The word bootcamp is spouted around like its going outta fashion. "Team X has been bootcamping with somebody good for a week now, they will be great now", why will they be good? What magical occurance happens at these bootcamps?
The world of Enemy Territory today experienced bootcamping, and no not the hardcore weeks long preparation some of the CounterStrike and Quake teams go through prior to an event, but just one day, just some hours where the magic of bootcamp was more than evident. In a community where the word eSports does not exist, teams today took the plunge into the deep end of major event preparation.
I was witness to how a team under my management, Crossfire, went under gamings magic wand and the simplistic benefits can never be underrated. Today Crossfire sat down in the tournament area at 1PM, setup their PC's, ran around on the server, got the sensitivity right adjusted to the zero ping factor and thought what next?
Well, at 1.30 everyone is hungry, and the servers are about to be reset aswell as the fact there is no ventrilo up, plus the opposition was not ready. So the team goes for lunch and waits on the variables to be fixed, already a transformed team because now they have had the time to visualise the scenario in their head.
3PM roles around and the team are debating seating positions with each other, where to place the leaders, where to place the less vocal players. Which players have larger mousemats and play with a wider "wingspan" than others. All of these problems and small annoyances fixed without even playing an opponent.
The team is playing and is working, one map down and as individuals you now start to understand one another better. That Estonian tone of voice that you don't understand, that quiet habit of a player, or the aggressive dressing down after a mistake. How do you interpret these online? Could you take offence to something online, that in person you now understand the mood and body language of your team mate? Of course it does.
When you come to a major lan event like Quakecon and you get down the business end of the tournament, like when idle, KiH and crossfire will meet, there are NO bad players. On any day, in any circumstance a different person can win the battle, a different reaction can come out. What separates these prepared teams? Its all in the brain as with any game.
First of all is the preparation you do before the event, your strategies, your position and what happens when X eventuality comes to pass. This is the same no matter the game, In CounterStrike what does Rambo do when Shaguar dies? Thats preparation, that's done weeks in advance of the event. You know your teammates, you know your role, great. Any online team can master that art.
What happens when one of your star players has a reaction to the air conditioning that dries his eyes that will effect his performance unless you can find eye drops. You find the eye drops and the problem is solved, 24 hours before any match of any significance. When you defend Goldrush and after 3 perfect performances on other maps you suddenly lose the first stage, how do you fix the problem?
You huddle, after the map its time to replay the demo, look at the problem and come up with a solution as a team, 5 guys in a circle, the problem is solved quickly and you can remove any negative mental aspects from the game. I remember vividly watching the current Fnatic CounterStrike team huddled together watching a demo on dsn's laptop whilst their soon to opponents where involved in a match conflict from their previous game. Fnatic went in with a clear head and focused on the job, their opponent without that extra preparation and the controversy still in their head, had a mental mountain to climb. The theory is applicable no matter the game or sport. Only what was fascinating to watch today, was how a team who havent experienced this scenario before, had to learn the bootcamping lessons of previous gaming pro's in such a short space of time.
There are so many variables going into a major lan event, especially when you are inexperienced on such a stage. Think about how long it takes a gamer to get his setup perfect at home. How many times have you moved the position of your pad, or angled your keyboard? These finer points have to be worked out on lan, so the players can recreate their home experience whilst sitting next to one another.
The Crossfire team that walked into the event today and the Crossfire team that left the event today are two different teams. All negative mental aspects from the new surroundings are removed. They approach tomorrow with clear focus after hours of practice and one final team talk during dinner with a plan of action ready for tomorrow, then all conversations of the game and the tournament are removed and the team has had perfect preparation.
I don't do Feng Sheui, nor drink Green Tea but I do know that the mental clarity offered by a successful bootcamp is a feeling money cant buy. In one afternoons bootcamp practice the team took away more than one months worth of online practice.
The world of Enemy Territory today experienced bootcamping, and no not the hardcore weeks long preparation some of the CounterStrike and Quake teams go through prior to an event, but just one day, just some hours where the magic of bootcamp was more than evident. In a community where the word eSports does not exist, teams today took the plunge into the deep end of major event preparation.
I was witness to how a team under my management, Crossfire, went under gamings magic wand and the simplistic benefits can never be underrated. Today Crossfire sat down in the tournament area at 1PM, setup their PC's, ran around on the server, got the sensitivity right adjusted to the zero ping factor and thought what next?
Well, at 1.30 everyone is hungry, and the servers are about to be reset aswell as the fact there is no ventrilo up, plus the opposition was not ready. So the team goes for lunch and waits on the variables to be fixed, already a transformed team because now they have had the time to visualise the scenario in their head. 3PM roles around and the team are debating seating positions with each other, where to place the leaders, where to place the less vocal players. Which players have larger mousemats and play with a wider "wingspan" than others. All of these problems and small annoyances fixed without even playing an opponent.
The team is playing and is working, one map down and as individuals you now start to understand one another better. That Estonian tone of voice that you don't understand, that quiet habit of a player, or the aggressive dressing down after a mistake. How do you interpret these online? Could you take offence to something online, that in person you now understand the mood and body language of your team mate? Of course it does.
When you come to a major lan event like Quakecon and you get down the business end of the tournament, like when idle, KiH and crossfire will meet, there are NO bad players. On any day, in any circumstance a different person can win the battle, a different reaction can come out. What separates these prepared teams? Its all in the brain as with any game.
First of all is the preparation you do before the event, your strategies, your position and what happens when X eventuality comes to pass. This is the same no matter the game, In CounterStrike what does Rambo do when Shaguar dies? Thats preparation, that's done weeks in advance of the event. You know your teammates, you know your role, great. Any online team can master that art.
What happens when one of your star players has a reaction to the air conditioning that dries his eyes that will effect his performance unless you can find eye drops. You find the eye drops and the problem is solved, 24 hours before any match of any significance. When you defend Goldrush and after 3 perfect performances on other maps you suddenly lose the first stage, how do you fix the problem?
You huddle, after the map its time to replay the demo, look at the problem and come up with a solution as a team, 5 guys in a circle, the problem is solved quickly and you can remove any negative mental aspects from the game. I remember vividly watching the current Fnatic CounterStrike team huddled together watching a demo on dsn's laptop whilst their soon to opponents where involved in a match conflict from their previous game. Fnatic went in with a clear head and focused on the job, their opponent without that extra preparation and the controversy still in their head, had a mental mountain to climb. The theory is applicable no matter the game or sport. Only what was fascinating to watch today, was how a team who havent experienced this scenario before, had to learn the bootcamping lessons of previous gaming pro's in such a short space of time.
There are so many variables going into a major lan event, especially when you are inexperienced on such a stage. Think about how long it takes a gamer to get his setup perfect at home. How many times have you moved the position of your pad, or angled your keyboard? These finer points have to be worked out on lan, so the players can recreate their home experience whilst sitting next to one another.
The Crossfire team that walked into the event today and the Crossfire team that left the event today are two different teams. All negative mental aspects from the new surroundings are removed. They approach tomorrow with clear focus after hours of practice and one final team talk during dinner with a plan of action ready for tomorrow, then all conversations of the game and the tournament are removed and the team has had perfect preparation.
I don't do Feng Sheui, nor drink Green Tea but I do know that the mental clarity offered by a successful bootcamp is a feeling money cant buy. In one afternoons bootcamp practice the team took away more than one months worth of online practice.
