Psychology and TF2: Skill vs your Brain

When we play TF2, there are many things going on that we may have never considered. Our in game performance is usually labeled as our skill, but how much of our skill is truly "skill" and how much of it is affected by the activity of our brains. This guide is to help the TF2 community understand the psychological factors that go into a game of TF2, and to help you improve your performance in game.

Introduction

Ah, Team Fortress 2, it's a game that's managed to stand tall for nearly 10 years as one of the biggest games on Steam. It's played by an average of 40 - 60 thousand people a day, each one of those players, a human being. Sitting behind their computer screen, sat comfortably immersed in this competitive online shooter.

That's something you probably don't think about often, is it? The fact that the people you're playing with are in fact real people, with lives, personalities, ambitions, loves and losses. They could have been doing any variety of things, and yet they chose to spend what limited time they have on this planet playing this game. And you, the person reading this guide, are one of those people. There are countless options for alternative shooters in the market and yet this is the game you play. Bravo good sir or madam, bravo.

To many of us, TF2 is a one of a kind experience. There's something about it that no other game can or will ever be able to replicate, it's got a certain charm about it that keeps us coming back to this aging legend. Why do we come back? When there are so many other options of games to play, why is it we come back to this one?

I'm not going to give you the answer to that question, that's something you'll have to figure out for yourself. But, regardless, now that your brain is intellectually stimulated off of the prior question, allow me to welcome you to the Psychology of Team Fortress 2. A guide that will explain several of the subconscious (and sometimes conscious) factors that explain our performance in game. So, grab your notebook and sit straight in your chair because the class is in session.

DISCLAIMER:
I am not presenting this guide as 100% fact, but rather as theory inspired by several other articles. That does not mean that this guide is factually incorrect or that you should take with it a grain of salt, but just that you shouldn't blindly accept it.

Skill

Before you jump ahead and assume what I'm about to say please keep yourself in your seat, we are only just beginning. Now, you may stop and say "Yeah, no duh skill effects us. Man, this guide sucks." Yes, I know that Skill is one of the major determining factors that determine our in-game performance and so do you, I just have a few words to say on the subject.

So, where to begin on the topic of skill? Well, first let's start by asking ourselves, "What determines skill?". We know that skill is a broad term used to determine on average how good someone is at the game, but how do we even begin to measure it? The thing is, we don't really have a way of measuring skill. There is no skill metric system we can use. Some people use our level or our competitive rank as a means to measure skill, but those aren't always accurate. Our measures of skill are always just going to estimate and we never can know for sure how skilled someone is.

There's also another problem in that skill fluctuates. We can get better and we can get worse, and eventually we'll end up reaching our skill cap where we can't seem to get any better. But even that isn't quite true, it is possible to get better after hitting a skill cap, it's just slower and more grueling.

And moreover, how do we even tell if someone is skilled? Sure we might say that one who is good at scout is a skilled player because they're good at a difficult class, but what about someone who's just as good as heavy? Are they not as skilled because they're just good at a different class? There are more factors that determine skill than just headshots and one's ability to rocket jump. Some players may be great snipers and can land headshots like it's no problem, but let them play Pyro and they may not do so well.

So, if we don't have a good system to measure skill, and we have difficulty telling skill apart, then how do we determine it? The answer is, you just kinda do. We all have an idea of our skill level in our heads, and that idea is probably more accurate than our rank and badge. So, get yourself an idea of your skill level because that's going to be the baseline for the rest of the guide.

The Biggest and Most Obvious Factor

There is a factor that i'm going to list that effects us in the game and it's going to seem so glaring and obvious that you're going start believing this guide was just clickbait, but bear with me here.

So, let's list that factor, shall we.

• Mood

Yeah, so our current emotional state is one of the factors that determine our skill, yeah no ♥♥♥♥ I know. But just let me go into detail here and then we can get on to better and more interesting stuff.

The way we feel can determine the way we play, and depending on our emotional state, that can vary. Because you probably don't have the attention span to read boring blocks of paragraphs, here's a short list for you to go by.

