Tendonitis + Self-confidence issues to improve at the game

Community General Discussion
1

Good morning! I’ve been having some trouble trying to step up to the level of competence I’m expected to perform at as a returning player, so I’d like to ask for help and input, if it’s not too much trouble.

As a rundown of the problem; In general, I’ve got difficulty with exactly pinpointing out mistakes on my performance to focus on by myself, or being absolutely sure that whatever I find is the solution, so I tend to ask for help from others.

I also have been experiencing symptoms of tendonitis on both of my forearms, even before trying out the game 2 months prior, so my focus for the first month was to try to get reaccustomed to the game slowly, and trying to find a class/spec to help me play without the ever present fear of worsening my situation. For your concerns, I do stretch my forearms, wrists, and hands daily.

I also seem to have trouble learning strategies from videos and written guides until I actually see them up close several times in-game. I don’t have any reference of how much someone should be able to do in raids and m+ without prior experience and only videos to back up, so I’d like to know what is reasonable to expect, and whatnot. I would like to be able to stay calm during my own mess ups, but I get really stressed out everytime I mess up anything, be it my rotation or mechanics.

So it’s clear I’m not that confident about being able to improve on my own. I often ask for help, but most of the time I’m just told to “read guides” “watch videos” “hit dummy”, which I’m already doing. Dummy wise, I’m doing about 85% of the damage raidbots usually shows on my simulations everytime I pull out the turnip. For everything else, I do have trouble applying what I learn from guides to actual raid bosses, and that -horrifies me-.

Because I’ve been doing badly despite efforts to improve , I was thinking that probably lock wasn’t the class for me, so I started doing class trials too. I started to grow more distressed because I couldn’t either grasp the flow of the class to tell if I could play it on the long run or not, or a rotation so fast or complex I can’t follow up with my slow fingers without risking hurting myself.

To be clear; I’m aware I need to improve and that I’m not a good player right now. But I’m really concerned since everything seems as though I simply can’t improve anymore, be it because I don’t grasp strategies at first glance, or because i have slow hands + tendonitis, or because i’m not practicing enough even though I practice whenever I can, or because I can’t find a class for me and my hands… Got all this doubt piled in, and I just don’t know what to do, roll, play, or attempt anymore.

Is there any input or suggestion you’d be able to give me, or am I just not good enough to play?

1 Like
2

With all this stress, self-confidence issues, tendonitis, practicing and so on… let me ask you a simple question:
Do you have fun?
WoW is a Game, the whole point is to have fun, to relax; it is not a 2nd job or life where you continnue to have stressed out and struggling…
But to answer your question: there is a limit how far we can improve ourselves and simulations are always far removed from the real situations
And as we get older? Oh boy I can tell you, my hand-eye coordination, reflexes and such are down the toilet
It’s normal I guess

Nonsense, there is no such thing

7 Likes
3

Nobody is not good enough to play. Tbh just from that post you seem like a really nice person and you probably just need to find the right people to play with. You can use this forum, communities and guilds to build your friendslist.

One thing that can also help if you have said friends on Discord is record or stream some of your gameplay to get some relevant suggestions rather than just ‘git gud’ from random people in-game.

1 Like
4

Stop overthinking it and just play the game…

it’s only a video game if people think you are bad … they are taking it to seriously too.

1 Like
5

I’m able to answer the question of fun by saying that I don’t have fun underperforming. Don’t want to be stuck thinking I’m doing good enough when I’m at the bottom of a DPS chart and the raid boss is not going down, for example. But on the other hand, even with my best attempts, I’m not seeing the results I want to see.

So of course, I thought, maybe Warlock and the lack of mobility isn’t my thing, what about trying other classes? And after that, I’m honestly scared at the amount of buttons some classes and specs have, and the speed at which I have to press them to be able to perform like the average player, and the several numbers and auras one has to keep in mind to fully capitalize.

There’s also the constant damage vs mechanics topic-- I’m told from both sides to focus on damage, and not risk mechanics for damage, so I’m honestly confused.

6

Take a step back and look at the macro situation. Is it worth playing the game and do you get anything out of it?
All that text you could change a few words and nobody would know whether you were talking about a game or a job.

1 Like
7

This is normal, never let someone tell you otherwise.
You just can’t learn properly just by watching someone else play the game in your place. You do not have the same decision making and thus, doing what someone else is doing, is not 100% guaranteed to work for you.

You can work on the basics with videos, that’s it. Like “Ok when boss do this i need to avoid” or “When boss get stunned i need to pop CDs”.
Or on little trickes like skipping certain things, or where to tank them.

But even that, changes from spec to spec, so you just need to try it.

