Does practice make perfect?

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kinch

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Jun 16, 2008
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As a gamer, I'm the first to admit that I'm below average. No matter the game, whether it be FPS, RTS, RPG, racing, you name it, I suck at it. FPS's are probably my weakest point, since the others you can learn simple tricks for improving your chances of success very quickly (for example, in RTS maps you learn where the enemy will attack from, and then know where to focus your defences).

In particular reference to FPS, I played Unreal Tournament 3 yesterday, for the first time in a long while. When choosing difficulty, I tried "casual" but the game encouraged me to try Hard. Being easily manipulated, I thought I'd teach that game who's boss and played hard. And got my ass handed to me in every single game I played. Whether against one opponent, or against a team, I lost. I was usually 3rd or 4th on the scoreboard (out of the 4 players on my team, usually 6th or 7th overall.)

So here's my question for people who have been playing for longer than I have. Does practice make perfect, or are there limits on learning in games? Since so much of a game depends on reflexes, hand-eye co-ordination, reflexes, quick thinking, and so on, can they be learned? Can one become an expert if one plays long and hard enough?
 

shatnershaman

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May 8, 2008
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1997? (I forget the year) Goldeneye comes out for the N64 I suck balls at it and stop playing
2001 Halo 1 comes out I'm medicore and play sometimes
2004 Halo 2 comes out I'm pretty good just everyone did the "l33t combo" cheap bastards
2007 Halo 3/Cod4 come out I'm finally can be 1st or 2nd in a 16 player match (online)

Practice makes perfect if you play alot (or use fucking cheap combos)
 

Wolfwind

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May 28, 2008
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Hmmm... that's an interesting question. I've never really thought about it. Personally, I think it can be learned, and I think it comes easier to people who've been playing since a young age. It's the same as anything else in my opinion. The longer you do it and the more you enjoy it, the better you get at it. But like anything else, some people are naturally good at it and naturally bad at it, so everyone's rate of improvement and peak of improvement is different, and I think it also depends on the genre.

Using myself as an example, I took a big interest in fighting games when I was a kid and Street fighter came out, so I grew up playing a lot of them. Keep in mind that we're talking 2D fighters here. So it got to the point where whenever a new 2D fighter came out, I would learn it quickly. It got to the point that at arcades, I could easily beat an average player with experience during my first time playing. Now I'm not saying I was the champ, but I wasn't easy to beat off the machine either. But it's because it was my main genre, it's what I enjoyed playing, and I played a lot of it.

And I think that's the important thing, that I "played" a lot of it. I didn't practice, I played. I was never gaming to become good, I was just doing what I liked to do for fun. Like I'm good at fighting games, but not all of them. I suck at Marvel vs Capcom 2, but that's because I honestly think that game is a piece of crap.

From an FPS standpoint, I definitely think that improvement is something that comes with practice. When I started playing Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 online, I straight SUCKED! Even though I had beaten the single player games on the hardest difficulties! But you learn as you go along, your reflexes improve, and most importantly, you start to learn the mechanics of the game. I honestly never played many FPS's before, so it wasn't my thing. But you learn what works and what doesn't within the paramiters of the game, and against other players.

Now that I've played for a while, I can usually finish in the top three when playing either game, unless I'm playing with players who's specialty is FPS's. But then, some people play nothing but Halo 3 and COD4, so of course they're gonna be better than me. It doesn't bug me cause I'm busy playing other games.

And I think that's just it, you shouldn't worry about your score in the end. Just play to have fun and you'll get better along the way. I personally find that I never get my ass kicked more than when I get pissed or too into the game, because I make stupid mistakes. But when you're just playing to have fun with some friends or whatever, you get better without even realizing it. (Unless you're playing fighting games with friends, cause 1 on 1 fighting with someone who's talking endless shit is a good way to break a controller)

Anyways, that's my two cents. Actually I started ranting so it's more like ten cents.... wtf am I still doing awake at 6am?
 

D_987

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Jun 15, 2008
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I think it can be learnt, to a point, if you play a ot of FPS'S eventually your going to get better at them, but you'll nevr get amazingly good, because you don't have te natural reflexes, or will eventualy reach the barrier where practise won't particularly help.
 

TheIceface

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D_987 said:
I think it can be learnt, to a point, if you play a ot of FPS'S eventually your going to get better at them, but you'll nevr get amazingly good, because you don't have te natural reflexes, or will eventualy reach the barrier where practise won't particularly help.
Thats right, a lot of your potential lies with you as a gamer. However, I do think practice is extremely important, as well as a good knowledge of the game/leve/weapons/etc.

For example, I've been playing the counterstrike series since it was just a mod. Every time I, while waiting for a respawn, I look over the level to see if there are any spots that might provide an advantage, I also take note of what the other players do, where they look when they enter a room, and what works.

Long story short: I got really good at the game, and I made a lot of E-friends. These people I helped out by showing them all the little tricks I've learned over the years, which made them considerably better players. However, that is just a start, now they need to practice it, make it instict and reflex.

Unfortunately if you like to switch games every few hours, you're usually so far into a "mode" that it takes a few rounds to break the reflexes and adapt for the new game you're playing.
 

stompy

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Well, I suppose. I mean, when I first played, I got my ass handed to me on Easy, but then , I'd never played a console shooter before. I guess there's also a limit as to how good you can get before practice doesn't make a difference, but that's a peak I'm not sure really exists...
 

