Does your mood affect how well you play?

[Muskrat Catcher]

I raise this question because, at least for me, the way Im feeling has a monumentous impact on how well I play. A great example just happened to me yesterday. After the Super Bowl, I had won some bets that I was certain I was going to lose, due to the chaotic end to the game, and I was in a pretty good mood because of it. I went online 1v1 directly after and I was unstoppable! I was two-stocking people left and right, and not just the same person over and over again, I played a different person every time, so either they ALL sucked, or my great disposition following the big game increased my senses, such as reaction time, motor skills, strategy, and just made my brain faster overall. I wanted to know if anyone else has seen evidence of their mood affecting their play level, or maybe I did just play a bunch of sucky people?

 

[LunarWingCloud]

Yeah sometimes my reactions are sluggish when I'm depressed.

 

[I.S FoxMkloud]

I do believe that the mood affect the gameplay, because I do play and lose, find myself not being able to properly execute things. So, someone playing with me doesn't have to do anything special to win against me given that we are on the same level.

 

[MasterOfKnees]

I'm a very moody player myself. If I can build a good momentum then like in your case I feel like I can take on anyone, even if I mostly play low/mid-tier characters I can still successfully take on top tiers. Of course the reality is that I'm not unbeatable, even at my best there are tons of other players that can whiff me away, but if I can build up some confidence then I can be a pretty good player if I may say so myself. With that said, it's just as easy for me to get frustrated, and if that happens my performance suffers immensily. I blame myself for a loss, and as a result my motivation and concentration suffers, and while I do have methods that sometimes help me clear my mind it's not easy. If I'm despressed I'm not even going to think about playing, it'll only make my mood even worse.

 

[Foster J.]

A healthy state of mind will always provide you to react and choose better options, instead of Dash attacking shields in frustration.

 

[many37]

Yes specially when you haven't been playing for months due to responsibilities you must do in life.

 

[FalKoopa]

The mind works better when you're not under stress. This holds true for everything, not just Smash.

 

[Saikyoshi]

It works in a spiral for me. I get hit by a bog-standard spam attack that I really should've punished, it depresses me, which leads me to getting beaned by more obvious attacks, so on and so forth.

 

[_gold_]

It does for me. When I'm tired, or feeling down, it effects my play style. When I'm angry, like at the game, I always play worse. I don't think about my strategy.

 

[SevenDeadlyCyns]

oh, yeah, I get super figity in game when I'm nervous

 

[GhostUrsa]

When angry, I tend to focus less on my opponent's actions and more on their position. When anxious or nervous, I tend to get my timing off when trying to hit with attacks. When tired, everything is slower. My ability to read my opponent, my ability to hit a moving target, my ability to time dodges and blocks properly.

When in a good mood, the extra blood flow from all the excitement usually makes me more aware of my surroundings. I'm able to sweet spot blocks, counters and hits more often.

Only problem I have is trying to restore my emotions to neutral when in one of the slumps mentioned above. (Except tired, as that just needs sleep.)

 

[Deleted member]

Yes.
When I get upset, I tend to give up more and think that certain matches are much harder (when, in reality, they aren't).
When I'm tired, my thoughts and reactions are more sluggish, leading to very poor strategies (and then I question why I thought it was it a good idea to play the game).
When I'm scared, I tend to roll and dodge a lot more.
When I get angry, I use smash attacks and other kill moves more often, leaving myself to be more predictable and more wide open.

 

[ThatNintendoDude]

Its funny. I never really get angry at games, except for Smash sometimes. Most of the time when I lose, it's like "Alright, i could have done this this and this better", but every now and then I get controller-punching pissed (thank goodness the GCN controller is sturdy). Mostly it results of me either playing bad or getting bodied, and then the opponents incessant taunting. Like I said, it's rare, but I have to take a step back when it happens, because after that it's just a spiral of me losing matches.

 

[Ravioko]

There's this weird mood I can get in. Like, if I'm mad, I can't play. I get too reckless.
If I'm happy/in a normal mood, I play how I usually do. Which is good.
But when I'm...I dunno'..."grumpy"? Not MAD but not in the best of moods, then I can do REALLY good.