• Angry = Unfocused, bad snap decisions, overly aggressive and further prepetuates itself
  
• Depressed = Less Interested in winning, less effort overall but still feels bad about losing.
  
• Happy = More Motivated to win, tries harder and plays better.
  
• Anxious = Nervous, twitchy. Lack of focus and more likely to panic when things go wrong.

That's a pretty short and simple list. Pretty sure you get the point right about now. So let's move on.

The People we Play With

The people we play with can determine the way that we ourselves play. This includes both teammates and enemies, friends and strangers. They all have an effect on the way we play.

When we play with friends we usually end up playing better than when we play solo. This is because of the positive reinforcement of playing with a friend, as well as feeling like you're being supported, that you're being listened to, and also the fact that you're trying to be better than your friends. All these factors make us subconciously play better than when we play by ourselves. Sometimes, playing with friends is all the motivation it takes to get us to try harder and play better.

There's also the annoying people on the microphone that can affect out performance, though their effect is less beneficial. People who speak on the microphone without offering any valuable information are just distractions, and in a fast paced game like TF2, distractions can cost you your life. Just the simple fact that they're talking is throwing you off and making you lose a fraction of your focus. They're eating up a portion of your attention and therefore impacting your ability without you even realising it. If someone on voice chat isn't contributing anything valuable to the team, the best thing to do is to mute them so you can play at your absolute best.

Even the people on the enemy team can affect us. If there's on enemy on the other team that's dominating you, chances are that it's going to get to you. We can't stand the idea of being someone else's ♥♥♥♥♥, especially someone we see as an enemy. Therefore, whenever we see that stupid dominated symbol, suddenly our entire game plan becomes "I have to kill that guy." and that can sometimes lead to some bad decisions and only end up getting you killed. Speaking of which...

Dying

Dying sucks, plain and simple. And the more times you die, the more likely it is that you're going to keep dying. It's the unfortunate cycle.

The reason we die more when we die more is because we feel like we're getting our asses kicked. That makes us feel worse and that makes us play worse. Plus, we get so accustomed to dying that we don't seem to notice how much worse it's made us. Add that together with the fact that since we aren't accomplishing anything our brains are giving us the reinforcement to keep going, and they aren't producing as much dopamine. Dopamine of course being our bodies natural reward system, the feel good drug we get when we accomplish something.

Case in point, if you start dying alot, then you're going to keep dying more and more often. The only real way to get out of this cycle is to stop dying, which sometimes we may not even be able to help. However, in situations in which we can help, taking more cautious and safe approaches to situations may actually be enough to break the cycle. However, this is not always guaranteed to work.

Winning

Just as dying makes us play worse, winning makes us play better. The more we win, and the better that we do, the better we are going to keep doing.

This is because since we are actually accomplishing something, our brain is producing dopamine, which makes us feel good for winning. And when we feel good, we play good. It's the simple truth of life that applies to every single competitive sport. If you're clearing the server, kicking ass and taking names, chances are that's what you're going to keep doing. Just as dying over and over reinforces dying over and over, winning reinforces winning over and over.

I know it sounds unfair, but that's just simply the way things work. It is unfair, but there's not much you can do about it. These are the kinds of factors that we don't really have much control over.

The Recent Past

Sometimes, the things that just happened to us recently can effect the way we play, even if it didn't happen in TF2.

Things like, whether or not you won the last game you played on a different server. How well you did last few games. Or maybe it was something that just happened in your personal life.

The personal life one is especially important, as if there's something going on in your personal life, it's probably more important than what's going on in the game. TF2 is just a game, but your life is your life and it's best to take care of that first before making time for recreation.

These things of course end up tying back to Mood like a lot of things, in fact most of this stuff are just subsidiaries of mood, but it's good to cover them nonetheless.

Eating and Dieting

The things we eat also effect our play. You'll usually find that the healthier the food the more beneficial it is to our in game performance.

