Q: A gamesplayer's mentality and its effects on performance

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 10:39 pm

Sometimes, when you have about 4% health left in a fighting game, you "tense" up. Let's call it "sucking it in" for now.

Now, I've been caught sucking it in quite alot. It doesn't matter though, as it's just a game. Think of it from this point of view - if you die, you own the game. You have at least 20 years left to live. If you want to win bad enough, you will.

Concentration is key. Don't listen to people rant on about dedication or love for a game, it's about playing properly and practice. Back in my "dance" days, I was big on a PS2 sleeper hit called Amplitude. After all, practice is what made me through.

It's the same for fighting games. I can still remember a Sabrewulf combo in Killer Instinct 2. 25 hit combo non-ultra. Even if you take a break from games, your past doesn't change.

What I'm saying makes sense due to the fact that it doesn't matter if you play like a half-assed drunk texan, you're still gaming. If you find yourself doing top performance while not playing seriously, then you're definitely doing something right.

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 10:48 pm

Icarus wrote:Then again, maybe "enthusiasts" for those who play but don't dedicate to learning, while "hardcore" for those that do?

"Enthusiasts," I like that, maybe I oughta hire you as my PR consultant.

One change I'd make to the above though: most "enthusiasts" DO make the effort to "learn" the games they play and at least be clear on how everything works; the difference is that they generally don't bother knowing the game SO well that they can be considered a "top" player within the community or whatnot. I tend to think that the difference is that enthusiasts learn; hardcores master.

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 10:50 pm

Elixir wrote:Don't listen to people rant on about dedication or love for a game, it's about playing properly and practice.

What is the difference between dedication and practice in your mind?

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 10:55 pm

BulletMagnet wrote:
One change I'd make to the above though: most "enthusiasts" DO make the effort to "learn" the games they play and at least be clear on how everything works; the difference is that they generally don't bother knowing the game SO well that they can be considered a "top" player within the community or whatnot. I tend to think that the difference is that enthusiasts learn; hardcores master.

Exactly. I had the same thought, but I couldn't have stated it better than this.

TGK · Post by **TGK** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 11:08 pm

Hmm, how do you classify the type of player who make an effort not to memorize or practice a pattern?

I'm one of those, since I consider shmups my reflex exercise every morning before work. I think it lose the effect if I knew in advance where to shoot, or dodge bullets.

Plus shmups are more satisfying for me when I play every time as if it was new. For shmups with multiple ships or weapons, I always play a different one each time to make sure that I don't force myself into a pattern with any ship.

TGK · Post by **TGK** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 11:15 pm

my mentality... hmm... I guess for me its "determination" since I don't remember much from play to play, maybe except the first few waves of enemies on each level.

one time I stood before a Raiden Fighter cab, took a deep breath, stared into the screen for a few seconds, then I choose Devastator and got all the way to the final boss in one credit. But then normally I never go pass the train yard stage since I just don't feel the same zen-like calmness.

TVG · Post by **TVG** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 5:28 am

im a bit masochist, i still try to clear strikers II with the shinden even if i dont find it much fun, dont know why, the game taunts me and shit.

and this is a nice example of whan im going to mention next, lack of control.

its my worst enemy, the think that makes me shit my pants when i play, and i discovered that because of strikers 2.

the shinden has a fuckin weird hitbox, to the point that i just-cant-guess it and play instinctively, impossible, i know that, at any second, my ship can blow up because i fail to realize the hitbox and eat a bullet i really shouldnt, it scares me.
that, and in that game, having a full frontal shot means youll have to deal with a LOT of random spam from the popcorn ennemies, which can get undodgeable at times (you can bomb tho)

then, i played some DOJ, went to some boss, then said to myself "but at that level of precision, im not controlling stuff anymore, its just randomness..."
needless to say, i died.

i think i need to tell myself it depends on myself.

jp · Post by jp » Thu Jul 28, 2005 5:37 am

I imagine thinking you will get killed at a point could have something to do with not ever getting past that point.

Though I love the adrenaline rush of getting PAST that point, and feeling that the 1CC is just up ahead.

Though personally I never really think about whether or not I'm any good. I just pick something up, play it, if I win I win, if not, fuck it, I've got work/school/etc. ad inifitum so I must be off, I'll try again later that evening before bed.

