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I know what you mean. I often switch between computers (work/home) where I have a sort-of-the-same-setup, but just different enough to throw me off for an hour after I switch. Due to work, social life, girlfriend, etc, I don't have nearly the time required to play SC2 at a serious level (as someone whose first real RTS is SC2). Often times I'll have a quiet day and play 8 ladder games, at other times I can easily go a week or more without.
Worst is when you are on a winning streak, then quit for a while, then come back. Your MMR will be at a level above your normal one, while your skill will be below it. Fun times;)
Best remedy for me so far has been to play a couple of random 2v2's before I hit the ladder. Sure, the strategies aren't remotely close to what you'd do in a 1v1, but they tend to be very action packed and rush-like. Great warmup + simple strategy and pretty stressless for me - I don't give a damn about r2v2 ranking, neither do most people.
That aside, I'm not a firm believer in the "Don't play if you're not feeling super" attitude. That just leads to finding excuses not to play and even less time spent playing. My attitude has changed to "Learn to play when you aren't feeling super".
Maybe I'll screw up a game or two because of warm up issues or because I'm not that awake, but I *am* getting practice. I *am* getting more experienced, getting stuff just that bit more ingrained than if I hadn't played. I *can* practice that new build I tried learning last week.
Really just comes down to not attaching your ego to your online ranking. People here are prone to do that, and that's really only something you can afford if you happen to:
1) Have a lot of spare time to dedicate to SC2 so you can force yourself to become good,
2) Have a natural talent or lots of experience with RTS games which makes you automatically learn faster,
3) Or happened to become "diamond" (read: current silver league) around launch, when you could still supply block yourself twice during your opening build and be considered a top player.
TL:DR; Don't stress about it, just warm up, play and have fun.
edit: Warming up is actually pretty damn important as well, not just for gameplay performance. If you go into a game with cold hands, then enter a stressful environment where you'll be pressing yourself to win, you will most likely get your arms, shoulders and hands cramped up instead of just playing naturally. Do this too often and you'll have carpal tunnel in no time.
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People have brought up many good points, so I'll just go for one aspect I feel for a lot in your first post.
You said you think the problem is the opening play, that you have too much to think about when you're rusty with all the builds etc, which leads to failure later.
Well, my opinion is that this simply means you have to start using less builds and learn them better. I had very similar problems before, I had so many openings and builds that I had to do everything "by ear" as the game progressed which lead to a lot of errors and problems. Then I decided that I was sick of it and decided to go 14/14 every matchup, every map, and I went for perfection. After enough games, it's just in my spine now, which gives me so much extra mental energy to use on other tasks such as early scouting, cheese defence etc. 14/14 is not optimal for every matchup/map, but knowing one opening/build REALLY well far outweighs the benefits of other openings if you haven't perfected them.
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A good thing for me is to warm up with aibot suchass gt ai. So that my first games isnt a big dissaster
I warm up in team games. I try to do as many things as possible in 4vs4, probably causing my team to lose, but after a 20 minute game I feel good.
You should really practice under all circumstances so that your body can adapt to certain situations. If you want to go into professional gaming or semi, or just want to win tournaments, its best to play under abnormal situations so that when you do feel normal or great, your gaming also intensifies.
That's talking about real practice. The thread is about how to warm up for the day, not for a career.
When i have a break of 2 weeks or so ( i had a break of 6 weeks once ), then i just go and play around 20 - 30 games on NA.
How did you install the NA account? I have both games as well, but I have the problem that SC asks me if i want to delete all my EU data to make room for the NA stuff. Should I make another disk image?
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I know a lot of people warm up with team games, but it doesn't really work for me for some reason. Instead over the summer when I started playing a lot I would play 3 game against the computer, 1 game for each MO, focusing on build order. Usually the first game I would feel rusty, but by the 3 game I would feel pretty good.
Also if you find the ladder to stressful, I would suggest playing custom games, either tournaments or random people from chat channels. Generally people wont cheese, so you can focus more on longer macro games.
How did you install the NA account? I have both games as well, but I have the problem that SC asks me if i want to delete all my EU data to make room for the NA stuff. Should I make another disk image?
There's a program for this, SC2 Relocalizer:
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=283919#4
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On December 20 2011 01:17 DarkCore wrote:
How did you install the NA account? I have both games as well, but I have the problem that SC asks me if i want to delete all my EU data to make room for the NA stuff. Should I make another disk image?
Did you get this warning when trying to install NA? Because you should just click "OK". It won't really erase anything. Only thing that will happen is some data will be shared. But it is harmless.
I have both EU and NA. I would not recommend the relocalizer unless you really, really, want to use a single executable.
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White Ra, the most awesome pro gamer in the world says "More GG, More Skill". The more you lose, the better you get.