That is the challenge bosses pose to you, they are supposed to disrupt your dummy-like rotation.
That’s why you will never be able to replicate that without actually trying it.

What i hate the most is joining guilds or group of friends that have already done the same things over and over again while i did not. Because, usually in a lot of average groups people kind of tend to judge you based on your first time performance, while usually your first time perfomance should be about learning the fight and not dying and then adjust over time.

Problem is that once guild or group x kill the boss because they got 20 ilvl more than they should have to kill it, they instantly forget about the 200 wipes, and countless adjustment to down it and expect the new player to basically be already knowledgable.

There is really not much to do about this.

You just need to start playing early, log yourself, discuss and look at what other players are doing.

And ofc not listen to clowns that want you to be good the first time you do something. (Chances are, they aren’t that good themselves in the first place)

1 Like
8

Listen to Tili!
There is no spoon
:spoon:

9

this is a thing ppl continue to forget. with all these stuff about curve, first, timed and race the audience is forgetting fun.
Its the only thing that counts.
One could have fun in timing a +20 but if its stressed by it there is some problem

2 Likes
10

I did get into the game when I had a slight chance with this idea in mind “Okay, is there any class in WoW that I can play without feeling shame over my situation?”

I tend to be very self-conscious when it comes to performance, but not for how to improve said performance. I like getting into a game, chilling on my character, and doing content knowing that I’m good for it, instead of feeling like I’m being carried, or not pulling my own weight. And right now I’m not getting that feeling; as of late raiding has been horrible for me, trying to learn everything I could and adapting, then failing to do so, and then knowing I’m just a liability at that point.

It’s precisely why I’m so worried over what classes or specs I can play to a tolerable level without hurting my forearms further or stressing too much-- I can’t find any, if I do a class trial, i get stressed over not being able to press buttons comfortably and orderly.

11

Sure you write a lot for someone with tendonitis :rofl: my mum can’t even type on her phone…

12

Maybe you are not good enough . If you want to practise feel scared you can always stick to +2 - +7 difficulty and complete casual content without bigger problems.

Its ok to be bad at something

13

Kitiaara covered it all.
You will meet players with other beliefs and expectations though who might upset you on the way.

1 Like
14

If we are talking about dps wise and you are aiming for dps stuff. Then the target dummy and guides are meant to get the skills on muscle memory. Doing dps on the field is always a balancing act between your rotation and boss mechanics.
Finding that sweet spot of doing your imba burn between boss mechanics since its a waste to pop trinkets,potions,cds and etc right before the boss makes a huge “avoid this :poo: and dance around like a :chicken: mechanic”.

And not many people can find such sweet spots. Insert your favourite "Stands in fire and dies, but maah dps!!! " meme here.

15

I really, really hope you find a way to make yourself happy in the game. I don’t know what that might be. Big picture, people can be content at many levels, from not raiding at all, all the way up to World rankings.

You have done respectably so far. KSM, most of HC.

You are comparing yourself against your guild, which seems to be a typical Heroic guild. Remember, most players haven’t done Sanctum of Domination at all, on ANY difficulty, including LFR. Do look at your pertormance, but remember that the sample you are comparing yourself against is already above average.

I’m pretty crap myself - too old, too slow, eyes and hands not what they once were - but I have worked with some newcomers to get them going, and learned some techniques and resources from my betters. :stuck_out_tongue:

I can’t speak to the tendonitis, I’m afraid. I can suggest some information about performance.

Yeah, that is key. There is no point in just practicing the same things without observing the results and making changes to improve.

Everybody does, except the people who are already so well trained that they do all the moves without thinking. You are perfectly normal in that.

OK, we can do something about that.

You may have done better than you thought. :smiley:

First of all, did you simulate using the same (lack of) buffs you hit the dummy with? And did you do the same time?

Time is critical for judging. Since your big abilities have CDs, exactly where you stop has a huge effect on your relative performance. If you are working off a 3 minute CD, your average DPS on a 3-minute encounter will be less than on a 5-minute because of your big 3 min cd hitting twice in 5 minutes.

And then look at your buffs. When I hit the dummies, I don’t have raid buffs, and I don’t blow a flask and two pots on a dummy session, but by default, Raidbots will assume those. So to make a valid comparison, when you fire up Raidbots Sim, you need to open up Simulation Options, go down to “Raid Buff presets” and choose “No buffs” and go to Consumables and switch eacj of those OFF as well.

Even now, looking at your DPS compared to the Sim is still not getting you the information you really want.

