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I have noticed that there are two ways (for me at least) to play a FPS. I can either really get into it, thinking strongly about strategy, anticipating things. Or, I can just pop on some music, zone out, and react. Cruise around the map, killing someone if I find them, but not especially looking for them.

I tend to get about the same amount of kills either way. But I feel a lot better about the game when I play it with aloofness. A win is still good, but losses aren't as bad. Hell, I'm not even especially trying, I can expect to lose. On the other hand, if I try as hard as I can and lose anyway, I tend to get pissed.

Basically, this whole thing was to ask the following: How do you tend to play in first person shooters? Are you extremely concentrated? Or do you just kinda cruise around, detached from your surroundings?

It depends on the game, difficulty, and if I've played it before.

If I've never played it before, I'll be very serious about it, concentrating wholey. Likewise if I'm playing a game I've beat on a high difficulty setting.

But, for a game like HALO, I just pop it in and let myself goof off.

In Desert Combat, I'm always on the lookout for snipers, choppers, etc. It pays to be paranoid sometimes.....

Depends. If its a team game, I'll play seriously. If not, I usually just relax and have some fun with it.

Well, it really depends on the game - for example, in UT, your objective in Deathmatch is to get as many kills as possible, so of course I'll be running around looking for people to gun down. In NS, I'm a bit more team-oriented and alert, since ambushes are a common occurance.

If I concentrate too hard, I do badly. If I don't pay attention, I do bad.


There's always been this certain "zone" that I sometimes go into. When my mind is in that state, I achieve almost godlike power during FPS games. Clearing entire rooms of people becomes relatively simple.


I always try to get into that mindset somehow, but it's difficult. It's a sort of calm, almost meditative state where you feel one with the game.


Now you're all scared of me.

I try not to concentrate to hard either I also attempt to achieve the meditative state of a gaming zone.

Although it depends on the game and the level, I kinda zone out but also concentrate on things at the same time. Sorta like tunnel visioning i guess.

I try to feel The Force.

Generally lets me do ok.

Do or do not, there is no try.

I do very well when I let myself flow through the game sort of (I guess) a Jedi flows through a lightsaber duel...

Gandalf wrote:I try to feel The Force.

Generally lets me do ok.

Do you also wear a helmet with the blast shield down?

Depends really~ Natural Selection demands concentration - getting killed can cost the game depending on the situtation

If it's Doom or UT2k4 demo I mellow out.

neoolong wrote:

Gandalf wrote:I try to feel The Force.

Generally lets me do ok.

Do you also wear a helmet with the blast shield down?

Sort of. At times my hair can obscure much of my vision.

Depends on the game, mop up during MTW I pop in some music, UT I go into a trance state that lets me own the server.

Haven't done FPS in awhile, but I guess it depends on the game.

In something like UT, where hopping around like an insane jackrabbit on speed is a good thing, I wouldn't take it too seriously. Trying to play "seriously" led to much pain, frustration, and a shitty kill ratio.

If, on the other hand, the game actually supports something resembling real dynamics, then I'd be more serious about it (playing a bit of Rogue Spear comes to mind).

And by serious I mean thinking more along the lines of "real world" tactics and such.

Shinova wrote:If I concentrate too hard, I do badly. If I don't pay attention, I do bad.


There's always been this certain "zone" that I sometimes go into. When my mind is in that state, I achieve almost godlike power during FPS games. Clearing entire rooms of people becomes relatively simple.


I always try to get into that mindset somehow, but it's difficult. It's a sort of calm, almost meditative state where you feel one with the game.


Now you're all scared of me.

No, I understand exactly what you mean, Its that state of being that lets you gun down four people with 1% of health remaining. I never try to force it, that just doesn't work for me.

No Nirvana like a The Specialists Nirvana- Leaping into a room, Slow Motion, and placing a three round burst of M16 rounds through the brainpans of three different enemies.

Being in the Zone for an FPS is one of the great experiences in life.,

Thirdfain wrote:No Nirvana like a The Specialists Nirvana- Leaping into a room, Slow Motion, and placing a three round burst of M16 rounds through the brainpans of three different enemies.

Being in the Zone for an FPS is one of the great experiences in life.,

And being the victim of someone else's zone can really suck. I'd really like to know how anyone can pull the trigger of a magnum coming off a ledge, turn while falling, finally have the gun fire, and have the bullet go 100 feet down a badly lit tunnel, straight through my head when there's no way he should have been able to see me.

consequences wrote:

Thirdfain wrote:No Nirvana like a The Specialists Nirvana- Leaping into a room, Slow Motion, and placing a three round burst of M16 rounds through the brainpans of three different enemies.

Being in the Zone for an FPS is one of the great experiences in life.,

And being the victim of someone else's zone can really suck. I'd really like to know how anyone can pull the trigger of a magnum coming off a ledge, turn while falling, finally have the gun fire, and have the bullet go 100 feet down a badly lit tunnel, straight through my head when there's no way he should have been able to see me.

Welcome to life in FPS shooters.

That's why I take the silly games not so seriously. If I'm beaten in a game where you can leap around like you're on a fucking Pogostick from Hell, and still fire your rocket launcher accurately... Well, really, why bother?

I'm impulsive and stupid, and simply charge at the enemy to get shot at, or forget to look to the right of the door. That, plus 1/2 second response time to stimuli.

Thirdfain wrote:No Nirvana like a The Specialists Nirvana- Leaping into a room, Slow Motion, and placing a three round burst of M16 rounds through the brainpans of three different enemies.

Personally I like doing sideways stunts in slo-mo with the sawed-off shotgun. It's most satisfying since you're earning one hit kills without using the pussy awp-wannabe rifle~

I get really deep into the game, thinking about where good sniper spots are, where I can find powerups, etc.

Depends on the game; in something slow and deadly like INF, I play slow; on standard twitch games like TS and UT2k4 I throw on some trash techno and Zen out.

For me it's a matter of difficulty. I like to prance about all relaxed and that's usually what I do. Until I meet a challenge... The something clicks and I go into high gear. That often means that I make shots I never thought possible or do moves I never really practised. Like comboing other people's Shock Cores in their face in UT2004 and stuff like that...

Usually it's low gear and some strange combination of mutators in UT2004, though, I like silly offline games. Currently I have a minigun arena thing going. Only the minigun has been altered to fire 100 1 damage shots per second... That's a low gear weapon that can really make a mess.