187<>Ceasar~
27 Mar 2005, 20:58
MY Machine Mindset
I have a few different mindsets when I play my game of choice. Depending on what kind of match I’m playing, or who I’m playing with, I may use a different mindset to better suit the mood of how I’ll be participating. I’ve never really tried to give them names before, but the most appropriate characteristic for my most important mindset is somewhat machine-like, so in the absence of creativity at 8:00 am in the morning, we’ll call this mindset The Machine. The Machine is what I play with when I want results.
Background
I had debated many years over the best outlook to take on how to play competitive matches. Some people play by emotion, some people play out of inspiration, none of those really fit my situation very well so after dissecting what it is I did in competitive matches and how I played team games, my outlook on things was very machine-like, very orderly, an absence of emotion never leaving variables unaccounted for. Since arriving on to this conclusion I’ve shared my theory with a few other friends and they felt they agreed on a few major key points.
I’ve pretty much played all my matches, 1v1 and TDM strictly with this mindset. This is how I go into tournament games, and depending on how well I slip into this mindset during a game is directly related to my performance in that match.
I’m sure this is may be a very common approach of other competitive gamers out there and I’d be interested to hear what other alternative approaches there may be. Feel free to comment about your experiences at the end of the article.
Foundation
The foundation of this mentality is simply that you have a routine of tasks to do. Once those tasks are completed, you do them again. You simply repeat this process until the game is over.
Depending on how you use this mentality, your routine can be different. Since I’m a very defensive player, my routine does not involve in killing other players, this only occurs when it is convenient to my routine. A more aggressive player may choose to make offensive maneuvers in between tasks in his routine.
Programmers may understand this mindset with ease because its nothing but a series of IF/ELSE statements inside one big recursive loop. If you get this item, then you go here, once here go there. If item is there, you move on to this point, if not, you move to this point. It’s simply a pre-conceived list of instructions that you have developed over time with your experience on that map or game mode.
Example
So far this may be a little hard to grasp without a working example, so let’s make one up. Your strategies are best made when you’re not in game, and then you iron out the flaws of those strategies after testing them. Here is a makeshift routine I tend to use for Asbestos using the Machine mindset:
Depending on where I spawn at the beginning of the match, I have around 22 seconds to find myself a hitscan weapon and a area of effect weapon such as Flak or RL then arrive at the Amp with about 3 seconds before it spawns (around 9:37 in a 10 minute game). Then, I quickly drop down and run straight for the 100 armor. If it’s still there, I grab it and note the time. If its not there, I note the time and now I know that I’ll need to be back here in around 50 seconds. Depending on my loop, I either run up towards the lightning gun where unarmored opponents usually congregate, or I can run back through the hallway towards the Rocket Launcher. After I run my Amp out, I have about 35 or so seconds until I’m due back to the 100 armor. This is basically play time where I can have a little freedom in killing opponents, at least if that kill is on the way to my next checkpoint, the 100 armor. After receiving the 100 armor again and noting the time, I proceed immediately to the Amp. I only have around 20 seconds or so to get there, and I don’t want to miss it. Once the Amp is picked up, I repeat the process, which the timing changes every loop because the armor spawn will never be perfectly in-sync with the Amp spawn.
I simply apply this for the duration of the game, and while I’m on my way to each checkpoint I kill people who are conveniently located along the way. In a sense they are just a bonus in addition to obtaining all the power-ups. So in essence the game’s goal is to collect every power-up and as a side-effect, rack up some kills in the process.
This may sound crazy to some people, that is, to not directly focus on the one thing that matters the most, the final score, but you see results after trying it. You’ll defiantly die a lot less and feel like you have some more control and thought-process in the match rather then just finding players and attempting to kill them. As I’ve said, more aggressive people are more offensive, but they will always run their loops, and grab the power-ups.
Isolation
The process is actually a lot easier to do then most people think. You just may not execute the routine as good as players with more skill. For instance I was on a Free For All server the other day and someone was out-timing me on the 100 armor, and sometimes Amp. However, on the scoreboard I had 2 and sometimes 3 times his score. I would wager to guess he had a better kill / death ratio, but the scoreboard did not account for it.
It was obvious in fights that I was more skilled then the other player when weapons were involved, but he was simply taking great care into timing that armor and Amp rather then killing other players. While this doesn’t happen that often he was simply isolating his priorities. While he may have been killing people, the one goal he had was to loop that armor and that Amp, and he did it well. The 100 and Amp play such an important role in the game’s outcome, it’s ironic that it only takes a player who is paying attention at the clock to control them properly.
If you isolate your priorities (and usually they are simply obtaining the power-ups), rather then killing everyone you see, you can slip into this mindset a little easier. Isolation really does help the process because you don’t have so many factors to worry about when you are trying to succeed in completing an objective. Whenever I truly learn a map, spawns, timings, routes and loops, I do so alone, on a server. My clan still does this on regular occasions to learn certain intricacies about the maps they compete in.
Conclusion
Find a routine that works with your playing style and practice it. Ie: If you’re good with the rocket launcher, focus more so on tight hallways then open areas. If you find something that works for you, repetition is the key!
This is a very opinionated article and though not every competitive gamer will agree point-for-point, I think this article serves its purpose of giving the average gamer more food for thought as they frag away. Good Luck
Practice Does Not Mean Perfect
Far too often do I see the phrase ‘Practice Makes Perfect’ and far too often do I get annoyed by it. Now it’s not so much that the phrase is incorrect, but its meaning is just misconceived when playing FPS games.
What is practice anyway? Most people think that playing the game, is practice. Ehhh! Wrong! Practice is more-so working methodically towards a goal of self-improvement, not just joining a public server and seeing how well you do. Practice requires thought. If no thought is applied then you won’t be getting any better.
If you join a game on a public server, rack up 35 kills and then call it a night, did you actually get any practice? You may have played the game for a little bit, but what did you specifically learn not to do, or to do better? Most likely you just went in, did the same stuff you always do, and then chalked it up as another night of practice. If you did better then you normally do, then it was a “good” practice, if you didn’t play as hot as you normally do it was a “bad” practice. Are we starting to see any holes in the logic of it all?
Practice should be started mentally and followed through physically. You can practice certain aspects of your game on a public server, but if you don’t have a plan for how to execute that before you join, you’re not really getting any better at it once you plateau, regardless of how much time you spend in the game. If you are going to practice your timing, think how you are going to do so. Devise a game plan before you join the game, remember the respawn times and remind yourself to play close attention to the game clock, then join the game and actually practice this scenario.
Now this article isn’t meant for the casual gamer who just enjoys playing a fun game on a public server, this is intended for those players who play the game to improve upon their level of skill and they think playing equates to practicing. If you do fall into this crowd, I’m sure there is a justification of why you don’t feel this applies to you, and that you are an exception to the rule and that you do somewhat prepare yourself mentally when you join a public server on what areas of your game need to be improved. Well honestly, if you fall within that 90% of the gaming population, you’re wrong. Be more militant! Isolate your improvement, focus only on that! Practice one aspect at a time, and your whole mental process should revolve around that aspect whenever you join that server to practice.
Bottom line, do you feel like you haven’t gotten any better in a while and you are wondering why? Perhaps this change in your routine will jump start you on to the road of improvement once again. I honestly don’t know how many people I’ve known during my time as a gamer that play every day of their life, for more than a few hours, and they really never improve. If practice meant perfect, they should be kicking my ass by now, but unfortunately, that isn’t the case.
So next time you intend on practicing hard, your practice should start before you load up the game. If not, then hopefully you’re having fun, because self improvement may take a long time, if it ever even occurs.
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE VALUE OF PLAYING XXXX ARENA!
even just playing for a few hours in warmup mode with a teammate and only using 1 specific weapon will help a LOT... we do this with goo/grenades/rockets/ you name it all the time and it really helps you focus in on that 1 aspect...
for example, how often during a typical game do you try to hit difficult shots with the splooge gun alt fire? even if you're trying to focus on that, it's hard to get more than a handful... but if you are using nothing BUT that gun, then every shot isolates it, and you can work on it much more...
in comparison to something like basketball, if you want to work on shooting you don't play a pickup game, you shoot around because it helps isolate what you want to work on, and give you more reps to focus on improving...
Great article! I think this is why I haven't seen much imporovement lately. I need to start isolating my problems. There are a lot of other people that need to read this article. People get frustrated that they aren't improving, but they don't realise that they are not actually practicing.
I am a guitar player and when there is a difficult solo that I am trying to learn, I often isolate my problem area and repeat it over and over until it becomes habit. After I've done that, I work on connecting it to the rest of the solo.
Excellent comment from concrete as well.
Isolating a problem and fixing it is never easy.
Regardless of the context you are in, it’s the process that makes it so hard. The first thing is realizing that the problem lies in you. You can place blame all you want, that won’t help. You have to own the problem, and then you have to fix it.
Good read.
Ongoing Improvements & Mental Barriers
Ongoing improvement in a gamer’s competitive career is the single hardest thing to be consistent at. While some players seem to have a knack for getting better, other players play for years and see very little improvement.
While its impossible to write an essay that every player can follow that will allow them to constantly improve their ability as a player, I’ll tell you about the theory that I have constructed over the past few years of why some people excel in improving their competitive game play and some people do not.
If reading about a theory isn’t exactly what you had in mind on the topic of player improvement and you don’t feel that this piece of information is vital to you as a player, then you are simply looking for a quick tip or an easy way out. Constant player improvement is not something easily earned, it’s something that demands hard work. While every player has their own reason why they aren’t progressing in skill, I cannot possibly give everyone their solution. However, I can define the problem, and perhaps they can arrive on the solution they need.
Theory: Mental Barriers
This is a theory I’ve had for years, and I babble on about it to my teammates from time to time. This is simply the one thing that everyone seems to have in common when they are having a hard time trying to progress in competitive gaming.
A Mental Barrier is something that halts a player’s progression to the next level of skill. No matter how many hours they spend practicing, different sensitivities or hardware configurations they may try, they just can’t seem to get much better as a player. This is because the problem isn’t sitting in front of them, it’s in their head.
Mental Barriers can cause a player to get very frustrated and have also been known to halt their progression indefinitely. Everyone has had that friend who has played for years, but they just can’t seem to get any better. This friend probably has hit his Mental Barrier and though he wants to get better, he simply doesn’t know how.
I see Mental Barriers as invisible walls in a long hallway. The hallway is wide and has plenty of room on the sides of the barriers to walk past. At the end of the hallway you have will reached your goal of being the best player in the world. A Mental Barrier occurs when a person comes down the hallway and runs straight into a barrier, unable to go through. Since the person doesn’t realize that he’s hit it, he just keeps trying what he’s familiar with, to get past it and reach the goal. This obviously doesn’t work, and the player stays in front of the barrier for a while. All he really had to do was step back and try reaching the goal by alternate means, however he just trudges forward not knowing how to actually get past the wall and gets frustrated when he cant.
Some player’s avoid the barriers till they get deep into the hallway, usually passing the rest of us up along the way. However they always hit a barrier too, we certainly can’t see it though, since he left us in the dust.
Mental Barriers are not an uncommon occurrence in real life either. It’s usually found in older people then younger. The grandfather who has hesitated from using that new fangled computer for years, finally sits down and can’t seem to do anything right. Even though this person may be a very intelligent individual, an 8 year old could get on the computer and do much better then grandpa. Why is this? Simply because the child doesn’t have a bunch of mental barriers in his head causing him to get set-back every time he makes a mistake. There is no fear of mistake and the child has a completely open-mind to try new things. Basically, grandpa just got owned.
