Do you improve from spectating? o.o

[Mecca]

Improvement from spectating was mentioned in another topic and I wanted to learn more about this from other players.

Do you improve from watching other (preferably better) players play? If so, in what game modes?

I have learned a bit from watching fortress, especially since rounds in fortress do not seem to differ much from each other (as opposed to many LMS modes).

I found it very hard to learn anything from watching others play high rubber as much of the critical moments in high rubber are against a wall.

I learned sumo from experience, every round seems to be a little different and you need to be able to calmly (not button mashing) react to the changes in space allocation more than anything.

So, do you learn from spectating?

[matchbox53]

Well spectating really helps if you are still new into this game part of what i have become now in fortress is by watching players like Madmax, Psyko,Woned etc.

It also helps in learning how to react but nevertheless u might see those players how they move so good and easy but when u experience it , it will take u time to be able to do them.

[apparition]

I definitely do this in fortress after I die. To keep my mind on the game I always imagine what I would do if I were on the grid and compare it to a really creative/powerful player actually playing. If they do something counter-intuitive to me, I like to figure out why and what they're doing. Works for sumo and fort, but I think it works best for fort since it has position-specific skills

[Mecca]

Well spectating really helps if you are still new into this game

Watching Xyron play sumo is helpful if you are a new player? I think it would confuse a new player more than anything!

[matchbox53]

well for some it might but i still remember new players always had a good motivation to become mazers cause of xyron and hammar

[Phytotron]

You've taken chemistry in school, right? You have lecture and observation (theory), then you have lab (practice). I know you've participated in athletics. You've held a job before, right? Demonstration followed by practice is a pretty simple, tried-and-true concept. Indeed, a prehistoric one, at that. If you had given this a few seconds of thought, I'm not sure that you would have found asking this question necessary. You may as well have asked, "Are you able to spontaneously develop new, complicated skills without taking any instruction or doing any observation beforehand?"

[Mecca]

well for some it might but i still remember new players always had a good motivation to become mazers cause of xyron and hammar

Good point. Not directly improving the player, but giving them a reason to get better!

[wap]

If you had given this a few seconds of thought, I'm not sure that you would have found asking this question necessary. You may as well have asked, "Are you able to spontaneously develop new, complicated skills without taking any instruction or doing any observation beforehand?"

The answer is yes, for some.
How would players, when a new gametype or maybe even when Armagetron was launched, be able to develop new, complicated skills without instruction or observation? There weren't instructions, nor could they observate anyone. They evidently got the skills by experimenting, that's also a way to develop as a player. Therefore this question can indeed be necessary.

[Phytotron]

A) I used the word spontaneously. No, no one develops any complicated skill spontaneously, ex nihilo. B) The subject is obviously regarding an existing game and game modes, maneuvers, tactics, strategies, etc.—not the collective creation of new ones sans antecedent or precedent, which would develop over time.

And "observate" isn't a word. "Observe" is what you're looking for there. Yes, demonstration, observation; demonstrate, observe. And why do you drive in a parkway and park in driveway?! Am I right?! Don't get me started! wocka wocka

[Mkay1]

Lol that was hilarious phytotron, that type of one liners is occasionally funny. Obviously people can improve from spectating, unless they are the *absolute best*, in the truest sense of those words, at that game mode. That doesn't apply to 99.9% of us .

[Mecca]

Lol that was hilarious phytotron, that type of one liners is occasionally funny. Obviously people can improve from spectating, unless they are the *absolute best*, in the truest sense of those words, at that game mode. That doesn't apply to 99.9% of us .

Are you saying that Durka only counts for .1% of this community?

I wonder how many people have really though about how much their strategies may have been influenced by watching others play. Skill may not improve by watching others. You can study Xyron's sumo style all day, but are you really going to be able to do what he does with out improving your skills through practice? Shell no!

[Word]

I used to watch Hoax/Durka/Viper/insa and Fofo a lot when I was new to fort.

[Tank Program]

Maybe it's just me, but I can't think of very many instances where I learned from purely spectating in Armagetron. I think I tend to learn much more from my death, as in how to avoid it. Most of the offensive moves I see I can't replicate so don't internalize. Actually, that's probably true for defensive moves as well. Larger scale strategy may be the thing I pick up on the easiest.

[teen]

I think I tend to learn much more from my death, as in how to avoid it.

+1

[Kijutsu]

I'd say for a lot of other games and general things in real life, yes. In tron? I don't know, I improved the most by playing a lot and being 'trained' by other players (geek alert).