With the esports boom of recent years bringing gaming of all forms into greater mainstream appeal, there’s never been a better time to up your abilities and refine your skills in your favourite titles. But many people don’t know where to begin – for those, simply consider these top tips below and you’ll be climbing the rankings in no time.
Join the Community
Most games today – whether it’s a perennial classic like chess, or a modern esport such as VALORANT, have a bustling community online focused on debating and discussing every aspect of a given game.
In joining these communities, players can be rewarded with new friends and connections and vital sources or training and insight. Many games host their own developer forums and message boards where players can come together to swap tips and news about everything from new techniques, to changing tactics brought on by updates to a games’ meta.
The messaging and voice chat app Discord is also a great place to find and connect with new players and learn the ropes. Many people use Discord in order to find new people to play alongside or against, opening up doors to letting you develop your skill directly from more seasoned players in-game.
Do Your Research
The internet is an incredible resource today for gathering information on the game you’re looking to improve in, with tutorials, guides, walkthroughs and discussions out there to suit all learning styles and requirements.
For example, suppose you were looking to embark on improving your abilities in the classic game of poker – a title that is as much enjoyed online today as it is in conventional brick-and-mortar settings. For one with such a query there is a wealth of information available by way of accessible guides on everything from poker hands to deeper strategy hosted on reputable platforms committed to furnishing online rooms for the title.
The video-content service YouTube is also a fantastic resource for gaming info and advice in 2024 thanks to a robust creator community dedicated to putting out content for learners and developing players in their areas of expertise.
What’s more, with the high engagement encouraged on platforms such as this, the opportunity to ask questions, receive answers and steer the direction of future content production makes it a great choice for those who favour more back-and-forth when trying to learn new abilities.
Learn by Teaching
In educational circles there is a well known theory known as the protégé effect that refers to a phenomenon wherein the act of teaching something – such as the rules or techniques of a popular game – actually helps the teacher as much as the student.
To grasp why this is the case, it’s necessary to break down the act of teaching. To teach someone something you must first understand the material well enough to put it into your own words and present the concepts anew. This task – or breaking down information and recombining it – is a powerful part of learning as it forces you to sit with the concepts and attain a deeper understanding of their meaning.
Suppose you’re wanting to show someone how to get around a map on CS:GO 2. You must first package the information in easy to follow steps, steps that you yourself can benefit from memorising. The protégé effect also accounts for the fact that a student will be looking at what is being taught unburdened by experience, and will thus be able to make connections or ask questions that would not readily occur to you.
In the example above, a new CS:GO 2 player may ask you if there are advantageous sightlines available between two parts of a map, something that you may not have even thought to notice as the question pertained to a section of the level that experiences low traffic. Yet addressing such questions forces you to deepen your own knowledge, making you a better player overall.
