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On July 10 2010 14:42 sev1 wrote:
Man, I thought I was the only one that had this irrational hesitance... I watch so many replays and VODs, constantly thinking to myself exactly what the next move should be, following the strats of these amazing players and even predicting what they'll do next with pretty good accuracy. But when I'm finally looking at the queue screen, I just feel this need to go do something else, or to go watch more replays, because I'm *just not ready yet*. It might also be that I've had exceptionally good win/loss ratios so far, mostly from fighting sub-par players in Plat/Diamond, and I'm afraid to spoil it. Completely stupid since it's all getting reset in two weeks anyways.
This thread gave me a pretty big sigh of relief though. Looks like I'm just going to have to power games until I finally get over this.
I always feel this way when I start a new game... for example when I just picked up quake I would basically only play vs my friends, because I just didn't feel ready to jump into games with random people. I didn't want to lose to people who even I, as somebody who had never touched the game before, could see were bad.
Truth is this is fine for a while, you need to get your basics up a little or you won't feel comfortable playing anyone. In QL I now prefer to join servers the matchmaking considers one rank above mine.
People only enjoy a challenge when it's proportionate to their skill - something game designers understand intimately. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi graphs the general principle as follows:
![[image loading]](http://dougbelshaw.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/flow_graph.jpg)
When challenge is proportionate to skill, you enter a state of 'flow' where the experience isn't marred by anxiety or boredom. As a player (A1) improves in skill he may reach A2 where the experience is boring due to his superior ability. Eventually he will either quit or seek greater challenges and re-enter the state of flow at A4. A3 represents the converse, where the player becomes anxious because the challenges are too great, and again either searches for an appropriate marriage of skill and difficulty or quits.
This neglects the area at the beginning I just mentioned, where a certain type of person really doesn't want to be challenged to any degree because they have virtually no skills and are afraid of humiliation. I think it's an effect generally under-appreciated by designers of multi-player games. It's a pretty big issue too... how many people who really developed a long term love of a competitive game started out just messing around with their terrible friends and relatives? Almost all of them I bet.
Whatever you find effective training, that'll help reduce the fear, because as previously mentioned loss of control is what produces it. Think about it, you are running really no risks at all if you jump into an online game... and yet you're terrified! Once you build up a decent floor of skill, I promise you it'll go away... one way or another you just have to jump past the hurdle, whether by playing only friends and then gradually moving to skilled people or forcing yourself to play even if it produces anxiety at first or whatever.
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Haha I used to get really nervous when I played BW with my friends like my knees would shake and stuff cuz of the pressure to win! But not anymore! You just have to play more and remember..... its just a game. well sc2 is. BW is more than a game ;D
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I used to have the kind of massive problems people are describing in this thread, particularly back when I was playing War3 when it was fairly new. Most of it is probably fear of losing and/or cognitive dissonance caused by expecting yourself to win and then failing. I'd imagine most people on this site are highly competitive by nature (I certainly am), and really hate losing. I think one of the biggest things that helped me get over it was shifting my mentality about my own play, partially through watching vods and such, from "I'm a pretty decent player, I should be winning a lot" to "I'm trash, trying to learn, and deserve whatever I get." Remind yourself you aren't a pro and focus on improving, not winning. I still go on tilt sometimes if I lose several games in a row, but I can recognize it, walk away for a little bit, and come back fine.
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I used to. It mostly comes from the anxiety of not knowing what your opponents are doing. Once you get used to how the game flows and scout a lot it goes away.
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Wow I cant believe how many of these kinds of threads there are... Literally there was one about every 2 weeks in beta, and now that beta is back they've started again.
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Sure I have this.
First experienced it in World of Warcraft raids when I started tanking, felt like such a burden.
And now with SCII it's totally back, I used to not play because I was afraid to lose, even in the Bronze league. But at some point I was ''like @#$% it!''. It really isn't worth it to get all worked up about it. Building confidence for this sort of thing comes with experience. So I just sacked a whole lot of games in order to get better and when they changed the league system I ended up in Platinum.
Needless to say that made it come back. But whatever, I'll just sack a few games more.
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If you think about it, you really don't have much to lose. So what if you drop from platinum league? If you keep playing, you will eventually get back up to platinum, and during that time you will be much better than before. The world won't stop when you lose, I guarantee it.