Post by **Icarus** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 8:37 pm

Someone mentioning score vs fun in another topic prompted me to revisit some older threads on the topic, and I came across this freaking dinosaur-aged thread I made a while ago, which made for good reading. Since we have a lot of new faces lately, a couple of tournaments under our belts, and maybe some changed opinions on the age-old debate of "what is fun?", I think a bit of thread necromancy is in order.

Do your thing, Bornnam.

So, what are your thoughts on the topic question? Does your mentality affect your performance? Do you find you play better when under competition conditions than under the "just for fun" conditions? Does confidence affect your play? Do you find that the more you get into a game, the more you start lurking the strategy and score forums, hoping to snag that little bit of info that moves you up a place on the scoreboard?

I definitely find that I play better under tournament and competition conditions, even when the only person I'm competing against is myself and my own scores. Just working out little things to push my play up another level while playing (and sometimes, when I not playing) makes me appreciate the games more, and always ends up improving my overall performance. Its a funny thing, I don't think I'd enjoy shmups as much if I wasn't so competitive at them.

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 8:48 pm

Riiiiiise from you...bah, you know the deal.

In essence, my thoughts haven't really changed on this topic: I'm still content to play just when I feel like it or have a bit of free time, and while I do my best when I do play, I don't have the specific goal of total mastery in mind. Since I don't play as often or consistently (as in, focusing exclusively on one shmup for a considerable length of time) as many here I'm not going to ever be a top scorer or anything, but in my personal situation I'm fine with that. If others are willing/able to put more practice in, more power to 'em, as long as each side is able to do its own thing without getting heckled I couldn't care less. I still enjoy the games plenty just as it is: if I didn't, I wouldn't still be playing.

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 9:01 pm

This tournament makes me want to join the pity party with the rest of the just for fun players. I like playing at my own pace. If I feel like I have to play I don't see any results even if I've increased my knowledge. I got hooked on APB, so that wasn't so bad, but Blazing Star was a maddening game to feel forced to play. I think competition initially got me interested in score-based gaming, but I don't need it now. If I like a game I'll just want to play it as completely as I can.

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 9:03 pm

You hear it growing louder every day, Rob, you can't resist it...

The Call of Team Loser.

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 9:05 pm

Next year, next year...

Daigohji · Post by **Daigohji** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 10:00 pm

I think the conscious mind is the greatest enemy to shmup performance. When I buy a new shmup I will usually get pretty far on my first credit, and then it will take me hours or days to get that far again. That first time when I just load up, pick any old ship and start on a game that I have no knowledge of, I don't have any preconceptions clogging up my synapses. Once I start replaying and try to plan ahead, it's hard to focus on the moment. The Raiden games are a good example of this. The moment your mind wanders is invariably the moment a tank sneaks out of the bushes, flanks you, and nails you from the side. You need to learn the strategies that work for you and then bury them right down so that you don't have to think about them, and can adapt to unexpected situations.

I'm pretty much in the "enthusiast" camp. I'm happy to get onto the bottom rung of the forum high scores tables and slowly claw my way up without ever expecting to hit the top spot (or even the top 10 in many cases). Certain shmups grab me more than others, of course, but I basically have two moods when it comes to playing these games. Sometimes I'll want to attempt to overcome a real challenge, and Ibara is my poison for that at the moment. At other times I just want the game to make me feel like a badass, without my actually having to reach the God Tier skills of MacBauer (the combined form of MacGuyver and Jack Bauer). Psyvariar is a good choice for the latter, and Psyvariar 2 (which I just got today) is even better. Psyvariar 2 is almost like ice skating--once you get into a good levelling chain, you dance through the bullets and laugh at them. It only took me a couple of hours to nail that technique for a big chunk of the game, and while I'm under no illusion that I've even begun to master it (my best score is about 11mil so far), the game is great at making me feel like TEH BEST EVAR

Some days that's all I need. Other days I'd rather spend an hour trying to improve my Midi technique in Ibara's practice mode.

I think there was a point in there somewhere

Ten bonus points for anyone who can find it.

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 10:03 pm

Daigohji wrote:MacBauer (the combined form of MacGuyver and Jack Bauer)

Awesome.