As much as "food" like doritos, hot pockets and mountian dew may seem like "gamer food" those foods contribute nothing but negative ingredients, and that only makes you play worse.

Diets aren't much better either as depriving your brain of the fatty acids it needs can be bad, same thing with proteins. You have to ensure that you eat a balanced diet filled with foods that are actually beneficial in order to get the best in game performance.

It is important to eat however because playing while Hungry isn't a very good idea. Hunger is tied to our energy, and the longer we go while hungry, the more fatigued we will become and the less focused we will become.

Getting important nutrients and eating a balanced diet are crucial to improving our performance on the fields of Dustbowl. So, for as delicious as they may be, lay of the hot pockets if you got a serious competitive game coming down.

Physical Age

Age is something that we have absolutely no control over. We can't do anything to fight it, and we're stuck with the age we are simply based on the time we were born. And it sucks to because age can affect the way that we play video games.

Basically, i'll make this short and simple and create a list like I did for mood.

• Ages 6-11 = Too young. Very unfocused and unable to coordinate well.
  
• Ages 12-16 = Due to hormonal changes caused by puberty, focus may be found lacking, but is chalk full of energy.
  
• Ages 17 - 25 = Mature enough to be focused and create tactical plans but also young enough to have the energy to keep up with the fast paced game of Team Fortress 2. Best of both worlds.
  
• Ages 26 - 49 = Mature, calculated. Plays smart and plays well, but doesn't have the same energy to keep up with the younger folk.
  
• Ages 50+ = First off, if you're over 50 and still playing video games, than I tip my hat to you good sir, but I also must warn you that due to your age, you are slower, less coordinated and don't have the energy anymore for the quick pace of TF2.

So yeah, that's a general list of the way our age can affect our gameplay. There's nothing you can really do about it, so I guess just kinda deal with it.

Sleep

I cannot stress the importance of sleep when it comes to our performance in game. Sleep of course is based on the amount of energy we have, and the less energy we have the more groggy we become.

It should be obvious to you that sleep reduces our ability to focus and therefore reduces our ability to make complex snap decisions on the battlefield. A lack of sleep can cause your thought processes to slow down, you will become less alert. Tasks that require some amount of complex thought will become confusing. Your accuracy and mental speed decrease and you'll find yourself performing at an inadequate mental state.

However, having good sleep every night can be mighty beneficial. You should strive for 7 - 9 hours of sleep every night in order to get the best results. Anything less than 7 hours is going give you the negative effects I just covered. Getting a good nights rest improves your cognative ability and allows you to function better and focus more.

The Things We Wear

The things that we wear can effect the way we play (sensing a pattern yet?). This includes both the clothes we wear in real life and the cosmetics we put on in TF2.

Now I already have an entire guide that already goes over how hats effect us in game so I won't focus too much on that here.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=519031762

Now as for the clothes we wear in real life. Depending on what we wear while we play the game can effect the way we think without us ever realising it.

If you're wearing some unwashed clothes you just threw on after rolling out of bed, then they're probably going to be a hinderence to your performance. You're wearing crap, so you're going to feel like crap.

On the contrary, wearing something nice is going to make you play better. You'll gain a boost to your confidence and that will make you play better.

Wear clothes that you want to wear because they can provide subtle psychological benefts that you may have never even considered before. Ultimately however, IRL clothing is one of the more negligable aspects of the psychological factors that affect is in game. The affect of hats is more noticable however and it's recommended you read that guide to understand their effect.

Our Stress Level

Stress is a bad thing ya know, and it can hinder your ability in game. Stress is ultimately inevitable but it's consequences can be serious.

Worrying over issues like your Job or School, relationship issues or social dilemmas just make it hard to concentrate. And even if you aren't currently worrying over these issues their effects can still be seen. Your focus and concentration will dimish due to stress caused from your real life dilemmas. You may find yourself overwhelmed and exhausted, and if that's the case you really shouldn't expect to have good performance in a video game when you have so many other issues to worry about.

