Losing the edge in a game after taking a break

Mojo · 22 May 2012 at 23:36

Let's just say I'm curious. I've just had a quick cheeky trip to France, about 10 days. After said break I just tried playing Team Fortress 2 and I'm playing awful: My aim is off with rockets, I can no longer do any acrobatic spy maneuvres and I only just manage to break even K/D wise after each match.
However, I boot up ye olde classic Battlefield 1943 on Xbox Live Arcade after about 4 months and I'm on top form.

I find it incredibly confusing as to why Team Fortress 2 is so painful to get back into, but I can jump on BF1943 after a much longer break and continue like nothing happened. They are both twitch response based. TF2 used Mouse/KB and 1943 uses pad but apart from that...

I guess my question is... what do you think makes a game easy/hard to get back into after a break?

McBain · 22 May 2012 at 23:38

I think it's probably the pace of it, doesn't take long to lose your reaction/touch.

BF1943, although twitch based is a much slower, more methodical game compared to how crazy and hectic TF2 is.

That's my take on it anyway.

Spektor · 22 May 2012 at 23:42

Maybe you're just playing against better players than usual and then frustration is getting to you?

10 days doesn't seem like a long enough time to irrevocably diminish however well you were playing.

Mojo · 22 May 2012 at 23:48

Spektor said:
Maybe you're just playing against better players than usual and then frustration is getting to you?

10 days doesn't seem like a long enough time to irrevocably diminish however well you were playing.

That's the issue, I wasn't playing players that are better than I'm used to, but my aim was all over the place =( just hitting enemies with rockets was hard, it was like my mouse sensitivity had turned up even though nothing had changed since before I left

KatanaDV20 · 23 May 2012 at 00:03

It happens dude no need to worry. After some days it will come back.

I like flight sims and after a long break this is one genre that can show you how out of practice you have become. I was all over the place. If those were real passengers behind me in those virtual Airbus jets the plane would be filled with vomit.

As it happens it took about a week and now Im back on form playing pretend Top Gun smashing F18s down on carrier decks and such.

You'll get back into TF as well!

Swi1ch · 23 May 2012 at 02:17

Happened to me with TF2 also. I think it's because with more standard shooters you're using a similar muscle memory between them; say what you want about the differences between CoD and BF, but in both you just point and click on people, and most people will set their sensitivity as close as possible for both of them. I find these games are far more tolerant to mistakes than TF2 or arena shooters.

In TF2, especially as soldier, you need some really specific movements for stuff like rocket jumping, and you also need to aim more often on a vertical plane for popping people into the air and juggling them, or airshotting. If you're playing a normal shooter you don't typically aim rapidly vertically more than a few degrees.

infernox · 23 May 2012 at 12:09

Skill Difference, You won't lose that much form in 10 days...

Yes it probably didn't do a lot for you.

You was clearly playing with people better than you, giving you a false interpretation that something your end was wrong.

Keep playing and get better, you'll find that your average joe random's on your usual server won't be as good.

FrenchTart · 23 May 2012 at 12:12

The general level of skill in BF1943 on the console is probably far lower than the general level of skill in TF2, too.

Hence, a small loss in skill in TF2 is really noticeable whereas a fairly hefty loss in BF1943 will make much less difference.

sk3lph · 23 May 2012 at 12:15

I find when I first start I have hands like cows **** and it takes a few minutes to get into the game. I also find that I tend to make more mistakes and play worse if my teams losing and I'm getting a kicking myself.