Intoxication Differential?

[Jihnsius]

I've noticed that I'm a lot better at Smash when I'm intoxicated (on alcohol, most specifically,) has anyone noticed a turn for the better in their gameplay upon becoming intoxicated?

I thought this would be an interesting topic of discussion, but most players aren't of age and probably don't drink, so it's kind of controversial. How do others think of this?

 

[spjd]

Well, when I'm intoxicated I usually have other things on my mind than playing.
But it does sound... Erhm.. Strange.

 

[Amon Amarth]

Yeah, I find my self twice as better when baked. But everything depends on the person really.

Best to get better sober however, your not always stoned/drunk.

 

[spjd]

Yeah.. I can just imagine you arriving totally stoned to a tournament.

 

[Toomai]

I've noticed that I'm a lot better at Smash when I'm intoxicated

1. Are you sure your opinion of your playing isn't also biased?

2. What about the other players?

 

[Zero_KoH]

I've noticed that I'm a lot better at Smash when I'm intoxicated (on alcohol, most specifically,) has anyone noticed a turn for the better in their gameplay upon becoming intoxicated?

I thought this would be an interesting topic of discussion, but most players aren't of age and probably don't drink, so it's kind of controversial. How do others think of this?

I rarely if ever drink, and don't smoke, so I wouldn't know first hand.

A friend of mine plays stoned a bunch, and he doesn't play "better" persay, he's just impossible to read. He misses L-cancels and techs all over the place, but he doesn't DI when he should, or he won't tech when he normally would. It doesn't make him "better" it's just a rapidly changing play-style that's really hard to adapt too. I would expect a tech-roll, and get ready to chase, and he'd just hit, and lie there. And it kind throws me off. And then, other times, he'll pull off impressive combos - perfect shffl'ing and everything.

I don't know if maybe this is what you are experiencing, it's just my experience with it...

I really don't think playing under an influence is the way to go, personally. (At least not competitively)
But if you're happy with it, have a good time!

 

[Jihnsius]

I rarely if ever drink, and don't smoke, so I wouldn't know first hand.

A friend of mine plays stoned a bunch, and he doesn't play "better" persay, he's just impossible to read. He misses L-cancels and techs all over the place, but he doesn't DI when he should, or he won't tech when he normally would. It doesn't make him "better" it's just a rapidly changing play-style that's really hard to adapt too. I would expect a tech-roll, and get ready to chase, and he'd just hit, and lie there. And it kind throws me off. And then, other times, he'll pull off impressive combos - perfect shffl'ing and everything.

I don't know if maybe this is what you are experiencing, it's just my experience with it...

I really don't think playing under an influence is the way to go, personally. (At least not competitively)
But if you're happy with it, have a good time!

I have noticed that, generally, people are a lot more sporadic in gaming (specifically Smash,) when it comes to intoxication. But personally, however, I've been noticeably better when it comes to a strictly competitive sense. Here's an unbiased example: I was roughly 10th best in Bakersfield, California at MvC2 at one point in time. One night, I got intoxicated on marijuana (or high/stoned, if you desire to call it so,) and I played so much more defensively than I normally would, and I had around a 20 win streak against the best 5 in town. I seriously doubt it was a strange coincidence, as playing while intoxicated made my style completely different, and it did make me a lot better at competitive gameplay. Thinking about it while sober, I can't possibly think of any strange coincidence as to why I could possibly play so much better than being intoxicated.

 

[AOB]

Taking just a little bit of Grandpa's Old Cough Syrup will loosen you up. It'll help just about anyone.

 

[Cra$hman]

i'm the fastest waveshiner in the world when i'm drunk

 

[BooThunder]

1. Are you sure your opinion of your playing isn't also biased?

2. What about the other players?

i learned this the hard way, because i used to think i was better when i was high, but it was really just the fact that all of us were high and we were all pulling some crazy combos on each other. to get really really analytical about the matter, i think that certain aspects of gameplay are hindered more than others when you're playing under the influence, such as teching/DI/meteor canceling (requires reflexes). where as standard stuff like shffling and comboing is more intuitive and less dependent on quick thinking. and also whenever i would get comboed real nice by someone or knew something like a meteor was coming at me, i would pay more attention to the L337 HAxX PwNaGe than actually saving my own ***. so basically, whether it reflects ur usual playstyle or not, i find that games played when high or drunk tend to seem like they are agressive or one-sided, when really its just the lack of using certain defensive tactics effectively on the part of both players making it easier to combo and harder to regain control of the match once somebody sets the pace. I first noticed this when tech chasing often turned into "fall on the ground and getupattack or roll towards chasing" after burnin a couple ls, even when I paid some extra attention to prevent this from happening. so basically, you may think you do better, but often its just a temporary lapse in certain tech skills on the part of both players, and in cases of extreme intoxication, total mindgame and tech skill collapse.

 

[Neuronic Massage]

i practice nonstop, so smoking a lot of pot helps me stay excited about the game and improving, but it sure as hell doesn't help me in combat.
as far as drinking, its great for the confidence, so id say im better when im a little buzzed, but straight up drunk i don't think im good at anything i think im good at ("hey *****, wasssyonumbah!?")

 

[Corigames]

differential diagnosis? It's lupis...

 

[Sensai]

Are you sure you're better and not just more...confident? Your opinion of you probably changes when you're intoxicated, meaning you probably aren't really better.

Unless your sober friends agree that you're better.

(Jeah, I took a joke topic seriously. What of it?!)

