Being older, it's not about the mental aspect, or reflexes,it's about having just a few hours a week to practice. That's the determining factor. I'm platinum 500 player, but can't practice enough to get anywhere else basically on a couple hours of week practice.

Love the game though.

Bluedraqy

Denmark496 Posts

August 18 2010 14:35 GMT

#63

I agree that age has it's impact on performing well in Starcraft 2, but I think people are making it a larger deal than necessary :b
I really respect ''older'' people for playing Starcraft and Starcraft 2, hell, even the entire E-sports scene, I think it's cool to meet mature people who still games.
I am 15 atm, I am kinda surprised to see myself at half the age of most people here :b

GagnarTheUnruly

United States655 Posts

August 18 2010 14:47 GMT

#64

I'm in my late 20's, which I guess makes me old for SC2. My APM is not as high as it used to be, but I think the main problem with age is that you gain responsibilities and lose practice time.

Jubeebee

United States13 Posts

August 18 2010 14:49 GMT

#65

I guess 26 isn't that old, but I have definitely slowed down as far as APM goes from my WC3 peak way back before they screwed the ladder system. I used to average about 160 APM, my current average in SC2 is less than half that.

However, perhaps because of that prior RTS knowledge, it's taken me a much shorter time to go from horrible to decent in SC2 than it did in WC3, and I suspect the jump from decent to good will be similarly shortened. So age does have some benefits as far as grasping the overall game goes, even if it does cause micro to suffer.

cHuT.LoL

United States34 Posts

August 18 2010 15:00 GMT

#66

I feel that reflex is not the issue with getting older. I think the reason young people tend to dominate anything is that the body can no longer handle the physical stress of the extreme practice that young people can put in. In video games, it's carpal tunnel for sure. I started travelling around to tournaments when I was 13 and could play constantly. Now that I'm 23, I still go to tournaments all the time, but I need to take breaks between rounds/casuals because my wrists start to kill me if I push them too long/hard.

Back to the subject of reflexes, I really don't believe you slow down for a VERY long time as long as you keep in practice. Some of the people I continue to play with continue to place at the top of tournaments and have absurd reaction times. When we all do those reaction-time testers, I average around 160-170 ms. These 35 year old players I play with make me look like the old man because they pull 140-150ms. Unbelievably fast, and their hard work and practice and experience continues to allow them to stay at or near the top.

In conclusion, I don't think that young people have any sort of real advantage over older players. I believe that older players really just need to adapt their practice/gameplay to their strengths and physical limitations, without trying to do everything the same as they did when they were 16. All of this "I'm in my mid 20's, I can't compete anymore" is complete BS and makes no sense. I really believe you have to be at least in your 40's to really start to notice any sort of decline.

EDIT: Also just wanted to add that in most games, reflex is overrated anyway. Experience, game sense/knowledge, and mechanics (usually more timing based than reflex based) are vastly more important than reflex.

Cofo

United States1388 Posts

August 18 2010 15:04 GMT

#67

As long as you're coordinated, you have to be pretty dang old for age to have a noticeable difference in game performance. White-ra is 30 and has been doing quite nicely for himself.

Motion

Germany183 Posts

August 18 2010 15:14 GMT

#68

27 and i'm a shoutcaster :D

we have an clan "http://www.gentle-nerds.com"
you are welcome ;D

Iron_

United States389 Posts

August 18 2010 16:37 GMT

#69

As many people have mentioned, practice time is the biggest limiting factor for players that are knee deep into "real life".

I am 32, I was a pro age series player, and was undeafeated in AOM for a few months until I retired. I had to stop completely because I started "real life" and could only play here and there, which caused my play to suffer.

Speed is not an issue, I am as fast as I need to be for SC2, and I get faster as I learn the game more and get my "system" of hotkeys down. Its really things like work, fiance, social life, etc that eat into my time to watch records and practice. I am 600+ diamond at this time and strive to be one of the best, but I understand this will not happen. Being very good will just have to suffice.

