PvP Gaming Journal: The Goal is To Get 1% Better Today.

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The goal is to learn.

Lately I've been putting in a lot of time playing TemTem PvP as well as some Splinterlands. My peak rating in both games is pretty similar, right around 1200.

The most interesting part of playing games to me is the process of learning. It's fun to learn. Learning is a process of exploration followed by puzzle solving. Gathering new information, then figuring out how to use that information to reach a new level of skill and understanding in the game.

I guess this is a discussion of "meta-learning" then, how to get better at learning.

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PvP Archetypes and Learning

One interesting thing about both TemTem and Splinterlands is that they have many archetypes, different styles of teams to build. People go back and forth on what style of team they want to play. Do you need to study your current build to get better with it, or go back to the drawing board and try something new?

Although I've been putting in a significant grind on the PvP ladder in TemTem in particular, my rating hasn't really shown improvement.

I think one reason why is that I have changed team style too many times. I wanted to see a variety of playstyles and learn new options, but I may have limited my ability to go deep on the one strategy and really gain mastery over one archetype.

That's ok. I have been pushing myself to try new things, to learn in new ways. When I live stream my games, players in the chat help me to review matches after they're over. I identify mistakes and try to renew my focus for each new game. My methods are far from lazy and I can take comfort in my level of effort. Nonetheless, it's not enough to break the plateau yet.

Withstanding Losing Sessions

By focusing on learning, it's easier to mentally withstand plateaus of rating and rank. You can't always be on the way to a new personal record, but you can always learn something.

In the longer term a player must see progress to know they're actually getting better, not just *feeling* like they're getting better. In the short-term though learning is how to have fun while planting the seeds for future progress.

For the next few weeks I plan to focus on one team in TemTem. Each day, rather than looking for major new builds or adjustments, I will seek to understand the team better and refine it. I might adjust small things - a move here, a stat tree build there - but I will not aim to change archetypes to match the day's perceived meta. If I lose a lot, I can stop playing or keep trying, but I won't change teams.

I hope focusing in on one style of play and one build will help me to play the best games of my life within the next few weeks. After that, I'll probably be better equipped to learn new teams in the future.

The process of learning can be difficult at times. There's nothing better in life than to learn though. Learning is the only way to be adaptable and keep up with the changing demands of our circumstances. This is true even in video games, especially PvP ones.

P.S. Shout-outs to @ywmy for following me over here from the TemTem scene and starting up an account on Hive! I'm making him a 20% beneficiary on this post because I'm stoked.