How do you optimise your gaming skills?

[Mordreich]

I find i do my best gaming at 3:30 am with coffee, poptarts and a good soundtrack mostly comprised of Devin Townsend.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Yum... I love Rooibus.

The green tea contains caffeine, which I have heard some people say helps and other say it slows your reaction times, so its hard to know!

And yeah, it makes you piss a lot.

Ah, of course. Does it really make any difference at all, though? I used to drink a lot of black tea, then later went on to white tea (you should try it if you haven't already - though you sound like something of a tea connoisseur, so I daren't presume you haven't) and it never once made me feel noticeably more alert.

It may be a placebo effect but yeah, I do feel green tea gives me a very short, mild caffeince kick.

Tried white tea and it wasn't bad, though personally I prefer to stick with green, peppermint, camomile, rooibus and various fruity hippy stuff. Tea is so good

 

[MiracleOfSound]

I find i do my best gaming at 3:30 am with coffee, poptarts and a good soundtrack mostly comprised of Devin Townsend.

I am still taken aback by the amount of Devin Townsend fans on this site, it's aweseome. Welcome along, hope you enjoy your time here!

And here's a present to help you game well:

 

[salomdi]

Sleep deprivation works wonders for me.

Really? It does the oppposite for me, I get sluggish and slow.

once you get past a certain point your senses get super sharp for no reason, and does make it easier.

for me though, do situps between matches. works wonders

 

[Camembert]

It may be a placebo effect but yeah, I do feel green tea gives me a very short, mild caffeince kick.

Tried white tea and it wasn't bad, though personally I prefer to stick with green, peppermint, camomile, rooibus and various fruity hippy stuff. Tea is so good

True... I go in for a bit of the peppermint variety myself. I find green tea to be far too bitter, however, and fruity and chamomile teas are just plain wrong (at least, that's what my tastebuds tell me). Fruity, flowery types aside, I am also something of a hippy tea drinker.

Have you tried Dr Stuarts teas? They are about as poncy as they come.

 

[Eldarion]

cheetos and coke. perfect gaming combination

Thats good, I'm partial to cherry coke and chinese food myself.

 

[Penguinness]

In my CS:S days I noticed a little bit of alcohol temporarily boosts performance.

This video is related:

 

[CowboyfromHell666]

Listening to Slayer can help me in games that require I kill everything I look at.
Or I just go in with the proper mindset, while hopped up on Coca Cola.

 

[Captain Pancake]

After a cider, I become a lot better at COD. I think it's because after one I become calmer and my inhibitions are lessened. I take chances that I normally wouldn't and they usually pay off. No more than one though, otherwise I just lose all caution and die a lot.

 

[Rarhnor]

I literally cool my self. Not that "ice" cold feeling but the morning-cold feeling. Makes me shake, makes my hands and back twitchy, and it pays off too.

If you find this a bit obscure or downright messed up, it isn't as extreme as you think it is...

 

[MiracleOfSound]

It may be a placebo effect but yeah, I do feel green tea gives me a very short, mild caffeince kick.

Tried white tea and it wasn't bad, though personally I prefer to stick with green, peppermint, camomile, rooibus and various fruity hippy stuff. Tea is so good

True... I go in for a bit of the peppermint variety myself. I find green tea to be far too bitter, however, and fruity and chamomile teas are just plain wrong (at least, that's what my tastebuds tell me). Fruity, flowery types aside, I am also something of a hippy tea drinker.

Have you tried Dr Stuarts teas? They are about as poncy as they come.

Yeah, tried a few of em, they were good.

If you find the right brand of green tea there is no bitterness, I recommend giving the Clipper brand a try, I am so addicted to them

 

[Edorf]

Caffeine, Nicotine and Alcohol fuels my gaming skills... Probably more detrimental than anything, but it makes for some seriously hilarious moments, specially when mixed.

The Nietz-supreme "gaming night" menu looks like this:
1 Liter of vodka
2 Liters of Coffee
2 packs of smokes

Step 1: Drop a coin in a coffee mug
Step 2: Fill the mug with coffee until you can't see the coin
Step 3: Fill the mug with vodka, stop when you see the coin at the bottom again.
Step 4: Drink and enjoy


Be warned that kids under age should not try this. And For the rest of you old geezers, don't try it on nights before work. It does tend to mess up mornings.

[edit] If this is going to be tried out, please, for the love of humanity, TURN YOUR MICROPHONE OFF! [/edit]

I believe this is called 'Karsk'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karsk

 

[Vhite]

Heat and generally being sweaty berserek makes wonders with my halo skills, as for the other games, nothing really comes to my mind.