 

[Jihnsius]

I agree on the belief that intoxication might simply make you think you're better, when you're actually not, but a lot of competitive sports and/or games can come down to personal belief. For example, if you're playing someone that is pretty spot-on the same as you when it comes to technical gameplay, the rest will come down to mindgames and personal thought. If you're under the influence that you know you will beat them (this isn't true, just a widely believed thought,) you will more than likely win more than not. As for true tech skill when it comes to intoxication, the only real way to know for sure is to play sober against certain people, rate how you're doing on that level, and then immediately get intoxicated and play them again. I personally believe that if you're intoxicated (moderately, that is, not ****faced and/or too stoned to realize what's going on,) it'll change your gameplay enough to the point that you very well may do a lot better against certain people than you normally would. Again, if you're not too intoxicated and can still do your tech game as normally or at least nearly as normally as before, your mindgames should change to the point that you'll play so much differently against people you're used to playing that you very well may beat them more often that you used to.

When it comes to a tournament, however, it might be a completely different situation. Assuming the player's techskill is "near-perfect," (or at least extremely good in a competitive sense,) depending on who's using the drug and how the drug affects the person (most drugs will affect each individual differently depending on many different situations,) that player might do extremely well or extremely poor as compared to normally due to how it affects the thought process, which would effect how one perceives mindgames. As with what happened to me in MvC2, all tech-skill was about the same, it was just how I interpreted the situations occuring that affected how the matches turned out. Normally, I'd be a medium between aggressive and defensive, but being intoxicated made me extremely defensive and react to situations a lot better, making me win more often than I normally would.

 

[The_Famous_SK]

I get high a lot. I actually started a topic on this and it got locked. But anyways... I smoke a lot of pot and play Smash, and I really do play better. According to other, sober people. My boy Pablo never smokes, and I play with him all the time, he definitely notices a difference. We're both about the same skill level but I make a lot more dumb mistakes when I'm sober, they seem to disappear when I'm high.

I feel like I'm more "in the zone", I'm really focused on the characters. I can "feel the frames", and I get my L-cancels and short-hops a lot better than when I'm sober.

I also can read his moves better, because my brain gets all kinds of existential when I smoke pot. I'm in the zone, but I'm also outside the box, you know? I can see his nairs coming, and his forward/up smashes. The only thing that really works BETTER against me when I'm high is chain throwing. For some odd reason.

 

[thebluedeath1000]

I've played alot of players, many sober, and many not so sober, I'd have to say the sober ones were the harder half. When not sober, they just lacked mindgames and any regard for keeping that stock.

 

[Thino]

Alcohol makes me more concentrated /focus more on the game , and also affect my mindgames. there are some moves I'd never pull out when I'm sober ...but I dont care about my stock count , so when "Game !" I'm like "what?"

 

[Jihnsius]

When I play high, I tend to not worry so much about health/percentage/stock, instead I just worry about the game itself. I tend to be focus a lot more on reacting to what the other player does, rather than take the initiative myself, which can make or break a match depending on the character you play and/or the stage chosen.

 

[The_Famous_SK]

You know, someone gave me interesting advice.

If you wanna get better sober, listen to music when you play intoxicated. Choose a band you like (We'll say the Beatles, just for argument's sake). So you play the beatles while you're intoxicated, and you play at the top of your game, drunk as a skunk, listening to Sgt Pepper. Then you play sober, put on Sgt Pepper.

 

[Neuronic Massage]

lol, this is getting real deep
as far as taking an intoxicated game to the next level, i've found that playing THROUGH the process of intoxication can take your game in some unexpected places. For example, lets say you smoke a bit or get your drink on in between matches, so your brain is subjected to bits of play while your state is altered. I've played some really good games of smash like this.

 

[moogle]

I really just can't stay on the stage if I'm drunk.

 

[pikachun00b7]

You "think" you are better intoxicated when you just suck and have no mindgames.

 

[SetsumA]

well, im always stoned, so like idk i seem to be able focus when im really high, but when im drunk like, ill think im another player, and like.. jump off the map LOL.

 

[DP's Mario]

Fighting a stoned opponent would seem very interesting.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

When you're high you can't play better your reflexes are slowed down, so it's impossible to improve if somethin gets worse and nothin gets better. This is coming from someone who smokes a few times a week. A little buzz probably wouldn't be that bad of thing, but I know when you're truly drunk you're much worse.

Apparantly I played one time when I was blacked out and I was horrid.

 

[Big Burn]

yeah from my experience playing when drunk always makes me worse...

 

[Neuronic Massage]

drunk smashing usually only means a lot of yelling, i talk some mean trash when im all wasted
sometimes i get pretty creative when stoned though(go figure)

 

[Amon Amarth]

Yeah.. I can just imagine you arriving totally stoned to a tournament.

Haha yeah, I do it a lot when I go to local tournys.


Like I said, it really does depend on the person. If I where to play drunk I'd blow ***, thats for sure.

 

[tshahi10]

how does this Happen?
i dont know?
im 14
probably something to do with the mind

 

[Kerocola]

Heh, well, as a joke, my first thing to say would be: "Smash is now an excuse to drink. What? It makes me play better."
And in slight more serious terms, I think the standards of "good" are different when drunk and not. I just guess you think you are better because you are drunk, because let's face it, I'm sure playing in a quick battle system with lots of movement looks pretty amazing when drunk, so the things you do look more impressive. I don't think it would make you any better, who knows?
Mind over matter, right? So if you believe you are better while drunk, bottoms up!

 

[Kokichi]

Please refrain from discussing drugs and alcohol on the boards. While there are exceptions (such as in the Debate Hall), alcohol or drugs + videogames is not one of them.

Thanks, chi!