So look at the Sim result in detail. You don’t care whether your performance is 80% or 90% of the raw number - there is typically a 10% RNG factor anyway in a lot of classes. What you care about is that you got the NUMBER of casts off that is expected for each ability, and especially that you hit your expected number of CDs, major hits, and got your damage into your damage window, where appropriate.

Don’t use your sim to look at the topline number. Look at where your damage is coming from, and when. That’s where you will see that you are missing opportunities, and can find a way to improve it. Just practicing the same mistakes doesn’t help you improve.

OK, that for starters on dummies.

Warcraft Logs and WowAnalyzer are two sites that you should be using to get detailed analysis of your performance on actual bosses. Get familiar with them. WowAnalyzer seems a patch out of date at the moment, but no biggie - it may still find tips for you!

Yeah. What a friend of mine called “panic fingers”. :smiley: There is no cure for this except in your own attitude. You have to accept that whatever happens, it will be OK. Nothing terrible is going to happen. At worst, you just misses an opportunity to learn. I know this is not easy, but it is the only thing that will ease the anxiety, and that is what will improve your performance.

Given what you said, I SUSPECT that this is your biggest problem at the moment. You don’t know the encounters well enough to relax into them, and your tension is causing you to make mistakes. There is no way out of this except practice and experience.

Anyway - Warcraft Logs. Pick an encounter, any ancounter:

https://www.warcraftlogs.com/reports/Jb6Z4nDqWLvK1rAz#fight=5&type=damage-done&source=1

Compare with one of the top Destro parses in the world at the same boss, item level

https://www.warcraftlogs.com/reports/3Tm4CxwzRQyr7Z1L#fight=13&type=damage-done&source=6

Now, click around. Compare your talents, buffs, rotation to that one. What can you learn about the difference in performance? What did he do that you didn’t?

Warcraft Logs is insane, how much information you can get out of it! It is complicated to understand when you first look at it, though. :exploding_head:

Here’s Preach geeking out about it from some years ago:

There are plenty more videos on YouTube about how to get the most from Warcraft Logs.

Looking at your logs will help pinpoint what you actually did in each encounter, and let you compare that to how other players approached the same boss.

BTW, WowAnalyser, looking at that report, says you didn’t do anything terribly wrong:

But I suspect on the end your problem lies in putting too much pressure on yourself about your performance.

2 Likes
16

You just have to put your nose to the grindstone, it’s a bit cliche, but it’s true. There isn’t a secret to getting better at anything, you’re probably working yourself up because you manifest a non existent expectation on yourself from the people around you and this makes you perform worse.

17

Yes, everytime I’m trying to compare, I use what should be the info from an unbuffed dummy target sim. I get only about 85% of the number, and a few casts of Chaos Bolt below the mark, which I am unable to increase…

Do look at them. I was taught a bit about how to read the logs, but I still don’t know how to compare it to the timing of mechanics + their casts.

I’m aware that it’s hard for me to learn, but I can’t very well make folk around me wait for me to understand things. I’d just feel outright horrible about being the cause of wipes.
I could probably spend time in another class, just in case I can’t really perform with the lock up to my il, spend several months again trying to get down only the basics, and still be unaware or oblivious to important things, or if it’ll be a good fit for me. I admit it’s discouraging.

18

You are either as i said, manifesting this yourself, and you simply imagine that other people expect things of you that you cannot do, and this in turn makes you perform worse than you’re capable of, or if you are in an environment that doesn’t allow you to learn then why not try and find one where you can?

There are a ton of people that will be happy to be in a learning environment with you, just as there are a ton of people that don’t want to give you time to learn. But if you are not good at the basics then don’t put yourself in a situation where it’s expected. There are lots of guilds and communities that are very welcome to learning people i’m sure.

19

Do you also not have fun playing any sport when you are not doing it at top level? Or your peers who may be better than you? How about when you play with people who also “suck”, do you have fun?

The key is to find the appropriate level you feel comfortable with. WoW has a range of players’ skill and commitment to the lowest of low to the highest if high.

If you still can’t enjoy because of the knowledge that others are better at the game than you, then… yeah, this might not be for you.

20

There’s also that; I’m not even sure if I’m able to do anything more, even if I know there’s more.
I’ve met players that claimed to be playing only with one hand due to their personal reasons, and still do relatively well, and those people have nothing but my admiration. Even if I’ve got two hands, I currently find most endgame content in game really, REALLY daunting, requiring a level of speed I don’t believe I can reach even if I practiced even during work hours.

I used to do archery for sport, and this resonates too much; Everytime my aim was off, i couldn’t help but beat myself over it.

From where I see it, it’s not even about becoming the best of the best-- Just competent. And right now I find myself unable to even do that, and if there’s any other way I can get there, or just accept that I can’t.