Perhaps this is the reason why most professional gamers are in between the ages 15-30? Probably not, but it may account for skilled gamers 30+ years of age being few and far between.
There are exceptions to my theory and there are no absolutes. I’ve known people that simply don’t have the mental capacity to tie their shoes without help (probably from grandpa) however they can understand and execute competitive theory. This tells us that intelligence isn’t necessarily a factor of your ability as a gamer. Though I do think intelligence helps in the aid of deducing what areas you need to improve upon and the grand scheme of what needs to be done, its an irrelevant factor in breaking a mental barrier.
Breaking Mental Barriers
This is the big question and obviously, the hardest to answer. Breaking a Mental Barrier is almost like having an epiphany (an instant understanding of something). Then, overnight you see a dramatic improvement in your ability as a player. I’ve broken Mental Barriers before, and after a few games, I knew what had just occurred simply because I was playing much better and it wasn’t just a streak of good luck.
Since everyone has their own hang up on why they can’t progress further as a gamer, they are the only ones who can actually come up with their solution. However, I’ll clarify a few popular solutions that have worked for others.
Keep an open mind! That means switch your style of play. If you want to get better as a player, don’t just stick to one game mode, find a new one every few weeks/months and play real hard at it. Discover the intricacies of it. When you go back to your desired mode of play, you may have an understanding you weren’t equipped with before.
If you can’t figure out how to get past your Mental Barrier, you obviously don’t know the answer. So trying new things and listening to different perspectives is the only real way to find a solution to your dilemma. Perhaps at one point something someone says will give you that one tool you need to understand what things you need to change in your game play to progress as a player. Hell, even this article may have that effect.
Listen to Others! If you want to get a good grade on a test, you have to do your homework. This is no different. If you want to be a better gamer, you have to practice, read up, and understand competitive theory. If you can’t teach yourself competitive theory (like most of us), find someone who knows how to teach you. The more worldly you become as a player, the better understanding you will have of the game and its complexities. Don’t re-invent the wheel build your knowledge on a foundation that someone else has already laid.
There are actually a few other ways to overcome your barriers, but they are all centered around keeping an open mind and looking at the game in a fresh perspective.
In Conclusion
Hitting a Mental Barrier is a common problem with competitors from any game. The common misconception is that more practice will do the trick. This is completely useless unless they know what they’re problem is, and are practicing to fix it at its base. If you’ve hit a Mental Barrier, you may have a general understanding of what your problems are, but if your answer to fixing them is ‘practice makes perfect’ then you won’t be progressing much further.
In closing I’ll tell you my biggest Mental Barrier breakdown I had. It was simple actually. One day I figured out how to shoot the Rocket Launcher. Simple as that! Before you think I’ve completely ruined my credibility, I’ll tell you why. This was simply the one small key that opened the flood gates. From learning how to time my Rockets properly, I learned other weapon timings, and had a stronger sense of player predictions. Not only did my rocket ability increase 10 fold in a matter of 2 hours, I now had the tool to lockdown a level. This lead to further understanding of spawn raping, weapon looping and then I could also look at retake methods, team deathmatch and the importance of power-ups and timing them in a very complex manner. Once I hit overcame that mental barrier, it was a year before I hit my next one.
I’m curious to hear about what other ways people broke their Mental Barriers. If you have a story, I’d love to hear it.
I think you have hit upon some interesting ideas, and I just wanted to add some further comment.
Your example of rocket use strikes me as it is something that was instantly obvious to me. After some experimentation I was able to get it clear in my head exactly when and where I would have to plant a rocket to get a kill. Things like movement and accuracy came with practice but the way you use these skills is determined by how you interpret your experience - this is what I recognise as intelligence. And one thing Ive learnt from my life experience is that some people just cant grasp certain ideas. Ever. Some people always have an edge as they are able to adapt and come up with new ideas - they dont rely on website tips, they create their own ideas from gameplay experience. These people will always be looking for an edge and will remain one step ahead.
I like to win DM games and will always push the game one step further to get a victory. Often I get plenty of abuse because I didnt play the game in the way that my opponent wanted, eg I camped spawn spots or certain items. These are examples of limited players. If I come up against a spawn camper or such I will think on my feet and come up with a plan to counter this guy, and it seems some people cant do that. We've all played against whiners who get killed by the same camper 10 times in a row, there is no psycological barrier there, these people just cant come up with an idea to dislodge the camper. Most of us would not let the guy get us twice let alone ten times! All the hand-eye coordination practice in the world isnt going to help this guy.
Maybe we are talking about the same thing but just view it in different ways? Computer games have always had an absolute side to them, by their very nature, and Ive known players who can gain complete understanding of the 'game' due to its ultimetly limited environment. This is perhaps easier to see in Doom where the variables with even more limited - in that game I had complete understanding of how the computer would treat every action and would be able to toy with opponents in LAN games, I have no doubt that people approach this level in UT.
What I do believe strongly is that in game 'gamesmanship' can have a massive effect. When I was younger I was easily thrown by a couple of 'ownage' or 'you suck' comments, or by the reputation of a player. If you go into a game with a close opponent thinking that you will lose then you generally will. Maybe you would win if the player didnt spam abuse and had a fake nick. These barriers are certainly real and affect your ability on the day, but when it comes to your overall ability and potential I think the only limits are practice time, intelligence and physical reflexes - some larger adult men just dont have the dexterity, when you have hands like hams you're never going to fly over the keybord like a skinny 16yr old!
Awesome article, nogame. I've been having those mental barriers for quite a while now! After playing TOO MUCH UT2k4 RPG on the Digital Demise public server, my DM/TDM skills have rusted away. I was getting so frustrated why I wasn't doing so well and starting swearing away so much (it's filthy.. I hate swearing) since I was doing so poorly. My mental barrier is that sometimes I play the game too seriously, not having fun in the process. If I don't do well, I get enraged, which definitely isn't me. Hopefully I'll be able to overcome this barrier soon :)
Starting A Clan
This Article was written in 2001 in relation to Quake, but since its not game specific, it works well with most fps games.
a) Rules
• Decide what the clan's ideals are
• How do people join this clan
• Contacting players, and IRC Ops
b) Standards
• standard of skill
• standard of person
• standard of clanplay
• standard of effort
• standard of maturity
c) Practices/Matches
• how often do you practice
• will you scrim
• are your players dedicated enough to practice
• who plays in matches
• what is the best time to schedule matches
d) Keeping the Clan Together
• Use first names
• Talk about other things than quake
• Be patient and open-minded
• Always keep a leveled head
e) Conclusions
• Don't be quick to judge
• Give people a 2nd try
• If a problem arises, sleep on it
• Don't forget your standards
• Patience Patience Patience
Didn't think it could be so complicated eh? Well I am just being anal, so don't feel too overwhelmed. Every thing I will make an analogy about will be things that I have experienced through the years in the quake community. So get a soda (or beer) and gluck reading.
a) Rules
Posting a set of rules is very important to any clan. They let you prepare for things to come, and basically pre-assign answers to questions that will be asked. Don't understand? Okay, example:
RULE: No hpb will be accepted, this is an all lpb clan.
That may not seem like much, but if you have that posted on a webpage, and you have an hpb eventually asks to join… there's your answer! At that point, there is no need to explain your position, just mention that it's posted.
You must decide what your clan's ideals are. Why is this clan being formed? Is it to have local buddies to have a clan to play on, or will it be to compete in tournaments? These are questions that need to be answered up front, and every player needs to know about them. While they may change throughout your clan's career, it is why people will join, or why they shouldn't ask.
How will people join the clan? This is a complex issue. What I like to do, and have done in the past, is make that player wait at least 2 weeks to join. Sometimes it took up to a month, but this is just a good solid number to go by when starting a fledgling clan. What is the 2 weeks for? For a good chance to get a look at your tryout. To get some games in together, and to see what he's like as a person. An asshole can allude attention for 3 days, but in a 2 week period its harder for him to keep his patience. Patience is what you will need. Some clans form and get broken up by people who quit and take some power out of the clan. That's because those player's don't have patience. The 2 week waiting period is to basically prove their worth to the clan. To show they are really interested in joining. I personally don't want a hot-shot player who just wants a good clan to play with, I want a player that shows dedication and doesn't mind a short wait to show how dedicated he is to being a member.
If you decide to go on that logic, what happens when an infamous asshole asks to join your clan? This person may be better than all of your players, and would make a nice spot in your lineup, BUT DO NOT BE HASTY! Picking that player up could mean the demise of your clan. If that player actually wants to be in your clan, he should be able to prove it. I always tell the questionable recruits to wait at least a month, if they can show their dedication and prove that they are a better person than the rumors say, as well as passing all the other tests, maybe then may he join.
Contacting players is a big concern. When a player is accepted into my ranks, I get a few things from them. Most of which are to put on the webpage but things such as email, icq #, or AIM handle are very important to keeping that player updated on the clan's actions. Always make sure to get your player's contact information as soon as he joins, and keep it handy, because you will need it.
b) Standards
Every clan has standards, there is no doubting this. In fact, the only thing that differentiates clans are the standards that they make, and how well they live up to them.
The most important thing about standards is keeping them. Don't feel bad if you need to turn someone down that wants to join you're clan. The reason your feeling bad, is because they are a good person that just isn't up to par with your standard of skill. If this is the case, then he will know why, when you say "no".
Please excuse me if I mention 'turning away' other players more than accepting them. I think in terms of this though, because if they are to be accepted, there should be no questions, and no problems of why they'd join. The problems occur when that person doesn't quite make the criteria of your clan.
The Standard of skill is something you need to be sure of. Make your mark, and be secure with it. If your striving for competition, you, yourself should be the standard. If you want to compete, you will only want the players as good as yourself. So, when you get beat, its probably a good idea to find out who he is, and then begin your 'tryout' speech.
The Standard of person has got to be the biggest standard as far as I'm concerned. If your making a clan, your trying ot make something stable that will be around for a long time. By picking up good players without any respect, you jeopardize your clan's stability. Your clan has got to get along. If not, it will break up. Also, your clan has got to maintain a reputation. Its much easier to get games when you have a good reputation. Trust me, many more doors are unlocked when your clan is respected in the community.
The Standard of Clanplay is optional. I for one, enjoy playing clanplay. Holding positions, controlling the level, that's what I like to do. Some clans, disagree. There are many great clans who are superior to other clans in terms of "Standards of Person" but the standard of clanplay may not be there. If this is a concern of your clan, then it will be recommended to play with your tryout and see what he's got. Play with, play against, play many many games. Its important to see him from all angles before you get a good judge of his clanplay.
The Standard of Effort is somewhat hard to judge. Effort is the amount of time that player will devote to the clan. Will he be sticking around long? Will he be doing clan politics? Or will he just be joining because of the reputation your clan holds. The only sure-fire way to find the answers to these questions is to give him time. If you have no previous knowledge of his gaming career then you'll just have to see how he acts during his tryout. Don't let a piker into your clan!
