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What kind of commitment goes into someone competing at the highest level?
If they a good understanding of the game, the motivation, the dedication, and determination, how hard is it really? What else factors into a good player becoming a great player?
Any feedback would be great, I think its a very under-discussed topic IMO.
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Being a pro? Very very hard.
Being one of the greatest? Almost impossible.
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your Country52796 Posts
I think it depends. In addition to what you've posted, there are a lot of different deciding factors in being a pro. What league are you? (probably masters if you're considering pro seriously) How much have you played? How long? How much free time do you have? Money? Creativity? Mechanical ability in other fields? Even then, it would be very difficult. I have most of those down and I'm nowhere near pro.
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On May 26 2014 10:12 gg_hertzz wrote: Being a pro? Very very hard.
Being one of the greatest? Almost impossible.
I meant being at least competitive in the scene. We could debate forever who the greatest ever is
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On May 26 2014 10:16 The_Templar wrote: I think it depends. In addition to what you've posted, there are a lot of different deciding factors in being a pro. What league are you? (probably masters if you're considering pro seriously) How much have you played? How long? How much free time do you have? Money? Creativity? Mechanical ability in other fields? Even then, it would be very difficult. I have most of those down and I'm nowhere near pro.
I'm currently high diamond. Experience is probably my weak spot. I only began serious 1v1 in WoL beta. I've played other games in the past.
The time I know is a big factor. I recall hearing the some pros play 40 games a day. I'm probably play half that during the week, of course I have more free time on weekends. Most current pros, if not all do not have another job, but I do. So I understand that aspect. Same thing with money, gotta pay the bills right...lol
Not sure what you mean by mechanical ability in other fields. I know hand-eye coordination is a big key in this game, which I think I excel at. But anyway, I've always wondered if the stars aligned right, how serious of a push I could make.
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Very difficult. You have to be really good at it since self confidence is necessary but just doesn't cut if that's all you got. You have to find a time-efficient way of improving.
Just remember that ton of people spend the same time as pros yet does not improve.
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A few hours of deliberate practice a day (not just playing games but actively improving) and you could be a decent competitor at least in the NA scene after not too long. If you want to actually make a living doing it though, it takes a ton of practice on top of already being inherently talented, and if you've really been playing since WoL beta and still aren't master league (that was what, 4 years ago?) I'd consider something else.
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Sat in Masters since WoL beta, got it on all servers (GM on Sea before it was meaningless, took games off semi-pros). Played ICCUP for 3 years before that. Still wouldn't think about going pro. The higher you get the more you realise how difficult it really is. It's not just a matter of ridiculous commitment and time. You also need to excel in attributes like cognitive flexibility, attention/focus, speed, problem solving whilst having the mental fortitude to bounce back from losses (no excuses) whilst being hyper-competitive... Not to mention having a supportive environment with a good diet and exercise, whilst allowing you time to practice 30-40 games a day (basically living with really easygoing parents). To go pro now would be dumb, you're so far behind the top players it would take a child genius to catch up. If you're really desperate the best bet is to play a ton and focus on going pro in the next big RTS.
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On May 26 2014 09:45 HelpMeGetBetter wrote: What kind of commitment goes into someone competing at the highest level?
I remember checking who was at the top of the NA ladder a few weeks ago and it was Minigun (before surgery). His victory rate on ladder was almost 2 to 1. Kane, who is now here in Taiwan, has a better victory rate, but at the same time wasn't GM Rank 1 on the ladder.
Bear in mind this is all NA ladder. EU and KR are much much more aggressive.
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its tough. I was playing 20-30 hours a week (or more probably) and I wasn't even really pro. wasn't getting paid anything on any real team. but I was top 50 GM for a while and semi competitive, good enough to make it a few rounds at MLG's and have a fun hobby/meet a bunch of awesome people etc. (2010-2011)
Some people it might take more than that, I came from a solid bw background so I jumped into sc2 without too much trouble as well.
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i think the most important factor that you didn't mention is the ability to cope with frustration and even tilts. you will lose a lot and you certainly won't progress at the pace you want. It's your ability to brush that all aside which determines if you continue or not.
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also you have to be willing to dump a ton of time into something without any return on investment.
You need to love the game/community, you should never play with the mindset of going pro one day, you have to just basically work on improving and going pro just sort of happens after a shitton of work and time.
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4713 Posts
The answer to the question is subjective. Do you have a lot of free time to grind game after game for hours on end? Do you enjoy playing tons of games over and over? Do you easily shrug off losses as learning experiences and just keep on going? Are you a quick learner?