Pirate1019 · Post by **Pirate1019** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 1:59 am

Ha ha. Time for 'teh n00bcakes' on this forum to give this one a shot.

Once again I find myself torn between the two sides and have opted to walk the middle line and take fire and praise from both camps.

I can never do good at anything (least of all shmups) when in a competition setting. I just end up psyching myself out or trying to pull off that one thing I have never managed to do, but will either raise my score enough to beat the next guy (or a previous record of mine) or send me down in flaming ruin. I am particularly infamous among friends and relatives of attempting this on my last extend or life (or the equivilent of such a thing in another activity).

On the opposite spectrum of things I can't do better if I am just playing it for fun. I lack the motivation to attempt to do anything spectacular when I am accompanied by no more than me, myself, and I. I'll just kind of slide through a game, or jacknife from one game to the next because I can't keep extended concentration on a single one.

Therefore, the solution is that I need to be in a casual competition. Like some friends coming over to hang out and I decide to bust out Ikaruga just because I know I can kick their asses at it (even though I can barely chain the first chapter and after chapter 2 I am just riding my luck until Game Over.) Attitude, mood, and motivation is everything. However, if you want to score that top spot you need to do some massive level grinding. So far the only game that has made me grind anything until I got it perfect is ikaruga.

DJ Incompetent · Post by **DJ Incompetent** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 4:20 am

oh, look. another nube with another opinion.

Before the forum:
Nobody competed on anything over hundreds-digit scoring. Ever.
I'm the type of guy who handles and almost demands two forms of stimulation at once at any given time, being things like I can't just listen to music unless I'm active, moving, driving or working on something. I don't like eating a meal unless I'm watchin' or playin' something also. For games that required coordination beyond a monkey's, how far I got mattered on the awake or tired state of mind I felt at the time. If I was tired, like if I just woke up, I could play it in a trance, and if uninterrupted or I didn't wake up mentally, I'd just almost quasi-blank out for awhile and when I recollected what I was doing, I'd be somewhere on loop 2. Kinda like Frank the Tank in that movie Old School when he's doing that debate part against the guy from Crossfire. Now, if my brain was totally awake and active at the time, I'd either unintentionally have to daydream somethin' intricate or go into some kinda complex thinking mood where I re-assessed some random concept like my schooling, my life, how to tell my friend to not be emo, etc., pretty much emulating the same trance I did when my head was exhausted enough to only handle one activity at a time....then afterwards I'd wake up with some kinda epiphany ..and happen to be in loop 2. Think of it as if you were taking a 2-3 hour road trip by-yourself...and the stereo was broken. How would you occupy yourself? Maybe another way to put it is that playin' a game was a sort of "meditation" to me per se. I'd get bored with the looping though and shut it off after the fatigue set in. I didn't have a benchmark or anything to shoot for. Didn't really think about the 1CC concept and I never looked at the game score. 'Couldn't really tell anybody what my accomplishment was without them understanding it enough to not say "uh-huh, yer an idiot."...then add the obligitory "ur a gay faggot," and so-on..

Now if I wasn't in any kind of thinking trancing state, this would be the only time I could pull a cd from my collection and have an attentive listen all the way through...just as long as my game kept going.

After the forum:
Here's another fact. I love competition. The close kind.
"You're tellin' me people look at that score thing to determine how good they are? Well sheeeit, I guess I'd like to see how I stack up against the rest of the English-speaking world." So all that stuff above about the dual-stimuli trance-out doesn't work as much anymore because I have to keep snapping out of it to prepare for obtuse scoring opportunities I never woulda gave two-shits about before. When I have time to sit for a session, I'll still crank the game sound low enough only to hear key sound cues or just crank the BGM to 0, then fire-up a cd from me collection as I only get to use them when driving or backgrounding a game I'm playing. Firing up a game while in-conversation is also nice, as it keeps my mind just enough off what I'm doing to not overthink my dodging, but gotta go silent when I get to a significant part...to which my friend or girl may or may not just try to move in front of the screen to fuck up my progress..'cause most people don't care about games around my real world.
I had goals now to take games I knew I was alright at and 1CC or put some dents in the board to the best of my ability. But after I accomplished that, I fear I wouldn't need to ever play the game again. It was like once I set a shooting goal and then I hit it, I don't wanna touch the game anymore....for-ev-er. This has happened with a ton of other genred games (not 'cause of the forum) but is starting to happen with my shooters because of my goal-setting.

