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Member
Tournament motivation
Hey all,
For the first time in THD, I've reached a plateau.
Everything flew right good upon platinuming the skill games and the tracks. However, getting into tournaments, I've zero-faulted the world championship, senior circuit, and a few others although without getting a platinum on them.
For the first time, motivation is going down. I was wondering if I'd ever seriously try platinuming the big ones. I can count the remaining platinums on the tip of my fingers, although I seem to get depressed isolating myself and retrying the same tournaments again and again.
Is this ringing a bell for anybody else? Shared experiences? I am wondering whether to retire or not. And, wondering if it is a serious retirement or just a few months break. Is this the end of Trials for me? I know I can platinum them all with practice, however, what are the gains? Are they more than what I am spending on it? Is just repeating the same challenges just a ridiculous obsession that's going to make me lose precious time of my life? When is it just too much?
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Senior Member
Hey man,
I personally can't remember my experience with tournaments as I did them just before Evo came out. Apart from 0 faulting the Midnight Club which I did last year some time. But as I 0 faulted Midnight Club after playing through Fusion and Evo I didn't have too much trouble on it.
I suggest picking a tournament to aim for. Playing the tracks until you get, for example top 100, on each of the tracks or something then the tournaments will be fairly easy for you.
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Member
Yea. Thanks for the tip.
Perhaps if I'm better on each individual track, it will rocket me there fairly easily.
So you don't remember ever getting this feeling of having "no joy" playing the game, contrary to when all is fresh new to you?
It's just that I had this feeling, when I first played the game. I was so motivated and had a great feeling of advancement. But now I am not enjoying it as much as I feel it like an "obligation" to persevere.
In other words, I was playing it out of feeling, and now it's getting more and more rational. I feel almost like I have to play. It's getting somewhat a practice of self-denial...
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Senior Member
Hmmm, I never play anything if I don't enjoy playing it. I tend to never spend over an hour on anything. Usually I spend around 10 minutes on most tracks or tournaments before I swap to something different. If I ever start to feel 'no joy' then I either come off and take a break until i feel I want to play again, or just play a different track or something.
No point playing something if you don't enjoy it, unless you have lots of free time and nothing else to do in that time, even then something more useful can be done
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Member
Haha. Now this post helps, and helps me take some distance from the fact at hand. I spend way too much time!
Might be just a good time to take a break, basically. Spending 10 hours on a tournament feeling depressed, it was not like at first getting multiple platinums an hour.
Thanks for helping me see clearer, as I needed it.
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Senior Member
Glad I could help.
Yea I don't think I've ever spent 10 hours on something on Trials, I mean over the lifetime probably on all tracks I've put in 10 hours or more but not in one go or a short amount of time.
As there is really only 30 or 40 seconds on a track, to spend hours in a row just repeating the same 30 or 40 seconds can be very boring.
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Member
It helps now, I've taken the habit of distancing my small playing sessions on break days: a little in the morning, then a little there and there, stopping immediately when I feel bored, although returning to it soon enough as I find myself replaying the tracks in my head...
Only six to go now! I am apparently almost the only guy in the world who has 0-faulted the World Championship without getting it. I am like 45 seconds behind! I must have taken one hell of a time on some obstacles (I've done it more than a year ago). The next easier one is already Midnight Club, according to the number of players having it. It's getting harder and harder, although more and more satisfying. The goal is just never to overdo it. When you're off you're still advancing as tracks, almost unconsciously, are being played on in your mind.
You learn in your sleep too, when you dream the information is synthetized and consolidated therefore spacing sessions makes sense.
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Member
I'll try never putting more than 20 minutes at it. I've just uninstalled the second DLC as to me it feels out of pace with the rest of the game, or is just too much for me (even if I've nearly plattted everything there, plus achieved great scores on some levels). I'm sticking with just the Big pack, meaning the hardest medals are the World Championship, and the two last ones (Ultimate League and the Midnight Club).
I envision that once one puts the World Championship out of the way, fun comes back again at a tenfold. That, because the two last tournaments are only 5-tracks long, and 6-tracks with a 6-faults permission. Which means, it's more forgiving, and for Ultimate League it's half as long as the World Championship, meaning one cannot get as sick of the first tracks. Trippin' the playwood, for example I might 0-fault it with eyes closed so much I'm knowing it like the back of my hand, which as a downside is getting repetitive. I cannot wait to put the World Championship out of the way!
EDIT: Please post if you're reading this and get similar experiences. Trials HD is a great game, and experiences may be fun to be shared with one another.