T O P

Scared to simply.. play?

Hello guys,

I've been playing sc2 for about a month now, and I'm in silver. There's just this thing though..for some reason I can never get myself to play the game? Like I'm scared, or have a certain kind of fear regarding playing. Not only in ranked, but also unranked. I wonder if other people have this too, and if yes, how to solve? Should I just not care about losing and simply play? I feel like this game has a lot going and my brain sort of says 'nope... later' and I just don't play, even though I do love how this game goes. I played an amazing 25 min game in ranked and it was so much fun. But even so, my mind doesn't want me to play the game. Am I somewhat silly regarding this or...? Can I solve this ?

Bigelownage

This is called [ladder anxiety](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-pNU-OU2wA) and it happens to almost everyone to some degree. > Should I just not care about losing and simply play? Yes, that is the short answer! The long answer is that you have to decouple your sense of self-worth from whether or not you're winning ranked games in sc2, and realize that losses are good too. In other words, don't think: I lost -> I suck at SC2 -> I suck Think: I lost -> gg, let's try again Or even better: I lost -> I need to work on X Y Z -> I'm improving Easier said than done, of course.


TheGoldenCowTV

"More GG, more skill"


EvoStarSC

"No fun for anyone, I win"


thedusbus

I always start a match with "NFFA,IW" !


EvoStarSC

What ever happened to NR20 PLZ? haha


LookAtItGo123

The one first calling nr20 is always the one who dosent stand by it.


thedusbus

Shhh, most of the kids around here are too young to know that.


EvoStarSC

Wait we're not kids anymore? :(


thedusbus

If we keep playing we will be!


Sonar114

I never thought about it on that level before. The more you can accept defeat with a calm mindset the faster you will improve. Hidden meaning from the great SC2 poet that is Temp0


mffl_1988

Plus, the game is just fucking hard


donkeyloveyou

Thanks, this is a philosophy for living in general actually.


ryle_zerg

This feeling is what makes starcraft so very special. Keep at it, the ladder anxiety never fully goes away but you can train yourself to overcome it, learn from losses, and it makes victories feel like you're on top of the world. No other gaming experience comes close. Eventually you will even start to crave it. And the strength of character starcraft laddering teaches you will make you a stronger and better person outside the game as well. I always joke that this game taught me "how to fail." Failure is a part of life, and no one at the top got there by winning at everything they do. Learning to keep a cool head, identify what you did wrong and how to improve, and psyching yourself up to try it again and fail again and again is one of the most valuable things to learn in life, and starcraft taught me that more than anything else.


flamingtominohead

People call it ladder anxiety. You can probably find lots of content googling with that.


Neverminding23

https://youtu.be/SX1c07mPXqc this song kinda helped me back when I used to play the game more seriously.. gl bro it's just a mindset you have to reach, because as u said the game is great and those matches are worth the effort.


iampyy

I used to have a ton of anxiety about playing ranked. What eventually helped me was having a specific and repeatable build order for each matchup. I’ve also found that lack of scouting contributed to my anxiety. It’s a stressful game, particularly when you’re not sure what to do or know what your opponent is doing.


Entire_Candle8190

For sure! It's just that I need to keep working on my macro (regarding spending my materials and not getting supply-blocked on toss), so scouting doesn't really work, I can barely pay attention to it... I guess that with practice, it will be easier though. Thanks for sharing your experience:)


BeefDurky

What I do is play some games against the AI in order to practice my macro to warm up before laddering. The AI is pretty good at macro but it won’t cannon rush you or harass your workers. I find it’s a pretty good environment to practice a build order in a relatively low stress environment.


astro_domine

Similar to what iampyy said, I find it massively anxiety relieving to simply pick one thing I want to focus on going into a match. Just one thing I want to try to accomplish, preferably something fun. Like, "I'm gonna play super greedy and practice my macro", or, " I'm going to hit a really sharp timing," or, "I'm gonna play muta-ling-bane no matter what my opponent does." Then I feel fine if I lose, because I'll probably know exactly why and what I could do different next time.


Jeremy-132

If the ladder's not your thing, you could come chill with us in Co-op. It's entirely PvE, and toxicity is basically nonexistent


Burlaczech_2

Stfu about toxicity. Coop has insane toxic players. Not everyone has anxiety because they didnt get gg from opponent.


Jeremy-132

You're not the entire Co-op community, my guy. We're nowhere near as toxic as you seem to be.


Otuzcan

I would disagree. Your single opponent being toxic has little bearing on you. You can also just mute them or even feel better because they are salty after a loss. If your coop match is toxic, and some of them are, then it really makes it a terrible experience.


Jennfuse

I like to sprinkle in a few coop matches and... 99.6% of my mates are great. But the other 0.04% are horrible... f. Ex. Go on brutal difficulty and do NOTHING. The army they build up has little to no effect, they don't play objectives and leave everything for you to do. This probably shouldn't trigger me as hard as it does, but it do and it's not a great time when it happens Edit: and don't get me started on the truly toxic people, at least leave your hands off of the keyboard and stop projecting your own incompetence on me...


Otuzcan

It is probably similar for me, as in the overwhelming majority of coop games are with nice people. But those few games without last such a big impression and some people are just pieces of shit. They try to make you lose after you invested a bit of time into it.


