Hey guys, I've heard different opinions on this so I would like to have yours as well. I've heard people say that in order to be good at sc2, you need to be a certain age, what I have heard is 15-30 but idk.
Is that I am 13, and still silver after like 2 months a coincidence?
I have heard people say that since im younger, my hand-eye isnt as good, I cant make decisions as well, etc. Therefore making my chances of getting out of low leagues extreamly difficult.
Do you agree with this? Would it be better for younger people like me to quit sc2 for now, because we arent gonna get any better till we are older?
There are master league players your age, and terrible players who are much older. One could argue that in your young age it is easier to develop the skill-set, and that playing through puberty will facilitate a rapid increase in your skills. Note then when you are 13, generally there is a lot less bullshit to deal with, so you should be able to play more. When I played CS 1.6 at that age, I was much less intelligent relative to now, but superior in terms of mechanical speed.
keep playing and you will improve. I can't say that age is really a factor. Some people are 20 and are silver league. And there are other players najzmaj for example who is 12 and in master league. Therefore you can definately get to any league you want and just keep practicing.
You know what would be great, a poll for each individual league asking what age you are. No joke man, the time is ripe for a survey. Take control of this situation and let's set us up a poll!
Not at all. Flash was playing at your age. There are chess grandmasters that are your age. You are still young so you can mold your brain with SC2 better than a person who's older than you. You may not have the critical thinking of a 25 year old, but you have calculating power and tons of room for potential.
Hey man, honestly when you're as young as you are, just pick something you have fun doing. If you like playing sc2, play the shit out of it! Don't worry about being good at it because anything you start doing at your age, and stick with, you will be VERY, VERY good at it later on. Try not to put pressure on yourself to be good at something. As long as you like doing it, that really and truly is the only thing that counts right now!
If you enjoy improving at SC2 then that's great too! What you should be thinking about is different ways you could improve or things you know you aren't as good at. If you like getting better at things, then keep trying to get better at them. Just don't worry about how good you are, because it doesn't matter at all right now.
You might not be able to reach GM at age 13, but someone who starts playing at 13 has an arguably greater long term potential than someone who starts playing at 18.
I was a pro FPS player when i was 11 so no I don't think it matters. Just practice, watch streams/VOD, and watch replays when you lose to figure out your errors and you will improve rapidly. You technically have an advantage as time goes on because you can develop some nasty muscle memory.
On June 05 2012 07:16 Fetchystick wrote: You know what would be great, a poll for each individual league asking what age you are. No joke man, the time is ripe for a survey. Take control of this situation and let's set us up a poll!
Do you agree with this? Would it be better for younger people like me to quit sc2 for now, because we arent gonna get any better till we are older?
just because you may or may not have a disadvantage for being young doesnt mean you wont get any better until you are older. if you practice seriously, you will see improvement no matter how young you are.
also being silver after 2 months of playing isnt bad by any means. people get better at different rates, and as long as you keep practicing, theres no definite reason you wont continue to improve over time.
Coincidene? I don't know for sure but I'm gonna say no just because Stephano was pretty damn good at war3 when he was 12-14 years old (I don't remember exact age).
Would it be better for you to quit? How would we know? Do what you want, don't come to TL and ask if it's ok for you to play or not, lol.
On June 05 2012 07:16 -Switch- wrote: keep playing and you will improve. I can't say that age is really a factor. Some people are 20 and are silver league. And there are other players najzmaj for example who is 12 and in master league. Therefore you can definately get to any league you want and just keep practicing.
He got coaching from CatZ, so I don't think it's the same thing.
On June 05 2012 07:15 LeeDawg wrote: Creatorprime and maruprime are both 15.
age is irrelevant
the only thing that matters is how much work you put in
yep... decision making because your young is a poor argument... You can learn it. You dont need previous life experiences to say spending all those resources on a specific plan was a bad idea. Just need to learn from your mistakes and get it together. The age factor only comes in with learning the ability to learn what works best for you, but that can be learned at any age.
I won my first tournament around 18 years ago and started competing in 1993... I am 25 now.
There is a 11year old master player in my devision in masters so it doesn't matter how old you are. You can play video games from 1 to 99 doesn't matter how old you are. You will improve by practicing so i think starting early is good.
Turned 14 for not so long ago, placed high diamond on EU and high masters on NA (ikr ^^). If you keep playing you will become better, doesnt matter how old you are. Since were young we dont have as much shit as other people do so we got more time to practice and become better...
