“Winning is Everything!!!”
I think most of us have heard this phrase, and most of us will agree with it... and so do I. Any competition involves one goal... ‘Winning’. However, if I may get alittle philosophical here, it is my belief that winning is a process, not a result.
When I am involved in winning a match, I feel good about myself and the team I was part of. However, how much does one really look at a victory and consider what went wrong? Some may even be of the impression that the team did everything right... which it may have. However, it is through losing and hating to lose, that we really learn to win. For when one loses, one wants to know what went wrong and how to fix things so they can win the next time. In losing, one tends to learn more then from winning. Thus, losing may not be such a bad thing as long as one learns and improves for the next match... in my opinion. As long as whatever happens leads to one winning in the end, then so be it.
Most of us have offline lives and just want to enjoy ourselves here... a diversion from the everyday crap we endure. That is fine, we all are here for our own reasons. When this game becomes a job, then playing this game may just become too much for some. But at the same time, if one is going to play competitively, then one needs to take ‘some’ aspects of all this seriously. The problem is ‘time’. To become good at something, one must invest the time.
In most games, including BF2, the game itself is setup for even sides. This makes sense, because we want player skill to be the determining factor, not the game itself. This means the manpower and the terrain are even enough that with two teams, both with the exact same experience, each has about a 50% chance of winning. So how does one tip the balance to their favor?... through player experience, developed team coordination, communications, and sound strategies/tactics. The team that has the most understanding of the game and uses that understanding to their advantage, will usually win... minus any bad luck, of course. Hey... crap happens. Yet, if one can stack the odds in their favor, then small mistakes may not lose the match... just make things more interesting working towards the win.
One of the most important aspects of any competition is ‘practice’. It is through practice that one ‘learns’ to win matches. When it comes to the match, it is now or never... there is nothing to do but play the game. If one is not ready to play the game when the match is about to start... sorry... game over!!! Thus, match play and learning play are two different things. Learning involves experimenting and development what the team will to do later in the record matches. R&D Play, as I have heard it called, can be done by entering pickup games, practice matches, or just messing around on a private server. These practice runs have no meaning... the results are only in what was learned and how the participants improved, nothing else. When the actual match of record comes up... that’s it... there is no messing around... it is time to use what was learned before... end of story. Remember, if one is not prepared to play before the match starts... game over!!! The only way a team can win if they are not prepared, is to hope the other team is less prepared than they are.
So, what is player experience... as opposed to team experience? I look at team play here the same way I look at any team sport, especially American Pro Football. Each individual is responsible for developing themselves within their position... that is their job. After getting themselves prepared individually, then everyone on the team merges their skills together with their teammates’. As an individual, one learns ‘how’ to do an end-around power rush... as a team, one learns ‘when’ to do an end-around power rush.
Therefore, as a player here in BF2, what can one do as an individual to become part of the best team in competition...
1) Learning how to control one’s character within the game... developing split second reactions to given situations. This means developing the coordination and reflects so that when one thinks of something to do, the needed key action has already started to be performed. This also means configuring one’s computer for the best results (mouse sensitivity, action key outlay, video settings, etc...). It is like a touch typist... they know exactly where each key is and have no problem typing something very quickly. Unlike myself, who still hunts and pecks, and is usually quite dead because I did not react fast enough. Some players are already good at this; others like me... well, we need to ‘practice’. In Karate, we learned to react even before we thought. This was referred to as teaching the body how to react to a situation without the mind even telling it what to do... the art of surviving.
2) Learn the weapons... and which are best in what situation. Just by looking at the situation map, one should be able to determine instantly what Kit they need and where they should be to best utilize that Kit. This skill is only learned by constant practicing and R&D’ing of one’s personal skills. In the end, one will learn what they do best and what they feel the most comfortable in doing. It is important to understand that what we ‘want’ to be good at verses what we ‘are’ good at may be two different things. As with Pro Football... if one is better at blocking then passing, then one should be in a position where blocking is their main job. One will only learn which Kit and role they are best at by constant R&D’ing.