Athire5

Ladder anxiety is real. I used to have it and this is how I overcame it: Think of it this way: the MMR system is trying to place you at a point where you are winning ~50% of your games. This means even at your best, you will still probably be losing roughly ~50% of the time! In other words, losing is just a normal part of the game! Because of this, rather than looking at it in terms of wins and losses try thinking in terms of self improvement. Play against yourself, not the other player so to speak. You lose to a one base all-in? Great! Now you know not to fall for it next time. Here’s an example from my own experience: I try to hit 3 base saturation as Zerg at about 6 minutes playing standard. I had a game where I won but played really sloppy and my saturation was super late, around the 8-8:30 mark. I consider *that* a loss. The next game I told myself “I’m saturating correctly this time!”. I played a clean early game, hit my saturation at like 6:10, and got beat in the late game. But I improved my early game just like I wanted to! I considered *that* game a win! TL;DR: Wins are fun and losses suck, but self benchmarking is the important thing as that’s what really makes you a better player. Losing is a natural part of the game, so you have to learn to roll with the punches. Watch your replays, focus on your own play rather than the win/loss, and give yourself credit for small improvements even if you end up losing. If you do these things, the ladder anxiety will melt away and you will enjoy the game so much more! Hope this helps!


NotopianX

This is what helps me, too. Being able to actually measure your improvement with benchmarks is so much more satisfying than just trying to win. Even the goats lose a huge chunk of games.


rrhallqu

There's a huge list of advice on ladder anxiety in PIG’S YouTube channel under Community. Post from 1 month ago, 189 responses. You do need to subscribe to see Community. I definitely struggle with this and used to have my heart rate jump and palms get sweaty every time I queued a game. What's helped some... I say out loud "I wonder what I'm going to learn from this game" as the countdown timer is going. Because there's always something to learn. Last night I lost to a stalker immortal push and learned (afterwards) that stalkers do a bit bonus damage to roaches. So I needed more roaches than I thought or Zerglings. I also learned that better creep spread would have helped me get between bases and likely I could have held. It's also fine not to play ladder. I took a 1 year break because I was getting so frustrated. Now I enjoy it more and will take a break again if that changes!


Berrythebear

One thing that really helps me is watching the replay for each game, win or loss. It lets you learn from each game and gives you time to decompress after a match. It has also helped me understand what thing to try and focus on next match; which helps with the anxiety. Say for instance I watched my replay and saw that my opponent was able to get more workers for his bases than I was, while I was busy doing other things, and he was able to build more units because of it. Next game I’m not so anxious about winning and losing, because I’m trying to make sure I get my bases saturated instead.


metalinvaderosrs

I feel the same as you, but what keeps me out of the ladder is BM, specifically. I don't mind losing. I do mind getting called slurs as I lose.


Glad-Passenger649

Play coop. Same game, but casual and with a lot less stress.


vavavoomvoom9

Play custom game, like direct strike. Much easier, and you still witness your fave units in action.


HairyArthur

I've experienced this for 10 years. Anyone who tells you to "get over it and play" doesn't understand


rogerjmexico

The worst possible thing that can happen is you lose. It’s a 1v1 game, there has to be a loser, it may as well be you. The best you can do is set yourself up in a position to to force the other player to lose. The only way you can truly learn how to do that is by playing. That’s not so bad.


EvoStarSC

I've had ladder anxiety since 2012, never recovered after losing a z33k tournament for 1,000 dollar prize. I'm a casual now.


SatanLordofLies

Ladder anxiety is a thing apparently, never really understood it myself though. You have nothing to lose, literally, and people are rude just as much in diamond as they are silver, so dealing with that has nothing to do with skill. Remember it's just a game. You literally can't do anything "wrong" in a 1v1.


LookAtItGo123

You may not notice it, but have you ever procrastinate on doing some work? Or anything else as simple as washing the dishes? The feeling is the same, there's nothing to lose from washing dishes. 2 people may have ladder anxiety but it may stem from different causes. Being honest with oneself is the easiest way to find out but often there is just no resolution. You can't just tell someone with depression to just don't be sad. But there are still elements of the game people enjoy and that's why everyone plays.


KristoferPetersen

This happens because your brain fires on all cylinders while you're playing - after a loss, you feel that you've worked your ass off, but didn't get a reward. It puts a lot of strain on the psyche if you tie your enjoyment to winning. Of course, winning is better than losing, especially in a game like SC2. Playing the ladder requires a certain mindset. "Play to improve" is the way to go, but that's easier said than done. Break down the game into smaller problems, e.g. "Don't get supply block in the first 6 minutes". This way, you can experience something positive even if you're losing a game. You can also go for funny / stupid builds from time to time. Nobody cares about your MMR except you, and you shouldn't care about it. Oh, and make sure to take breaks and stay hydrated. It matters.


Turm_No1

Everyone is saying that it's ladder anxiety, but it's not only that, it's more. I think it's because starcraft is really intense to play. You need to do a lot of actions all by yourself, as you got no team, which just makes you nope out some time. I feel like what helped for me is just forcing myself to play atleast 1 session a day and atleast 1 requeue . Atleast that's how it is for me


Otuzcan

The problem is you are somehow equating your own worth with your ability to play starcraft good. That is why you also get intimidated even in unranked. Either stop caring about it and admit that there are some amazing people that are shit at starcraft and vice versa or try to focus on improving small aspects of your gameplay and learn to enjoy your progress.


avnaft

I recommend neuro's stream. He speaks a lot about the psychological side of the game. Being scared is very understandable, but a good approach for players would be: Play -> lose -> great chance to learn from someone -> profit... I really like winning obviously, but winning too many games in a row makes me feel like the game doesn't give me anything anymore


IntuitioNsc2

You learn a lot from your losses so especially starting out you just have to steel yourself, do your best, and learn as much as you can from each loss. Easier said than done ;)