 

[Rocket Raccoon]

Moods do affect how you play. If I'm really thinking something I suck. Normal I'm OK. Hyped, I'm good. Mad is probably when I'm best

 

[Chaozrush21]

I think I play SSB best when I'm angry, even though I don't think of a plan and I lose all of my defensive skills for a large amount of offensive play. I play worst when I win a few matches, thats when I start taunting after KOs and rage quitting after I lose. Not only that I start to act like a douch and toy with people.

 

[SoBMudkip]

The more pissed off I am the better I play.

 

[visvim]

Mood is so essential with this game. I play like garbage if I'm anything less than content and confident.

 

[PCHU]

Mood will affect you regardless of what game you play.
Try to keep a calm mind, but remain focused so you don't shift into autopilot.
Keeping calm will help you focus more and also makes it easier to read people (in my experience).

 

[Ragemos]

Yeah most of the time my mood gets to me. You just gotta make sure your at your best mind set. Food/sleep, Personal problems etc. can be a big factor for it.

 

[Muskrat Catcher]

The more pissed off I am the better I play.

Really? Thats a pretty unique talent. I know that I suck when I'm angry. I just can't think straight. Thats a pretty nice quality for comebacks.

 

[WheelerFGC]

Really? Thats a pretty unique talent. I know that I suck when I'm angry. I just can't think straight. Thats a pretty nice quality for comebacks.

It matters on the person/character/playstyle.
Back when I played P:M (I don't play often anymore, I'm mainly a smash4 man now) I played Lucario. The more pain I was in/the angrier I was, the more agressive of a playstyle I had.

 

[SirGroovitude]

I've noticed myself that if I'm in a particularly good mood, I will play pretty well and will maintain a positive attitude. However, if I'm upset at something or if my friends are taunting me or antagonizing me, flustering me, I will usually try too hard and my play style gets sluggish or sloppy and I do worse.

 

[Gabu]

I've definitely noticed that I my play style Drastically changes depending on my mood.
Basically when I've got a positive mindset, I play pretty well. When I've got a Negative mindset, I play badly.
Its very important to maintain a positive attitude when playing this game.

 

[Project Crysis]

I feel like it works similarly for everyone. I know when i'm a bit down I run into majorly telegraphed attacks and don't follow up on punishes, but when i'm in a better mood I tend to play pretty well the human mind works in weird ways that's for sure.

 

[JmacAttack]

Of course. When I get mad, I start making more mistakes and pressing the wrong direction. It's rare for me to get mad at irl tournaments, but a common occurrence in for glory.

 

[Saclam]

When I'm chill,I have a lot more fun and not really caring about winning or losing.

I do get pretty angry at times and when it happens,i make a lot of mistakes,sloppy play all around and tend to charge in without thinking.

 

[Tino]

When I'm in a good mood, I start playing the game. If I'm in a bad mood and can't think straight, I skip on playing and do something else to clear my mind of things.

 

[SoBMudkip]

Really? Thats a pretty unique talent. I know that I suck when I'm angry. I just can't think straight. Thats a pretty nice quality for comebacks.

It's the same for me in sports. I feel like my reaction time is sped up and I'm always one step ahead of my opponent.

 

[GhostUrsa]

It's the same for me in sports. I feel like my reaction time is sped up and I'm always one step ahead of my opponent.

Anger is a double edged sword when it comes to its use, no matter where it is used. Used sparingly, and it can focus your attention and allow you to have better precision against said object of attention. But such focus will blind you to anything but what you are focusing on. Using it too much and you'll never adapt to a smart opponent that is baiting your rage.

It's why sometimes you can barrel over an opponent with it near the end of a match if you catch them off-guard, but if you lose your cool at the beginning they'll predict you and start destroying your advantage. (Which can make things worse for most people, since a severe disadvantage can make them more upset.) The trick with anger is to know when to use it and when to calm yourself, which is actually the opposite of how our bodies want to use anger. (If I remember right, the emotional response for anger was originally to frighten would-be attackers and make them think you are too strong to fight. Backing down would make the appearance of weakness for some animals.)

