Starcraft is so mentally taxing to me - Page 7

vengee

Canada52 Posts

July 17 2010 21:13 GMT

#121

Just keep plugging away. If you need a break go ahead and take one. No sense in wearing yourself out to the point where you don't want to play anymore.

holy_war

United States3590 Posts

July 17 2010 21:16 GMT

#122

I usually play 5-6 games in a row, especially if I lost a few games. But I think it is better to just step away for a while and clear your mind every hour or so and relax a bit instead of going 3-4 hours in a row without a break.

HubertFelix

France631 Posts

July 17 2010 21:25 GMT

#123

If you are new to RTS, you have to know that once sc2 is released, there will be a bunch of people at your lvl.

Keep in mind it was the beta and that most people played rts a lot.

Obscure

United States272 Posts

July 17 2010 21:26 GMT

#124

This is just a general thought not necessarily directed at the OP, but personally I think a lot of people are putting too much pressure on themselves to perform at a high level. There seems to be unrealistic expectations set on everyone because of SC2 being the next big thing in eSports and how BW has such a celebrated history. There have already been countless tournaments and of course top players streaming on a daily basis along with Day9 and his dailies. The average player absorbs all of this and says "hey, I can and should be able to do that" but end up not being able to replicate that kind of success and it can stress them out.

I say just play and let things happen naturally, win or lose. If you can't spam games because it's mentally taxing, then don't. Eventually the game will be hardwired into you to the point that a lot of actions won't need thought anymore. But the important thing is to not have unrealistic expectations (you probably won't ever be a progamer, sorry

) and treat SC2 as a game and not a job.

Kpyolysis32

553 Posts

July 17 2010 21:40 GMT

#125

Try listening to classical music while you play, it actually helps a lot. It's the only way that I can even get through entire games of PvZ without doing something stupid to try and end it immediately right now; they're just so stressful for me. It used to be that way for me in every match-up, but now my PvT and my PvP (as long as he doesn't make anything from a Stargate; if he does then it's iPod time) are fairly comfortable and I feel okay massing them. I'll share with you what I think helped me unwind during them:

I think that going into every game with a really good plan helps a lot, because you don't need to spend as much mental energy on the basics of what you'll do, just adapting and making sure you don't slip up in your macro. I can run through my PvP and PvT strategies pretty effortlessly now until something forces me to deviate, and I think the fact that I can't with my PvZ I think is a gigantic part of why it is so uncomfortable.

Also, raising your APM even just a little can help a lot, I got mine about 30 higher and that made my PvP sane pretty much on its own; I could macro without having to constantly worry about being ready to forcefield at my choke, because I was able to jump over there and do it quickly enough without babysitting it. Maybe drop the replay watching just for about a week- it took me about 20 hours of just playing and focusing on my hands to get my APM 30 higher (I, being ever obsessive, did it all in one day, but I wouldn't advise that. It actually took me a fair bit of Advil to do it =P).

Powster

United States650 Posts

July 17 2010 22:43 GMT

#126

I dont get bothered at all by playing.. its relaxing especially if I decide to listen to music.. When I used to play heroes of newerth though.. thats a different story. 2 games of HoN and I get such a huge headache that I cant play for hours.. I think its because I had retarded team mates doing such bad things which is why I play SC2 now.. 1vs1 no team mates.

xmo

United States60 Posts

July 17 2010 23:02 GMT

#127

On July 17 2010 14:48 ImSkeptical wrote:
From day9 and gretorp, having small goals not directly about winning, such as these few games im not going to get supply capped, or have my creep expanded to my 3rd before i expand there. Also dedicating a certain specific amount of time to starcraft, and leaving it unambiguous, such as from 3-6 im going to play starcraft solidly, save all the replays and watch them all at a 8-9.

Ugh, that sounds almost like...work.

To each his own, I guess.

Tiptup

United States133 Posts

July 17 2010 23:09 GMT

#128

I totally understand and feel the original post's complaint. Thinking about it, however, makes me wonder if I should.

Coming at the game knowing too much has the danger of making your standards too high. You can't play StarCraft thinking you need to force everything you know into something you actually do. I'd imagine the best players primarily play on instinct and reflex. Attempting to win games through an obsessive awareness of what you "need" would, therefore, get in the way of that. Don't get me wrong, though, yes, being aware of what you need is good, but not at the expense of a mind that remains comfortable and flexible.