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If you really need to warm up before you play, do the multitask training map. 1v1 obs is good but it's not uncommon that you have to wait 30 minutes before you even get to play. The multitask training map however will warm your hands and mind up real quick! (And it's good practice)
It is possible to maintain a high skill level without playing many games. I usually play 20 games over 3 days but then take a break for another month but when I come back I will usually be just as good.
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I lose at this game because I'm fucking terrible.
A thought that 99% of players can never admit to (even pros). Don't be afraid to watch your own replays, ESPECIALLY the ones where you lose. Don't blame the game, blame yourself because I guarantee you there is always micro, macro, and strategy you can be doing better.
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On December 20 2011 01:51 setmeal wrote:
White Ra, the most awesome pro gamer in the world says "More GG, More Skill". The more you lose, the better you get.
I have to completely disagree with White Ra and anyone else that agrees with, "More GG, More Skill".
It should really be, "More good practice, less losing".
You can GG all you want in diamond or whatever league you're in, doesn't mean you get better. If anything you might just stay the same.
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On December 20 2011 02:24 cydial wrote:
I have to completely disagree with White Ra and anyone else that agrees with, "More GG, More Skill".
It should really be, "More good practice, less losing".
You can GG all you want in diamond or whatever league you're in, doesn't mean you get better. If anything you might just stay the same.
Obviously, WhiteRa is not being delusional. It's implied you learn something from your losses.
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Benchmarks!
One of the first things I recommend players do when developing consistency is set what I call "Benchmarks" at various stages in the game. Use these benchmarks to check worker count, army size, supply, map vision, etc. and determine when and in what way your build deviates. So for example, you'd check these things early at like 5-8 minutes, a bit later at 9-12 minutes, and finally in the late game at 15-20 minutes (Three benchmarks is a good rule of thumb). It'll definitely help you pinpoint your problems, and from there it's just a matter of practicing the right things.
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On December 19 2011 13:42 Lebzetu wrote:
Well if you dont have the time to practice, then maybe you are just a casual player only. People that care about this game willl always find time for at least ten games a day (I have school, hours of homework and essays, yet I get 10 games in a day. I just find the time)
So yeah, if you REALLY want to get good, then just find the time to practice. Its hard, I know.
But if you just wanna stay casual, then play when you can.
School = the most free time of your life. Finding time to play 10+ games a day gets harder when you live on your own and work 40+ hours a week.
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On December 20 2011 03:16 DarK[A] wrote:Show nested quote +On December 19 2011 13:42 Lebzetu wrote:
Well if you dont have the time to practice, then maybe you are just a casual player only. People that care about this game willl always find time for at least ten games a day (I have school, hours of homework and essays, yet I get 10 games in a day. I just find the time)
So yeah, if you REALLY want to get good, then just find the time to practice. Its hard, I know.
But if you just wanna stay casual, then play when you can. School = the most free time of your life. Finding time to play 10+ games a day gets harder when you live on your own and work 40+ hours a week.
Honestly it's not all about how much you practice, it's about focusing on the right things. I see players with thousands of games still in the lower divisions, and it's because they don't do important things like checking their replays and making sure their builds are planned, consistent, and able to deal with a variety of styles from your opponent. Practice time is obviously important, you won't make Grand Master practicing one hour a week, but there's no reason someone working 40hrs a week can't continue to improve rapidly with focused, efficient practice time.
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On December 20 2011 03:20 TangSC wrote:Show nested quote +On December 20 2011 03:16 DarK[A] wrote:On December 19 2011 13:42 Lebzetu wrote:
Well if you dont have the time to practice, then maybe you are just a casual player only. People that care about this game willl always find time for at least ten games a day (I have school, hours of homework and essays, yet I get 10 games in a day. I just find the time)
So yeah, if you REALLY want to get good, then just find the time to practice. Its hard, I know.
But if you just wanna stay casual, then play when you can. School = the most free time of your life. Finding time to play 10+ games a day gets harder when you live on your own and work 40+ hours a week. Honestly it's not all about how much you practice, it's about focusing on the right things. I see players with thousands of games still in the lower divisions, and it's because they don't do important things like checking their replays and making sure their builds are planned, consistent, and able to deal with a variety of styles from your opponent. Practice time is obviously important, you won't make Grand Master practicing one hour a week, but there's no reason someone working 40hrs a week can't continue to improve rapidly with focused, efficient practice time.
Oh yes, of course. However, more practice (the right way) means tighter timings and more polished execution - which in my eyes leads to more "free time" for the mind and hands to do other things. I don't really see any way I can improve at all on my early game when I play 14/14 besides a) splitting my drones 2-2-2 or individually, b) scouting more frequently, and c) microing my army more. I still manage to lose to high gold players because of these things. My inject cycles are (for most of the game, let alone early game) finishing with my queens only having like 23 energy so I wait a second or two to inject again.