I actually do think that age plays a major factor. I was first introduced to SC1 when I was 5. I was terrible, and I do feel like I have been getting better and better mostly just due to my brain development.
Age is not completely irrelevant. Both sides of the spectrum have their advantages and disadvantages, all of which can be overcome but to varying degrees.
For instance: WhiteRa, Nestea, and Boxer are all older players; All amazing tacticians and strategists. This is most likely NOT a coincidence, their more expansive knowledge base/experiences helps them make better decisions. On the opposite end, you have a youngster who most likely has a fresh perspective, untapped potential, and can from an early age start to shape and hone his skills and knowledge for SC2/a specific purpose.
There is a reason why Masters train apprentices; If you can teach someone much younger than you, your knowledge, experience, and skills they can already be where you were much earlier, and from there; become much more than your Master was. Young people have a much larger advantage in a grand scope of things. My advice: Keep playing, because I wish I could start playing SC2 at Age 13.
Age doesn't matter, I started when I had just turned 14 and within 3 months I was at diamond level and then another 4 months of on and off play masters. All I did was continue to play and watch tones because if your at such a young age I found that watching was the best way to learn!
People are affected by the environment they are in, and their age effects the environment they live in.
Also you could say genes are part of it.
But you cannot say that 13 = silver, 14 = gold, 15 = platinum, etc. That's just dumb.
Just put work and practice into it. If you get no where, maybe you are just not good at games/starcraft. If you're really good, maybe you got what it takes to become pro.
I was playing SC1 when it first came out; i was 3 at the time, and I was playing WC2 when I was 2. Give someone who is not tech-savvy, and is 80 years old... I would probably be better than them.
Even if there is a direct correlation with age with skill/league/MMR for a certain age range, it is limited to that range only.
If anything now would be the best time to get into e-sports, I come from counter-strike 1.6 back when e-sports in general was in it's infacny, I would say now its going through puberty and is going to be a young adult in terms of the industry and oppurtunities that lay there within.
You need to realize that almost all of the players who are professionals now are older, as e-sports grow as we draw in more mainstream sponsors as MLG and other leagues and organizations build and become more profitable and resilient the infastructure around gaming will grow.
Aside from that, I would point to the EG house, complexity house.. these are things that back in 2004-2006 before CGS came and grabbed all of our legends and sucked our community dry were never possible. You as a young person have an amazing oppurtunity to actually make a living or go somewhere with e-sports that people from the older generation like myself did not have. The timing was just not right and we grew up and moved on.
You are LITERALLY going to see e-sports explode if we continue on this trajectory and become a main staple of society and culture something you could really strive for and have it be a good chance of happening, This community and all games that fall within "e-sports" are totally DEPENDANT upon young players like yourself, for every 1,000 that burn out or find other hobbies and interest the few that stick with it will be pillars of the community in the future.
I think it is entirely possible that children who are in your age bracket could grow up in a society where gaming is not only accepted as a mainstream sport and spectator friendly event but also something that people who aren't "professional" i.e semi-professional and amatuers could make a living at and I must say with lot's of envy that is a very exciting prospect.
If I truly had a oppurtunity that you do with as e-sports I might have very well skipped on college and kept training to see how far I could have gone.
I don't know how passionate you are about e-sports or if it is something you might envision yourself being apart of in the long term but I would suggest very highly to immerse yourself in the community as much as you can, listen to podcasts here are a few that I am sure the majority of the people here listen to and watch on at least a semi-regular basis and for the ones who do not well.. now you know.
onemoregame.tv / Live on Three / Inside the Game
State of the game which you can find easily enough on this website.
Real talk with JP McDaniel just started I would REALLY suggest listening to not only eg.incontrol and eg.idra but 100 percent must listen to the 2GD interview, it was pretty much spectacular and amazing in everyway.
Aside from that I would say do not get discouraged by people who might cite your youth as a disadvantage on the contrary it is a HUGE advantage and even if you have no aspirations of becoming a professional or sticking with this beyond a active hobby, will greatly benefit your skill in the long term certainly with age comes perspective and I truly do believe that a "prime" for a player would be in his later years 17-30. The oppurtunity you have to refine your mechanics steadily and incrementally up to the age of which you could travel and compete is astounding.
Find a player whos stream you like who does commentary. Watch it.
Search out replay packs of top players and sit down with a notebook and pen and write down builds and things you would like to try and check out day9 dailies on your specific race and learn more about the matchups.