 

[Camembert]

Yeah, tried a few of em, they were good.

If you find the right brand of green tea there is no bitterness, I recommend giving the Clipper brand a try, I am so addicted to them

Ha - it was actually Clippers whose white tea I drank during my white tea phase (it ended up being too expensive for me to reasonably continue with). My mum has a stash of green tea, and it was hers that I tried; I have also had a taste of some jasmine-infused green tea, which was marginally better. OK, it was a whole lot better.

I may have to follow your advice on the green tea, though, because (this will make me sound like such a stupid newspaper-reader) I have heard that the levels of antioxidants in Rooibos have not been proven, and that green or white teas are your best bet. I mean, antioxidant levels are by no means the most important criterion when buying tea, but it was for health reasons that I gave up black-tea-with-milk in the first place.

As far as Stuart's go, their liver detox one with mint, milk thistle and all sorts of other jolly things, was very nice indeed. I don't really know why they think it necessary to individually packet each teabag, though. Seems kind of a waste.

 

[DigitalSushi]

when I drink beer my game skills seriously deteriorates, so if going into a clan match I try to stay sober (no promises though!).

Usually I just chill out, I have a routine just before a match where I clear my minds by having a piss (hur hur), popping the nitrogen in my fingers, keeping my eyes closed and thinking of my happy place*.

The best thing is just "thinking" your going to be good, because you will be good if you think it, unless you've been drinking, then you get annoyed because you get killed easy

*my happy place is of my in a church tower killing people in their face.

 

[R4ptur3]

irn-bru sometimes. I don't really eat or drink anything while i'm on the PC, but i find that it helps.

 

[JasonKaotic]

I find that if I'm pissed off, I do worse. And if there's people around me I also do worse. And if I'm in an Xbox Live party I die every 2 seconds.
I don't think anything makes me better at it really. Cheats?

 

[Nietz]

Caffeine, Nicotine and Alcohol fuels my gaming skills... Probably more detrimental than anything, but it makes for some seriously hilarious moments, specially when mixed.

The Nietz-supreme "gaming night" menu looks like this:
1 Liter of vodka
2 Liters of Coffee
2 packs of smokes

Step 1: Drop a coin in a coffee mug
Step 2: Fill the mug with coffee until you can't see the coin
Step 3: Fill the mug with vodka, stop when you see the coin at the bottom again.
Step 4: Drink and enjoy


Be warned that kids under age should not try this. And For the rest of you old geezers, don't try it on nights before work. It does tend to mess up mornings.

[edit] If this is going to be tried out, please, for the love of humanity, TURN YOUR MICROPHONE OFF! [/edit]

I believe this is called 'Karsk'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karsk

Indeed it is.
That's how grand dad did it while hunting beaver, and it serves me well in my hunt for frags.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Ha - it was actually Clippers whose white tea I drank during my white tea phase (it ended up being too expensive for me to reasonably continue with). My mum has a stash of green tea, and it was hers that I tried; I have also had a taste of some jasmine-infused green tea, which was marginally better. OK, it was a whole lot better.

I may have to follow your advice on the green tea, though, because (this will make me sound like such a stupid newspaper-reader) I have heard that the levels of antioxidants in Rooibos have not been proven, and that green or white teas are your best bet. I mean, antioxidant levels are by no means the most important criterion when buying tea, but it was for health reasons that I gave up black-tea-with-milk in the first place.

As far as Stuart's go, their liver detox one with mint, milk thistle and all sorts of other jolly things, was very nice indeed. I don't really know why they think it necessary to individually packet each teabag, though. Seems kind of a waste.

Hmm, I suppose it makes middle class housewives and art students feel wonderfully decadent or something?

Strange thing is, I can't drink normal tea anymore. Y'know, the good old cuppa with milk... it makes me nauseous. Hot milk makes my stomach curdle. Hence the love for the hippy teas!

Green tea with jasmine is ok, but you'd be amazed by the level of difference in certain ones... there are a few I've had in restaraunts that I couldn't drink because they were too bitter! Try the clipper one and see if you dig it.

 

[The Eggplant]

This is really more a custom rather than a proven "optimization", but I really only ever game in the evenings, after I've had a chance to get whatever assignments/job-related stuff/dorm room cleanup done for the day, and I've had my daily workout. A clean mind and body ramps up my focus tremendously.

Also, I'll cast another vote for green tea, and add in black liquorice. The combination of an iced green tea and some nice imported Australian liquorice is almost unbeatable.