3) Learning the Maps... and every aspect of them so one may utilize the terrain to one’s advantage. This can mean the difference between a win and a loss. Even an average player can nail a good player if they know the terrain well enough. A Pro Baseball player knows his home turf like the back of their hand. They know ever part of the field and the characteristics of it. One needs to know the terrain so the terrain works for them, not the bad guys. This may mean taking a whole evening and walking around a map just looking at stuff... perhaps even with fellow teammates... learning and discovering... trying things out. If one wants to screw around, then screw around with a purpose. Example... one person plays a sniper on a ridge while another player tries to get from one place to another. The other player does not even shoot back... their mission is just to get to their final objective. The sniper’s job is to stop them. Thus, the sniper works on hitting a determined moving target, and the target works on avoiding being hit by a sniper in a given terrain... both challenge each other and ‘learn’. When the sniper in the above example nails the target, they do not laugh and say ‘ha-ha, got you!’... instead, they say, ‘You should not have gone behind that bush... I was not able to see you well, but I was able to shoot through the bush.’ These types of drills are also great for inter-guild competitions and ‘nights of fun’. I once talked of having road races with dune buggies on Wake Island... here one ‘learns’ how to drive fast on a constricted roadway. It is not a matter of who wins or loses... but how much each player ends up learning and improving their driving skills.
So, developing the coordination and skill to control one’s character, knowing the capabilities of all the combat resources available, understanding what one does best, configuring one’s machine for max performance, and being familiar with the terrain one is playing on is what an individual can do to help their team win. This, an individual can do alone most of the time, thus not always requiring one’s teammates to be around to help them... although it is nice and useful to have Friends around when possible.
The key here is simple... when a good player plays a game other than a match for record, they play to learn and improve their skills. When a good player comes to play a match, they play to win.
So now we turn to team experience... team experience is learning to work with a group of people towards a common goal. Most computer games are setup for individual play, either competing against the computer AI or against one other player. It is just recently that games have started to involve teams of players competing against other teams of players. The really good teams work together... preparing for matches in both developing individual skills and team skills. One may be the best individual player in a game and be absolutely the worst player when playing on a team. Functioning as a team is something that players learn, and only by playing and practicing together will that be accomplished. The biggest problem is that this again involves ‘time’.
Getting time to play a game as an individual is hard enough... getting time to get a team together is even worse. The more players on a team, the more things will go wrong when trying to setup a practice or match. Thus, perhaps a good way to organize a team is to just have a core group of players. If one or more of those players cannot make a match/practice, then there is a pool of players to draw a substitute from. As players drop out of the team (which will always happen over time), then the selection of new core players come from the same pool. Another way is to form small sub-teams that can be matched together into one team for a specific match. The key here is to keep the sub-teams in tact in the overall final team organization, assigning them missions as a group.
When teams/sub-teams train, they train to develop communications and coordination between all members. Imagine, if you will, a pro football quarterback having to draw up each play as he calls it in the huddle, just like in sandlot football. It is not time to draw up a tactic or strategy when the crap is about to hit the fan. The tactics/strategies need to be already known and just have to be executed when the commander calls the play. A team learns and develops these tactics/strategies from R&D play... and then continues to improve them.
Teams work best when they train together. Team members get to know each other and what to expect from all in the team. However, if one does not have a team to train with at the moment, one can still practice being a team member in a pickup round. Just join a squad and work on being a team member. Now, it may take a few rounds to find a good squad that acts like a squad, but one can still practice this way. Just make sure one goes into a round with the mindset of being a team player.
Winning is a process which includes practicing and developing as an individual and as a team... with the desire to win. Time is the investment... without an investment, one cannot expect a return. Learn the game rules, especially what the victory conditions are, then use them to develop a strategy to win. Focus on what works and the team will win... simple.