The Standard of Maturity is huge! Well, at least for me it is. I'm now 22 years old, and 4 out of the 6 members in my clan (at this time) are 20 years old, or older. I personally like quake to just chill out and watch how the community unfolds. I personally don't want my clanmate in my private channel spamming "OMFG" over and over while the others say "GAY". I'm just too old for that, and I strive for a little more maturity in my clan. With maturity you also get patience, as well as dedication to your clan. Its important to recruit these players, because they are the biggest asset to any great clan.
c) Practices/Matches
How competitive will your clan be? Will you be playing many games together, or will you just join a ladder to have some fun? Ths is something that is important to touch base with.
If you're a practicing clan, how will you practice, and how often? If you are living up to your standards and you have a dedicated clan, or you've already fielding a clan that's ready to practice. You need to set up a weekly time, or daily time when your clan has inner-clan practice as well as scrimmages. I will say, in my experience though, setting up a designated time for practices each week usually hurts clans. People get mad at others for not practicing, and then the word "inactivity" comes into play. It is important to know how you will handle all of this, before it starts though. So think of a plan, and find out what your players want to do.
Scrimmaging is one of the best ways to make your clan better. Find another clan and play 2 or 3 games with them, on different maps. Winning isn't the important part here, think in terms of practicing new strats. To scrimmage, you usually need one person of the clan to be a very social fellow and to channel surf until he finds another clan who wants to 4 v 4.
Who plays in the matches? This is a hard call. I would leave this up to your smartest, most intellectual member, sometimes we like to call him "captain". The captain has got to be able to look at the talent he has, and pick those players to play in the match. If your players are intelligent, they'll want the best for your clan, and if the captain isn't picking that player, its because of things that should be addressed at another time. The person that sits that game just needs to root for his clan. After all, you do want the same outcome.
It is also to find out the availability of your players. When can they play, when cant they? Make a master list and refer to it often when making dates for scrimmages and matches. An unprepared leader isn't much of a leader at all.
d) Keeping the Clan Together
One of my personal favorites is to use first names. Hell, I do this when players aren't in my clan. I just like keeping it personal to some of the guys. I hate not knowing something so small like my clanmate's name. It just lets you keep a personal note, and you know have something in common.
Talk about something other than quake damnit! Quake is fun, and it's a game, but there are times when its nice to know something about your clanmates. Chances are both of you play the same sport, or do the same kind of work. Who knows, your quest to be a better friend might get you a reference at a job someday. We all have an interest in computers, crazier stuff has happened.
Problems arise in every clan, the clans that deal with them, and the clans talk them out are the ones that don't die. Since you have your standards, and all your members live up to them, they should be able to deal with each other in a similar manner. Depending on their maturity and effort, they should be able to deal with just about any problem with an open mind.
Problems can, and will always happen within your clan. Just remember to keep a leveled head. Don't be rash, just talk things out. By being calm and patient about the situation helps your clan. Don't think in terms of yourself, think in terms of your clan, then yourself. Will this be better for the clan, or worse? After answering that, ask yourself why you have a problem with it, and can it be resolved? How? Just talk it out. Its important to the success of your clan.
e) Conclusions
As mentioned before, you should be able to think of the clan first, and your job in it. Its not good to judge things quickly. If a person is trying out for your clan, and you don't like him, don't say "NO! Never!" The only thing this does is prove how rash you are to your clan's leader, and how unwilling you are to be patient to see if he's worth a look. Always give a player a second chance. If you have had problems in the past, try to resolve them. Its hard for a real asshole to change, but I have seen it happen. If a tryout is taking the time to wait for a chance to get into your clan, you should be able to take the time to look into him.
Inner-clan problems are best dealt with, with consideration. Thinking through things is the best solution for any problems. I can't tell you how immature it looks when a player quits a clan after losing a match the night before. How immature and rash is that? I would think that player obviously didn't things through. I really wouldn't want a player screwing my clan over like that. SLEEP ON IT! If you get an idea in your head, that seems exciting and provoking, please sleep on it. You can still follow through with it in the morning, but at least you will have a more clear point of view. The luster of that idea just might be gone, or it might still have some left in it. At least enough to further think about it, before making a hasty decision.
PATIENCE PATIENCE PATIENCE!!!! Making a person tryout for a week longer, or trying out for a week longer never hurt anyone. But by putting that player in your clan prematurely you might just be jeopardizing your whole clan. If that person really wants to play, he won't mind the wait.
The final note I leave you is DO NOT FORGET YOUR STANDARDS! Set them well, and live by them DEARLY. I promise you, once you go below one of your standards, all of the rest will start to decline, and then you have ruined the one shot you had at making a great clan. Every clan I have ever seen fall, is because they didn't put their standards high enough.
Just be smart, and be fair.
The Tiers Of Skill In Competitive Gaming
First off, this is purely opinionated, because what is considered ‘skill’ could be debated by every gamer on the planet. This is just my personal recollection of how I’ve looked at their tiers of skill in my competitive gaming career. My personal gaming background comes from playing doom, the quake series and a bit of UT2K3 on a competitive level.
Skill, I consider to be a blend of aim, movement, intuition, strategy and the ability to maximize the efficiency of these factors in any game mode. If you believe skill is defined by other factors or that these factors may or may not be correct, post another article to cover your personal beliefs.
As far as exceptions, there are many. For every tier I’ll give you, I know a player who is an exception to the rule. However one thing that remains the same… there are never diamonds in the rough. A tier 1, tier 2 or tier 3, and usually a tier 4 never beats a tier 5 player/team in an official match. Even if that lower tier player has more raw talent, the concepts that make a player a professional can only be learned after playing at the highest levels of the game for a prolonged period of time.
First tier will be considered the lowest and least skilled players. The final tier will be considered the best of the competitive community.
Tier 1: Lan Only Players
There are a lot of players out there that just play for the hell of it, the fun of it, and the bragging rights among a small circle of friends. I consider these players to be the lowest tier because they rarely even go online to play and sample who else is out there.
These players stick within a small circle of players and if they are competing, they do so within this circle. It’s always fun to wander into one of these lans coming from a professional gaming background and beat everyone up. The games mind you, are not fun at all in fact lan players love to run in that intricate straight-line pattern. The fun part is having half the lan stand behind you going saying things like ‘holy shit, I didn’t know you could do that’ while you beat on the other half of the lan in a FFA. I’ve even finished lans and found out later that they had scanned my computer for bots during their tournament.
Ahh yes, FFA (Free for All), this is generally the preferred mode of play for the tier 1 players. Be it instagib, rail only, or just pure free for all deathmatch, most lan only players eat it up. If 1 vs 1 or teamplay is at all played in a lan only tournament its generally to a very primitive degree in which mods are not used and a fraglimit decides the winner.
Tier 2: Public Internet Players
I specify public as in they play on public servers, which will come into play later in the article. This tier of players consistently plays on public servers, be it FFA, CTF, etc. They play real hard, though they can’t always win every game. As time goes on they come closer to being consistently in the top 3, and on some nights, they may just win a few levels.
The key here is that public internet players never change. They always play the same game type over and over and over, trying to better their position on the scoreboard. They don’t understand the concept that they may need to try something different to improve the scoreboard’s outcome.
Tier 3: FFA Champions
This is basically the deciding point in every gamer’s evolutionary process from newbie to tournament competitor. At this tier of skill, a player consistently wins and sometimes humiliates FFA servers. Even when a Tier 4 player comes into a FFA server to blow off some steam, this player will either beat that Tier 4 (out of sheer experience) or give the Tier 4 a run for his money.
However, there comes a time in every FFA Champion’s career when someone asks our champion to play 1 v 1. This is frequently caused by an insecure Tier 4 getting beat in a game mode that he’s not as familiar with and challenging the player who did it to a 1 v 1 game. Then that champion gets a glimpse at competitive play by going to a private server with a teamplay mod or in teamplay mode and for the next 15 minutes of his life gets beat to sin by the Tier 4.
When this happens if the champion is a real competitor, he goes on for months (and possibly) years to getting his ass beat on private servers as he transitions into a Tier 4 while trying to improve his abilities as a gamer. If this player values fun over the hard word of improving his abilities as a gamer, he returns to his FFA servers and usually stays there unless prodded by friends to play teamplay or 1 v1 in the future.
Tier 4: Private Server Competitive Players
Private servers are simply unlisted servers or servers with passwords so that the general public that downloads gamespy can’t be a part of. To find these servers someone usually has to give you the ip address.
Something that also goes hand-to-hand with competitive gameplay on private servers is IRC. 95% of the competitive internet teams can be reached through IRC.
Tournaments are announced, bots are setup to invite you to scrimmages and there are always plenty of teams to scrimmage. IRC provides an organized way to find players to practice that are within your skill level.
Also, when a player begins competitive gameplay they transition to new game modes: 1 versus 1 or some form of teamplay (team dm, ctf, onslaught, etc.) If you’ve reached this level of the skill, usually you have soaked up as much as you could from FFA or previous game modes, and returning would not further your skill as a player.
Getting back on track here… The players who are at this tier start to develop new strategies and theories to their gameplay that they hadn’t been introduced to before. They also find out what weapons are more effective in different situations because of repetitive practice.
It is also common for Tier 4 players to create clans/teams and compete in many online tournaments and ladders to gauge their skill with other teams. Tier 4 players do not win these competitions, however they will beat any Tier 2/3 teams that have also signed up.
Tier 5: Professional Gamers
I use the term ‘professional’ very loosely. Currently only about 0.5 percent of competitive players ever see any real money from their professional gaming career though competition purposes, however they are of the caliber as being the best at what they do, and will some day be recognized by the mainstream as professional athletes (to some degree).
Professional gamers are those gamers who actively compete and have practice schedules. They consistently sit on the top spots of tournaments and ladders and very rarely lose official matches. Usually, if they are team players, they do not play outside of their team and are rarely seen on private team servers alone.
These players also frequent national and international tournaments to compete for large cash prizes and rankings.
Professional gamers also understand the mental concepts it takes to be a professional. The mindset you have to have to compete as well as the mindset you need to have in the community.
It is common for Tier 4 and Tier 5 to visit an occasional public FFA server to blow off some steam, but 9 times out of 10 they’ll be using an alias. They’ll be accused of botting, laugh and leave the server after humiliating everyone on it.
Summary
This was written not to deter people from trying to work their way up the competitive Tiers, but to educate the mass audiences on what there is out there beyond your favorite server, and who those guys with the 1’s and 3’s in their name are that beat everyone up.
I can honestly say I started as a Tier 2 player and worked my way up to Tier 5 after a few years. This could have been rapidly accelerated if someone would have showed me what IRC was at an earlier point in my gaming career.
Sometimes all that’s holding you back from the next tier is a mental barrier. I remember when I went from a Tier 4 player to a Tier 5 player. It was just a moment of clarity where everything made sense, and from that point on, I played at a much more heightened level of gameplay.
Starting An Online Tournament
As competitive gaming gets more popular, people are beginning to organize more tournaments. Unfortunately, a lot of tournaments are ill-prepared and often cause more harm then help.
It takes a lot of work to make a tournament function properly, as well as a lot of planning time and documentation. The rules of your tournament must be completely specific, the seeding must be done properly, an official needs to oversea every single game, a webpage must have all the information and must be updated daily. There is a lot of variables that need to be taken into account when planning a tournament and not a lot of people take the time to do so.
