Stagnating at this game

Flagg

Flagg

New member
So the last few nights ive played terribly. Part of me feels like I cant even be bothered trying in a match. I seem to not use low pokes, drop combos, no mix ups, backing off more and more (usually very aggresive player), not punishing, cave in from pressure and so on. My pad feels totally crap now. Unresponsive, I press buttons and nothing comes out, simple commands dont seem to come out. Ive had that pad for about 18-24 months now and I think its on its way out (even more reason to get a stick replacement). Sick of constant desyncs and online seems to infuriate me. Everyone I play with seem to be getting better and I seem to be getting worse. I think I won, 1 freaking match in KoH tonight.

Maybe I need to give this game a rest for a couple days. Can playing too much actually be detrimental?
 
Flagg said:
Maybe I need to give this game a rest for a couple days. Can playing too much actually be detrimental?
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I definitely think so, bud. Give yourself some time to be able to miss the game imo. Then come back to it. Atm it just sounds like you need an MKbreak
 
Well, taking it to the lab and/or running through arcade ladder always puts me back in my game :)
I would strongly recommend that, or yeah, a small break could be in order.
Whatever feels best.
I've been there, playing so much that you think you suck.
I think it actually comes down to you having such a set strategy it becomes dull, and you start to "suck".
When I start to get too stagnant, I kick the AI's ass and feel good again
 
This usually happens to me when ive been playing for half a day straight, i just seem to get on a loosing streak where im almost loosing every match. When that happens i just try and get a win and call it a day, can't quit on a loss. Also my controller came with my xbox.. 3 years old and the plastic on the handles you can see your reflection in ahaha, my left analogue sticks to the right so i end up performing moves i didn't mean too and dropping combos, also my character walks across to the right of the screen if i take my thumb off it :/ I tried playing with my other controller but it just wasn't the same :/ i bought a screwdriver from ebay for £1.50, took my controller apart and cleaned it all, its not AS bad now. Hope it helps knowing your not alone!
 
I also always have to get a win in before I call it quits in MK.
Can't ever end on a loss, gotta feel like a boss.
Unintentional rhyme was unintentional.
 
Flagg i have some links to show you when im off work

You've hit a mental barrier that every player struggling to become the best goes through.

Every top player has these, it's a matter of figuring out which barrier it is you need to break.

To me it sounds like thinking speed and thinking about the right things.
 
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All points are very good. Now and again i've not played the game for two days, come back and I start rocking again. It doesn't help that im off work on holiday at the moment, so im playing this more in my spare time (probably not a good thing).

I think playing the game for long periods of time like mentioned, in one day is not good either.

Critical I think you're right. While im no "top player" im endevouring to really raise my game, and im not sure if im subconsiously aware of this now. For instant, I do have set strategies but i've got the whole "mix up" thing in my head, that I must be different, I must keep the opponent guessing, and what happens is I dont focus properly. So yeah, I can see how it's thinking speed, and pondering too long on what to do in a situation. In training room, i'll play CSZ and use Mileena as the dummy with wake up. She rolls, I freeze, I combo. Online, I block the roll, and go into 2, 1, 1+2, which is wrong as only the 2 hits, and everything else whiffs. Why am I doing this?

I used to be pretty good with Sindel, and now im garbage with her. NW im about the same skill wise, but I only use him occasionally and he's a bit of a no brainer character to use. Baraka isn't too bad but I feel im going downhill with him ever so slightly now. Even CSZ. Haven't been using him long, but when I started out I was doing well with him, now he is someone else I seem to be struggling with to get wins.

Im getting a new stick soon, so I hope that might change things up a bit. My pad isn't the greatest anymore either.

I played pretty well in the last TRMK tournie, but since then, my game has dropped massively.

EDIT: I might just stop playing this game until my stick arrives now.
 
you gotta release your inner douche flagg my biggest problem is takin my foot off de gas dats y i do ranked more these days its anonymous so i dont try an make it a good game i try to win an get rage quits/mail sounds prickish but its really helped me
 
fr stack said:
you gotta release your inner douche flagg my biggest problem is takin my foot off de gas dats y i do ranked more these days its anonymous so i dont try an make it a good game i try to win an get rage quits/mail sounds prickish but its really helped me
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You might be onto something there. If I play KoH, I wonder if im giving people i know too much respect. In Ranked, I just go all out. I dont know how many times this happens to others, but I can destroy someone in the first round, then second round I take it completely easy and they get the round 2 win! Now and again I've come across you or n9195v in Ranked, but the way I play against you in Ranked is different to how i'd play you if a few of us get together in KoH. It's weird.
 
