Does anybody else just have those days where it seems like no part of your mind really wants to win? Some days I feel invincible, as if I can see every shot go into my opponent and that I am going to win EVERY BR battle. Other days I will sign on and continually get out BR-ed every single time. I have officially come up with a list of things I feel that greatly influence how well you can play at a consistent rate. These are things that help me out, maybe they will help you. 1) How in shape you are. I have realized that the more in shape I am, the quicker I am with aiming and firing and general alertness. I am substantially better when I am active every day, rather than sitting around doing nothing every day. 2) How stressed you are. Another thing I have realized is if I am calm while playing, I am substantially better. If I can completely concentrate on Halo and not worry about things around me, everything starts clicking. 3) How comfortable you are when you play. I have found that playing on one television consistently and having my television slightly above eye level makes me play much better as well. When I do not have to look up or down to look at my television it helps a ridiculous amount. Also, sitting up and being relaxed seem to be pretty important as well. 4) The amount of time you play each day. I find that you really improve when you are only playing until you lose focus. For me I last about two-three hours, sometimes less. Don't push yourself. The best you will play is when you are totally focused on winning/getting better. When you start focusing on getting headshots/multikills/killing sprees you stop playing as smart. Don't worry about the montage play, the stats, or being dedicated to objective work. Just do what it takes to win the game, be able to do something smart in every situation. 5) If you are really struggling with your ability to play the game, take a break. No longer than a week, but no shorter than 3 days. Believe me, it will help a substantial amount to not get stressed over a video game. It's not worth it. 6) Don't get angry at the game. If things just aren't clicking, walk away and come back later or wait until the next day. Don't feel like you are being forced to play. 7) Make friends along the way. Find people who you really click during a game with and play with them. You'll be amazed how much better you play when you play with someone you enjoy talking to/playing with. The greatest teammates are ones who have your back without even trying to just because you have similar playing styles. 8) Don't get caught up in the aftergame lobby. Do whatever you can to avoid confrontation, mute teammates, quit out, whatever it takes so that you do not become frustrated and destroy your chances of playing better later. Let me know if any of you guys have found other factors that relate to just playing better in general. Hopefully this helps with being a better teammate/player overall.
1) I agree 100%. Personally, I like to play long hours, but after a while, it can get tiring. You wouldn't expect that being active outside of gaming can influence your game in Halo. Taking breaks and going outside for a couple minutes between games has actually helped me improve my game substantially and you just feel better overall when you aren't worn out. 2) Once again, yes. I am mainly the team sniper on my team and when you begin to think about too many things, you get stressed out. Having a good team that you can rely on to watch your back, call out spawns, and help time new weapons and/or power-ups can really help out in the long run. Take The Pit for example. Today, I was playing Slayer on Pit (MLG) and I knew I had good teammates to back me up and I ended up getting 8 kills and no deaths. I was totally relaxed the entire time and I knew there wouldn't be a sneaky enemy getting past my team. We took the game one step at a time; organizing rushes and calling out enemies. 3) Being in a slouched position (if you play like that) can be sort of painful to your back after a while. Whenever you die, sit back in your chair and relax, but continue to call out enemies using your death screen. 4) This relates back to #1 because when you play for long hours, you probably aren't going to be running or getting physical exercise. Taking breaks actually helps. A lot. 5) I haven't had too much of an issue with this one as I am a generally calm player and I don't get angry at the game for days on end, but I can see how this would help out some people. 6) Once again, relating back to #1 and #4. You don't need to play a ton to be good. 7) I really enjoy playing with some great friends* in MLG and other team games because they help me out overall as a player. Getting to know and trust your teammates really improves you as a player and your team. If you are having to constantly check behind you and are uncertain where the other team is, you're not in a good mental position to win the game. *Shoutouts to Shanon, Roche, Phreakie, Orange, and Insane. Lol. 8) I also agree with #8. Trash-talking can get in the way of playing well in the future. If you lose a game and the other team calls you bad and you listen and that effects you mentally, you're not going to be playing well the next couple games. Just laugh it off and have fun with it. -Amercan
Having a good breakfast improves alertness thoughout the day. Anything really can be a breakfast, as long as it's food. Nor does it really matter if it's super big, or minute. Some pancakes, or fruit, they both due the about the same thing. So always make sure you have a satisfying breakfast before you start playing.
This is a really nice write up. I do most of the things you wrote up. I'm gunna try the breakfast thing Shanon said, Since i dont eat. And i'm also going to try to stop getting frustrated/going for stats.