How does a tournament cause harm to a community? A tournament excites everyone, gets everyone ready to compete, gets everyone practicing, what happens when that tournament falls apart after 4 weeks? The competitors who put a lot of time into practicing and demo reviewing will now have wasted their time. That means they are one step closer to leaving the game. In addition, the people who organized the tournament will lose their credibility as tournament coordinators. They’ll have a much harder time getting anyone to join their tournaments in the future.
Below are simply things that you’ll want to keep in mind when planning your next tournament. They are my personal opinions on tournaments I’ve seen succeed and fail.
Planning
It’s always a good idea to start out with your game type, bracket structure and total number of competitors to build the foundation of your planning. By totaling up the amount of matches and the people involved you’ll know how many staff members you’ll need to make the tournament work. You’re going to need one staff member present at every match, so in the first week if there are 8 matches, you’ll need 4-8 staff members. If the staff is available, I would recommend doubling up on matches.
Now you must find out the length of your tournament. If your game type is 1 v 1 then you can have a maximum of two matches a week, but one match a week is optimal. Players have lives too and if the players are very competitive, they like to review demos before every match and practice according to their opponent’s playing styles. It is nice to give your competitors time to do such things.
If the game mode is team oriented, you cannot ask any regular team to play more than one official match per week. Too many scheduling conflicts between players mean that one or both teams may not have their starting lineup available on the game night. You want each team performing at their best for your tournament matches to be memorable.
If the total number of competitors is 64, then it’s important to know if the bracket structure goes to 32 players, or uses pool play to go straight to the top 16. If so you must account for all the games and total up the amount of time it will take for all the matches to be played.
It’s also important to note that a tournament should never last much over a three month period. You don’t want your competitors to lose interest and the longer your tournament the more your tournament is at risk to no-shows.
Do you have private server(s) that your tournament games can be played? This needs to be addressed as well.
Will the maps players will be competing on be chosen for them, or do you allow the players to choose for themselves out of a bank of maps chosen for your tournament? If players are given the choice, matches may take slightly longer to start because of map choosing and you’ll also need to have a fair way to determine the tie breaking map if it is needed.
Rules
Making a bad set of rules could very well doom your tournament right from the start. Players need VERY specific rules that they can refer to whenever a dispute comes up. If your tournament’s rules are vague, then you’re tournament is immediately labeled ‘unorganized’ and then people lose faith and the tournament falls apart.
When making your rules, it’s best to have a panel of objective players to agree upon each rule. Using your own personal set of rules may be good for you and what you think is competitive, but your hardcore competitors may have a different idea of rules should be implemented.
Each of your staff should know the rules before they ever step into a game to administrate. They need to be able to answer any questions immediately and make sure the games run smoothly.
Staff
When you are selecting your tournament staff, you need to choose wisely. Don’t choose someone that is ‘cool’ because that person is a friend. Pick someone who has a personality that fits the role of a staff member.
Staff members should optimally be competitors that are strong-willed enough to get the job done. They also need to be responsible and dependable enough to make decisions based on the situation at hand and show up to every match they are officiating.
The staff also reflects directly on your tournament. If you have a staff member that is unorganized or ill-prepared the same can be said about your tournament.
You’ll need to find a designer/developer staff member as well because you’ll need a tournament web page.
None of your staff should ever be allowed to compete at any time.
Tournament Web Page
The key to running a good tournament is having a place to hold all of its information. Your web page also reflects directly on your tournament, and if it is done right, can alleviate a lot of pressure from your staff members.
Your tournament web page should keep the players updated on the rules, the current brackets, updated scores, game write-ups and a staff page. A good tournament webpage should maintain the hype that your tournament puts out while giving its competitors the tools they need to prepare for matches to come.
Your Competitors
Depending on your gaming community you may already have your competitors in mind or they may have the option to sign up for your tournament.
Whether by choice or by signup, make sure you the players/teams that are allowed to compete in your tournament will be there for the duration of the tournament.
If that player/team has been a part of any previous tournaments, check to see if they played every game they were invited to and make sure they did not quit any previous tournaments. When a player/team quits a tournament it reflects very badly on your tournament and its outcome. So make sure every team involved is there to further your tournament’s success by participating.
No-Shows
If you have thrown a tournament and had zero no-shows, you are one of the very few. No-shows are usually a part of every tournament and unfortunately the worst problem.
When a player/team doesn’t show up for a match, all the preparation the his opponent has gone through, the time he set aside to play a match as well as the official has all been a waste as they sit waiting for the no-show to login. This means that game will have to rescheduled or forfeited. Nobody likes to win by forfeit and nobody else in the tournament feels good about anyone forfeiting.
Usually, when a player forfeits it is not that player’s fault, the problem lies with the tournament. If that player wasn’t motivated enough to come to the match, then the tournament should have not allowed him to be a competitor. If that player was simply a few hours late and had more important things lined up at the time of his match then the tournament didn’t do a good enough job instilling the excitement into the player to compete in their tournament.
A tournament’s failure can usually be attributed to amount of no-shows in its brackets. Once other players/teams start to see that there is a lack of interest in the tournament, or that the tournament is not taken seriously, that tournament ceases to be as enticing to play in, and the players feel as if they are wasting their time.
No-shows have caused many of the tournament’s to go down in flames. Only if your tournament is truly well organized can you take the blow of a few no-shows and keep your tournament running successfully.
Prizes and Sponsorships
It is the general consensus that every competition needs prizes. I’ve been playing in tournaments for an awfully long time and I can safely say that while the prizes are a nice perk, I just played to rank myself as a player. The real motivation was to see how well I would do in a tournament situation rather then the amount of cash I would get at the end.
Corporate sponsorships are very hard to come by. If you’re tournament has a lot of media involved, and your tournament web page is getting a great deal of unique visits on a daily basis then you have a shot at corporate sponsorship. The sponsors need to know that if they are giving out any prizes, and how it will benefit their company. You need to provide a large amount of traffic with their logo on your site to obtain corporate sponsorship.
If this is a task you feel suited for, give it a try, though it may be a waste of time depending on the scale of your tournament.
Things You Need To Know
· There will always be no-shows in your tournaments.
· Half of your competitors will be late to their matches.
· Not every competitor will like every rule of the tournament.
· There will always be at least 1 dispute, about lag, tardiness, cheating, etc.
· The better your webpage looks, the more confident your competitors feel about your tournaments organization.
In Summary
Tournaments are one of the exciting parts for any online competitor’s career. However, if a tournament is not organized they fall very short of their goal.
The points I’ve mentioned above are simply guidelines of what has worked for me. You’ll have to find a happy medium for the game, and game type you have chosen for your tournament.
Good Luck on your future tournaments, I hope this helps.
Powerup Hoggers Are Annoying
When you’re playing a nice clan match of CTF or ONS, don’t you hate it when you have 20 health and a nearby teammate who sees you grabs that keg of health that you were one step away from?
Folks, while getting 100 extra health or any other powerup or superweapon for yourself surely is great, how about giving it to somebody on your team if they need it? I hate it when I am on a team that is one sided to one person who hogs all the powerups or superweapons. As the famous saying goes, “there is no ‘I’ in team”. Sometimes, a weakened teammate is the difference between a loss and a win. Of course, you could easily find 25 health in several places, but when instant 100 health is a must (ie. no 25s around), save it for somebody who needs it.
Voice chat is very important when it comes to this. If a powerup or weapon spawns and you are not in need of it, it is an excellent idea to call in the rest of your team and save the pickup for somebody who needs it, if possible. Granted, sometimes people are too far away for this to happen or are busy doing other tasks, but it can be the saving grace in many situations. An evenly strong team is better than a team with one super-powered player and other, injured or weaker players. If voice chat is not available, setting binds to messages indicating that a powerup spawns would suffice.
Another thing is switching weapons. If you have a redeemer or any other superweapon and you are doing a certain task, you may throw it using your throw weapon key to another teammate if he needs it. It is better to let the superweapon be used the way your team needs to be used if you are doing something else. Once again, voice chat is a big plus here, as it allows the team to be easily coordinated.
Perhaps the most important factor in being generous with powerups is to be organized. No group of players should play a match without any organization as well. For saving items for other players, the team should plan ahead first what to do in a situation where one is in need of a certain powerup or weapon so that no confusion arises. If there is a lack of planning, then the team is prone to progressing through the battle slowly and may even end up losing. Therefore, planning ahead about your individual tasks and what to do in extreme circumstances will enable your team to have a greater chance of winning.
So next time you’re playing a match with your team, plan ahead, don’t hog the powerups and superweapons for yourself, and always communicate with each other. Your team may end up losing if you keep on sitting around that redeemer to try to get yourself a MMMMONSTER KILL.
Bad Days
OK believe it or not every player has bad days. In fact, I'd guess that anybody who's ever played anything has had bad days. The trick to bouncing back from a bad day is to simply evaluate why it happened in the first place.
The Dynamics of an Off Day
So what exactly is a bad day? My definition would simply be when you feel like you're playing the same way you always do, against the same people you always do, but for some reason you just can't execute like normal. Your lightning is just off enough to get you killed, you miss combos that you usually hit with your eyes closed, or maybe you just can't seem to get that super easy lift jump to work right. Regardless, the main product of all of this is bound to be frustration. The biggest problem with this situation is dealing with it right.
Reacting Effectively
Probably the most natural reaction to having just a terrible day out of nowhere is to either sit down and force yourself to "play through" everything, or quit altogether. The reasons not to quit are fairly self-evident so I won't get into them =P, but there certainly is an issue with simply trying to play until you get over the hump.
One of the fundamentals to any competition is that practice is key, but if you're practicing the wrong things it does no good. Thus, if you think that you can just keep playing and playing until you "snap out of it", you're likely in for a long and frustrating night. The first thing you should do is simply take a step back, calm yourself, and try to figure out what you've been doing differently.
Evaluating Yourself
There's no 1 certain way to find what the deal is here, but one certainty is that you have somehow gotten out of your "groove", your comfort zone of how you usually play. This could be cause by anything from your mousepad shifting to a different position to actually playing too much. There's actually been times when I've felt my aim being slightly off, so I just tried to re-center my mousepad into a different position, and it seriously made a big difference. I didn't even notice it as uncomfortable at first, but for some reason it was the issue.
What to Do
If you can't think of anything such as mouse/monitor/keyboard/chair/desk positioning that may have changed, you should probably just take a break. While the overtly obvious theory would seem to be that practice = improvement, many times you'll just need some fresh surroundings for awhile to "reset" yourself. When you go back to sit down to play you should feel more loose and relaxed, and often times this will help tremendously, and tends to be overlooked.
I can personally vouch for the value of taking time off every now and then. One thing I've specifically noticed is, when I play too much and start to get a bit lazy, my aim slacks. The reason for this -- oddly enough -- is that I tend to stop focusing on my crosshairs as much. That is, I try to use the screen alignment totally when taking shots, and I tend to shoot with much greater accuracy when I use a combination of both styles. Normally if i notice a pattern of me missing easy shots, I will make an effort to focus on the crosshairs more. While this often helps in the short run, the best thing for me is to just take some time off.
Breaks are Your Friend... Friends?... Stupid Grammar -,-
"Absence makes the heart grow fonder."
Corny phrase, I know, but the theory is indeed sound. Spending time doings in life will only help ensure that you squeeze every ounce of enjoyment from your time playing games. Now as for how long of a break to take, that's up to you. Sometimes I feel rejuvenated after just going out to eat and sittin around with some friends for a couple hours. Other times I have to go a day or two with little to no playing at all.