Then this tourney happens:
The first two weeks when I was learning and trying to outdo myself, I got pretty frustrated and restarted on any nitpicky thing for awhile because I obsessed over this newfound scoring perfection a bit, working on it while alone at the time. I haven't done that since I was unlocking the cheats from N64 Goldeneye. That final Blazing Star score I submitted for week 1 I got playin' my first attempt that morning while my girl was talking to me and the roommates the whole time. No restarts. It just happened. Still, any game I touch these six weeks I doubt I'll ever play again. Perhaps now that I have goals and benchmarks to shoot for and want to "be hot shit on the boards," or simply aim to beat the ass of anybody who is consistently only slightly ahead of me *cough*Coop*cough*, every STG I touch to accomplish that seems to put a time limit on how long I'll ever be interested in the game from hereon out. If I find time to practice enough, this will probably eventually happen to my personal collection.

That is of course, if I don't find another resourceful use for a previous accomplishment I've set for myself...like...oh I dunno.....making a freakin' video.

Further down the road, I bet I'll start to think I liked how I played my games the old way. Before I knew about the boards.

I'm gonna pray that made sense...and...you're not sleeping. Here's to hoping I didn't sound like that kid from the Worst Threads Ever who kept talkin' about how he plays shooters IN HIS HEAD

So..um...er...I think all I did was back up Daigohji's first sentence...

Daigohji wrote:I think the conscious mind is the greatest enemy to shmup performance.

do I win....points...n stuff?

Oh yeah, Pirate1019, I like your sig.

Randorama · Post by **Randorama** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 9:05 am

Every time i read rational arguments against rational thought i want to go living with Houyhnhnms. I wonder if they have shmups though...

Aside that, i have fun only when i know what's going on and i'm charge. It doesn't necessarily mean that i'm breaking any world records.

Oh, i forgot: ban "x" user plz!!1!

Kaiser · Post by **Kaiser** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 9:42 am

I remember old times when i said that my skills suck but after practicing i'm thinking now that i'm capable of 1CC armed police batrider normal course just practice survive and all goes

sffan · Post by **sffan** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 1:21 pm

My philosophy's similar to BulletMagnet's. I pick a game I feel like playing and try my best, on defaults and no continues. I never "train" or use practice modes or study DVDs of other players: That would make it seem too much like work, plus I feel it's not quite fair to the game to do that stuff, and of course I expect the game to be fair to me.

I will play a game repeatedly if I'm hooked on it though. I don't know if that qualifies as training. I guess it does since that's one way to get better, but my point is I'm doing it because it's fun and not because I'm "working" on the game.

Neon · Post by **Neon** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 3:55 pm

Despite Rando's ridicule I still say the zone *lightning bolt* is real. It's probably just an adrenaline rush actually and it's not a substitute for actual practice of course, only occurring on games I knew really well and was about to 1cc. Hopefully Ghegs (right person...right?) will back me up on this (and by that I mean explain it better).

I play for total mastery, even if I don't get there. Because I'm hardc00r. Death to the unbelievers. Psikyo and Cave stuff I'm happy with just a 1cc, 2nd loop takes waaaaay too much patience and time. Actually I only have scores posted for 3-4 shmups and they're all crap, even if not relative to the competition, IMO. Stuff like Puzzle, Platformers, and online FPS are much easier to get addicted to than a shmup.

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 4:05 pm

Randorama wrote:Houyhnhnms

Gesundheit.

Oh, i forgot: ban "x" user plz!!1!

Maybe I should adopt that as a cool-sounding codename.

Post by **Ghegs** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 4:56 pm

Neon wrote:Despite Rando's ridicule I still say the zone *lightning bolt* is real. It's probably just an adrenaline rush actually and it's not a substitute for actual practice of course, only occurring on games I knew really well and was about to 1cc. Hopefully Ghegs (right person...right?) will back me up on this (and by that I mean explain it better).

The zone is an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together....

...or that's how I believe Rando thinks about it and is the reason he calls it mumbo-jumbo.

