So...I suck. Feel sorry for me.

[Cyrus]

I got a new mouse and I'm liking how it feels. For some reason though I can't dodge ANYTHING I feel like I'm relearning everything. This is the weirdest feeling? I get hit with 90% of homers that are thrown at me. I do not understand and I'm absolutely frustrated. Not dodging well against the likes of Luke, drak, dj, and mark is absolutely ridiculous. Honestly, I'm feeling as though it's a fluke that I'm even scoring around 10 points - I'm not in the games - close like I used to be.


Feel sorry for me.


WHAT DO I DO?

[melvin]

reinstall hax. turn on another instance of netflix in your house

[Drakona]

I wouldn't have said it was your dodging that was off in your game with me, but your situational awareness.

It's probably not the mouse. We all have slumps, and we all deal with them in different ways. Double check your hardware, your system, whatever as best you can to make sure it isn't that, and then do what you do. Some people play through it. Some people take breaks. Whatever works for you.

Check that stuff to make sure . . . but my guess is that it's not hardware and it isn't random either. I may be way off base with this, but here's my guess.

You were training your guts out to make gold and beat Jedi, and once you got there, you stopped training quite as hard. You think of me now as a pilot you can beat, so you don't show up to every game running on adrenaline anymore. I see it in that, at CCDL 1.5, I would *never* encounter you without taking some free hits from vulcan. You were like a sniper in a foxhole every time. It was really cool, and I was amazed you were able to get as much value out of that game as you were. Unique. Novel. Dangerous. Really made me have to think about how to deal with it, and I improved a lot in response. I still use things you taught me. But where you used to squeeze every point of damage out of this in every encounter, every time . . . I didn't see that in our game a couple days ago. You weren't fighting like you were fighting for your life against a frightening opponent and had to scrap and be cheap and never make mistakes just to stand a chance. You were just like, "Well, I can beat this girl, so -- I'll get set up for a fight and then I'll win enough of them to do well." And then when I came screaming at you like six thunderstorms, you weren't ready for it because no one ever is because that is what I DO. Dude. You know that is what I do. You know how to counter it. Once upon a time you fought tooth and nail to punish me for trying instead of just letting it happen and hoping to keep up. Fear and respect makes you fight hard, but when you expect to do well just by showing up, so you don't fight like crazy, that's when you *don't* do well.

I've been there a lot. I've had times where I've thought, "Oh, it's Rethink. It's bahamut. I can beat him, I've done it before, I'll just play and do well." And then I get crushed. Because of course, while I *can* do well against them when I'm playing like a maniac, playing sloppy, it's a whole different story.

Now, dialing it back a bit is all very understandable if you have other priorities, and there's nothing wrong with it. But the thing to realize is that your opponents are also playing their guts out, and they are not dialing it back. The game at the top is incredibly tough precisely because everyone trains and fights like an animal. There is no such thing as "making it" -- it's a scrap every day and it only gets harder. You fit in when you're doing that, but you don't have to ease off very much to noticeably fall behind. And as I said, there's nothing wrong with backing off from that if you've got a reason. It doesn't diminish what you accomplished before. But the results shouldn't be unexpected is what I'm saying. A couple times in the last year, I've had to take a step back a bit for IRL issues, and you could see it both in my scores and in my flight. Partly lack of practice, and partly lack of hunger when I did play. It's very easy to do.

On the one hand, it's part of life, and expected. Some people take a trip through silver every so often, or ya know -- from highish gold to lowish or whatever -- or retire until they can give the game their full attention -- and that's what that stuff is there for, you know? It doesn't mean anything, it's just how you're playing right now. Having other priorities is ok and healthy. But the thing about this game -- which is neither good nor bad, it's just how it is -- is that as you get toward the top, it's hard every day and every time, and it is never so easy that you can stop training and still keep up*. Don't be disappointed. Just be aware and expect it.

*Unless you're DJ, apparently.

[Cyrus]

Can someone give Drakona a Nobel Prize for therapy?

[Mark392]

On it. Consider it done.

[Jediluke]

Awarded. Ceremony was nice. It'll be on the 11:o'clock news.

[Drakona]

Hehe. Everyone in my high school class said I was going to win a nobel prize someday. Somehow I didn't figure this was how it would go down.

[bahamut]

Just forget what you think you know, like a game of billiards, there is nearly an infinite amount of variables in a match --
and unless you can adapt to every situation, you will start making bad habits, and before you know it...


Unlearn, watch, and take advantage of every situation.

[Entropy]

Just gotta maximize dat entropy

[Behemoth]

You suck, and i don't feel sorry for you