I have a few different mindsets when I play my game of choice. Depending on what kind of match I’m playing, or who I’m playing with, I may use a different mindset to better suit the mood of how I’ll be participating. I’ve never really tried to give them names before, but the most appropriate characteristic for my most important mindset is somewhat machine-like, so in the absence of creativity at 8:00 am in the morning, we’ll call this mindset The Machine. The Machine is what I play with when I want results.
Background
I had debated many years over the best outlook to take on how to play competitive matches. Some people play by emotion, some people play out of inspiration, none of those really fit my situation very well so after dissecting what it is I did in competitive matches and how I played team games, my outlook on things was very machine-like, very orderly, an absence of emotion never leaving variables unaccounted for. Since arriving on to this conclusion I’ve shared my theory with a few other friends and they felt they agreed on a few major key points.
I’ve pretty much played all my matches, 1v1 and TDM strictly with this mindset. This is how I go into tournament games, and depending on how well I slip into this mindset during a game is directly related to my performance in that match.
I’m sure this is may be a very common approach of other competitive gamers out there and I’d be interested to hear what other alternative approaches there may be. Feel free to comment about your experiences at the end of the article.
Foundation
The foundation of this mentality is simply that you have a routine of tasks to do. Once those tasks are completed, you do them again. You simply repeat this process until the game is over.
Depending on how you use this mentality, your routine can be different. Since I’m a very defensive player, my routine does not involve in killing other players, this only occurs when it is convenient to my routine. A more aggressive player may choose to make offensive maneuvers in between tasks in his routine.
Programmers may understand this mindset with ease because its nothing but a series of IF/ELSE statements inside one big recursive loop. If you get this item, then you go here, once here go there. If item is there, you move on to this point, if not, you move to this point. It’s simply a pre-conceived list of instructions that you have developed over time with your experience on that map or game mode.
Example
So far this may be a little hard to grasp without a working example, so let’s make one up. Your strategies are best made when you’re not in game, and then you iron out the flaws of those strategies after testing them. Here is a makeshift routine I tend to use for Asbestos using the Machine mindset:
Depending on where I spawn at the beginning of the match, I have around 22 seconds to find myself a hitscan weapon and a area of effect weapon such as Flak or RL then arrive at the Amp with about 3 seconds before it spawns (around 9:37 in a 10 minute game). Then, I quickly drop down and run straight for the 100 armor. If it’s still there, I grab it and note the time. If its not there, I note the time and now I know that I’ll need to be back here in around 50 seconds. Depending on my loop, I either run up towards the lightning gun where unarmored opponents usually congregate, or I can run back through the hallway towards the Rocket Launcher. After I run my Amp out, I have about 35 or so seconds until I’m due back to the 100 armor. This is basically play time where I can have a little freedom in killing opponents, at least if that kill is on the way to my next checkpoint, the 100 armor. After receiving the 100 armor again and noting the time, I proceed immediately to the Amp. I only have around 20 seconds or so to get there, and I don’t want to miss it. Once the Amp is picked up, I repeat the process, which the timing changes every loop because the armor spawn will never be perfectly in-sync with the Amp spawn.
I simply apply this for the duration of the game, and while I’m on my way to each checkpoint I kill people who are conveniently located along the way. In a sense they are just a bonus in addition to obtaining all the power-ups. So in essence the game’s goal is to collect every power-up and as a side-effect, rack up some kills in the process.
This may sound crazy to some people, that is, to not directly focus on the one thing that matters the most, the final score, but you see results after trying it. You’ll defiantly die a lot less and feel like you have some more control and thought-process in the match rather then just finding players and attempting to kill them. As I’ve said, more aggressive people are more offensive, but they will always run their loops, and grab the power-ups.
Isolation
The process is actually a lot easier to do then most people think. You just may not execute the routine as good as players with more skill. For instance I was on a Free For All server the other day and someone was out-timing me on the 100 armor, and sometimes Amp. However, on the scoreboard I had 2 and sometimes 3 times his score. I would wager to guess he had a better kill / death ratio, but the scoreboard did not account for it.
It was obvious in fights that I was more skilled then the other player when weapons were involved, but he was simply taking great care into timing that armor and Amp rather then killing other players. While this doesn’t happen that often he was simply isolating his priorities. While he may have been killing people, the one goal he had was to loop that armor and that Amp, and he did it well. The 100 and Amp play such an important role in the game’s outcome, it’s ironic that it only takes a player who is paying attention at the clock to control them properly.
If you isolate your priorities (and usually they are simply obtaining the power-ups), rather then killing everyone you see, you can slip into this mindset a little easier. Isolation really does help the process because you don’t have so many factors to worry about when you are trying to succeed in completing an objective. Whenever I truly learn a map, spawns, timings, routes and loops, I do so alone, on a server. My clan still does this on regular occasions to learn certain intricacies about the maps they compete in.
Conclusion
Find a routine that works with your playing style and practice it. Ie: If you’re good with the rocket launcher, focus more so on tight hallways then open areas. If you find something that works for you, repetition is the key!
This is a very opinionated article and though not every competitive gamer will agree point-for-point, I think this article serves its purpose of giving the average gamer more food for thought as they frag away. Good Luck
Practice Does Not Mean Perfect
Far too often do I see the phrase ‘Practice Makes Perfect’ and far too often do I get annoyed by it. Now it’s not so much that the phrase is incorrect, but its meaning is just misconceived when playing FPS games.
What is practice anyway? Most people think that playing the game, is practice. Ehhh! Wrong! Practice is more-so working methodically towards a goal of self-improvement, not just joining a public server and seeing how well you do. Practice requires thought. If no thought is applied then you won’t be getting any better.
If you join a game on a public server, rack up 35 kills and then call it a night, did you actually get any practice? You may have played the game for a little bit, but what did you specifically learn not to do, or to do better? Most likely you just went in, did the same stuff you always do, and then chalked it up as another night of practice. If you did better then you normally do, then it was a “good” practice, if you didn’t play as hot as you normally do it was a “bad” practice. Are we starting to see any holes in the logic of it all?
Practice should be started mentally and followed through physically. You can practice certain aspects of your game on a public server, but if you don’t have a plan for how to execute that before you join, you’re not really getting any better at it once you plateau, regardless of how much time you spend in the game. If you are going to practice your timing, think how you are going to do so. Devise a game plan before you join the game, remember the respawn times and remind yourself to play close attention to the game clock, then join the game and actually practice this scenario.
Now this article isn’t meant for the casual gamer who just enjoys playing a fun game on a public server, this is intended for those players who play the game to improve upon their level of skill and they think playing equates to practicing. If you do fall into this crowd, I’m sure there is a justification of why you don’t feel this applies to you, and that you are an exception to the rule and that you do somewhat prepare yourself mentally when you join a public server on what areas of your game need to be improved. Well honestly, if you fall within that 90% of the gaming population, you’re wrong. Be more militant! Isolate your improvement, focus only on that! Practice one aspect at a time, and your whole mental process should revolve around that aspect whenever you join that server to practice.
Bottom line, do you feel like you haven’t gotten any better in a while and you are wondering why? Perhaps this change in your routine will jump start you on to the road of improvement once again. I honestly don’t know how many people I’ve known during my time as a gamer that play every day of their life, for more than a few hours, and they really never improve. If practice meant perfect, they should be kicking my ass by now, but unfortunately, that isn’t the case.
So next time you intend on practicing hard, your practice should start before you load up the game. If not, then hopefully you’re having fun, because self improvement may take a long time, if it ever even occurs.
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE VALUE OF PLAYING XXXX ARENA!
even just playing for a few hours in warmup mode with a teammate and only using 1 specific weapon will help a LOT... we do this with goo/grenades/rockets/ you name it all the time and it really helps you focus in on that 1 aspect...
for example, how often during a typical game do you try to hit difficult shots with the splooge gun alt fire? even if you're trying to focus on that, it's hard to get more than a handful... but if you are using nothing BUT that gun, then every shot isolates it, and you can work on it much more...
in comparison to something like basketball, if you want to work on shooting you don't play a pickup game, you shoot around because it helps isolate what you want to work on, and give you more reps to focus on improving...
Great article! I think this is why I haven't seen much imporovement lately. I need to start isolating my problems. There are a lot of other people that need to read this article. People get frustrated that they aren't improving, but they don't realise that they are not actually practicing.
I am a guitar player and when there is a difficult solo that I am trying to learn, I often isolate my problem area and repeat it over and over until it becomes habit. After I've done that, I work on connecting it to the rest of the solo.
Excellent comment from concrete as well.
Isolating a problem and fixing it is never easy.
Regardless of the context you are in, it’s the process that makes it so hard. The first thing is realizing that the problem lies in you. You can place blame all you want, that won’t help. You have to own the problem, and then you have to fix it.
Good read.
Ongoing Improvements & Mental Barriers
Ongoing improvement in a gamer’s competitive career is the single hardest thing to be consistent at. While some players seem to have a knack for getting better, other players play for years and see very little improvement.
While its impossible to write an essay that every player can follow that will allow them to constantly improve their ability as a player, I’ll tell you about the theory that I have constructed over the past few years of why some people excel in improving their competitive game play and some people do not.
If reading about a theory isn’t exactly what you had in mind on the topic of player improvement and you don’t feel that this piece of information is vital to you as a player, then you are simply looking for a quick tip or an easy way out. Constant player improvement is not something easily earned, it’s something that demands hard work. While every player has their own reason why they aren’t progressing in skill, I cannot possibly give everyone their solution. However, I can define the problem, and perhaps they can arrive on the solution they need.
Theory: Mental Barriers
This is a theory I’ve had for years, and I babble on about it to my teammates from time to time. This is simply the one thing that everyone seems to have in common when they are having a hard time trying to progress in competitive gaming.
A Mental Barrier is something that halts a player’s progression to the next level of skill. No matter how many hours they spend practicing, different sensitivities or hardware configurations they may try, they just can’t seem to get much better as a player. This is because the problem isn’t sitting in front of them, it’s in their head.
Mental Barriers can cause a player to get very frustrated and have also been known to halt their progression indefinitely. Everyone has had that friend who has played for years, but they just can’t seem to get any better. This friend probably has hit his Mental Barrier and though he wants to get better, he simply doesn’t know how.
I see Mental Barriers as invisible walls in a long hallway. The hallway is wide and has plenty of room on the sides of the barriers to walk past. At the end of the hallway you have will reached your goal of being the best player in the world. A Mental Barrier occurs when a person comes down the hallway and runs straight into a barrier, unable to go through. Since the person doesn’t realize that he’s hit it, he just keeps trying what he’s familiar with, to get past it and reach the goal. This obviously doesn’t work, and the player stays in front of the barrier for a while. All he really had to do was step back and try reaching the goal by alternate means, however he just trudges forward not knowing how to actually get past the wall and gets frustrated when he cant.
Some player’s avoid the barriers till they get deep into the hallway, usually passing the rest of us up along the way. However they always hit a barrier too, we certainly can’t see it though, since he left us in the dust.
Mental Barriers are not an uncommon occurrence in real life either. It’s usually found in older people then younger. The grandfather who has hesitated from using that new fangled computer for years, finally sits down and can’t seem to do anything right. Even though this person may be a very intelligent individual, an 8 year old could get on the computer and do much better then grandpa. Why is this? Simply because the child doesn’t have a bunch of mental barriers in his head causing him to get set-back every time he makes a mistake. There is no fear of mistake and the child has a completely open-mind to try new things. Basically, grandpa just got owned.