You can get out of silver in no time.
I am rambling and cooking dinner while I get ready for state of the game longest post I think I have ever made on TL since I joined T.T
So anyways yes, don't stop playing and ignore people who hate on you.
(((Also I know complexity had a house for it's 1.6 team when it was in it's "prime" you might call it, but it was NOTHING compared to what Jason Lake has orchestrated currently with their new house)))
Im 15 atm, started playing BW when i was 10 and iccups and 1v1s, was bad but still was awesome, started sc2 when i was 13 1/2, im high diamond atm playing masters players (soon to be masters) i reccommend playing when ever you want (now. later etc) but the earlier it is the better start you have for improving !
If you consider switching to zerg, I can give you coaching for free (I'm high master zerg) For the swarm, and also for the potential you have being 13!
You'll have the benefit of more practice, since you are younger. Some of the best BW players were young when they started or even made it to the pros. Keep playing if you enjoy the game!
There is a 12 year old kid from Sweden who is master league and he competed in dreamhack. I don't think there is anything bad about being young and playing the game.
a teammate of me is 14 years old and is high masters zerg, age in my opinion doesnt really matter, its more about your mindset. one could argue that age helps with that tho.
im 19 years old and after 2 months I was still noobing it up in low bronze. But now im mid masters just by playing, aslong as you can understand the game and you don't lack the ability to control it's mechanics it really doesn't matter how old u are.
Everybody improves as times goes on -_________-... There is no age where you suddenly become good in SCII. Just play a lot and you will improve eventually.
If anything, the older you get, the worse you become at SC2.
I turn 25 in a couple months and I have little time to practice. Full time job, married, and going to school = SC2 gets the short end of the stick for me. It sucks, but that's life.
When I was in High School I played the shit out of WoW. Now I don't have that time anymore...
Anyone can get into a good/decent league I started SC2 when I was 12 as a gold league. In less than 100 games, I got into diamond, but I stopped actively playing from there. Good luck on your endeavors.
2 months is not a very long time to have been playing. There are certainly people who have been playing 2+ years that are much older than you that are in silver. The only major difference between someone your age and someone older is that you are still learning how to learn :D What I mean is you don't have the perspective to know how little you actually know. When I was 13 I played Age of Empires obsessively but I never got very good. It was because I always thought if I was "supposed" to be good, I would be. I never took the time to ask for help or learn from other people. I just kept banging out games. It takes maturity to learn to ask questions and find solutions and not just keep playing with no immediate goals in mind. But since you took the time to gain some perspective on yourself, I'd say you're on the right track GLHF!
Nah, the main disadvantage that young people have is myopia. They are stubborn and refuse to change their style so they don't improve. But at your age, if you stick with it, you'll be pro one day.
On June 05 2012 07:15 LeeDawg wrote: Creatorprime and maruprime are both 15.
age is irrelevant
the only thing that matters is how much work you put in
yep... decision making because your young is a poor argument... You can learn it. You dont need previous life experiences to say spending all those resources on a specific plan was a bad idea. Just need to learn from your mistakes and get it together. The age factor only comes in with learning the ability to learn what works best for you, but that can be learned at any age.
I won my first tournament around 18 years ago and started competing in 1993... I am 25 now.
You won your first tournament at age 7? Details please? Either super impressive, or complete bullshit. Don't want to completely call you out but I'm a little skeptical.
On June 05 2012 07:24 AnonymousEmu wrote: Ahahah, alright, thanks guys <3 . I shall continoue! I am a silver protoss btw if anyone out there feels like gving me some pointers
Pointers: 1) Enjoy they game! 2) Probes and pylons.
gl hf
edit: 3) Set up custom hotkeys!! Try this for example. As you are new (I know that 2 months may not seem like a short time when you're 13, but if you will play it for many years, then you have just started) you may just as well learn the hotkeys in a good configuration, instead of the annoying default one. 4) You are young, so you will learn very easily, and what you learn will probably stick. So if you are serious, make sure to get the mechanics and muscle memory done right from the start. Which means that it may be a good idea to spend some time in unit testers or build order testers or whatever, and get your macro-cycles and army-hotkeys in good habits. It is a lot about muscle memory, so just decide how you want your perfect macro cycles to be, and then practice them over and over. Maybe start each session with a warmup game in a BO-tester where you play up to 200/200 and (try to) do all your macro cycles perfectly, without missing a single probe or pylon.
