Deteriorating at games? From pro to noob

[InCreator]

Story goes like this: I get a new multiplayer fps game, suck at it as every noob for few games, then gradually master the game. Normal, right?

This period lasts few months of active gameplay.

But then, just like that, I'm getting worse at game. Skills that went up all the time somehow get worse!

I mean, wtf? Experience should accumulate, not reduce! Soon I'm the worst of the worst, playing even worse than first-timers, whatever I try. I do know every corner of the maps, I can pick most suitable weapon for game type and map, I can consider all the variables I couldn't before... and this makes me -- suck.

First logical explanation is that "game is new, other players improve also so at some point your uber skills simply suck compared to others".

But no. It goes same for games which have years of history (Counter-strike, Team fortress 2, etc), therefore mostly experienced gamers. I tried to rest, try playing in different states of stress and tiredness, everything. It's still same.

[mw2] For example: month ago, my shotgun class in ground war domination game in Modern Warfare 2, map Runway, usually ended match with 20-30 (30+ with killstreaks) kills and <10 deaths. Past few weeks I'm unable to gather even 10 kills, yet closing to 30 deaths... it's inverted. On "high" period, I bathed in AC-130 killstreak rewards (11 kills without dying) and now struggle to get even damn care package... (4 kills w/o dying) (which I usually don't!) [/mw2]

Okay, MW2 could still be somewhat new game, but data is almost same for any game I play, from Battlefield 2 to CS to TF2 to UT3...
Also, I don't see highly changed style of playing. I still explore, surprise, camp and rush. Simply, I suck at aiming, reaction times AND luck... yet other forms of reaction testing, like online tests or different games I play at time - don't show that my overall reaction speed or aim were worse. Only for that particular game at hand.

Am I only one with such strange paradox? What could be the real cause? I'm not old enough to write this off as aging yet!

EDIT: Thinking about it - there MIGHT be another (scientific) explanation:

As game gets more and more known to my brain, so does the psychological experience of this game. So excitement goes down day by day and therefore - less adrenaline is released. And adrenaline is what gives us quick reflexes and instant reaction/problem solving, right?

To support this case, if I fire up counter-strike: source after every 4 months or so to play a quick round, I'm always amazed that I play much better than when I quit. But after few days, suckage is back and so is ragequit.

[Chicky]

Gamers constantly improve, the amount of players that sit gaming for every spare hour daily is unnatural.

I have had to play for at least an hour each day to keep up my game on MW2, the competition improves constantly. A few weeks ago I didn't play for a weekend and sucked on monday, it's just how it is.

I think it's a matter of playing one game exclusively and keeping away from the others, i spent 3 years on cs 1.6 and would always come out of games at 30-2 etc but now i can barely touch 10-2.

It's all down to the different game mechanics, engines and speed if you ask me. It's like using a different inanimate object (lets say a rubber chicken with a pulley) in each separate tennis championship you enter. If you want to be a pwnz0rz choose the most popular FPS and stick to only that game, lets say... oh, MW2!?

Oh and hit me with a PM if you play on xbox -_-

[Khris]

I know what you mean, but I don't get worse as much
It's over-confidence in your own abilities. Especially in games with checkpoints where one can get stuck repeating the same task over and over again, you get better and better but increasingly bored. You want to get it over with, you start risking more, you take shortcuts without even noticing it, and that's what gets you killed more often.

[DoorKnobHandle]

I think another problem is that you're just talking about FPS games. Skill in these games usually means reflexes, hand-to-eye coordination, some muscle memory and a tiny little bit of thinking (ie. knowing the game). Actually, the first two qualities make up 99.9% of what you need to do in order to be good at these games usually. Unfortunately those are the two qualities that are the least consistent - you can have a bad day, if you're tired, drunk, whatever, the first two skills immediately suffer.

If we compare that to, for example, multiplayer RTS games, those require much more thinking. That's more consistent and you won't have nearly as much progress and regress.

I base that on my experience with competitive play with Counter-Strike (I used to be good one day, bad the other, some improvement over time but really not THAT much, a version of me from one year ago on a good day could have beaten me now on a bad day etc.) and StarCraft (much clearer improvement curve, I get better every day and there is NO way I would lose against 'me' from a month ago).