Perhaps this is the reason why most professional gamers are in between the ages 15-30? Probably not, but it may account for skilled gamers 30+ years of age being few and far between.
There are exceptions to my theory and there are no absolutes. I’ve known people that simply don’t have the mental capacity to tie their shoes without help (probably from grandpa) however they can understand and execute competitive theory. This tells us that intelligence isn’t necessarily a factor of your ability as a gamer. Though I do think intelligence helps in the aid of deducing what areas you need to improve upon and the grand scheme of what needs to be done, its an irrelevant factor in breaking a mental barrier.
Breaking Mental Barriers
This is the big question and obviously, the hardest to answer. Breaking a Mental Barrier is almost like having an epiphany (an instant understanding of something). Then, overnight you see a dramatic improvement in your ability as a player. I’ve broken Mental Barriers before, and after a few games, I knew what had just occurred simply because I was playing much better and it wasn’t just a streak of good luck.
Since everyone has their own hang up on why they can’t progress further as a gamer, they are the only ones who can actually come up with their solution. However, I’ll clarify a few popular solutions that have worked for others.
Keep an open mind! That means switch your style of play. If you want to get better as a player, don’t just stick to one game mode, find a new one every few weeks/months and play real hard at it. Discover the intricacies of it. When you go back to your desired mode of play, you may have an understanding you weren’t equipped with before.
If you can’t figure out how to get past your Mental Barrier, you obviously don’t know the answer. So trying new things and listening to different perspectives is the only real way to find a solution to your dilemma. Perhaps at one point something someone says will give you that one tool you need to understand what things you need to change in your game play to progress as a player. Hell, even this article may have that effect.
Listen to Others! If you want to get a good grade on a test, you have to do your homework. This is no different. If you want to be a better gamer, you have to practice, read up, and understand competitive theory. If you can’t teach yourself competitive theory (like most of us), find someone who knows how to teach you. The more worldly you become as a player, the better understanding you will have of the game and its complexities. Don’t re-invent the wheel build your knowledge on a foundation that someone else has already laid.
There are actually a few other ways to overcome your barriers, but they are all centered around keeping an open mind and looking at the game in a fresh perspective.
In Conclusion
Hitting a Mental Barrier is a common problem with competitors from any game. The common misconception is that more practice will do the trick. This is completely useless unless they know what they’re problem is, and are practicing to fix it at its base. If you’ve hit a Mental Barrier, you may have a general understanding of what your problems are, but if your answer to fixing them is ‘practice makes perfect’ then you won’t be progressing much further.
In closing I’ll tell you my biggest Mental Barrier breakdown I had. It was simple actually. One day I figured out how to shoot the Rocket Launcher. Simple as that! Before you think I’ve completely ruined my credibility, I’ll tell you why. This was simply the one small key that opened the flood gates. From learning how to time my Rockets properly, I learned other weapon timings, and had a stronger sense of player predictions. Not only did my rocket ability increase 10 fold in a matter of 2 hours, I now had the tool to lockdown a level. This lead to further understanding of spawn raping, weapon looping and then I could also look at retake methods, team deathmatch and the importance of power-ups and timing them in a very complex manner. Once I hit overcame that mental barrier, it was a year before I hit my next one.
I’m curious to hear about what other ways people broke their Mental Barriers. If you have a story, I’d love to hear it.
I think you have hit upon some interesting ideas, and I just wanted to add some further comment.
Your example of rocket use strikes me as it is something that was instantly obvious to me. After some experimentation I was able to get it clear in my head exactly when and where I would have to plant a rocket to get a kill. Things like movement and accuracy came with practice but the way you use these skills is determined by how you interpret your experience - this is what I recognise as intelligence. And one thing Ive learnt from my life experience is that some people just cant grasp certain ideas. Ever. Some people always have an edge as they are able to adapt and come up with new ideas - they dont rely on website tips, they create their own ideas from gameplay experience. These people will always be looking for an edge and will remain one step ahead.
I like to win DM games and will always push the game one step further to get a victory. Often I get plenty of abuse because I didnt play the game in the way that my opponent wanted, eg I camped spawn spots or certain items. These are examples of limited players. If I come up against a spawn camper or such I will think on my feet and come up with a plan to counter this guy, and it seems some people cant do that. We've all played against whiners who get killed by the same camper 10 times in a row, there is no psycological barrier there, these people just cant come up with an idea to dislodge the camper. Most of us would not let the guy get us twice let alone ten times! All the hand-eye coordination practice in the world isnt going to help this guy.
Maybe we are talking about the same thing but just view it in different ways? Computer games have always had an absolute side to them, by their very nature, and Ive known players who can gain complete understanding of the 'game' due to its ultimetly limited environment. This is perhaps easier to see in Doom where the variables with even more limited - in that game I had complete understanding of how the computer would treat every action and would be able to toy with opponents in LAN games, I have no doubt that people approach this level in UT.
What I do believe strongly is that in game 'gamesmanship' can have a massive effect. When I was younger I was easily thrown by a couple of 'ownage' or 'you suck' comments, or by the reputation of a player. If you go into a game with a close opponent thinking that you will lose then you generally will. Maybe you would win if the player didnt spam abuse and had a fake nick. These barriers are certainly real and affect your ability on the day, but when it comes to your overall ability and potential I think the only limits are practice time, intelligence and physical reflexes - some larger adult men just dont have the dexterity, when you have hands like hams you're never going to fly over the keybord like a skinny 16yr old!
Awesome article, nogame. I've been having those mental barriers for quite a while now! After playing TOO MUCH UT2k4 RPG on the Digital Demise public server, my DM/TDM skills have rusted away. I was getting so frustrated why I wasn't doing so well and starting swearing away so much (it's filthy.. I hate swearing) since I was doing so poorly. My mental barrier is that sometimes I play the game too seriously, not having fun in the process. If I don't do well, I get enraged, which definitely isn't me. Hopefully I'll be able to overcome this barrier soon :)
Starting A Clan
This Article was written in 2001 in relation to Quake, but since its not game specific, it works well with most fps games.
a) Rules
• Decide what the clan's ideals are
• How do people join this clan
• Contacting players, and IRC Ops
b) Standards
• standard of skill
• standard of person
• standard of clanplay
• standard of effort
• standard of maturity
c) Practices/Matches
• how often do you practice
• will you scrim
• are your players dedicated enough to practice
• who plays in matches
• what is the best time to schedule matches
d) Keeping the Clan Together
• Use first names
• Talk about other things than quake
• Be patient and open-minded
• Always keep a leveled head
e) Conclusions
• Don't be quick to judge
• Give people a 2nd try
• If a problem arises, sleep on it
• Don't forget your standards
• Patience Patience Patience
Didn't think it could be so complicated eh? Well I am just being anal, so don't feel too overwhelmed. Every thing I will make an analogy about will be things that I have experienced through the years in the quake community. So get a soda (or beer) and gluck reading.
a) Rules
Posting a set of rules is very important to any clan. They let you prepare for things to come, and basically pre-assign answers to questions that will be asked. Don't understand? Okay, example:
RULE: No hpb will be accepted, this is an all lpb clan.
That may not seem like much, but if you have that posted on a webpage, and you have an hpb eventually asks to join… there's your answer! At that point, there is no need to explain your position, just mention that it's posted.
You must decide what your clan's ideals are. Why is this clan being formed? Is it to have local buddies to have a clan to play on, or will it be to compete in tournaments? These are questions that need to be answered up front, and every player needs to know about them. While they may change throughout your clan's career, it is why people will join, or why they shouldn't ask.
How will people join the clan? This is a complex issue. What I like to do, and have done in the past, is make that player wait at least 2 weeks to join. Sometimes it took up to a month, but this is just a good solid number to go by when starting a fledgling clan. What is the 2 weeks for? For a good chance to get a look at your tryout. To get some games in together, and to see what he's like as a person. An asshole can allude attention for 3 days, but in a 2 week period its harder for him to keep his patience. Patience is what you will need. Some clans form and get broken up by people who quit and take some power out of the clan. That's because those player's don't have patience. The 2 week waiting period is to basically prove their worth to the clan. To show they are really interested in joining. I personally don't want a hot-shot player who just wants a good clan to play with, I want a player that shows dedication and doesn't mind a short wait to show how dedicated he is to being a member.
If you decide to go on that logic, what happens when an infamous asshole asks to join your clan? This person may be better than all of your players, and would make a nice spot in your lineup, BUT DO NOT BE HASTY! Picking that player up could mean the demise of your clan. If that player actually wants to be in your clan, he should be able to prove it. I always tell the questionable recruits to wait at least a month, if they can show their dedication and prove that they are a better person than the rumors say, as well as passing all the other tests, maybe then may he join.
Contacting players is a big concern. When a player is accepted into my ranks, I get a few things from them. Most of which are to put on the webpage but things such as email, icq #, or AIM handle are very important to keeping that player updated on the clan's actions. Always make sure to get your player's contact information as soon as he joins, and keep it handy, because you will need it.
b) Standards
Every clan has standards, there is no doubting this. In fact, the only thing that differentiates clans are the standards that they make, and how well they live up to them.
The most important thing about standards is keeping them. Don't feel bad if you need to turn someone down that wants to join you're clan. The reason your feeling bad, is because they are a good person that just isn't up to par with your standard of skill. If this is the case, then he will know why, when you say "no".
Please excuse me if I mention 'turning away' other players more than accepting them. I think in terms of this though, because if they are to be accepted, there should be no questions, and no problems of why they'd join. The problems occur when that person doesn't quite make the criteria of your clan.
The Standard of skill is something you need to be sure of. Make your mark, and be secure with it. If your striving for competition, you, yourself should be the standard. If you want to compete, you will only want the players as good as yourself. So, when you get beat, its probably a good idea to find out who he is, and then begin your 'tryout' speech.
The Standard of person has got to be the biggest standard as far as I'm concerned. If your making a clan, your trying ot make something stable that will be around for a long time. By picking up good players without any respect, you jeopardize your clan's stability. Your clan has got to get along. If not, it will break up. Also, your clan has got to maintain a reputation. Its much easier to get games when you have a good reputation. Trust me, many more doors are unlocked when your clan is respected in the community.
The Standard of Clanplay is optional. I for one, enjoy playing clanplay. Holding positions, controlling the level, that's what I like to do. Some clans, disagree. There are many great clans who are superior to other clans in terms of "Standards of Person" but the standard of clanplay may not be there. If this is a concern of your clan, then it will be recommended to play with your tryout and see what he's got. Play with, play against, play many many games. Its important to see him from all angles before you get a good judge of his clanplay.
The Standard of Effort is somewhat hard to judge. Effort is the amount of time that player will devote to the clan. Will he be sticking around long? Will he be doing clan politics? Or will he just be joining because of the reputation your clan holds. The only sure-fire way to find the answers to these questions is to give him time. If you have no previous knowledge of his gaming career then you'll just have to see how he acts during his tryout. Don't let a piker into your clan!