If kid's fingers were not too small to use the keyboard, age 4 would actually be the best age. There are probably smaller keyboards out there you could get.
Is that I am 13, and still silver after like 2 months a coincidence?
This is the reason dude, don't be disheartened. I started playing Starcraft 18 months ago when I was 18. I had no previous rts or video game experience. I didn't play all that much but I still played at least once or twice every week. It took me 8 months just to get from bronze to silver, then only 6 to get from silver to diamond. I think if you have no experience in gaming competitively it will take some time before you really 'get it' and then you'll begin to understand and see yourself improve a lot faster ^^
No you are not too young and that should not determine whether you should quit. The only thing that matters is if you enjoy the game. 2 months in silver isn't that bad, other people a lot older then you have been in silver for as long as I can remember. I was 17 when I got the game and now that I'm almost 18, I've been in diamond for probably 80% of the time I owned the game. Friends that are the same age as me are still stuck in silver for over a year now and it just matters how much you enjoy the game and how much effort you put in to improve.
ridiculous. I got platinum when I was 11, and I'm not even good at all XD I have a friend younger than me in diamond. Its all about whether you WANT to get better or not (not just on a whim)
Age is bullshit, if anything younger kids lack the life experience to really make goals and see trough it (no offense to you younger people..but you will understand one day ). Certain parts are easier for kids, its like how learning to play piano is easier for kids, but that does in no way mean they have better potential. Starting early is never bad, it should only be encouraged, but this doesnt mean people who start later have no chance to hit very high level play, in the end it all comes down to raw talent, and how you develop it. Also know the more you challenge your brain, the more efficient your brain gets at overcoming this challenge..the brain never stops growing, even past the age of 25.
Tenacity is all, even stephano had to practice hardcore mode to get were he is. Dont give up on anything you start, see the end of it and you will achieve awesome stuff, age is never an excuse for anything.
I think starting younger has its ups and downs You may not understand the game as well, but you have a huge capacity to learn I myself began playing broodwar when I was... 6 or 7 years old.
I am turning 14 in about 4 months and am a mid-masters. Doesn`t matter what age you are. As long as you put the time in effort into it, you'll get better.
Most specifically, your first priority should be macro, and getting that down as best you can. Micro is mostly unit control, if not all unit control. Macro is basically everything else: making (production) buildings, scvs, units, upgrades, etc.
Have a specific, logical, achievable goal to work to. Losing is not bad; it's actually the easiest way to see what you need to improve upon/weakest spots. That being said, analyze your replays! and don't be over burdened if you feel you have a lot of flaws. Focus on one weak spot at a time, once you feel it's sufficient, keep it in mind and work to your next goal.
Learn from the best, but play to your abilities; Watch player streams, and tournament games of players you'd want to emulate but! DO NOT try to do what they do play for play, instead be aware of the decisions, build orders, timings and all of the background information that you CAN use. Starcraft 2 is not an easy game. It takes time, effort, and experience but you WILL improve if you want to.
Practice makes perfect. Like I've said in an earlier post, your young age is great; you can devote a lot of time into playing and learning Starcraft 2. A lot of practice alone will yield amazing results, some players do not need to be as creative as WhiteRa, Freaky, Squirtle, TLO etc etc, they can simply manage because they are so damn solid (great macro / micro) at just playing the game.
I'm 14 and decently ranked in Grandmaster. It is nice having a lot of free time since school is so easy. So yeah, I would recommend keep playing, you can always get better.
On June 05 2012 07:13 AnonymousEmu wrote: Hey guys, I've heard different opinions on this so I would like to have yours as well. I've heard people say that in order to be good at sc2, you need to be a certain age, what I have heard is 15-30 but idk.
Is that I am 13, and still silver after like 2 months a coincidence?
I have heard people say that since im younger, my hand-eye isnt as good, I cant make decisions as well, etc. Therefore making my chances of getting out of low leagues extreamly difficult.
Do you agree with this? Would it be better for younger people like me to quit sc2 for now, because we arent gonna get any better till we are older?
Please Discuss
Hand eye at 13 is very good assuming you do anything with your hands. If it isn't then it can be developed. There could be something to be said about maybe not grasping overall strategy as well when a gamer is too young but I think that young people have the most time/dedication/ability to learn new things and do them very well. If you arent great at most games then you wont be great at this one likely though
Age doesnt matter. As long as youre old enough that you have the physical requirements like size of your hands/fingers wont disadvantage you, and dedicated enough to do the hard work.