[Jim Reed]

It's a common occurence.
It sounds to me that you were a good hunter until you became the hunted.
You're relying on skills that caught game when you started. Don't lul youreslf, seek more challenge, handicap yourself, so you can grow stronger, because if you don't have strong competiotion you won't learn much. You're caught in rigid thinking.

[jetxl]

I've experienced the same problem with racing games. When doing time trials my lap times are getting shorter and shorter but then I reached a point when it's becoming repeatative, I lose concentration, make mistakes and lap times get worse. I'm acting on intuition and not learing anything new.
I do get better if I give the game a rest for awhile and then pick it up again.

I think it has something to do with left brain vs right brain, but google didn't turn up any articles about this phenomina (or maybe I'm not using the right keywords).

[Anian]

May survival time and aiming in TF2 quite improved after playing Day of defeat for a week or so. I think it's the handicap thing that was mentioned - Dod offers little room for mistakes, you die far easier, if you don't aim you'll probably die. After I went back to Tf2 i backed out from a fight more often and then changed my position to have an advantage over the enemy, also far more concentration was turned to actually aiming (which is good against scouts and similar).

But yeah adrenaline wears of, and you lose some concentraion due to being to faimiliar with it. Wouldn't know about much of other games, MW seems a bit too stresful for my taste so I haven't tried it, I like CoD2 multiplayer though.

And Starcraft doesn't require so much thinking, you have to have the keyboard shortcuts memorised and know which class fights which - it's not so different from FPS. Well actually it follows more of a mould than an mFPS game.

[DoorKnobHandle]

And Starcraft doesn't require so much thinking, you have to have the keyboard shortcuts memorised and know which class fights which - it's not so different from FPS. Well actually it follows more of a mould than an mFPS game.

I don't want write up an elaborate answer to this as it doesn't fit the topic of this thread, so let me just say: I think you're wrong, I think you don't really know StarCraft, what it takes to be good at it or follow it's scene and I think I know that it does include more thinking than most FPS games (obviously, there are huge differences, Counter-Strike or Team Fortress competitive gaming is much, much more strategical and tactical than, say, Quake or Unreal Tournament as far as I know).

[Ryan Timothy B]

There is only one game I became really good at it, then suddenly sucked and couldn't kill anyone.  Which happened to be Gears of War multiplayer.
(oh DKH, I ALWAYS sucked at Star Craft lol)

I believe it's confidence, as you've sorta answered with your edit. Confidence which leads to being relaxed, which leads to less adrenaline and worse timing. I remember a few times in GoW my team mates for some reason all left the game, I believe we were 3 against 4 and that's why they left. So here I was only me against 4 pretty skilled players. I ended up winning like 2 or 3 battles, and they won the rest (but I still killed an opponent each round). You can't tell me a moment like that doesn't give you adrenaline.

But then later on, after playing the game day after day I started to suck. I think the confidence actually pushes you to advance in the map too quickly, running past your team. At least that's what I was doing.

I haven't played it online in a year-ish, perhaps I should.

[monkey0506]

I tend to get worse coz I suck and get easily tired of being so terrible, give up for several months at a time, and then when I take it back up everyone's gotten better whilst my skills have faded.

But I still manage to bludgeon my way through campaign mode when I want to. "Anybody can be good at gaming. It takes a real man to be terrible at it yet still grind his way through." (myself)

[InCreator]

Uh-oh, lots of interesting replies. I took some time to analyze and also played few rounds to check theories.

It's quite strange. First, I decided to motivate/handicap etc myself, by limiting kill-death ratio before I log out from game and pick another server (thus going through loads of nerve-eating iwnet connection failures). I said myself that i have 3 more deaths than kills, I restart.

So, adrenaline and rush to stay in game was there. A game. I picked a quick class (to stay in the battle all times) and started out.

I managed to keep my score high enough not to quit but at round end, first three players in my team had around 25-35 kills and I had 12. With 8 deaths. Even positive, but not "as usual". No killstreak rewards.