That's another thing. It takes a little bit more than making workers, not getting supply blocked, and a-moving your army to the back of your opponents mineral line to make diamond these days. It's not season 1 any more. But that's another story for another post =P
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actually this strat is a little bit outdated because u dont have anything agasint colossi as u said because of the nerf.
so in these days people tend to play like roach ling infestors +spire(when u see any colossi immediately make 4 corruptors then +2 for any additional colo, and as ur strat go into tier 3 asap)(but not on 3 base, when u put ur third hatch immediately make macro hatch and when ur 3rd saturated immeditaly make ur 4th and 5th hatch- basic strat-)
ur main purpose is to deny his 3rd, if u cannot then take 4and 5 immediately and play deffencively to make t3 10brood 10 queenish like army 
you should study on timigs a little bit because when he has like 160ish like army and u still on roach ling infestor it is useles.. gl hf
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On December 19 2011 09:48 Mesha wrote:
I think that problem comes from the fact that we all have our best performance as a reference point to our play. And then you create this incredible tension that usually results in total tilt and loosing streaks. I peak as a high diamond but then i stop enjoying the game cos i constant hit master level players and every game you have to give your best. I hate that! I want to have fun i don't want to constantly be on my best game in order to win.
That's why i started taking my average or lesser performance as a reference point to my game and that is where i want to be on the ladder. I play games for fun, don't warm up, play weird strategies, have fun and that way i win some loose some and i am happy where i am. Don't care any more about streaks because i know if i push really hard i can get my peak performance back but i really don't want to do that anymore.
Long story short - i wouldn't advice anything to minimize fluctuation in your skill - just take it as a fact and enjoy your high roll days and don't give a shit about your bad days. After all, your skill depends on practice - how can you expect to perform like someone constantly playing - it is just not possible. This is more my opinion than any kind of advice for your question. gl
Actually for me its not fun when im not trying my best(What would be the practice for then huh? Challenge is fun).. Starcraft was and is in general about skill and improvement if thats not what you enjoy then youre playing wrong game
As far as the OP goes just join/create either The shattered temple or Xelnaga Caverns and use "Open to public" There is almost instantly an opponent for you.. Alot of times you will hit masters players there also.. I do it everytime as a warmup to get my macro where i want it
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I run into this problem all the time as well. When I come back from time off, I've lost some of the internalized processes that govern my play, so I can macro well and perform my build on point, but I have to think actively about doing it, which takes away from my reactive effectiveness. In order to deal with this problem, I like to isolate variables in my play upon returning from an absence. The number of variables and mechanics to juggle in a long macro game is astronomically more than early play, so for my first game or two back from a break, I pick an aggressive early build order and concentrate on the mechanics of executing it. By being the aggressor, it's so much easier to dictate the pace of the game and limit the opponent to strategies you've prepared for. Also, the free scouting almost forces you to respond correctly to tech plays.
Then once you're more comfortable with the feel of starcraft, you can transition into longer reactive plays. A good example of this: My normal play versus an FFE toss is an early third base and then thin roach/ling/infestor or spore/queen timings to hold off gateway and stargate pressure. When I'm out of practice, holding off these attacks usually causes my macro mechanics to slip while I'm microing the engagements. So instead, for the first couple games if I scout an FFE, I'll do a roach ling all-in in order to focus on macro/micro mechanics within a very simple build order.
This is a good way to 'warm up' within the context of the ladder if you don't want to spend 20 minutes warming up for 40 minutes of play.
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I have a similar problem. Recently I got busy with life and couldn't play at all for 3 months. Now I'm getting stomped left and right by players that I know are horrible, because I've forgotten all my builds and my macro went to shit.
The only answer I know of is to work your way back to where you were the hard way.
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Same issue, i can beat high plat - diamond, but if i take like 3 days off i start back at high gold level, idk whats wrong with me.
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Well, I have this problem, and my philosophy is that some people are just way better at coming back than others.
This is not only my experience in Starcraft, but also among other sports I play: tennis, golf, etc... I take a break and woah it takes me 3-4 days to get back in the groove.
However, my friends can not play for a few weeks and can come back almost at the same skill level for these things. Even a few months and they aren't in too bad of shape.
Right now I feel like I just have to keep playing and then I will improve.
Normally I only play on weekends and saturdays are total blow up days and then I win 75% of my games on sunday, and sort of come back to where I started.
Trying to find a way to combat this problem so I can improve is also what I am looking for, but I personally think the only solution for me is to practice most of the week, which I cannot do.
On the weeks I do watch games, watch dailies, streams, etc... but still my mechanics start of on saturday much worse, although my strategy and game sense are still there.
For people that can play only the weekends and come back at the same skill level, I guess you are just way better at getting back in the groove than me.
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EPT