I'd suggest that you have your goals, but don't beat up on yourself when you fail. The more you try to win by obsessively controlling what you're thinking about, the more you're going in the wrong direction (and you'll feel fatigued). At some point you need to learn the game unconsciously. I know that the design of battle.net and the stupid opinions of many in the community don't particularly help us to feel comfortable enough to do that, but if your confidence is primarily coming from how well you meet an external list of "dos" and "don'ts" then the bulk of your confidence is coming from the wrong place.

Felshen

United States11 Posts

July 17 2010 23:38 GMT

#129

I usually take a break after two or three games, because I agree it can be pretty taxing and sometimes stressful. Unlike the OP though, I can't play FPS games for long periods of time either. The only game I can enjoy for large chunks of time at once is WoW if I'm questing or doing 5 man dungeons, because it's more relaxed. SC2 and TF2 are two games that I enjoy a lot, but I just can't play them for long.

Melt

Switzerland281 Posts

July 17 2010 23:40 GMT

#130

If you play a lot most of it switches to routine, so you don't have to concentrate on it.

BOOWOO

United States83 Posts

July 18 2010 01:00 GMT

#131

I'm right with you OP. Today I planned on playing for a few hours, but my first game was a 1 hour 20 minute grind against a Terran on Desert Oasis. I ended up having to mine out the remenents of every base on the map to build up an army of Void Rays big enough to break his turret line on one of the islands.

After that, I had to go outside to the pool and relax for a few hours. That game took every ounce of my focus.

I can play FPS game all night no problem, but Starcraft is just so nerve racking in comparison because of everything that you have to worry about all at once all game long. If the games last like 15-30 minutes, I can play all night. But grinds against a turtling Terran generally exhaust me to the point where I just don't have the energy to play anymore.

peachsncream

United States289 Posts

July 18 2010 01:05 GMT

#132

i felt sorta the same, and then i switched to 6-pooling, 40 games, the longest one being 4:15 (6 loses t-5 p-1 z-0) If any1 needs tips pm me ( don't do 6pools on maps that will be 100% scouted too soon

men1kmati

United States165 Posts

July 18 2010 01:08 GMT

#133

wow you sound exactly like me. Even the cs 1.6 parts xD

USn

United States376 Posts

July 18 2010 01:12 GMT

#134

To be honest, if you'd been playing harder games than tf2 and cs, you probably wouldn't have found it all so overwhelming.

ELA

Denmark4608 Posts

July 18 2010 01:34 GMT

#135

I don't know if you can use this, but what worked for me was, that I made a plan of what I was going to train, just focusing on a single race and a single build order and just try and make it work..

I think watching streams and dailies are good for alot of things, but ultimately, I think it removes peoples focus on their own play meaning alot of people want to try out a lot of different strategies in a short period of time, instead of making something work for them selves.. Once I came to realize, that I couldn't just do a TLO and make stuff up as I go and focused on practicing my own builds, it became alot easier to 'grind' games..

OverSight

United States104 Posts

July 18 2010 01:36 GMT

#136

Be sure you sleep enough and drink plenty of water. Both of those have a big impact on my 1v1 capability. Sometimes ill even go to sleep earlier and ladder in the morning before the work because it helps my game so much.

Meepman

Canada610 Posts

July 18 2010 01:37 GMT

#137

I feel your pain. Something for me that worked though, was listening to music. I can now play maybe 7 or 8 games in a row compared to the 2 or 3 I was playing earlier. Give it a shot!

GHOSTCLAW

United States17042 Posts

July 18 2010 01:45 GMT

#138

I feel like in order to get a handle on the game, you really need to be able to get many of those tasks automatic - In other words, it's just practice. Macro cycles turn into something that you can just remember to do, and your thoughts turn from the mechanics of moving your army, building it, and positioning it properly towards making the correct decisions in the game about timings and mindgames.

That being said, I still get tired after about 2-3 hours of play, and just need a rest as I can usually feel my play deteriorating >.>

Sushbag

United States10 Posts

July 18 2010 02:20 GMT

#139

On July 18 2010 10:12 USn wrote:
To be honest, if you'd been playing harder games than tf2 and cs, you probably wouldn't have found it all so overwhelming.

Alright, not only is this not helping anyone but it's just ignorant nonsense. If you think CS isn't hard to master, if you think TF2 doesn't have tons of nuance, why are you even posting on this forum? I think you need at least a basic understanding of online video games to consider posting in a thread where a guy is asking for advice about mental strain over one.