RxN

United States255 Posts

August 18 2010 16:42 GMT

#70

Baseball players can connect a bat to a 95 mph fastball well into their 30s but some guys in their 20s believe their reflexes have fallen to the point that it's noticeably affecting their ability to play Starcraft? Seriously doubt that.

Random()

Kyrgyz Republic1462 Posts

August 18 2010 16:58 GMT

#71

I am 26 and see no problems with aging. I am neither worse nor better (at SC and Quake) than I used to be 7-8 years earlier, and so are my friends, some of whom are 30.

The only thing that I don't understand is why I suck so much at Counter-Strike these days, I used to be decent in 2003 or so

WickedBit

United States343 Posts

August 18 2010 17:14 GMT

#72

I am 31 and the biggest problem,like most people mentioned, is getting sufficient playtime.
Its usually around an hour a day at best which just leaves time for laddering a bit. There is not sufficient time to practice BOs, watch replays etc. Real games are practice

. This is where the new macro mechanics help out since you need not have the amount of practice you needed in BW to get solid openings.
Still have managed to be placed in a diamond league with ~440 ELO.

Kinslayer

United States129 Posts

August 18 2010 17:27 GMT

#73

I am 33 and am enjoying my time with SC2 so far. It is true though, it's the lack of time that is the #1 inhibitor to getting better. Job/wife/kids take a lot of your time.

Best part about being an older gamer though? You get to enjoy your hobby quite a bit more! I love being able to buy whatever games, hardware, etc I want when they come out. Well... up to what my budget allows of course, but with a job and all, it's not as restricting as it used to be.

So yeah... my advice to the younger gamers, focus on getting a good job now first and foremost. Then you can have a good income stream (economy!) that allows you to really enjoy gaming even more. i.e. do an economy based build order for your life vs an aggressive quick attack one

rredtooth

5459 Posts

August 18 2010 17:29 GMT

#74

i lost an arm in 'nam.

vesicular

United States1310 Posts

August 18 2010 17:41 GMT

#75

Define old. The guys I play SC2 with were playing games during the Carter administration. Most of us are over 40.

If you're under 30 you're not old, sorry.

Calidus

150 Posts

August 18 2010 17:44 GMT

#76

Eye sight would be the main thing that i think would start to physically inhabit game play with age. I am only 22, and after a day of programming at work, it is difficult to play any pc game let alone sc2.

EccoEcco

United States61 Posts

August 18 2010 17:54 GMT

#77

I'm 31, played BW in college, and find SCII to be quite approachable.

Its a lot harder for me to generate APM, but my feeling is that I have an edge in game sense, quick analysis, study and parsing and applying strategic concepts that let me make the most of my limited playtime and weaker tactical execution. As people approach middle age they may not learn new skills as easily, but the rate at which they process information speeds way up.

The real trick is that being married with a fulltime job and a child on the way cuts my ability to spend the kind of time practicing that I'd really like to.

Chizambers

United States126 Posts

August 18 2010 18:27 GMT

#78

I'm 29, and don't have any problems with micro. I have been a heavy gamer my whole life though, so pushing buttons quickly is second nature to me. My APM is only around 50 though, but it's probably more due to the face that I don't really spam actions at all. I'm #2 Platinum leaguer, and really beat most low Diamonds I play against. Only the very top tier players really make me feel like I'm at a disadvantage.

Terranist

United States2496 Posts

August 18 2010 18:33 GMT

#79

i'm curious if the apm difference between the younger and older (30+) players has more to do with hand speed decline or inability to develop the same type of muscle memory.

Dissolute

United Kingdom12 Posts

August 18 2010 18:39 GMT

#80

36 here, Plat but have only 7 ladder games so far due to RL etc.(5 being placement to plat) I feel I belong in plat from the games I have played so far, my apm ave is probably around 60-90 or so, mainly just because I don't have the played time to learn all the hotkeys yet I think is my biggest draw back. Having a wife, 2 children and one full time and one part time job makes time for me rather difficult