Deterioration of Skill.

[Mo-Nercy]

Discuss your inability to play a game, regardless of how good you were at it, after about a month of inactivity...

I once was a good Soul Calibur 2 player. Not the best but good enough to use more than a few characters, commit a lot of moves to memory and exploit weaknesses in an opponent. Casual players would rarely beat me and I played very seriously for about 3 months. Maybe more.

It's been about a month since I've played (both arcade and PS2 versions) and I can't even beat Arcade mode with Nightmare (easiest character to play as) and I had forgotton half the movelist for my favourite character, Cassandra and I lose as much as I win. Astonished, I retreated back home to commence practicing on the PS2.

Discuss your experiences. *is still in shock*

[BatChao]

Haha, I can relate, man. I played Soul Calibur 2 very hardcore for about a year and a half. I visited the arcade almost every day (and my arcade had some of the best players around), and I entered tournaments and the such. Toward the end, I became pretty good. I surpassed some of the players that used to school me (keep in mind that these guys were damn good as well), and became pretty even with others. Then, I stopped playing for about four or five months... Meaning I stopped playing against good opponents. The AI in fighting games really isn't that good. Turning up the difficulty only makes your opponent guard impact better and block better. Plus, half of the strategy in SC2 is about mind games, which you can't do against AI opponents. One day, I decided to stop by the arcade again, and I saw one of the guys I used to play against. This guy was really really good, and at the peak of my skill, I could probably only win about 30%-40% against this guy (when he was using his main character). So I decided to go a few rounds with him to see how much my skills remained intact (or not intact). Man, I was surprised on how mercilessly I got beat (and he wasn't even using his main character!). It wasn't that I forgot the moves, it was that they didn't come naturally anymore. When I was at the top of my game, I wouldn't even have to think about what to do next, as my fingers moved by instinct, immediately adapting to new situations. I didn't have that instinct anymore, as I clumsily tried to think of what to chain to what, he beat me down.

After I graduated, I felt my SC2 days were over as there is no good competition at the arcade where I live (the one I learned the game at was at school). I had been to the arcade close to my house and it was horrible... the sticks were messed up, competition wasn't only not up to snuff, but they were also whiners. None of my friends could stand a chance against me (even in my deteriorated state). You have no idea how happy I was to see that when I started work, I saw an X-box kiosk with Soul Calibur 2 set up in the break room! AND the competition wasn't bad. Not as top notch as the guys back at school, but good. It took me about 3 days to adjust from joystick to the X-box controller, but I got used to it. After about a week and a half, I could feel my skills coming back. Now, I feel that I'm pretty close to what I was when I was at the height of my skill. A couple things are hampering me from reaching or surpassing that point though:
1) The competition is good, but not superb
2) The X-box controllers are a little whacky
But I'm content at where I am now. I'm pretty much the champ of my shift (people cheer when I lose! Haha!), and there are only two players that I feel nervous about losing to when I play. I think if I brush up a bit more, maybe enter a couple tournaments, I'll probably be able to become as good, if not better, as I used to be.

Wow, that was a long post. But anyway, Mo-Nercy, I suggest instead of retreating home to your PS2 to practice, visit the arcades more. If you wanna become good, you gotta have good competition. Playing against an AI character can only get you so far. Trust me... I know people bred from fighting against the AI and people bred from fighting live opponents. When fighting against each other, the player more used to fighting against another opponent will win. You can't practice fakeouts and mind tricks on a computer opponent. They're pretty much only good for getting down a combo or something, but to really learn how to use that combo in real play, you gotta play against a real person. Good luck to ya!

[edczxcvbnm]

I have no such problem. As a matter of fact I am usually better after about a month of not playing a game. I for the life of me could not finish the crazy pyramid in Crazy Taxi 2. Stopped playing it for about a year. Then popped it in one day and bam. Three tries and I beat the thing. Its always like that for me. I guess I just need time to get rid of bad habbits and just use the techniques!

[Lord Chainsaw]

If I don't play a game for an extended period of time I will get rusty.

I used to play Megaman 3 a lot. I could down every boss in that game with the plasma shot except Doc Robot Flashman and Woodman. I popped in the Anniversary Collection and found myself getting owned by Shadowman. I lost two lives to him before I finally beat him. I could beat Needleman and his stage with the plasma sustaining only a single hit in the past. I die twice on him too this time around.

Of course, I'm not going to throw away my time by practicing Megaman 3 every day. There's obviously no point.

I do see myself getting better at games as they age though. When I was little I could never beat that Crab boss in Blaster Master for the NES. Now I can breeze through the entire game up till the very last boss. Of course, the last boss' first form is so ungodly hard I lose all my lives and continues on him, but I'm working at it.

Then there are the games that I grow suckier at as I age. I used to be able to beat Tuff E Nuff on the SNES. I popped it in on Friday and couldn't pass the first tower fight.

[kikimm]

It seems like this only happens with fighting/arcade games. Well, same thing goes for me too. I'll get really, really good, but then after awhile, it gets boring. I've completely exhausted my my need for those games, then it gets old, and I stop playing. Then, like, 6 months later, I feel like playing them again. Figures...

[Del Murder]

Didn't happen to me with Gunsmoke. Hadn't played that game in 8 years when I saw my brother playing it on Dreamcast. Jumped in and beat the game for the first time, and using only one continue.

[Rainecloud]

If it's a driving game, it'll probably take me a good hour or two to get back into the swing of things. I don't have any problems with other types of games, though. I memorize most RPGs, so I can instantly pick those up, platform games are a piece of cake, I somehow manage to remember button combinations and moves for the majority of fighting games, and the other genres just come naturally.

I'm not an amazing gamer by any means, but I do have a good memory that allows me to do these things.

[Az Lionheart]

it happened to me with Return of the King. i know it is not the hardest game ever cos i used to be able to get 192 perfects. but after not playing it for a while i could only about 130

[Lindy]

The only game I ever lost my skill in was Metal Gear Solid, I used to be able to easily beat the game on hard, with a little difficulty on Extreme. I bought Twin Snakes, and found it difficult to get past the first room on Normal, so I toned it down to Very Easy =(

*shame*

On a bright note, I started playing Devil May Cry two days ago and managed to get 10 missions in with S rank on every mission, despite not having played it for a few months.

[ZeZipster]

I really only get into the games that'll get stuck to me, like AC... I could wait a year without playing Armored Core and then get back on it playing the same as I was a year before within 30 minutes... Which is weird, because Armored Core has the biggest learning curve out of all the games I've played.