I know EXACTLY how you feel flagg. a few weeks back, I was playin KOTH with my clan and some others and i was playing horribly. dropping combos, falling for dumb mixups, and worst of off, losing matches to people you had no problem beating before many times. it was very annoying. i thought maybe my time with kitana came to an end so i considered dropping her. but i was like damn that lol. I took a break from MK for a week after that. when I came back, practiced with kitana for a bit, went back online and i better than I ever was. just relax from mk for a bit then come back to it. the fact that your gonna miss the game and your gonna be eager to play it is gonna give you that boost
 
Flagg, you shouldn't put it Down.

That only works temporarily, you start with a fresh head when you take a break. And that freshness is an advantage. But it wears off because you'll re-hit that same barrier again.

Once again the break is a fix. But a temporary one.

if it's mental sandbagging you cab try what I did to get passed it. Everytime I lost I would do 10 pushups then add 1 more so if you lose again you do 11. Eventually you're gonna have strong motivation to not lose when your arms start to hurt.

And it doubles up as mini excersize.

You might just need a self discipline way to make you focus. Aka motivation, just like you need muscle memory for combos you need brain training to stay on que.

You gotta start playing to learn instead o playing to win. Playing to win is for tournaments. In koth you should play to learn. What I mean by this is work on a specific aspect of your game without worry of the consequences. In this case you need to work on thinking ahead. Forget execution just work on thinking ahead and thinking quickly.

In typing class if you ever took it, to increase your typing speed a common practice is to type what you see as fast as possible and to not worry about error. If you messed up you forget it and keep looking forward.

You need to try this same tactic but with your thinking.
 
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Flagg said:
So the last few nights ive played terribly. Part of me feels like I cant even be bothered trying in a match. I seem to not use low pokes, drop combos, no mix ups, backing off more and more (usually very aggresive player), not punishing, cave in from pressure and so on. My pad feels totally crap now. Unresponsive, I press buttons and nothing comes out, simple commands dont seem to come out. Ive had that pad for about 18-24 months now and I think its on its way out (even more reason to get a stick replacement). Sick of constant desyncs and online seems to infuriate me. Everyone I play with seem to be getting better and I seem to be getting worse. I think I won, 1 freaking match in KoH tonight.

Maybe I need to give this game a rest for a couple days. Can playing too much actually be detrimental?
Click to expand...

yes this happens to me, if i find myself playing a whole lot, i seem to get worse after playing a long time. So I take a break, anywhere from a few hours to a day or 2, and then i get back at it.

i recommend taking a break if you feel like you are under performing.
 
@Silvercue, I don't really play any other video games besides MK. I mean you say you only play this 2 hours a week, but what about MW or any other games as well? At the moment im off from work on holiday, so yeah, I am playing the game a bit more than usual, but I usually only play in the evenings on most other occasions (if im not out anywhere). Sometimes I can go periods of time where I dont play the game for a couple of days, but that's because i'll have football in the evening, or I go out with friends, or I work a double shift, get home and literally flake out.

@Critical, well I played for a 2 or 3 hours with BeatdownMao today. He's just picked up Smoke and so we just played a ton of Smoke/CSZ matches. We ended up talking a lot as well, and I found myself playing today more like my old self. I think I prefer more 1 v 1's then KoH games. I like your suggestion by the way about the press-ups, I believe that's known as negative reinforcement? Some people like to reward themselves, than punish, but haha, I dont know how you can "reward" yourself playing MK9.

@FatalityRay, when I felt this lull in my game, I also thought "ugh, am I done with this game, is Sindel as crap as everyone says",but like I explained above, I ended up playing with a mate today for a couple hours, and I felt like I was playing like my old self again. Having said that, I can see how maybe playing too much is pretty bad...I mean I played today mostly during late afternoon/early evening. It's 10:40pm right now and I feel a lil tired, and if I play now, im likely going to suck cause im also tired. And if I start dropping stuff again, i'll likely think it's me getting worse again.