Depending on how you answer those it will be relatively difficult or easy for you to go pro. The key though is consistent, dedicated practice over long hours. At least 8 hours per day of it for at least a year or 2. If you have the time, the passion and the dedication to do it then by all means go for it, keep in mind that your circumstances will also change in time.
However do some real soul searching before you commit, if you think you enjoy the game but really you get incredibly frustrated by losses or cheeses or something then you might quickly burn out. If you don't have a lot of time in general realize that it will take far longer to reach pro level. And most importantly, keep in mind that everything is a sacrifice, by going pro you're sacrificing something else in your life, so be careful about that, decide if its worth it or not, if you can still keep some equilibrium between your social life, your health and your passion for the game.
To be honest I don't think its impossible. We had Babyknight switch from DotA to SC2 a couple of years ago and he was really successful, however he said he practiced like 8-10 hours per day. If you really are passionate about it, have the time and the right mindset then go for it, the sky' the limit.
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How many players in NA or EU can actually live from SC2 only?
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United Kingdom14103 Posts
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insight from IdrA back in 2012
On January 25 2012 23:03 IdrA wrote:Show nested quote +On January 25 2012 22:39 -ForeverAlone- wrote:On January 25 2012 22:28 IdrA wrote: people seem to think foreign teams actively avoid picking up new players or something. if you're worth it teams are going to be scrambling to get you. very very few people invest enough effort to be good or to create a fanbase. those that have have joined teams or been hired by companies. you dont join a team and then get good, you get good and then join a team. That's the problem the OP wants to highlight. The infrastructure to get good in NA is not as good in Korea, and this creates a selection bias. There aren't too many 15+ year olds in NA that can just turn their life into full time gaming, unless they already have a lot of money or a very supportive family. The concept of B-teams here doesn't really exist. I mean if we look at the top level pros on the scene today that support themselves only with SC2, a lot of them are there because they had the first mover advantage (HuK) or had the chance to develop before (you). This is made worse by the fact that a lot of tournaments are mostly invite-based. how do you think i got that chance to develop? i ignored school and didnt have a social life for 2 years in order to win a tournament and move to korea at 18 to sit in a house and play starcraft1 with 0 return for another 3 years huk played sc2 all day on a shitty computer during the beta when there was no money in it and did everything he could to get to korea and then spent a year+ practicing in a korean house. most a team pros dont make salaries in korea. none of the b teamers do, the bottom of the barrel doesnt get to live in the house, they just get the priviledge of playing with the team if theyre good enough for people to want to practice with them. you have to sacrifice pretty much everything while you're on your way up. koreans are better because hundreds of them are willing to do it, a handful of nonkoreans are.
So pretty hard. Probably the hardest part is the grinding. Like IdrA said, are you willing to give up a year or two of your life with 0 results just to have a chance? And then after that, you still might not see any significant results for years after that?
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Gotta second what Scarecrow said in that it's a lot of hard work with no pay for a long time while you get to that level, so you need a supportive environment. But if you come into a game like SC that's already been evolving for 4-years it's going to be sooooo hard to get to the top level, and even harder to start getting paid. The best chance is to get good at a genre and then when a new title comes out you have your best shot at being one of the best and staying at the front of competition.
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It's not as hard as people make it out to be. It takes dedication. To be the very best, I'm not sure, but to be a professional player isn't as hard as everyone makes it out to be.
To be one of the best at <insert thing here> isn't that hard, so long as you're the type of person that has self discipline to achieve what you desire.
Edit: I'm saying this given the assumption that opportunity is given. Of course if you live in a third world country with no opportunity, then sure it's probably impossible. But we're all here browsing TL so...
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It depends on how you define "hard". Personally, I think having the will to drop everything for a very uncertain profession, and having the will to dedicate your life to it for years is most of the difficulty in becoming a pro gamer...not the game itself.
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On May 26 2014 22:52 CecilSunkure wrote: It's not as hard as people make it out to be. It takes dedication. To be the very best, I'm not sure, but to be a professional player isn't as hard as everyone makes it out to be.
To be one of the best at <insert thing here> isn't that hard, so long as you're the type of person that has self discipline to achieve what you desire.
Edit: I'm saying this given the assumption that opportunity is given. Of course if you live in a third world country with no opportunity, then sure it's probably impossible. But we're all here browsing TL so... How can you say it's not as hard as people make it out to be? Based on what information? I just play for fun and manage to stay at a high masters level, but I watch korean pros and realize just how incredibly far high masters level is from the real pros. to OP : If you've been playing since WoL beta and you're high diamond then don't try to go pro, just don't. Play for the fun of it in your free time and if you get to GM doing that then MAYBE think about putting serious time into the game if that's what you really want, but otherwise you're probably wasting your time.
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