Don't be discouraged by age. There are plenty of pro gamers who are young such as jjakji and Leenock. And I'm not just talking about Koreans either, GoSu's Pokebunny, Quantic's Illusion, as well as a few others such as Boyo (three grandmaster players) are currently ages 17, 16, and 15, respectively. I, myself, am also grandmaster and age 17
Practice hard and you'll find yourself doing as well as anybody else.
I think there is a certain maturity level that people have to reach to be able to grasp what it takes to become a good player. This can happen at any age, depending on the person. I for one, was never good at Brood War even though I played it from release (age of 12ish). When Starcraft 2 came out, however, suddenly everything made more sense to me and I quickly maintained a Master level skill without much effort. Even still, I can take weeks off, and in a matter of a few days be playing at a high level again.
I started playing Wc3 when I was 15. Finished when I was ~19-20 (22 now). What I want to say is that although i actually DISLIKE Sc2 I made it into diamond in like 20-30 games using my wc3 experience. Most people just accumulate useful skills gained from all the activities they practice, so unless you're doing really bad and hate the game there is no reason to stop sc2 - if you dont get decent in this game, something else comes out later and you'll be happy you've got the experience that can gives you a boost there.
You don't need any age to be good. You just need practice time. I don't ever use age as an excuse or a crutch to say why others are better than me, the only thing that matters is your own effort. Being a bit older helps with your mental game, but honestly I feel that even at 16 I have a better mental state than most pros / can outthink people easily. 12 might be a little low but you should be fine as long as you're a smart / good logical thinking kid you should be fine.
I started playing BW on ICCup when I was 12, reached B- a bit after turning 14. That's way way harder than master league in sc2 lol.
On June 05 2012 10:29 iS.Pyre wrote: Don't be discouraged by age. There are plenty of pro gamers who are young such as jjakji and Leenock. And I'm not just talking about Koreans either, GoSu's Pokebunny, Quantic's Illusion, as well as a few others such as Boyo (three grandmaster players) are currently ages 17, 16, and 15, respectively. I, myself, am also grandmaster and age 17
Practice hard and you'll find yourself doing as well as anybody else.
I started playing RTS around age 14. It took me about a year to develop the skill set of using hotkeys and attempting to be 'quick' in the game, the utter basics of RTS; building workers, creating an army, basic strategy ect. It took me another year to get 'good' at RTS in general, from Constant Worker Production -> BO's -> Strategy -> Army Control ect. In retrospect, it all comes down to the amount of time you put in. I'm 19 now and I remember over one 2 week school holiday break playing 12 hours of the same RTS game for 2 weeks straight and I improved dramatically. In SC2 terms I probably went from low platinum to masters in terms of having the ability to control the game. This is basically what we call mechanics. I feel there are two parts to RTS however. Real-Time: Mechanics Strategy: Understanding the game and what can happen in the game.
I don't think I really grasped an understanding of strategy until my third or forth year of RTS. It's ok to think, I'm just going to have more stuff than him and win. That's a strategy obviously, but what I'm talking about are the miniscule details which give you that edge so that when your mechanics are on-par with your enemy you still come out with more stuff than him because you understand the game better.
Alot of this is discovery and understanding what is going on. The older you get the more you can understand about how something works because you naturally spend more time doing it. So yes, started young is a good thing, but you can't and shouldn't be discouraged by the rate of your improvement. We can't all play games for 12 hours a day every day of the week but if you want to get good, you know what you need to do and that is devote time into it. Just like everything else.
Age does make a difference, but that difference doesn't translate to winning or not, it just changes how you approach the game, and thus people have different play styles
Age is quite irrelevant if you plan on laddering and learning. However, I feel the peak age group for RTS is 17-22. At this point, you gain immense intellectual knowledge and your dexterity is peaking. Being 27 myself, I find it very hard for my hands to keep up with what my mind wants them to do. Back when I was 17-22, I was much faster and precise with my mechanics. I may be older and wiser now; however, my mechanics are slowly slipping with age. At my current age I can easily break down a game and pick out the errors in my game play, but I simply can not keep up mechanically. It obviously also doesn't help that I am older and have more responsibilities and therefore can not put as much time into the game as I used to.
Starting young definitely helps. My first RTS was Warcraft 2 back in '97. I learned a lot of the fundamentals(hotkeys, unit groups, etc) at a very early age, so progressing from one game to another has been quite fluid. Compare this to my friends whose first RTS game is SC2 and they are complete dogshit. Lots are stuck in bronze/silver league no matter how much I coach them. Can't teach an old dog new tricks!