The Standard of Maturity is huge! Well, at least for me it is. I'm now 22 years old, and 4 out of the 6 members in my clan (at this time) are 20 years old, or older. I personally like quake to just chill out and watch how the community unfolds. I personally don't want my clanmate in my private channel spamming "OMFG" over and over while the others say "GAY". I'm just too old for that, and I strive for a little more maturity in my clan. With maturity you also get patience, as well as dedication to your clan. Its important to recruit these players, because they are the biggest asset to any great clan.
c) Practices/Matches
How competitive will your clan be? Will you be playing many games together, or will you just join a ladder to have some fun? Ths is something that is important to touch base with.
If you're a practicing clan, how will you practice, and how often? If you are living up to your standards and you have a dedicated clan, or you've already fielding a clan that's ready to practice. You need to set up a weekly time, or daily time when your clan has inner-clan practice as well as scrimmages. I will say, in my experience though, setting up a designated time for practices each week usually hurts clans. People get mad at others for not practicing, and then the word "inactivity" comes into play. It is important to know how you will handle all of this, before it starts though. So think of a plan, and find out what your players want to do.
Scrimmaging is one of the best ways to make your clan better. Find another clan and play 2 or 3 games with them, on different maps. Winning isn't the important part here, think in terms of practicing new strats. To scrimmage, you usually need one person of the clan to be a very social fellow and to channel surf until he finds another clan who wants to 4 v 4.
Who plays in the matches? This is a hard call. I would leave this up to your smartest, most intellectual member, sometimes we like to call him "captain". The captain has got to be able to look at the talent he has, and pick those players to play in the match. If your players are intelligent, they'll want the best for your clan, and if the captain isn't picking that player, its because of things that should be addressed at another time. The person that sits that game just needs to root for his clan. After all, you do want the same outcome.
It is also to find out the availability of your players. When can they play, when cant they? Make a master list and refer to it often when making dates for scrimmages and matches. An unprepared leader isn't much of a leader at all.
d) Keeping the Clan Together
One of my personal favorites is to use first names. Hell, I do this when players aren't in my clan. I just like keeping it personal to some of the guys. I hate not knowing something so small like my clanmate's name. It just lets you keep a personal note, and you know have something in common.
Talk about something other than quake damnit! Quake is fun, and it's a game, but there are times when its nice to know something about your clanmates. Chances are both of you play the same sport, or do the same kind of work. Who knows, your quest to be a better friend might get you a reference at a job someday. We all have an interest in computers, crazier stuff has happened.
Problems arise in every clan, the clans that deal with them, and the clans talk them out are the ones that don't die. Since you have your standards, and all your members live up to them, they should be able to deal with each other in a similar manner. Depending on their maturity and effort, they should be able to deal with just about any problem with an open mind.
Problems can, and will always happen within your clan. Just remember to keep a leveled head. Don't be rash, just talk things out. By being calm and patient about the situation helps your clan. Don't think in terms of yourself, think in terms of your clan, then yourself. Will this be better for the clan, or worse? After answering that, ask yourself why you have a problem with it, and can it be resolved? How? Just talk it out. Its important to the success of your clan.
e) Conclusions
As mentioned before, you should be able to think of the clan first, and your job in it. Its not good to judge things quickly. If a person is trying out for your clan, and you don't like him, don't say "NO! Never!" The only thing this does is prove how rash you are to your clan's leader, and how unwilling you are to be patient to see if he's worth a look. Always give a player a second chance. If you have had problems in the past, try to resolve them. Its hard for a real asshole to change, but I have seen it happen. If a tryout is taking the time to wait for a chance to get into your clan, you should be able to take the time to look into him.
Inner-clan problems are best dealt with, with consideration. Thinking through things is the best solution for any problems. I can't tell you how immature it looks when a player quits a clan after losing a match the night before. How immature and rash is that? I would think that player obviously didn't things through. I really wouldn't want a player screwing my clan over like that. SLEEP ON IT! If you get an idea in your head, that seems exciting and provoking, please sleep on it. You can still follow through with it in the morning, but at least you will have a more clear point of view. The luster of that idea just might be gone, or it might still have some left in it. At least enough to further think about it, before making a hasty decision.
PATIENCE PATIENCE PATIENCE!!!! Making a person tryout for a week longer, or trying out for a week longer never hurt anyone. But by putting that player in your clan prematurely you might just be jeopardizing your whole clan. If that person really wants to play, he won't mind the wait.
The final note I leave you is DO NOT FORGET YOUR STANDARDS! Set them well, and live by them DEARLY. I promise you, once you go below one of your standards, all of the rest will start to decline, and then you have ruined the one shot you had at making a great clan. Every clan I have ever seen fall, is because they didn't put their standards high enough.
Just be smart, and be fair.
The Tiers Of Skill In Competitive Gaming
First off, this is purely opinionated, because what is considered ‘skill’ could be debated by every gamer on the planet. This is just my personal recollection of how I’ve looked at their tiers of skill in my competitive gaming career. My personal gaming background comes from playing doom, the quake series and a bit of UT2K3 on a competitive level.
Skill, I consider to be a blend of aim, movement, intuition, strategy and the ability to maximize the efficiency of these factors in any game mode. If you believe skill is defined by other factors or that these factors may or may not be correct, post another article to cover your personal beliefs.
As far as exceptions, there are many. For every tier I’ll give you, I know a player who is an exception to the rule. However one thing that remains the same… there are never diamonds in the rough. A tier 1, tier 2 or tier 3, and usually a tier 4 never beats a tier 5 player/team in an official match. Even if that lower tier player has more raw talent, the concepts that make a player a professional can only be learned after playing at the highest levels of the game for a prolonged period of time.
First tier will be considered the lowest and least skilled players. The final tier will be considered the best of the competitive community.
Tier 1: Lan Only Players
There are a lot of players out there that just play for the hell of it, the fun of it, and the bragging rights among a small circle of friends. I consider these players to be the lowest tier because they rarely even go online to play and sample who else is out there.
These players stick within a small circle of players and if they are competing, they do so within this circle. It’s always fun to wander into one of these lans coming from a professional gaming background and beat everyone up. The games mind you, are not fun at all in fact lan players love to run in that intricate straight-line pattern. The fun part is having half the lan stand behind you going saying things like ‘holy shit, I didn’t know you could do that’ while you beat on the other half of the lan in a FFA. I’ve even finished lans and found out later that they had scanned my computer for bots during their tournament.
Ahh yes, FFA (Free for All), this is generally the preferred mode of play for the tier 1 players. Be it instagib, rail only, or just pure free for all deathmatch, most lan only players eat it up. If 1 vs 1 or teamplay is at all played in a lan only tournament its generally to a very primitive degree in which mods are not used and a fraglimit decides the winner.
Tier 2: Public Internet Players
I specify public as in they play on public servers, which will come into play later in the article. This tier of players consistently plays on public servers, be it FFA, CTF, etc. They play real hard, though they can’t always win every game. As time goes on they come closer to being consistently in the top 3, and on some nights, they may just win a few levels.
The key here is that public internet players never change. They always play the same game type over and over and over, trying to better their position on the scoreboard. They don’t understand the concept that they may need to try something different to improve the scoreboard’s outcome.
Tier 3: FFA Champions
This is basically the deciding point in every gamer’s evolutionary process from newbie to tournament competitor. At this tier of skill, a player consistently wins and sometimes humiliates FFA servers. Even when a Tier 4 player comes into a FFA server to blow off some steam, this player will either beat that Tier 4 (out of sheer experience) or give the Tier 4 a run for his money.
However, there comes a time in every FFA Champion’s career when someone asks our champion to play 1 v 1. This is frequently caused by an insecure Tier 4 getting beat in a game mode that he’s not as familiar with and challenging the player who did it to a 1 v 1 game. Then that champion gets a glimpse at competitive play by going to a private server with a teamplay mod or in teamplay mode and for the next 15 minutes of his life gets beat to sin by the Tier 4.
When this happens if the champion is a real competitor, he goes on for months (and possibly) years to getting his ass beat on private servers as he transitions into a Tier 4 while trying to improve his abilities as a gamer. If this player values fun over the hard word of improving his abilities as a gamer, he returns to his FFA servers and usually stays there unless prodded by friends to play teamplay or 1 v1 in the future.
Tier 4: Private Server Competitive Players
Private servers are simply unlisted servers or servers with passwords so that the general public that downloads gamespy can’t be a part of. To find these servers someone usually has to give you the ip address.
Something that also goes hand-to-hand with competitive gameplay on private servers is IRC. 95% of the competitive internet teams can be reached through IRC.
Tournaments are announced, bots are setup to invite you to scrimmages and there are always plenty of teams to scrimmage. IRC provides an organized way to find players to practice that are within your skill level.
Also, when a player begins competitive gameplay they transition to new game modes: 1 versus 1 or some form of teamplay (team dm, ctf, onslaught, etc.) If you’ve reached this level of the skill, usually you have soaked up as much as you could from FFA or previous game modes, and returning would not further your skill as a player.
Getting back on track here… The players who are at this tier start to develop new strategies and theories to their gameplay that they hadn’t been introduced to before. They also find out what weapons are more effective in different situations because of repetitive practice.
It is also common for Tier 4 players to create clans/teams and compete in many online tournaments and ladders to gauge their skill with other teams. Tier 4 players do not win these competitions, however they will beat any Tier 2/3 teams that have also signed up.
Tier 5: Professional Gamers
I use the term ‘professional’ very loosely. Currently only about 0.5 percent of competitive players ever see any real money from their professional gaming career though competition purposes, however they are of the caliber as being the best at what they do, and will some day be recognized by the mainstream as professional athletes (to some degree).
Professional gamers are those gamers who actively compete and have practice schedules. They consistently sit on the top spots of tournaments and ladders and very rarely lose official matches. Usually, if they are team players, they do not play outside of their team and are rarely seen on private team servers alone.
These players also frequent national and international tournaments to compete for large cash prizes and rankings.
Professional gamers also understand the mental concepts it takes to be a professional. The mindset you have to have to compete as well as the mindset you need to have in the community.
It is common for Tier 4 and Tier 5 to visit an occasional public FFA server to blow off some steam, but 9 times out of 10 they’ll be using an alias. They’ll be accused of botting, laugh and leave the server after humiliating everyone on it.
Summary
This was written not to deter people from trying to work their way up the competitive Tiers, but to educate the mass audiences on what there is out there beyond your favorite server, and who those guys with the 1’s and 3’s in their name are that beat everyone up.
I can honestly say I started as a Tier 2 player and worked my way up to Tier 5 after a few years. This could have been rapidly accelerated if someone would have showed me what IRC was at an earlier point in my gaming career.
Sometimes all that’s holding you back from the next tier is a mental barrier. I remember when I went from a Tier 4 player to a Tier 5 player. It was just a moment of clarity where everything made sense, and from that point on, I played at a much more heightened level of gameplay.
Starting An Online Tournament
As competitive gaming gets more popular, people are beginning to organize more tournaments. Unfortunately, a lot of tournaments are ill-prepared and often cause more harm then help.
It takes a lot of work to make a tournament function properly, as well as a lot of planning time and documentation. The rules of your tournament must be completely specific, the seeding must be done properly, an official needs to oversea every single game, a webpage must have all the information and must be updated daily. There is a lot of variables that need to be taken into account when planning a tournament and not a lot of people take the time to do so.
