Farewell

I gave GST to my girlfriend today and asked her to trade it in for a game she would enjoy. So at least from the courts, this is farewell. I might look by the forum now and then to see how you guys are doing.

The final straw was one of those games where the opponent slams winners with his first shot from the baseline 90% of the time, while my supposed winning shots become freezeballs the opponent can reach whenever he likes. I'm just sick of getting 10 moments of frustration for one moment of fun. I'm looking for something with a better ratio.

So here's to the few good games we had, and I wish you guys a better fun ratio than I had.

Cheers,
Nef

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 10/31/2009 21:29:19

Hmm... Are you sure about your lag unbalancedness? I can't say I ever experienced something like that. I think only you and your player's style/abilities are responsible for successfull winning shots, and also the way you deal with a laggy match with slow shots and the way you adapt yourself to your opponent's playing style.

Ok, it seems to be too late, but have you tried to restart on a new account? This was very, very helpful for me. You can play more relaxed, try different things and different players out, think about your playing style. Without pressure and frustration. It's like in strength training: sometimes you have to change the way you practice, otherwise you won't improve (neue Trainingsreize setzen

). If I had played all the time on my main account, I would probably have been ended up doing the same shots/mistakes over and over and being more and more frustrated of always the same things. I've never been more relaxed about this game than I am today (sometimes, I even play rematches with anti-tennis players

).

I just avoid potential laggy players and Im much happier, also doubles the fun when you get a message from these lagsters after you abort them, always confirms my suspicions of them being lamers to avoid.

cem_ea_id.Epon wrote:Hmm... Are you sure about your lag unbalancedness? I can't say I ever experienced something like that.

Yes, I am sure. How do I know? Because sometimes I'm the one who benefits. Then 90% of shots from my side are direct winners and my player runs smoother/faster than normal. But I don't enjoy that either because I know it's not my skill, it's the lag, and I feel for the opponent.

cem_ea_id.Epon wrote:sometimes you have to change the way you practice, otherwise you won't improve

When I played alot I reached rank 27, so I'm quite sure I have a very good technique. And that's the whole point: when I lost, it was usually not because the opponent was better. When he was, I genuinely applauded him because I don't play to win but to have an exiting game, which a great challenge provides for. But I want the challenge to be based on a competition of skills. Most of the times I lost because of issues that were out of my control (e.g. lag bugs, M+ weirds out, etc.). And that's what frustrated me to the point that I now decided I want to spend my time with activities that give me more enjoyment.

cem_ea_id.PlayerY wrote:I just avoid potential laggy players and Im much happier

I did that too, I aborted all games to Asia and South America, but people in closer regions still seem to have crappy internet connections, so you never know.

cem_ea_id.Epon wrote:Ok, it seems to be too late

I'm afraid so.

Nevertheless, thanks for your interest, and I do hope you will get as much enjoyment out of the game as you hope for.

wii.Nef wrote:
The final straw was one of those games where the opponent slams winners with his first shot from the baseline 90% of the time, while my supposed winning shots become freezeballs the opponent can reach whenever he likes.

I always thought that lag affected both opponents equally, but after your posts I am beginning to think it might actually be beneficial to the player who lags more.

I'm reasoning like this (correct me if I am wrong). Say playerA has super fast internet connection and playerB laggy slow connection.

1)
PlayerB has to face 50% of the lag (only when the ball comes to his side), but the playerA with faster connection faces twice that lag (when the ball goes to the other side and then comes back to his own side). The more laggier the connection the more favorable it is the one who lags (playerB).

2) I think there might be one more factor that might magnify the lag effect. Most connections (especially in countries where internet speed is slower) have signficantly lower upload speeds than download speeds.

So playerA is screwed even more royally for having a faster (upload+download) connection, lag benefits should then be like 4X instead of 2X - just a theory.

I suggest instead of playing random players online, you select a bunch of buddies with faster connection that you can play on a regular basis. In my experience playing with a group of buddies is 100X more fun than going against random opponents online. Add me to your buddy list (PM me if you want to play a game). I play 90% baseline - with occasional net approaches. I am in West Coast USA, very fast connection. I like to play one match a week (6game 3 set) with a buddy.

I guess when the lag is from 'local' players theres not much you can do to avoid it, I have a feeling most of these guys dont actually know how much lag they have and simply think they are just that good.

cem_ea_id.PlayerY wrote:I guess when the lag is from 'local' players theres not much you can do to avoid it, I have a feeling most of these guys dont actually know how much lag they have and simply think they are just that good.

Lol, yeah, you might be right. But once you're sensitized to the issue of differing ball and player speeds, it becomes quite obvious that it's a constant effect. You just notice it more the more lag there is. So once you get to, say, the top 100, where skill differences become less and less, winning is largely just a matter of who gets the benefit of the lag.

cem_ea_id.lmi wrote:I suggest instead of playing random players online, you select a bunch of buddies with faster connection that you can play on a regular basis.

That would definitely be the best solution (apart from finding an alternative game

).
Unfortunately I have very random and partially spontaneous working times, so I'm dependent on being able to play spontaneously when I want to. With GST, my spontaneous gigs consisted of 30% players who abort cause of my rank, 30% games me or the other player aborts cause of long-distance connection with anticipated lag bugs, 30% lag bug infested games that I didn't anticipate, and at most 10% games that are actually fun.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 11/02/2009 21:36:37

Giving up ranked play was the best decision I have made with this game. It's just not worth the frustration. It was about 3 months ago, I was playing a Roddick T camper who I was clearly superior to, and he won 5 points from glitches in the tiebreak to take the match (not to mention 2-3 serve glitch points every service game). I was sitting about 35th-40, and I decided that I'd never play a ranked match from that point onwards.

This game hasn't been made well enough for it to have any competitive merit, so why put yourself through hours of agonizing matches to get a silly little number beside your name. I play on average 1 match (3 sets) a week, with a fellow baseline buddy, and I've never enjoyed the game more.

If the number means nothing then why would it be frustrating? If you're playing someone who you dont enjoy playing or is getting glitches in his favor simply quit the match, doing this wont help your rank but who cares its quite easy to find some fun games this way.

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