I think most of us have heard this phrase, and most of us will agree with it... and so do I. Any competition involves one goal... ‘Winning’. However, if I may get alittle philosophical here, it is my belief that winning is a process, not a result.
When I am involved in winning a match, I feel good about myself and the team I was part of. However, how much does one really look at a victory and consider what went wrong? Some may even be of the impression that the team did everything right... which it may have. However, it is through losing and hating to lose, that we really learn to win. For when one loses, one wants to know what went wrong and how to fix things so they can win the next time. In losing, one tends to learn more then from winning. Thus, losing may not be such a bad thing as long as one learns and improves for the next match... in my opinion. As long as whatever happens leads to one winning in the end, then so be it.
Most of us have offline lives and just want to enjoy ourselves here... a diversion from the everyday crap we endure. That is fine, we all are here for our own reasons. When this game becomes a job, then playing this game may just become too much for some. But at the same time, if one is going to play competitively, then one needs to take ‘some’ aspects of all this seriously. The problem is ‘time’. To become good at something, one must invest the time.
In most games, including BF2, the game itself is setup for even sides. This makes sense, because we want player skill to be the determining factor, not the game itself. This means the manpower and the terrain are even enough that with two teams, both with the exact same experience, each has about a 50% chance of winning. So how does one tip the balance to their favor?... through player experience, developed team coordination, communications, and sound strategies/tactics. The team that has the most understanding of the game and uses that understanding to their advantage, will usually win... minus any bad luck, of course. Hey... crap happens. Yet, if one can stack the odds in their favor, then small mistakes may not lose the match... just make things more interesting working towards the win.
One of the most important aspects of any competition is ‘practice’. It is through practice that one ‘learns’ to win matches. When it comes to the match, it is now or never... there is nothing to do but play the game. If one is not ready to play the game when the match is about to start... sorry... game over!!! Thus, match play and learning play are two different things. Learning involves experimenting and development what the team will to do later in the record matches. R&D Play, as I have heard it called, can be done by entering pickup games, practice matches, or just messing around on a private server. These practice runs have no meaning... the results are only in what was learned and how the participants improved, nothing else. When the actual match of record comes up... that’s it... there is no messing around... it is time to use what was learned before... end of story. Remember, if one is not prepared to play before the match starts... game over!!! The only way a team can win if they are not prepared, is to hope the other team is less prepared than they are.
So, what is player experience... as opposed to team experience? I look at team play here the same way I look at any team sport, especially American Pro Football. Each individual is responsible for developing themselves within their position... that is their job. After getting themselves prepared individually, then everyone on the team merges their skills together with their teammates’. As an individual, one learns ‘how’ to do an end-around power rush... as a team, one learns ‘when’ to do an end-around power rush.
Therefore, as a player here in BF2, what can one do as an individual to become part of the best team in competition...
1) Learning how to control one’s character within the game... developing split second reactions to given situations. This means developing the coordination and reflects so that when one thinks of something to do, the needed key action has already started to be performed. This also means configuring one’s computer for the best results (mouse sensitivity, action key outlay, video settings, etc...). It is like a touch typist... they know exactly where each key is and have no problem typing something very quickly. Unlike myself, who still hunts and pecks, and is usually quite dead because I did not react fast enough. Some players are already good at this; others like me... well, we need to ‘practice’. In Karate, we learned to react even before we thought. This was referred to as teaching the body how to react to a situation without the mind even telling it what to do... the art of surviving.
2) Learn the weapons... and which are best in what situation. Just by looking at the situation map, one should be able to determine instantly what Kit they need and where they should be to best utilize that Kit. This skill is only learned by constant practicing and R&D’ing of one’s personal skills. In the end, one will learn what they do best and what they feel the most comfortable in doing. It is important to understand that what we ‘want’ to be good at verses what we ‘are’ good at may be two different things. As with Pro Football... if one is better at blocking then passing, then one should be in a position where blocking is their main job. One will only learn which Kit and role they are best at by constant R&D’ing.
