.
Recently, I've been playing loads of solo Path of Exile, but despite the lack of direct interaction with other players, the constant chatter of global chat certainly helped make me feel integrated into the social community of the game.
This problem of course can be alleviated in SC2 through vent, mumble, skype, and such, but for individuals that lack first hand friends that enjoy the same game, this simply is not feasible.
The isolation probably adds to the unforgiving nature of the game. We call it a grind for a reason. It's hard to see another player as anything other than a robot whose only mission is to defeat you in the most brutal (humiliating?) way possible. That there are so many different skill levels within the games divides the venting process even further. If a bronze player vents in a forest, does he care that he doesn't make a sound?
Perhaps people find solace in "sports" (used loosely) that are played in person, because they are at least afforded the possibility of potentially seeing something that reminds them that their opponents are at some level actually human and not faceless psychopaths. We can emulate this to some extent by having practice partners, attending LANs, and at the extreme end live in a progaming house. Maybe simply being around other players helps to alleviate burnout.
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Ahhh, if I need to vent, I open up a YABOT and grind out my mechanics until I stop thinking. Then I go back and play some more. I always find solace in that (now at least, my past is ROFL rage worthy, damn).
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On December 25 2013 18:53 Qwyn wrote:
Ahhh, if I need to vent, I open up a YABOT and grind out my mechanics until I stop thinking. Then I go back and play some more. I always find solace in that (now at least, my past is ROFL rage worthy, damn).
What yabot maps? I can only find akilon as a working yabot map
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EPT