What happened? Well, I moved around all the time, game mode was HQ Pro (which means lots of moving and rapidly changing and KNOWN conflict points) and did my best to get into action.
Point is -- there wasn't much people straying infront of my gun. Somehow, my movement paths around the map are quick and very safe: when I started playing, people told that this game is all about finding cover. Well, I was too covered! Even when I saw enemy in the open, he was usually mowed down by a teammate before I could react (shotgun works at close range). My knowledge of the game and maps has trained me to be safe at all times and use surprise. Well, safe means away from bullets.

So even though I was on the move all time and saw enemy all the time, I rarely could close in for attack since enemies usually ran uncovered and relied more on reflexes than skill. But so did teammates...

Okay, so shotgun needs closing in and I'm not moving close enough to where action is I thought. Next round, picked ACR - the most accurate assault rifle in game. So I won't get close, just shoot.

Second round - almost same results. Plus, I managed to miss ENTIRE ACR clip on a sniper unaware of me and sitting in almost knife range. This is weirder than weird. Why can't I aim anymore? After he got over the shock of entire clip going into wall next to his head he turned around, scoped at point blank range and shot me into face.

...
I'm all outta excuses.
Maybe it's still all mental? I've noticed that I had best results at competitive multiplaying when I was pwning people. You know, you have few amazing rounds, and then you feel all invulnerable. And ironically, you continue to do amazing stuff, because you know you rock.

Maybe stressing about "losing it" works exactly opposite thus making problem worse?
Are we what we believe ourselves to be?

EDIT: Thinking about last paragraph, cheered myself up, concentrated, gathered confidence, tried again. Mercenary Team Deathmatch on wasteland, used steyr AUG w/ stopping power and scavenger whole round.
Wandered close proximity or inside of underground tunnel crossing, because there's not much else to do in this sniper-infested map with weapon I had.

Teams were balanced, with about half of players few levels higher than me.

Ended up being best on my team, with 22-6 (plus 3 Harrier kills). Second best was 14-10. Best enemy (that lousy camper!) was 17-3...

Mentality - atleast for me - DOES count. Alot.
And, no XBOX for me, chicky PC-purist here

[Dualnames]

I get this too! I started playing COD2 (Call of Duty 2), and now I suck. Totally! However in DOTA that i've been playing for the last 2.5 years, I have my good days. Manchester UTD, wasn't always a winning team if you know what I mean.

[Stupot]

What's a Manchester UTD?

[kaputtnik]

My experience with shooters is very limited at best, but I still have to say: My definition of being "good" at a game does not really have anything to do with the place in the table or the amount of things, animals or people wasted. If I manage to get a new experience out of it, I'm satisfied. In my opinion, jumping from a roof with a molotov cocktail in your hand and setting a shotgun guy who is hiding in a well on fire is much more rewarding than winning by being said shotgun guy.

Oh, and Stu: I think Dualnames is referring to the Football Club United of Manchester. They have their good days and kill off most of their opponents, but sometimes there's also some "fire in the hole". *cough* 

[Chicky]

InC, try these classes for instant pwn

M16 + holo sight/slight of hand pro, stopping power pro, steady aim pro - M16 is burst so conserves ammo which allows for the mighty SoH to do it's thing when you first run into someone = best all round class (you will at least break even on K/D with this class, every game)

Any SMG and any pistol with tactical knife/marathon pro, lightweight pro, commando pro - This class slaughters on small maps, just switch to the pistol and run around knifing EVERYONE. I've hit a 21 killstreak with just this loadout.

Any assault rifle with grenade launcher and the grenade launcher as secondary +claymore/scavenger, danger close, scrambler pro - Just camp and whack a claymore in an entrance behind you, sit there and fire off all your grenades at anyone who dares test you. You will almost always kill 1 player and then you can run to their corpse and get your loadout back, go back to camp and place the second claymore. Rinse and repeat.

Sorry to like 90% of the forums that think MW2 sucks  

[InCreator]

@Chicky:

I despise M16, it's inaccurate and when getting shot, it's impossible to force crosshairs back at target.
BUT

After entering prestige mode and having basically nothing to shoot with, I found out that FAMAS is deadly insta-sniper. I guess it's pretty much like your M16 setup -- 3 round burst, long range, accurate and kills in 1 or 2 clicks. But with accuracy better than ACR!