3) Learning the Maps... and every aspect of them so one may utilize the terrain to one’s advantage. This can mean the difference between a win and a loss. Even an average player can nail a good player if they know the terrain well enough. A Pro Baseball player knows his home turf like the back of their hand. They know ever part of the field and the characteristics of it. One needs to know the terrain so the terrain works for them, not the bad guys. This may mean taking a whole evening and walking around a map just looking at stuff... perhaps even with fellow teammates... learning and discovering... trying things out. If one wants to screw around, then screw around with a purpose. Example... one person plays a sniper on a ridge while another player tries to get from one place to another. The other player does not even shoot back... their mission is just to get to their final objective. The sniper’s job is to stop them. Thus, the sniper works on hitting a determined moving target, and the target works on avoiding being hit by a sniper in a given terrain... both challenge each other and ‘learn’. When the sniper in the above example nails the target, they do not laugh and say ‘ha-ha, got you!’... instead, they say, ‘You should not have gone behind that bush... I was not able to see you well, but I was able to shoot through the bush.’ These types of drills are also great for inter-guild competitions and ‘nights of fun’. I once talked of having road races with dune buggies on Wake Island... here one ‘learns’ how to drive fast on a constricted roadway. It is not a matter of who wins or loses... but how much each player ends up learning and improving their driving skills.
So, developing the coordination and skill to control one’s character, knowing the capabilities of all the combat resources available, understanding what one does best, configuring one’s machine for max performance, and being familiar with the terrain one is playing on is what an individual can do to help their team win. This, an individual can do alone most of the time, thus not always requiring one’s teammates to be around to help them... although it is nice and useful to have Friends around when possible.
The key here is simple... when a good player plays a game other than a match for record, they play to learn and improve their skills. When a good player comes to play a match, they play to win.
So now we turn to team experience... team experience is learning to work with a group of people towards a common goal. Most computer games are setup for individual play, either competing against the computer AI or against one other player. It is just recently that games have started to involve teams of players competing against other teams of players. The really good teams work together... preparing for matches in both developing individual skills and team skills. One may be the best individual player in a game and be absolutely the worst player when playing on a team. Functioning as a team is something that players learn, and only by playing and practicing together will that be accomplished. The biggest problem is that this again involves ‘time’.
Getting time to play a game as an individual is hard enough... getting time to get a team together is even worse. The more players on a team, the more things will go wrong when trying to setup a practice or match. Thus, perhaps a good way to organize a team is to just have a core group of players. If one or more of those players cannot make a match/practice, then there is a pool of players to draw a substitute from. As players drop out of the team (which will always happen over time), then the selection of new core players come from the same pool. Another way is to form small sub-teams that can be matched together into one team for a specific match. The key here is to keep the sub-teams in tact in the overall final team organization, assigning them missions as a group.
When teams/sub-teams train, they train to develop communications and coordination between all members. Imagine, if you will, a pro football quarterback having to draw up each play as he calls it in the huddle, just like in sandlot football. It is not time to draw up a tactic or strategy when the crap is about to hit the fan. The tactics/strategies need to be already known and just have to be executed when the commander calls the play. A team learns and develops these tactics/strategies from R&D play... and then continues to improve them.
Teams work best when they train together. Team members get to know each other and what to expect from all in the team. However, if one does not have a team to train with at the moment, one can still practice being a team member in a pickup round. Just join a squad and work on being a team member. Now, it may take a few rounds to find a good squad that acts like a squad, but one can still practice this way. Just make sure one goes into a round with the mindset of being a team player.
Winning is a process which includes practicing and developing as an individual and as a team... with the desire to win. Time is the investment... without an investment, one cannot expect a return. Learn the game rules, especially what the victory conditions are, then use them to develop a strategy to win. Focus on what works and the team will win... simple.
Last edited by LexStriker (2006-02-08 08:19:03)