How does a tournament cause harm to a community? A tournament excites everyone, gets everyone ready to compete, gets everyone practicing, what happens when that tournament falls apart after 4 weeks? The competitors who put a lot of time into practicing and demo reviewing will now have wasted their time. That means they are one step closer to leaving the game. In addition, the people who organized the tournament will lose their credibility as tournament coordinators. They’ll have a much harder time getting anyone to join their tournaments in the future.
Below are simply things that you’ll want to keep in mind when planning your next tournament. They are my personal opinions on tournaments I’ve seen succeed and fail.
Planning
It’s always a good idea to start out with your game type, bracket structure and total number of competitors to build the foundation of your planning. By totaling up the amount of matches and the people involved you’ll know how many staff members you’ll need to make the tournament work. You’re going to need one staff member present at every match, so in the first week if there are 8 matches, you’ll need 4-8 staff members. If the staff is available, I would recommend doubling up on matches.
Now you must find out the length of your tournament. If your game type is 1 v 1 then you can have a maximum of two matches a week, but one match a week is optimal. Players have lives too and if the players are very competitive, they like to review demos before every match and practice according to their opponent’s playing styles. It is nice to give your competitors time to do such things.
If the game mode is team oriented, you cannot ask any regular team to play more than one official match per week. Too many scheduling conflicts between players mean that one or both teams may not have their starting lineup available on the game night. You want each team performing at their best for your tournament matches to be memorable.
If the total number of competitors is 64, then it’s important to know if the bracket structure goes to 32 players, or uses pool play to go straight to the top 16. If so you must account for all the games and total up the amount of time it will take for all the matches to be played.
It’s also important to note that a tournament should never last much over a three month period. You don’t want your competitors to lose interest and the longer your tournament the more your tournament is at risk to no-shows.
Do you have private server(s) that your tournament games can be played? This needs to be addressed as well.
Will the maps players will be competing on be chosen for them, or do you allow the players to choose for themselves out of a bank of maps chosen for your tournament? If players are given the choice, matches may take slightly longer to start because of map choosing and you’ll also need to have a fair way to determine the tie breaking map if it is needed.
Rules
Making a bad set of rules could very well doom your tournament right from the start. Players need VERY specific rules that they can refer to whenever a dispute comes up. If your tournament’s rules are vague, then you’re tournament is immediately labeled ‘unorganized’ and then people lose faith and the tournament falls apart.
When making your rules, it’s best to have a panel of objective players to agree upon each rule. Using your own personal set of rules may be good for you and what you think is competitive, but your hardcore competitors may have a different idea of rules should be implemented.
Each of your staff should know the rules before they ever step into a game to administrate. They need to be able to answer any questions immediately and make sure the games run smoothly.
Staff
When you are selecting your tournament staff, you need to choose wisely. Don’t choose someone that is ‘cool’ because that person is a friend. Pick someone who has a personality that fits the role of a staff member.
Staff members should optimally be competitors that are strong-willed enough to get the job done. They also need to be responsible and dependable enough to make decisions based on the situation at hand and show up to every match they are officiating.
The staff also reflects directly on your tournament. If you have a staff member that is unorganized or ill-prepared the same can be said about your tournament.
You’ll need to find a designer/developer staff member as well because you’ll need a tournament web page.
None of your staff should ever be allowed to compete at any time.
Tournament Web Page
The key to running a good tournament is having a place to hold all of its information. Your web page also reflects directly on your tournament, and if it is done right, can alleviate a lot of pressure from your staff members.
Your tournament web page should keep the players updated on the rules, the current brackets, updated scores, game write-ups and a staff page. A good tournament webpage should maintain the hype that your tournament puts out while giving its competitors the tools they need to prepare for matches to come.
Your Competitors
Depending on your gaming community you may already have your competitors in mind or they may have the option to sign up for your tournament.
Whether by choice or by signup, make sure you the players/teams that are allowed to compete in your tournament will be there for the duration of the tournament.
If that player/team has been a part of any previous tournaments, check to see if they played every game they were invited to and make sure they did not quit any previous tournaments. When a player/team quits a tournament it reflects very badly on your tournament and its outcome. So make sure every team involved is there to further your tournament’s success by participating.
No-Shows
If you have thrown a tournament and had zero no-shows, you are one of the very few. No-shows are usually a part of every tournament and unfortunately the worst problem.
When a player/team doesn’t show up for a match, all the preparation the his opponent has gone through, the time he set aside to play a match as well as the official has all been a waste as they sit waiting for the no-show to login. This means that game will have to rescheduled or forfeited. Nobody likes to win by forfeit and nobody else in the tournament feels good about anyone forfeiting.
Usually, when a player forfeits it is not that player’s fault, the problem lies with the tournament. If that player wasn’t motivated enough to come to the match, then the tournament should have not allowed him to be a competitor. If that player was simply a few hours late and had more important things lined up at the time of his match then the tournament didn’t do a good enough job instilling the excitement into the player to compete in their tournament.
A tournament’s failure can usually be attributed to amount of no-shows in its brackets. Once other players/teams start to see that there is a lack of interest in the tournament, or that the tournament is not taken seriously, that tournament ceases to be as enticing to play in, and the players feel as if they are wasting their time.
No-shows have caused many of the tournament’s to go down in flames. Only if your tournament is truly well organized can you take the blow of a few no-shows and keep your tournament running successfully.
Prizes and Sponsorships
It is the general consensus that every competition needs prizes. I’ve been playing in tournaments for an awfully long time and I can safely say that while the prizes are a nice perk, I just played to rank myself as a player. The real motivation was to see how well I would do in a tournament situation rather then the amount of cash I would get at the end.
Corporate sponsorships are very hard to come by. If you’re tournament has a lot of media involved, and your tournament web page is getting a great deal of unique visits on a daily basis then you have a shot at corporate sponsorship. The sponsors need to know that if they are giving out any prizes, and how it will benefit their company. You need to provide a large amount of traffic with their logo on your site to obtain corporate sponsorship.
If this is a task you feel suited for, give it a try, though it may be a waste of time depending on the scale of your tournament.
Things You Need To Know
· There will always be no-shows in your tournaments.
· Half of your competitors will be late to their matches.
· Not every competitor will like every rule of the tournament.
· There will always be at least 1 dispute, about lag, tardiness, cheating, etc.
· The better your webpage looks, the more confident your competitors feel about your tournaments organization.
In Summary
Tournaments are one of the exciting parts for any online competitor’s career. However, if a tournament is not organized they fall very short of their goal.
The points I’ve mentioned above are simply guidelines of what has worked for me. You’ll have to find a happy medium for the game, and game type you have chosen for your tournament.
Good Luck on your future tournaments, I hope this helps.
Powerup Hoggers Are Annoying
When you’re playing a nice clan match of CTF or ONS, don’t you hate it when you have 20 health and a nearby teammate who sees you grabs that keg of health that you were one step away from?
Folks, while getting 100 extra health or any other powerup or superweapon for yourself surely is great, how about giving it to somebody on your team if they need it? I hate it when I am on a team that is one sided to one person who hogs all the powerups or superweapons. As the famous saying goes, “there is no ‘I’ in team”. Sometimes, a weakened teammate is the difference between a loss and a win. Of course, you could easily find 25 health in several places, but when instant 100 health is a must (ie. no 25s around), save it for somebody who needs it.
Voice chat is very important when it comes to this. If a powerup or weapon spawns and you are not in need of it, it is an excellent idea to call in the rest of your team and save the pickup for somebody who needs it, if possible. Granted, sometimes people are too far away for this to happen or are busy doing other tasks, but it can be the saving grace in many situations. An evenly strong team is better than a team with one super-powered player and other, injured or weaker players. If voice chat is not available, setting binds to messages indicating that a powerup spawns would suffice.
Another thing is switching weapons. If you have a redeemer or any other superweapon and you are doing a certain task, you may throw it using your throw weapon key to another teammate if he needs it. It is better to let the superweapon be used the way your team needs to be used if you are doing something else. Once again, voice chat is a big plus here, as it allows the team to be easily coordinated.
Perhaps the most important factor in being generous with powerups is to be organized. No group of players should play a match without any organization as well. For saving items for other players, the team should plan ahead first what to do in a situation where one is in need of a certain powerup or weapon so that no confusion arises. If there is a lack of planning, then the team is prone to progressing through the battle slowly and may even end up losing. Therefore, planning ahead about your individual tasks and what to do in extreme circumstances will enable your team to have a greater chance of winning.
So next time you’re playing a match with your team, plan ahead, don’t hog the powerups and superweapons for yourself, and always communicate with each other. Your team may end up losing if you keep on sitting around that redeemer to try to get yourself a MMMMONSTER KILL.
Bad Days
OK believe it or not every player has bad days. In fact, I'd guess that anybody who's ever played anything has had bad days. The trick to bouncing back from a bad day is to simply evaluate why it happened in the first place.
The Dynamics of an Off Day
So what exactly is a bad day? My definition would simply be when you feel like you're playing the same way you always do, against the same people you always do, but for some reason you just can't execute like normal. Your lightning is just off enough to get you killed, you miss combos that you usually hit with your eyes closed, or maybe you just can't seem to get that super easy lift jump to work right. Regardless, the main product of all of this is bound to be frustration. The biggest problem with this situation is dealing with it right.
Reacting Effectively
Probably the most natural reaction to having just a terrible day out of nowhere is to either sit down and force yourself to "play through" everything, or quit altogether. The reasons not to quit are fairly self-evident so I won't get into them =P, but there certainly is an issue with simply trying to play until you get over the hump.
One of the fundamentals to any competition is that practice is key, but if you're practicing the wrong things it does no good. Thus, if you think that you can just keep playing and playing until you "snap out of it", you're likely in for a long and frustrating night. The first thing you should do is simply take a step back, calm yourself, and try to figure out what you've been doing differently.
Evaluating Yourself
There's no 1 certain way to find what the deal is here, but one certainty is that you have somehow gotten out of your "groove", your comfort zone of how you usually play. This could be cause by anything from your mousepad shifting to a different position to actually playing too much. There's actually been times when I've felt my aim being slightly off, so I just tried to re-center my mousepad into a different position, and it seriously made a big difference. I didn't even notice it as uncomfortable at first, but for some reason it was the issue.
What to Do
If you can't think of anything such as mouse/monitor/keyboard/chair/desk positioning that may have changed, you should probably just take a break. While the overtly obvious theory would seem to be that practice = improvement, many times you'll just need some fresh surroundings for awhile to "reset" yourself. When you go back to sit down to play you should feel more loose and relaxed, and often times this will help tremendously, and tends to be overlooked.
I can personally vouch for the value of taking time off every now and then. One thing I've specifically noticed is, when I play too much and start to get a bit lazy, my aim slacks. The reason for this -- oddly enough -- is that I tend to stop focusing on my crosshairs as much. That is, I try to use the screen alignment totally when taking shots, and I tend to shoot with much greater accuracy when I use a combination of both styles. Normally if i notice a pattern of me missing easy shots, I will make an effort to focus on the crosshairs more. While this often helps in the short run, the best thing for me is to just take some time off.
Breaks are Your Friend... Friends?... Stupid Grammar -,-
"Absence makes the heart grow fonder."
Corny phrase, I know, but the theory is indeed sound. Spending time doings in life will only help ensure that you squeeze every ounce of enjoyment from your time playing games. Now as for how long of a break to take, that's up to you. Sometimes I feel rejuvenated after just going out to eat and sittin around with some friends for a couple hours. Other times I have to go a day or two with little to no playing at all.