Learning how to cool off quickly when angered is something I'm working on. I've gotten it down to being able to after the match is over even with the same opponent, but need it to cool quicker so I can use it mid-match for a shake up instead of at the end where it is predictable. (Most people are aware of the comeback story from books and movies, the underdog gets mad and wins with sheer determination, so they keep it in mind during a match.)

 

[Vershinin]

This may be just me, but I have days where I don't feel like winning. I was really passive growing up and felt like if I won too hard I'd be embarrassing my friends, so I let them win to make them feel better.

Only over the past few years have I been able to win and feel good about it.

 

[Space Stranger]

Yes, mood affects how I play. I play the worst when I'm under stress.

I have a few characters that are my go-to if I'm in a certain mood:
Hyped- , , <--- (generally) fast fighters
Mad- ,, <--- Hard hitters

 

[GhostUrsa]

Yes, mood affects how I play. I play the worst when I'm under stress.

I have a few characters that are my go-to if I'm in a certain mood:
Hyped- , , <--- (generally) fast fighters
Mad- ,, <--- Hard hitters

I can see that with Cap and maybe Ganon with all the super armor, but I know it's not a good thing to be mad when playing Ike. He hits hard, true, but requires precision with his spacing to keep from getting clobbered due to his speed and size. (he doesn't have the invulnerable frames compared to Big G, so blind rushdowns get him into big trouble.)

 

[Lazyboy0337]

Not really, but if I'm getting beat around I go into overdrive and relentlessly be aggressive.

 

[qwfwfq]

Yeah - if I get angry, my skills go otu the window. I start just throwing **** at random. I'm at my best when I'm focused and zen. With a game like Smash, the zen part can be hard to harness. But I can remember watching old Quake tournaments and the best players were always incredibly focused and aware of what was happening.

 

[JAZZ_]

Its amazing how mood affects your playing, but when you stop to think about it, its not that hard to understand.
We're people, we thrive on emotions. Sure we have tactics and strategy but we're not machines. If we don't have a clear mind set, or blinded by rage we do stupid stupid stuff, in real life. It shouldn't shock us that it effects the gaming world too.

 

[KeithTheGeek]

The main thing I experience when I get frustrated is that I have a tendency to make mistakes, or I'll get frustrated over a bad mistake. Of course this tends to feed into itself till I'm a pile of salt...

I'm better at keeping my emotions in check when playing in person. The disconnect that comes with online play/single player games makes it easier to get angry at myself, I guess. And then sometimes I hit a sweetspot where I get just mad enough to start playing more aggressive, but focused enough that I don't make so many mistakes.

 

[Muskrat Catcher]

I'm better at keeping my emotions in check when playing in person. The disconnect that comes with online play/single player games makes it easier to get angry at myself, I guess. And then sometimes I hit a sweetspot where I get just mad enough to start playing more aggressive, but focused enough that I don't make so many mistakes.

I can totally agree with this. Whenever I'm playing with someone face to face, especially when we are good friends, I never get mad, since I can always yell at their face (in a friendly way of course), or throw in the occasional "NOOOO!" or "Take-a-dis!" or "dang yo!", and even the speech bubbles in taunts when playing with friends online are enough to calm me, but playing against an unresponsive random online can really make me angry, since most of the time they are an emotionless rock. It gives me less gratitude from doing something amazing, and more rage when someone combos me or humiliates me. Combos that are nearly unavoidable are the worst, especially when they get repetitive. I'm looking at you mario, sonic, ZS samus, and pikachu.

 

[El_Mariachi]

I play well and I like to show-off when I'm in a good mood.

If I'm mad, I'll either A) Become super predictable because I throw smash attacks left and right or B) I become a much better player than normal.

 

[Khao]

Yah, no matter the game, I always play worse when I'm mad.

This of course leads to a worse performance, thus making me rage harder and playing even worse.

It basically the reason why I consider rage-quitting a perfectly reasonable, and even healthy action. The alternative is just plain rage after all.

And yeah, the problems are usually only a thing when doing single player, like Keith said in that post over there. It's hard to get mad at a game when you're surrounded by real people.