If you focus on improving you will be diamond in no time. Make sure you are not just cheesing all the time or making excuses for your play and then age doesn't matter.
Note: I started SC1 when I was 19... I'm 34 now. I'm old.
My biggest advice, specifically about this community, don't pretend you know anything until you actually do. If you want to contribute, that's amazing and we love new comers... But to many people believe they understand the game better than anyone else.
In the game? Basics for a kid should be to have fun, the more fun you can have the more imaginative your playstyle will be... You're handspeed will improve on it's own, and so will your ability to process the information you are seeing (that you don't even notice) but just have fun, you'll improve.
If you've played it (it sounds like you have) and you are enjoying yourself, why would you quit? Age is completely irrelevant... unless you're 6 months old or something and don't have the motor skills to do anything.
speaking from personal experience I'm much more intelligent about the game now than I was when I was younger. I think what's most important is to really try and think critically about learning/understanding/getting better and you'll do big things goodluck!
On June 05 2012 07:17 Nagano wrote: Not at all. Flash was playing at your age. There are chess grandmasters that are your age. You are still young so you can mold your brain with SC2 better than a person who's older than you. You may not have the critical thinking of a 25 year old, but you have calculating power and tons of room for potential.
yep. use your young brain to wrap around code S ideas. watch lots of streams. make sure the person you're watching is code S.
On June 05 2012 07:16 Fetchystick wrote: You know what would be great, a poll for each individual league asking what age you are. No joke man, the time is ripe for a survey. Take control of this situation and let's set us up a poll!
well the past polls have indicated that the average age of the TL user was overwhemingly 23, so naturally your poll idea will not work even if you divided it into leagues.
I doubt that age matters. Back in the day when I was 12 I was top 50 on Cases Ladder on Kali for warcraft 2. Beating players like Tillerman, IN.hellX, agent911 etc. I was just a kid but I was better than most people at the game. Although this was way before replays and the like. But maybe that means more. It means I had to figure strats out on my own.
Just keep practicing. If you start at such a young age, you'll be a force to be reckoned with in the future.
I spent years playing Halo competitively, and if I hadn't started young, I don't think I would have ever been as good as I was by the end. Stick with it!
On June 05 2012 07:13 AnonymousEmu wrote: Hey guys, I've heard different opinions on this so I would like to have yours as well. I've heard people say that in order to be good at sc2, you need to be a certain age, what I have heard is 15-30 but idk.
Is that I am 13, and still silver after like 2 months a coincidence?
I have heard people say that since im younger, my hand-eye isnt as good, I cant make decisions as well, etc. Therefore making my chances of getting out of low leagues extreamly difficult.
Do you agree with this? Would it be better for younger people like me to quit sc2 for now, because we arent gonna get any better till we are older?
Please Discuss
lol age makes absolutely no difference. kthxbye! I'm 15 and in masters. There are players like Maru and Creator who are incredibly young and are pro's already. Its just about determination and time and effort. You only get better if you want to!
My lil bro started playing (because of me) at 12 exactly, only that he played broodwar at the time. He was VERY entusiastic, and LOVED proleague. When I say he loved it I mean he looked up to Bisu as his hero, and admired the calm demeanor of the koreans in the very tough situations they played. Once sc2 hit he made diamond immediately, but still struggled with the game as it was very interesting that he had a mind block about making the transition. Once master hit, he made masters and since then he has been playing on and off. He is a top masters player with gm mmr at 16 years old. I believe he still has not reached his true potential, by the time he is 18 we might have another progamer.
Short story, the younger you start the better chances you have at becoming good...
I honestly think I would be better at SC, if I was younger, since I didn't deal with wrist pains, when I was 13, and I've been a gamer all my life, so I guess the hand-eye coordination and such was there either way for me. x)
age is a shit reason to suck generally when you're young BaBy became a BW pro when he was 12 and was demonstrating the powers of 2port wraith a few years ago.
age doesn't matter, unless you are like 4, (unless you are a true prodigy then you can be 4 anyway, a la mozart) But you have to put months into it to become great, so its hard to be a 12 year old pro or w/e because you just don't have the experience yet
Basically, I started noticing/directing myself towards competitive gaming at about 15 years old. I started it off with Republic Commando, very shortly moving into Americas Army because RC died FAST. Good game, but died fast. Then moved into Counter Strike Source shortly after that, actually making some small tournament banks over one summer. I have since then stopped playing FPS games nearly as much, and my ability has suffered.
