Newbie gamers are often excited to get stuck into gaming and the industry, yet make many mistakes when they do so. Making mistakes is great as you can often learn from them and become a better gamer, but sometimes, you will struggle to come back from them. Below, we have a list of 15 mistakes that newbie gamers should avoid. Take a look and you will improve your gaming experience for the better:
1. Getting Into Unhealthy Habits
The first thing you’re going to need to become hyper aware of is getting into unhealthy habits. It’s so easy to fall into unhealthy habits as a gamer, which is why you need to make an active effort to avoid it for yourself. Just about everybody needs the following:
- Lots of plain water.
- Plenty of sleep.
- A healthy, balanced diet.
- A reasonable amount of physical activity/exercise.
- Stress coping strategies.
- A good hygiene routine.
Many people associate gaming with staying up all hours of the night, eating junk, getting no exercise, and not spending a lot of time in the shower. It’s all too easy to begin neglecting the things that can keep you healthy and happy if you don’t carefully plan. Make sure you prioritize these things. Not only will you feel better and stay healthy in the long term, you’ll likely feel more alert and positive as you game. This can only be a good thing for your progress.
2. Not Having The Right Set Up
Having the wrong set-up could hinder your progress – although you can’t always blame it if you’re not where you want to be just yet. For example, a great headset and PC set up can improve your gaming technique and ability, but it won’t automatically make you an amazing gamer overnight. You can also invest in the following:
- Better controllers.
- A bluetooth mouse.
- An ergonomic chair.
- A TV stand.
Of course there are all kinds of other accessories you can try – even gaming gloves! Ultimately, you can build your collection slowly. Only buy what works for you!
3. Not Creating A Schedule
Having a schedule will ensure you can game for the recommended amount of time and that you don’t neglect other duties. Don’t simply wing it, as you may end up getting nothing else done. It’s a good idea to get your most important commitments out of the way first, before moving on to your gaming practice. It can be a good idea to schedule in your breaks and things too so that you’re not sitting still for too long.
4. Gaming Alone
Gaming with friends is not only fun, it can help you to learn a thing or two from the people you know. This may not be the very best way to gain skills in the long term, as many of your friends probably won’t care too much about gaming competitively or improving their skills. However, scheduling occasional tournaments with friends can help in one way or another.
5. Picking The Wrong Game
You can improve at any game you want to improve at, but that doesn’t mean you will excel or play professionally. Whether you choose to play fighting games or bus games, you need to make sure you pick something that you seem to have a good chance at mastering. If there’s a specific type of game you know you’re already quite good at, it might be best to start there.
6. Not Analyzing Technique and Style of Others
Of course your main focus should be on your own style and how you can improve. However, you should also analyze the technique and style of others. This doesn’t mean you should compare and copy, simply that you should do your best to watch and learn. This can make a huge difference to your own style and you might learn a thing or two. Even if you don’t learn something that you pick up yourself, it might help you to improve in games where you play against other people.
7. Refusal To Learn From Pro Gamers
Pro gamers were just like you once. If you could find a pro gamer willing to mentor you, it would improve your technique tenfold. Not all will be willing to do this, but even if you could ask them a few questions about their own technique, it may seriously help you to improve.
8. Not Getting Involved In The Community
The gaming community is vast, and getting involved in it can be a lot of fun. There are plenty of learning opportunities when you do, too, as people are often happy to share their own process and tricks. See if you can get involved in discussions on sites like Reddit and Quora, and even Twitter. It may take some time before you are properly integrated into the community, but it’ll be worth it when you are. You may even be able to attend meet-ups. This might not sound ideal to you at first if you consider yourself a bit of an introvert or loner, but it will seriously improve your strategy.
9. Gaming Without Any Goals
Gaming without any goals can help you to improve, but it won’t do as much as gaming with goals. Bear in mind that goals should be specific, rather than too broad. Saying ‘I want to improve my gaming technique’ is far too broad and is hardly measurable. You need to narrow down what you want to do, focusing on one specific thing that you can track and even giving yourself a time limit. Set yourself goals that you like the look of so you stick to them. You don’t need to make your goals the same as every other gamer’s goals. Focus on one goal at a time and eventually, you’ll have so many more skills.
10. Trying To Do Too Much At Once
Doing too much at once will stress you out and kill your motivation. Choose one thing to focus on improving at a time and it should make a big difference to your results. It doesn’t matter how small, as long as you focus on it and work on improving it every day, you will succeed. Don’t try to improve multiple aspects of your gaming strategy at once, as you will struggle.
11. Not Watching Your Games Back Afterwards
Another great way to improve your technique is to watch yourself play. You can’t really do this effectively while you are playing, so the best thing to do is to watch your games back afterwards. You might cringe at the idea of this – after all, if you’re not good enough yet, how can you be expected to suffer through watching bad gaming or even boring gaming? You’ll be glad you stuck with this if you do. You’ll spot things you never would have noticed during gameplay, and it can have a big overall effect on your technique.
12. Waiting Until You’re ‘Good Enough’ For Groups and Tournaments
Playing online in groups and tournaments can be very scary. However, it can also be very exciting. It’s definitely a form of jumping in the deep end, but you might be surprised at how well you perform under pressure. There are groups you can play in at every level, and you should easily be able to find them with a quick Google search. Don’t wait until you feel like you’ve mastered the game, or even until you’re quite skilled. Get stuck in and you will learn something. A challenge is a wonderful way to learn!
13. Not Knowing Where You Want To End Up
As well as having goals, it’s quite important to know where you want to end up. Do you want to do this professionally, or earn any money from it at all? By having an idea of where you want to be, you can then start changing your mindset to match that vision. You can even utilize skills like visualization, which many gamers and even athletes swear by.
14. Being Offensive
Unfortunately, many immature gamers see being offensive as a part of the culture. These things can stick with you forever as a professional gamer, and you never know who you might be offending. It’s much better to keep your cool and avoid upsetting people.
15. Comparing Yourself To Others Or Mimicking Them
Finally, this isn’t about trying to game exactly like anybody else. Rather than trying to be another gamer, try to be the best version of yourself. Improve your skills consistently, and aim to emphasize your best traits as a gamer. It can be tough not to compare yourself, but you’ll have a much better time mentally!
Gaming can be an exciting hobby, and an even more exciting career. Whatever it is you wish to do with it, you need to make sure that you know you’re doing the right thing for you. The mistakes above should help you on your journey to becoming a better gamer – potentially, a professional one. Leave any thoughts and tips of your own below. Thanks for reading and come back soon!
