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Imagine you're a world class striker on your soccer team. You play against world class defenders and goalkeepers. It's exhausting because you have to play you

by LanceH 6y ago

Imagine you're a world class striker on your soccer team. You play against world class defenders and goalkeepers. It's exhausting because you have to play your top game, every time. Now, one day you decide to try out goalkeeper. You get to face world class competition because of your status as a striker. Two possible results: 1. You get discouraged and don't play the off positions. You only maximize. Maybe you get burned out because you never relax. 2. You do switch back and forth between things you are good/not good at. Your skill averages out and you play easy matches where you carry your team, alternated with impossible matches where you drag your team down. I know a lot of pros will have secondary accounts for things like this. Sometimes it gets viewed as sandbagging (and sometimes it is).

alistairSH 6y ago
This is why I asked about practice sessions. Any professional e-sport should have some means for a pro to practice without: 1- engaging in actual public game play 2- sandbagging against weaker competition In your striker-wants-to-be-goalie situation, the wanna be goalie would practice against the clubs B team. He would not step into the WC as goalie. Nor would he shit up the local junior tournament while he tries things out.
- LanceH 6y ago
  Practice. You were talking about practice... I'm sure all the esports games have a practice. But that really only satisfies the situation where you have full teams available. Also, a lot of pros make more money from playing the game without a team and streaming it on twitch or youtube.
  - alistairSH 6y ago
    That's true of sports in meat-space too. Back to your striker... he can do all sorts of drills solo, but also needs practice time with his team. The former he can do at home (given a big enough yard). The later, he does at the clubhouse. But, he isn't going around joining local pick-ups games. I'm still unclear why an e-sports player needs to the play the equiv of local pickup soccer matches. If the answer is "that's how he makes money" well, sandbagging a sport to earn money is a pretty silly way to make a living. That would be like Jordan paying his mortgage playing HORSE.
    - LanceH 6y ago
      > Jordan paying his mortgage playing HORSE or entering a dunk contest?
bonzini 6y ago
In online chess I have different ratings for bullet (up to 5 minutes per game), blitz (5-15 minutes), rapid (15-25) etc. I have also different ratings for chess variants (960 which has randomized start positions, crazy house which is a bit more like Japanese chess, etc.) Couldn't they do the same for MMO?
- Macha 6y ago
  StarCraft 2 eventually introduced faction based MMR/rankings. It's likely easier in a game when you explicitly signal a different play style and the game then gives you different tools so can be sure you are doing something different.

by LanceH 6y ago

alistairSH 6y ago

This is why I asked about practice sessions. Any professional e-sport should have some means for a pro to practice without: 1- engaging in actual public game play 2- sandbagging against weaker competition In your striker-wants-to-be-goalie situation, the wanna be goalie would practice against the clubs B team. He would not step into the WC as goalie. Nor would he shit up the local junior tournament while he tries things out.

LanceH 6y ago
Practice. You were talking about practice... I'm sure all the esports games have a practice. But that really only satisfies the situation where you have full teams available. Also, a lot of pros make more money from playing the game without a team and streaming it on twitch or youtube.
- alistairSH 6y ago
  That's true of sports in meat-space too. Back to your striker... he can do all sorts of drills solo, but also needs practice time with his team. The former he can do at home (given a big enough yard). The later, he does at the clubhouse. But, he isn't going around joining local pick-ups games. I'm still unclear why an e-sports player needs to the play the equiv of local pickup soccer matches. If the answer is "that's how he makes money" well, sandbagging a sport to earn money is a pretty silly way to make a living. That would be like Jordan paying his mortgage playing HORSE.
  - LanceH 6y ago
    > Jordan paying his mortgage playing HORSE or entering a dunk contest?

bonzini 6y ago

In online chess I have different ratings for bullet (up to 5 minutes per game), blitz (5-15 minutes), rapid (15-25) etc. I have also different ratings for chess variants (960 which has randomized start positions, crazy house which is a bit more like Japanese chess, etc.) Couldn't they do the same for MMO?

Macha 6y ago
StarCraft 2 eventually introduced faction based MMR/rankings. It's likely easier in a game when you explicitly signal a different play style and the game then gives you different tools so can be sure you are doing something different.