The way I see it: The zone is just a state of mind, a mix of a high degree of concentration and being very familiar with what you're doing. With shmups, the latter means you have an accurate sense of your craft's speed, the hitbox, how fast your weapons fire and all so on. In practice, when I hit the zone I notice my reaction speed goes up and I can read bullet patterns (see where they are in two seconds and be ready for the gaps) far more quickly.

The way I experience it is....well. I get this feeling of peace and confidence. I take the screen in as a whole without focusing on any one specific point, yet I still clearly know where my craft (and hitbox) is and I catch all the audiovisual cues for enemies approaching or firing. If I've previously found a good path through the stage I can follow it without fail, positioning myself to take care of enemies before they're even on screen. Because I've played the game so many times I know they're coming but I don't have to actively remember it, some portion in the back of my head gives me that information without me having to specifically access it.

That's 'bout it, really. Nothing mystical about it. Just our brains going into bit of an overdrive. Hell, the same thing has happened to me while doing choreographed dancing (don't ask...).

I've mentioned this before, but there's actually been bit of a study into this. Uplift. I'll end this post and await the flames with quoting the proposal document from that website.

It tends to manifest itself during mentally or physically demanding activity, and typically takes the form of a dream-like state or a state of perfect concentration in which the individual's ability to perform that activity is dramatically enhanced.

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 7:04 pm

Ghegs wrote:I take the screen in as a whole without focusing on any one specific point,

noobs

Twiddle · Post by **Twiddle** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 7:28 pm

I don't really have a "zone" to speak of, unless it's the feeling I get when I happen to be doing better than normal.

That has little to do with my performance, honestly, because eventually I get smacked with hubris.

fl0w · Post by **fl0w** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 10:29 pm

Nice topic. Let me share my experience.

I've always liked shmups since the good old day. I've virtually stopped playing when I got a PC, after I stopped using my Amiga.

Then Doom came. And Duke Nukem, and Quake, and Half-Life...

2 years ago, my GF bought me a Gamecube. My first console, though I once had a Dreamcast, but I didn't use it much and sold it quickly.

I bought Ikaruga for the cube, then a (blame me) x-arcade.
I do now have a PS2 with a lot of shmups, I've built my own stick. And I LOVE shmups again.

But, though I've always enjoyed shmups, I've never been a good player. I've never played shmups with any kind of dedication.

The first game in which I've really put a lot of energy is ESP Galuda, thanks to its wonderful gameplay. I can say I have WORKED to improve.

And it was FUN. Much more than just playing or there, and go nowhere.

So, at this point, you probably wonder how this relates to the topic

Well, I'm not really self confident. I knew I was a bad shmupper. Working on Galuda lead to improvement, which lead to fun, and I gained a bit of self confidence. Also, I practised the game like a sport, with discipline.

As you see, self confidence came from playing better, and probably this self confidence helped me improving my skills.

I once entered a state that might be that famous zone. It was very strange. I could dodge anything. Wow! Let's trying dodging these bullets for fun! And it worked. I felt like I was observing someone else play. My vision had changed, I could concentrate on my ship and it was like a zoom. I wasn't expecting this at all. I went to a level I had never seen before and got slaughtered

This has happened only once

So where am I now?
I've improved far beyond what I thought was possible. The bad news is that I still suck

So many people 1CC Galuda, I'm nowhere close to this. I still suck to death at DOJ. But at least I know I can do better than I initially thought, but it takes me a lot of energy and time which I don't have

The "masters" like Icarus can 1CC some games in a few days, if not hours. And I really can understand it can be fun to squeeze a game to improve your score if you can easily 1CC it. But that's something I'm not sure I'll feel myself ever.

And real life doesn't help, believe me. I have to throw away the garbage, take care of my rabbit, cope with my GF who's nervous with the university (GF? oh, maybe a good reason why I haven't turned on a console for sth like 6 weeks), pretend to sleep and go to work and repeat.

Life sucks, shmups don't!

JJG · Post by **JJG** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 10:37 pm

I think we all play these games for a challenge, they aren't easy like the majority of games being released these days. They look so simple when you watch a superplay vid but perfecting one is a real accomplishment. Also they're one of the few cooperative types of games in these days of xbox live. This is the reason we go back to systems like genesis or any other retro system, 'cause back then there weren't unlimited continues.