Churchman

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Jun 21, 2008
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I think you have to enjoy the game, even if your getting blown away to get good at it through practice.

A good example for me is that I never was able to get good at SMB3 no matter how often I played it. But then I hated platformers, so I never felt any form of satisfaction if I passed a level, so I never really cared if I finished a level or not.
 

vun

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Apr 10, 2008
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If you look at professionals and see what they do you'll , hopefully, get a better understanding of what and how you should practice.
 

Jumplion

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It mainly depends on the genere, but usually practice does make perfect.

Take for example....ME, in most FPSs i'd play the campaign a couple of times before going online and that usually helps with my reflexes (though i have good days and bad)

In any RTS really, i suck completely. I just get a unit and build alot of them at once (such as tanks) to bombard the enemy base, stick a few defense towers here and there, and upgrade my units armor and weapons every now and again. As you can see, if i just practiced a bit i could get better and actually stratigize a bit more.
 

N-Sef

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The only games I ever really practiced on were: Devil May Cry 3, Ikaruga and King of Fighters XI. I was a complete failure at DMC3 until I actually 'got' how the game was supposed to be played, this goes for Ikaruga as well. With KOFXI, I just had to have constant training regimes in the game to actually get any where, including beating the final boss, which was easier said than done let me tell you.

Like a lot of people, I'm not actually all that great at playing games. It takes me ages to understand what the game expects me to do and whatnot, but whatever as long as I'm having fun right?
 

Khedive Rex

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Jun 1, 2008
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I can speak from experience, practise does make perfect.

I consider myself an above average gamer but last year I encountered a game I outright sucked at, Mario Kart DS. My debate team played it constently on Wi-Fi at our tournaments and even really average gamers were always leaving me in the dust. When summer came around I bought the game. I taught myself how to snake, I taught myself how to aim my weapons, I practised until I had all the stars on every course and all the missions done.

I come back this year and play against Justin (the undisputed King of Mario Kart in our DS circle), and it was pitfully easy playing against him. It got to the point where if I just sat at the finish line for six or eight seconds before winning I could still beat him, that's how far ahead my lead was on him.

If you practise at a game, you get better at it. If you practise enough you get better than the people who don't no matter how good they are naturally. My advise to you is to try unreal tournament again on Hard. When that doesn't work, do it again. Don't get dicouraged, it won't work at first. But later on you'll see yourself getting better and before long Hard will be too easy.
 

TheIceface

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N-Sef said:
Like a lot of people, I'm not actually all that great at playing games. It takes me ages to understand what the game expects me to do and whatnot, but whatever as long as I'm having fun right?
An excellent point to keep in mind at all times. Competition is fine, but the real point of it should be to add some new challenging situations to the game, not to bore the player.
 

Saskwach

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This might all have been said but...
The proverb is true as a generalisation. Having said that, here's the exceptions I know of.
1)Aptitude plays a part. While anyone can get to a high level of expertise some will get there faster thanks to nothing but God's gifts to them, or transferable skills.
2)Almost anyone can get very good with enough time but again, thanks to aptitude, some can go further. I wouldn't say anyone is kept from being good, even great, but not everyone can be a true expert.
3)Practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect. If you're practising bad techniques or sub-optimal tactics then you'll just reinforce those and keep yourself at an artificially low level. Before you can better yourself you need to learn how. For a simple example, if you didn't know that headshots were much more damaging, or didn't care, then you wouldn't practice hitting them, so those who did would kill you easily in anything resembling a straight-up fight.
 

Mathew952

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Feb 14, 2008
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Most of it is learning the maps, once you know them well enough it becomes just sneaking up and shooting.
 

Lvl 64 Klutz

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Apr 8, 2008
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It really is less about just practicing and more about how you practice. I remember when I first started playing Battlefield 2, I was absolutely awful at it, usually got a 1-10 kill to death ratio, and was thinking of quitting. Then I found this community, forget the name because I left quite a while ago, but it was a group of players who focused on helping each other get better at a game, and providing quality squad experiences to players. Playing that game under several different really awesome squad leaders helped me to learn how to truly play the game well, and not with cheap tricks like bunny-hopping. By the end of a few months, I still wasn't great because I have piss poor reflexes, and can't aim worth shit, but I was still managing to get about an even number of kills and deaths.
 

kinch

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Jun 16, 2008
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Okay then ladies and gentlemen, let me add one more tidbit to this brain snack...

Do you think there are people who, no matter how hard they try, no matter how much they practice, simply wont get better? Or, the improvement will be such a tiny amount that it's not worth the effort. If so, what (if anything) would you say to them?
 

TheIceface

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kinch said:
Do you think there are people who, no matter how hard they try, no matter how much they practice, simply wont get better? Or, the improvement will be such a tiny amount that it's not worth the effort. If so, what (if anything) would you say to them?
Well, first off, I'd ask them if they are enjoying the game. It is possible to enjoy a game without being the best at it, heck you can have fun while being on the bottom.

As for the improvement, I really think it depends on the person. If you are enjoying the game, and dedicated enough to be better, I have no doubt that in time, you'll get noticeably better. You learn the most when you're messing around and having fun, if you play just to win, you'll get bored easily, and upset if you lose.

Of course there are situations where it is physically and mentally impossible for the player to get better, but those are very rare. I'm positive that if I could get my father interested (actually interested, not just convince him to play the game) in a certain video game, he could become better at it, no matter how badly he plays at the beginning.