How do you deal with frustration due to bad luck

[Red-XIII]

Hello everyone, 

 

this is a question mainly for episode speedrunners: how do you deal with frustration due to bad luck?

I'm posting this in the heat of the moment, as I died (for the fourth time) on map30 of pl2, after trying episode 3 uv run. This time, it was because 2 pain elementals and 1 arc vile spawned before I even tried shooting Romero's head. Now, despite practice and everything, some things just cannot be predicted (hence, bad luck), and if they happen after 30 or 40 minutes, it is even worse.

Sometimes this makes my motivation drop by a lot. If you had an experience like this, how did you deal with it?

[Doominator2]

Just take a break and do something else for a while and comeback to it when you feel like your up to try again.

[DooM Bear]

I’m not a speed runner but maybe take a break to do something “easier” like trying to get the best time you can on a map you can beat without too much difficulty.

 

That might give you some of the satisfaction of “winning” (winning always makes me feel better - for instance if I keep failing a mission in a game, blowing the quest givers head off along with every one around him a few times usually calms me down XD) without needing to invest 40 minutes into it (plus you are still improving on some relevant skills in a less stressful environment) :-D

 

Edit: actually, IDCLEV30 + IDDQD + IDKFA might do you some good! You could even make a DECORATE file to make the Icon spawn nothing but pain elementals so you can take all your anger out on the little brown bastard meatballs!!!

Edited January 9, 2021 by DooM Bear

[Pseudonaut]

I had some E1M8 fails when I was doing Knee Deep in the Dead UV-Respawn. My usual response to failure is to just retry immediately (the solution to bad RNG is more attempts) but that isn't necessarily the best option mentally, and I did take some breaks rather than just grinding nonstop. That is probably the best way to mitigate frustration.

[Red-XIII]

10 hours ago, Pseudonaut said:

I had some E1M8 fails when I was doing Knee Deep in the Dead UV-Respawn. My usual response to failure is to just retry immediately (the solution to bad RNG is more attempts) but that isn't necessarily the best option mentally, and I did take some breaks rather than just grinding nonstop. That is probably the best way to mitigate frustration.

Yes, I usually do like you said!

 

@DooM Bear Never considered that, I'll try it!

Thanks guys.

[Cinnamon]

For me it's been like a muscle. Throwing myself against the wall more and more for each "sitting." Eventually you get resistant (not immune) to stumbling before the finish line. Still, I don't exactly speedrun that seriously.

[Red-XIII]

It happened again.

 

This time 2 arc viles spawned.

 

Together.

 

ok...

[termrork]

the most important technical thing you already achieved, you can make it consistently to map30! definitely this is frustrating as hell, I cannot imagine making an awesome time in doom2 in an D2 run and map30 ruins it... similar stuff (although not so much luck based, more skill based) happened to me with an AVJ.wad map32 run, there the most difficult part as you know very well is directly at the end and getting there usually takes >30 mins (in the past). dying there always made me to stop trying that run for ~2-3 days. nevertheless, after that period I always felt like trying again :). long story short: you are already able to consistently run the thing, if you will try it a few more times I am sure you will be able to do it. but if it angers you too much, make a break and wait till you have fun running it again. I would try to see the path as the goal, like if you enjoy running no matter if you will set up a record, then do it! if it is only fun if it works out, I think it is way too frustrating... for example: I like to run doom2 in D2 UV although I know I am nowhere near the world record (really, by far xD), but it is nevertheless fun for me trying it :)!

[Cruduxy Pegg]

Practice the map that keeps ruining your runs with no downtime by maps you cruise through already. 

[seed]

Simply take a break and do something else when it screws you over quite badly, and try to avoid treating it like a catastrophe, as that is only going to demoralize you and not help at all.

 

I've made some demos, even though I do not consider myself a speedrunner at all, and when you get really close to your target but miss it nonetheless, for one reason or the other, it can be discouraging. I'd advice to just keep at it and not treat failed attempts as catastrophes, they're not - and I'm speaking as someone who used to treat even the slightest mistake in this I do as "complete disasters".

 

It's not the end of the world.