There's some truth to what you and Critical are both saying. If I want to stay good, or get better, I think it is important to play concistantly, but not play for too long in one sitting. Imagine if you were sitting in a cell throwing a ball against the wall and catching it for 6 hours straight. After 3 hours you're going to catch the ball less, your focus drops, you get a bit sick of throwing the ball as well. The same can be applied here. Sometimes you can run the risk of playing a little too much and you get sick of things. Too much of anything is never a good thing.

As it is, Friday, Saturday and Sunday i'm going to be completely busy and wont have time for MK 9 at all. With this new lil online tournie starting Monday, a break over the weekend might be what I need. Besides im looking forward to the antics of the weekend!
 
Flagg said:
@Silvercue, I don't really play any other video games besides MK. I mean you say you only play this 2 hours a week, but what about MW or any other games as well? At the moment im off from work on holiday, so yeah, I am playing the game a bit more than usual, but I usually only play in the evenings on most other occasions (if im not out anywhere). Sometimes I can go periods of time where I dont play the game for a couple of days, but that's because i'll have football in the evening, or I go out with friends, or I work a double shift, get home and literally flake out.

@Critical, well I played for a 2 or 3 hours with BeatdownMao today. He's just picked up Smoke and so we just played a ton of Smoke/CSZ matches. We ended up talking a lot as well, and I found myself playing today more like my old self. I think I prefer more 1 v 1's then KoH games. I like your suggestion by the way about the press-ups, I believe that's known as negative reinforcement? Some people like to reward themselves, than punish, but haha, I dont know how you can "reward" yourself playing MK9.

@FatalityRay, when I felt this lull in my game, I also thought "ugh, am I done with this game, is Sindel as crap as everyone says",but like I explained above, I ended up playing with a mate today for a couple hours, and I felt like I was playing like my old self again. Having said that, I can see how maybe playing too much is pretty bad...I mean I played today mostly during late afternoon/early evening. It's 10:40pm right now and I feel a lil tired, and if I play now, im likely going to suck cause im also tired. And if I start dropping stuff again, i'll likely think it's me getting worse again.

There's some truth to what you and Critical are both saying. If I want to stay good, or get better, I think it is important to play concistantly, but not play for too long in one sitting. Imagine if you were sitting in a cell throwing a ball against the wall and catching it for 6 hours straight. After 3 hours you're going to catch the ball less, your focus drops, you get a bit sick of throwing the ball as well. The same can be applied here. Sometimes you can run the risk of playing a little too much and you get sick of things. Too much of anything is never a good thing.

As it is, Friday, Saturday and Sunday i'm going to be completely busy and wont have time for MK 9 at all. With this new lil online tournie starting Monday, a break over the weekend might be what I need. Besides im looking forward to the antics of the weekend!
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That's what I mean about the mental thing though.

When you get bored of throwing that ball and lose focus. That's when you need to train the mind to keep focusing.

That is one of the huge things about competitive gaming.

IN Starcraft 2. it's not like MK9. MK9 lasts at most what? 3 minutes for a whole set.

A whole set in Starcraft 2, could take HOURS.

There are actually some players who TRY to turtle/macro to make long games because they have a stronger will to play in long sessions and use that to their advantage.

In a MK9 tournament setting for (Online) you won't have to worry about this being a problem because you space out the matches by days sometimes. But in a offline setting where you have to play all day. That is something you need to train on. And avoiding it won't solve the problem.


In SSBM I played Fox at tournament. He's such a highly technical character that the first 2 hours I'm sitting there re-warming up the tech skill. Then hour 3-5 I'm at my peak. my best. I beat people consistently when we money match. But when tournament came due I've played SOOO many matches as fox that I start to play mentally lazy, and I started losing to people I was destroying consistently because of stupid choices(Lazy mind). So what I did was I sat there and played Melee for days straight Non-stop. 9 hour sessions with my practice partner. and I finally broke that mental barrier, I was able to stay consistently thinking ahead because of negative reinforcement on top of keeping at it even though I'm mentally exhausted.

I made thinking critically(See what I did there) my main focus in those long hours. And it paid off in the end. when I died I didn't care ect ect. I just kept trying to "Think" properly and "read" properly.
 
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