Now from a standpoint of development as a gamer, I see that in the adolescent years, you are able to learn and adapt rapidly. This decreases as age increases, at an extremely slow rate mind you, so no, people my age (22) aren't incapable, and you only start to notice this incapability in the mid to late 30's. Now, that isn't also to say that it is a guarantee, with proper discipline you're able to continue this pattern for your entire life. People in this generation especially are capable of doing so as our world is changing far more rapidly than the "Baby Boomers". I personally don't feel age takes a huge part into it, it's more a disciplinary thing. The reason most people would back up the "under the age of X you can't do _______" is basically just a discipline thing. If you truthfully want to get good at competitive stuff, then the discipline has to be there. This can mostly be found among the lines of dedication. Commit, dedicate and discipline will follow.
Most people who claim have or have be 'diagnosed' with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or it's hyperactive cousin are merely unfocused individuals with little to no self discipline. Myself included, I can find it in some things, but since I graduated, I have changed aspirations for careers so much, and to such wide ranges, because of the options set in front of me, and yet a total lack of personal discipline to obtain these reasonable goals. Instead I started working at a job, and keeping the job for quite a long time. People born in the 90's have so many options set in front of them, and many haven't learned to just decide and run with it, instead we touch our toes to it and then back away because we're afraid of getting wet. Instead, commit like you're swimming, jump in, feel that initial chill, and it can be a shock, but then, it gets warmer, and more comfortable.
Now, don't take my statements as gold, it's mere speculation I've gathered from reading a lot of social psychology related articles and such.
**Edit** Apply yourself to anything and success will surely follow, except lottery tickets, that shit is rigged for Quebec to always win in Canada.
On June 05 2012 23:19 Jedclark wrote: Look up people like heromarine, or maruprime. Also, take a look at what age Flash won his first OSL - 15. Stop making excuses and practice.
To be fair, for most people these are pipe dreams. Aspiring to these things, while seems tangible and attainable to everyone, is not too much different than dreaming to win the FIFA world cup or becoming Wimbledon champion. This feeling that anyone can become a champion is what appeals to so many people, it certainly does to me, but realistically speaking hard work alone will not get you all that far, only further than those who have equal (or less) talent and put in less work.
That being said, you can't change how much "talent" you have. Whatever you want in life, you should give it everything you've got to try and get it. The alternative is simply having nothing and not trying to do anything, leaving you with nothing but regret. Doing your best and coming short is still far more rewarding than not trying at all.
Age is completely irrelevant IMO. I'd say kids these days who play video games as their favorite pastime have more than enough game sense to learn Starcraft 2 and get to a reasonably high level like low-mid master league. The question is however if they can remain motivated long enough to get that far. In my experience multiplayer RTS games generally have some of the steepest learning curves of any type of game which can be incredibly demotivating for a kid with short attention span. I know for sure I would never have had the motivation to learn Starcraft 2 when I was that young, that's why I never got into Warcraft 3 which was huge among some of my friends back in the day.
On June 05 2012 10:55 Pokebunny wrote: You don't need any age to be good. You just need practice time. I don't ever use age as an excuse or a crutch to say why others are better than me, the only thing that matters is your own effort. Being a bit older helps with your mental game, but honestly I feel that even at 16 I have a better mental state than most pros / can outthink people easily. 12 might be a little low but you should be fine as long as you're a smart / good logical thinking kid you should be fine.
I started playing BW on ICCup when I was 12, reached B- a bit after turning 14. That's way way harder than master league in sc2 lol.
The answer is right there in line #2. I envy a lot of you younger guys. I wish I had the time to play, but having a full time job, being married (feels like a second full time job LOL ) , and taking college courses is killing me >,< Thank God I don't have any kids, but I feel like I'm blessed to get a couple games of SC2 in.
Oh well I had my golden days of playing 10 hours straight back when I was in High School. I used to play WoW all the time in HS so I had plenty of time. I was able to be in the best guild on my server because I had plenty of time to play the game. Not anymore... ( I feel like Cranky Kong from Donkey Kong Country)
12-14 are more likely to be lower leagues because they didn't develop enough intelligence yet BUT by saying more likely means there's simply a higher chance nothing to do with "all 12 y.o kiddos are dumb 30 y.o are smart as ****" or "you're a teen herpderp cant have opinion".
