Horrible at RTS games while drunk, yet godly better at FPS/Action games while drunk?

[diddle]

Would really like to hear other experiences regarding this phenomenon.

[Cosmic Janitor]

Doesn't make much sense, since in both scenarios you loose reaction time. So you are either lucky when playing shooters or you are so drunk that you just didn't know you suck at the shooter. What exactly is your metric for comparing your performance in both genres?

[diddle]

Doesn't make much sense, since in both scenarios you loose reaction time. So you are either lucky when playing shooters or you are so drunk that you just didn't know you suck at the shooter. What exactly is your metric for comparing your performance in both genres?

personally I've found myself more mechanically reactive yet less intellectually reactive when drunk, that can't be that uncommon.

[Cosmic Janitor]

To be good in an FPS, at least in quantifiable means, you'd still need good reflexes, spacial awareness and precise movements. None of which are aided by alcohol. Unless you just wanted to say you are just less shit at FPS than RTS when drunk, instead of being "godly" at it, then you probably have a point.

[Rogabr]

"im silver 2 when im not drunk but when i am drunk i vs silver elites! im so pro!"

[the game]

To be good in an FPS, at least in quantifiable means, you'd still need good reflexes, spacial awareness and precise movements. None of which are aided by alcohol. Unless you just wanted to say you are just less shit at FPS than RTS when drunk, instead of being "godly" at it, then you probably have a point.

or hacks work too.

[diddle]

I think that in certain situations when your conscious facilities are impaired your instinctive reflexes are more dominant. It is very possible to over analyze/think things.

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To be good in an FPS, at least in quantifiable means, you'd still need good reflexes, spacial awareness and precise movements. None of which are aided by alcohol. Unless you just wanted to say you are just less shit at FPS than RTS when drunk, instead of being "godly" at it, then you probably have a point.

An RTS takes strategy and planning for the future, FPS's on the other hand are more dependent on trigger reactions.

[WskyDK]

I know I play better in FPS' when I've had a few beers. I get jumpy pretty easily so the depressant helps me smooth things out as it were.
Not claiming to be godly, but it's something I can feel and notice.

[WskyDK]

My opinion is that you are looking for an excuse to drink. A step towards alcoholism. Try playing both of those games sober and see where you are really better at.

Clearly he has, as evidenced by the qualifiers of being better or worse when in a drunken state.

[AeneasBK]

FPS games are much simpler?

[diddle]

My opinion is that you are looking for an excuse to drink. A step towards alcoholism. Try playing both of those games sober and see where you are really better at.

There are many levels of inebriation my friend. The same way alcohol makes many people more comfortable/sociable it also makes some more reflexive for the same reason: they've stopped overthinking the process. It's not quite as simple as you think.

[Deleted]

personally I've found myself more mechanically reactive yet less intellectually reactive when drunk, that can't be that uncommon.

That's normal. Up to a certain point, your reactions quicken while your thinking slows down. Since you usually don't really need to think much in those kind of games, your performance increases.

[Thrundi]

There are many levels of inebriation my friend. The same way alcohol makes many people more comfortable/sociable it also makes some more reflexive for the same reason: they've stopped overthinking the process. It's not quite as simple as you think.

Actually it is. Alcohol, even in doses under the (french) authorized limit to drive, impairs reaction time.

A little bit of alcohol, however, may
- decrease your reaction time just a tiny bit
BUT
- give you way much more merriness and "balls" to dare stuff you wouldn't do 100% sober. Things which may, for the most part, succeed, because they're daring and opponents may not expect them.

resulting in overall increased performance (for a LITTLE BIT of alcohol), or at least for a perceived better level (even if your KDR, say, would remain the same, managing a 360° noscope is way more remarkable than a random kill)

[breadisfunny]

because alcohol significantly impairs your ability to think ahead and form coherent thoughts while drunk regardless of if you notice it or not.

[Hypasonic]

I often find this true while playing cs, I prefer playing it with a drink as I feel it makes my aim less "shaky" lol and I tend to take more calculated risks that often pay off than when I don't drink.

[Independent voter]

I can't see someone preforming better while drunk at either. RTS take a lot of concentration and alcohol interferes a lot with concentrating. That would be a cool experiment for someone to try, to test if OP theory is valid or not, It might be but it seems alcohol would have a negative effect on FPS just not as much on RTS. If people preform better at FPS while drunk that would really surprise me.

[Nengal]

Maybe by the time you get drunk, the other people you're playing are more drunk?

[Acidbaron]

Alcohol is not a performance enhancer, being tipsy might influence you that you think less and act more but being drunk shouldn't help you in any way.

[Slant]

I think this may be loosely connected to "being in the zone". I'm sure everyone knows the phenomenon. Or at least every gamer. I am finding myself in situations quite a lot where I sit in Teamspeak talking with my mates about random stuff and performing better in whatever game I'm playing at the time, because I'm slightly distracted. It's quite difficult to achieve that "slightly, yet not totally" distracted state that will detach me from the game enough to overcome my stubborness about how I want the game (Heroes in this case) to be while at the same time giving me enough brain time to react to simply how the flow of the game is going.

Or to use different words, at least in my case I seem to think too much about the meta of the current match, I have too much time on my hand and distract myself from essentials by agonizing over how much better the match could go if this or that happened. I imagine if you reach a certain state of intoxication, you might be able to reach a similar state of "don't give a shit" and that may outweigh the slower reflexes or pre-planning capabilities. It depends on how well you know the game of course, I felt the same with WoW, which I could pretty much auto pilot through any mythic content for 10 years.