Nada did say something along the lines, "I hate losing but I do not fear it." Learn from your losses and you will gain confidence through experience.
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I don't know what it is about RTS's that does that. I'm 27 years old and have played multiplayer games since the dawn of time and for some reason I can't even open up the beta sometimes because it just stresses me out. Especially if I've had a stressful day its even worse. I don't know if its part of getting older or what but lately I don't even like watching stressful TV shows or movies anymore. However RTS's are the worst, I can fire up some 1v1's in quake live and feel totally normal but SC really gets to me.
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When I played War3 (ROC) beta, I had about a 60% win ratio over several hundred 1v1 games. However, there were a ton of good players in the beta, so I never felt bad losing. When retail hit, I maintained a 90%+ win ratio for my first 200 games... Due to all the new players, and the way the ladder system worked (ie. it didn't really pair you up with equally skilled players until much later), and my experience in the beta, it was simple to just murder most players. Then I started slacking a bit and wasn't adapting to players getting better... After that, it became so difficult for me to lose. I think my first 1v1 loss didn't come until like 45-0 or so. Having such a "nice record" that I didn't want to "ruin" really made me feel vain, and I just couldn't handle losing.
In SC2, I'm not doing too bad now with my vanity, because I am playing similarly skilled players within 5-6 games. However, I find that after I'm placed into a league (after each of the resets in phase 1), I win my next 10+ games and get a "nice record" again, and then I kind of want to stop playing. 
At least, I've only ever gone through my placements perfectly once, so I feel the desire to "work my way up" into diamond... I went 3-2 in phase 2 though, hehe... In gold league. :/
However, I find it hard to maintain a desire to become "really good" at this game... I guess it's just part of continuing to grow up, despite being 25!
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it's easier to play more when you don't get emotionally involved with the results
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im the same way, you know that pros will go from one game to the next no sweat, but we have to finish a game, take some time to absorb the game then start the next one. If you lose, you feel frustrated and you want to chill for a couple minutes, if you win, you want to appreciate it and enjoy it before starting a new one. im posting this now on me 'break' after a satisfying win lol
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Definitely get nervous here. If it's with people I don't know, I just start freezing up, and forgetting things. Trying to get over it, but it's a long journey, some of the advice that people have mentioned is helpful though!
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the only time ive felt nervous in sc2 was when i first played again in phase2.. cause i knew my skill was rusty and my BO was all over the place. I calm down now before matches and stay serious until its over. a small stretch and a deep breath are always taken before each match. ;x
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used to be like that, especially in wc3, but it goes away. now that i'm doing pretty well, i'm never scared :D
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On July 10 2010 15:51 guitarizt wrote:
it's easier to play more when you don't get emotionally involved with the results
Absolutely. Back in the day I used to get so emotionally involved with them that I'd hesitate to play a game because I'd be afraid to mar my perfect record (despite the fact that it was 0-0). Now not so much 
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I feel like this a lot as well. Though, reading this thread I now realize that my opponent probably feels like this as well. So that helps a lot actually :D
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Wow, I'm surprised to see so many people in the same boat. Whew, now I don't feel like a weirdo by being so nervous from playing StarCraft. Great to see so many replies; now I know that my opponents probably feel the same!
I definitely have to agree with that this is mostly coming from a fear of losing, and what USn posted, about fear arising because of being unable to control the situation. Guess I should start really thinking about how to play the game to be able to handle different situations, rather than just playing. I also like DM20's idea: think of your opponent as someone you're trying to impress. That'll create a sense of motivation and optimism, rather than totally focusing on kicking your opponent's ass and earning the right to rub it in their face or something.
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IT'S JUST A GAME !
Enjoy it.
Games shouldn't make you overly nervous or angst ridden... they are here to entertain you and make you relax somewhat
Losing in a computer game is not the end of the world... often you learn from your mistakes
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I dont know about you guys. But my hands shake during AND after the games. I probably get the same amount of adrenaline rush as a sky diver. It's the reason why I play Starcraft 2
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On July 10 2010 17:18 AzN_Xin wrote:I dont know about you guys. But my hands shake during AND after the games. I probably get the same amount of adrenaline rush as a sky diver. It's the reason why I play Starcraft 2
I used to not be able to play properly because I shook so bad
After a season on iccup this went away
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EPT