On June 05 2012 11:37 NeMeSiS3 wrote: My biggest advice, specifically about this community, don't pretend you know anything until you actually do. If you want to contribute, that's amazing and we love new comers... But to many people believe they understand the game better than anyone else.
In the game? Basics for a kid should be to have fun, the more fun you can have the more imaginative your playstyle will be... You're handspeed will improve on it's own, and so will your ability to process the information you are seeing (that you don't even notice) but just have fun, you'll improve.
this thread wasnt about the community but refers to one person. Everyone has their own opinion and depending on how much they know, more intellectual they sound. Sure its important to understand how game goes but also its called respect to not letting anyone down at the same time.
Legends such as SlayersBoxer and Whitera are still playing SC2, and they are 31
and that maxed age limitation is still going up and down, which is so great imo, we are going to see so many young talent and old legends coming bak to take their old throne
I am 14 and top platinum hoping for diamond, I think it is just harder for younger players to succeed because of the fact that they are more likely to play other games or play team games or customs more, just less discipline overall, but that can't be all of it, and like mentioned above young players like MaruPrime, CreatorPrime, Leenock so it is entirely possible just my 2 cents :3
I WISH I had started playing RTS at 13. Even mechanically gifted players (see all the BW players) still lose to the more experienced players, and will continue to do so for a while.
Najzmajs is a good example of a very young player who's still good at the game(he's 12.) or atleast he was back when he got into masters Idk tho, i'm 20 and i'm havin a really hard time vs masters
I don't think you should really let the choice of whether you will continue playing rely on whether or not you're going to reach GM before reaching age X. Starcraft 2 a game after all and you should be playing it to have fun if anything.
I think age matters most at lower levels for people who don't want to practice very much. For instance, I'm 28, played BW a bunch back in early 2000's. Playing very infrequently (talking like 10 games a month tops) I can easily maintain top diamond, if I start playing a reasonable amount I very quickly break into low-mid masters. My mechanics are terrible, the only thing that keeps me from falling back is because I can think more clearly. Age won't limit how good you can get at the game, Flash won his first SL at 15.
The reason why many of the "older" players do well in this is because they played Broodwar back in the day. Your age has nothing to do with your ability to kick ass on the ladder. It's just a bit of a handicap that you come into the game with when you're too young to have grown up playing SC1. Don't think into it too much.
Age is a factor only because it usually dictates who your friends/practice partners are. And you are only going to be as good as the people you play against. Im a mid diamond player whos been playing SC since 1999 and have had SC2 since it came out.
I was stuck pretty in low in skill level before I had a friend reveal he played sc1 pretty seriously. I watched him play first hand I was able to learn a lot from him. I am not masters or any better because I tend to stick to the same skill levels/play customs/and in general don't put the required effort to get any better. BTW I'll be 30 next month.
On June 05 2012 07:13 AnonymousEmu wrote: Hey guys, I've heard different opinions on this so I would like to have yours as well. I've heard people say that in order to be good at sc2, you need to be a certain age, what I have heard is 15-30 but idk.
Is that I am 13, and still silver after like 2 months a coincidence?
I have heard people say that since im younger, my hand-eye isnt as good, I cant make decisions as well, etc. Therefore making my chances of getting out of low leagues extreamly difficult.
Do you agree with this? Would it be better for younger people like me to quit sc2 for now, because we arent gonna get any better till we are older?
Please Discuss
I'm 14, and I've beaten several grandmaster players. However, what might make people who are young not do well, is their ability to comprehend mistakes (which is usually really bad). Also, it dictates who your practice partners will be usually, so that means you will probably have worse practice partners than an older player because older people are generally the pros.
On June 07 2012 03:29 Vechora wrote: I find it very amazing that such young people are in masters and even grandmasters, kudo's to you fine young men/women
Makes me wonder if I should even try getting back into it after a year of not playing (25 winters old)
On June 05 2012 07:15 LeeDawg wrote: Creatorprime and maruprime are both 15.
the only thing that matters is how much work you put in
while true, you have to put in mind that there are rare exceptions for everything, most progamers are aged 18+ (with MaNa, maruprime, creatorprime, and im sure others being exceptions).
as your older your rational thinking gets more developed leading to better decisions, its much more difficult to teach students in grade 8 calculus as opposed to the exact same course in grade 12, generally, the older kids will understand it better, but as always, there are always those who prove it wrong
EPT