It's quite awesome to stand near palace under palm tree (one corner Invasion map) and famas-snipe aaaaall the way to the other end of the map, to the gas station. Even through 2 windows of a jeep (behind which victims often crouch). It needs a bit more skill though and makes you almost useless in close combat. Scavenger instead of "sleight of hand" since 2 claymores placed all time help alot.

Knife runner class I have and sometimes use. Not so much lately though...

Grenade class I used at first 20 levels or so. Somehow, I don't want to touch grenades ever again. Lately, many players "honorably" refrain from using nades too, unless hunting for a perk. Atleast PC audience.

My k/d breaker class is and probably stays like this:

* random sub machine gun I never use (usually mp5k)
* SPAS-12 & grip/stinger/claymores/random secondary nade (when that mobile, you stop to throw anyway)
* Marathon pro, hardline pro (stopping power for bigger maps), ninja pro (steady aim for bigger maps)
* martyrdom
* care package, predator agm, harrier

Mentioned Famas class for very long maps (derail, afghan)

Why? First, you get care pack quite quickly. Shotgun puts you in the middle of carnage and 3 lucky shots is all you need. Claymore can contribute also. Now, one kill more and you also get a predator. Getting 2 kills with predator = harrier.

So I basically enter action, get predator quickly, shoot it for 2 kills and launch harrier. If I'm still alive, retreat and call care package. If not, I have new toy when respawning... getting chopper gunner or other "cool toys" from care package isn't much less likely than actually getting them "legally" (I mean, how often do you have a 11 killstreak?) so I don't consider this setup wasting reward slots on low ones.

Plus side is I get stuff quickly and it's enjoyable to rain hell and chaos all the time, not struggle & hunt for it for majority of the round...

[Chicky]

Wha..? 11 killstreak is simple, you're missing the key element of MW2, the chopper gunner. I assumed you were fairly new to the game when posting those classes, now you've gone prestige you must be able to appreciate how damn annoying those choppers are without coldblooded. just get 5 kills with the m16/famas (both are deadly accurate fyi) which as you know is piss easy if you're in a good flank and then call in predator. If you can get two kills with predator you've got your harriers, harriers will ALWAYS knock you up to chopper gunner if called in right.

The chopper gunner killstreak is invaluable, i've got 20+ kills in that thing, you can kill people quicker than they can pull out an anti-air rocket.

Anyway, sorry for running off topic.

[m0ds]

Perhaps your brain is just filtering all these infos into your own "file 13" (my new favourite phrase ) in your brain. There isn't actually any need for you to remember half this info other than for enjoyments sake. If your life was dependant on it then yes, you'd probably remember more...your skills would critically develop. But I don't determine what you can do with a joystick as "skill" myself, and it wouldn't surprise me if after a while the human mind/body began to give up on pretending all this stuff "is" a skill and just reject the ability to do it. To be honest in 14 years of playing computer games I'd say my skills haven't increased ever. I didn't even get off the ship last night in Halo 2 in Normal mode before giving up. But then I don't have a "live" console and never play console more than a few hours a week, so it could just be lack of experience my end. And anyway things like CoD mean you're playing against different human intelligence all the time, and there's no escaping the fact at some points every other player might be more intelligent than you, just the way it is! Hence why I never really enjoyed FPS online stuff because I always get pumelled and come last. Except on Mario Cart for the Wii.

[InCreator]

Wha..? 11 killstreak is simple, you're missing the key element of MW2, the chopper gunner.

Kind of makes me wanna try MW2 on XBox... are players really so crippled? AFAIK, pulling out predator laptop results dying in 70% of time while picking a target

But I used chopper gunner at some point all the time. I'll try again tonight

EDIT: chopper gunner hunting sucks. I got NOWHERE getting predator most of the time and few rare cases when I did, I died before I could use it. All the wasted time and multikills I got while hunting would have resulted in loads of lighter stuff - and not impossible - a chopper gunner in a care package also.

My "going back to square 1" setup is FAR more enjoyable.

[Chicky]

You need to run as far away from enemy forces as possible, prone in a dark corner and call it in. Then just sit there and cover your back, i don't see how this would be any different on PC. It might be the retarded xbox controller but i just got 3 CG's in 5 games (then went 10-15 and rage quit  )