I used to get on xbox live and game every night because I liked the challenge and all that, but in the end there are too many 13 yr olds and cheaters. So coming from playing multiplayer games for years back into single player gaming took a while but the shmup genre is what brought me back.

Now I have weird dreams about Dragon Spirit and Abadox...

Limbrooke · Post by **Limbrooke** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 11:39 pm

Regarding mentality;
I don't think it's such a big deal if you don't enjoy playing X game.
If a game really hooks you then concentration and dedication only naturally follow. Of course that's being stringent in what you do and do not like. I suppose it takes a bit of testing and experimenting before you can rule out a game that is not 'enjoyable'.

I figure it's binary. You like the game or not. If you do then you'll practice as much as one deems enjoyable, and moves on to come another day.
I know for a fact in games I dislike I'm not nearly as good as in games I enjoy.

I don't think it's accurate to say how long of playtime will constitute a point when a player can truly understand whether they like or dislike X game. Frame of reference is key, since at any given time qualities may wear thin or perhaps gain greater lustre, depends on the person but psychologically it's hard to assess without proper background on such behaviour. Some people are influenced easier than others and opinion can vary over time while some people may like qualities until they die.

Considering skill level, it is dependant on how much time put in and if you want to learn more about the game, like studying almost. Then again, odds are there is always a bigger fish. Someone who also enjoys and logs long hours into the same game and has been doing it for a year longer.

Bottom-line, in my case if I don't like a game immeadiately I won't play it.
If I do, it depends of the degree of interest whether or not I put in the time to learn it and perhaps master. With shooters, even early in their history, mastery isn't something anyone is willing to just pick up.

Pirate1019 · Post by **Pirate1019** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 2:46 am

DJ Incompetent wrote:Oh yeah, Pirate1019, I like your sig.

Thanks. I like it too. It represents my cynicism towards life.

Ok, now to take my second shot at this.

From what I have heard their are two ways shmups affect any of us.(at least on this board.) Either you fall into the active catagory, or the recessive catagory. (I'll explain these catagories.)

The active catagory is full of people that believe that in order to master a game, or what happens when they play shmups, is do everything in their power to help bolster their concentration in order to help them gameplay wise. (Using the active part of their mind.) Through sheer willpower (or if it comes naturally to you.) you grind and grind the levels into dust until you have memorized everything. You watch the DVD's of super playthroughs, you think about the game instead of homework, etc. This is how you are naturally set towards shmups (and possibly all aspects of life.) And this is fun for you and that is fine.

The rest of us, we fall into the reccesive catagory. We depend on past knowledge of the game and that we will fall into a pattern where we do things based on instinct rather than rigid attention to fine details, it just comes. this is the 'zone' that everybody talks about. I personally think 'the zone' isn't the way to refer to it. I think it is just a form of 'mind numbing repetitiveness'. People fall into a pattern and stay their. I think it's a legitimate way to play a game and it works for lots of people. The subconcious mind is an amazing thing.

Now, I fall into both catagories. Just another continuation of the absurd amount of balance I have in my life. I start out with the intention of rigidly memorizing stuff, but I slowly lapse into the subconcious stuff and sort of go with the flow.

I hope that made sense. I have a habit of ranting until I have no idea wether or not I actually made the point I ment to make when I began writing the certain piece of work.

Randorama · Post by **Randorama** » Wed Sep 20, 2006 9:35 am

Ghegs wrote:
The zone is an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together....

...or that's how I believe Rando thinks about it and is the reason he calls it mumbo-jumbo.

Well, if you re-read the thesis you linked, you may find that its references are not exactly "hardcore science". If you want to believe to conjectures and wild ramblings as some kind of ultimate proof ( trick hidden in this comment!), it's up to you. I can safely say that science works in a slightly different way. Whatever high levels of adrenaline (induced by stress and tension) may do to a brain/mind when performing a difficult task, i'd wait a few gazillions years before claiming mystical powers and omg the zone.
Also, repeating the same argument 100 times won't make it true, so i can't see why i should take seriously 100 people talking about the omg zone without even showing some basic knowledge of basic neurocognition...i'm snob enough to think that arguments should be based on facts, which is like saying i loathe the intarweb

Beside that, my shmup skills come from my quite lenghty shlong, so there you go