However, you may also find that playing TF2 is a good way to allevaite that stress. If that works for you than by all means go for it.

Your Environment

The environment in which we play our games can have a big impact on our ability to focus on said game.

An environment filled with distractions is prone to distracting you from what you really need to be focusing on (that being TF2). Things like phones going off in the background or a heated argument between two people happening within earshot are just some examples of things that can distract you. I've already touched on how bad a split second distraction can be in a game like this.

Other factors like maybe it's too hot or too cold can also throw you off. Maybe your chair isn't comfortable enough or your desk is too messy. Maybe there's a bad smell coming from a nearby room or the light's too dim.

You may think perfect silence may be the way to go but that could only end up driving you mad. (Think Solitary Confinement.) You also will just end up focusing too much on the little noises, even the tiny littlest quietest noise will seem like a marching band. It's good to keep a little background noise.

Finding the perfect gaming environment can be difficult and may not be an option for everybody, but if it is then it's definitely worth it to reduce distractions and increase focus.

What Color Team You're On

You know, you'd think that Red and Blu would be equal and that neither side would actually have an advantage over the other, but that is of course absolutely not the case.

The Red team actually has a statistical advantage over the Blu team. Why? Because Red is an aggressive color. By being apart of the red team you will begin to play more aggressively. Red in nature is the color of blood, it is seen as the color of power, dominance, aggression and fear. This is why being on the Red team will subconciously make the Blu team more afraid of you. The color Red also increases our alertness and our attention.

The Blu team however has a slight advantage when it comes to defense. Blue is a more calm color and the people on the Blu team think more, relax more and take things slower. They put more thought into their actions than those on Red team. Blue makes us think more long term.

These simple changes in color can have a major impact on the game and the way that we play it. Whether it's feeling the urgency and aggression of Red or the calming relaxation of blue.

In Game Panic

TF2 can be a stressful game, and it has the capability of instilling panic in us when ♥♥♥♥ starts to hit the fan. It's natural to get into a sense of a panic during a game. It happens to all of us, but it's important to understand how it happens, and how it affects you.

How it happens:

There are many ways that we can panic during a game. One example is getting flanked, especially by a class such as the pyro. Simply the act of being taken off guard throws into a short panic.

Being on fire (or any other damage over time) and on low health. This sends us into a frenzy as we desperately try to search for a way to not die. Whether it's rushing to a health kit or hoping to find the nearest medic, either way we go into panic mode.

Getting Ubercharged without warning (or being Ubercharged while not being ready to handle it). An ubercharge can be a great tool for changing the tide of battle, but it can also instill panic. Not just in the enemy team, but in the person you're ubercharging. Now all of a sudden the weight of the game rests on their shoulders, and they weren't prepared for this at all. They want to make good use of the Uber so the rush in without thinking so that they don't waste the uber and dissapoint the medic. An unexpected Ubercharge can be made useless, so it's always a good Idea as a Medic to let your pocket know you're going to uber him, or to let your Medic know to uber you.

These are a few general panic situations. But what's the big problem with panicking?

Well, when you panic you stop thinking and start acting on impulse. You're running on instinct, and that can be dangerous. Sometimes instinct can save your life, but other times it can only end up hurting your team's overall effort and performance. When we panic, we start to miss our shots, our movement becomes sporadic and we don't calculate things anymore. Panicking is a dangerous thing, so it very important to keep a cool head for as much of the game as you can.

The "Big Game" Anxiety

When it comes down to a big game, there is a bit of an Anxiety as we process the sheer weight of the game we are about to play. Sometimes that may even lead itself into a bit of a panic. If you aren't accustomed to playing for some high stakes, this can be a little disorienting, but don't worry it will subside eventually.

Even if you are used to playing for high stakes, you still feel a portion of anxiety, simply because you realise the enormity of the game you are about to play. This anxiety and panic can end up throwing you off your game at first. Although, the further into the game you go, the less effect the anxiety has as the stakes being to show themselves and you push yourself to win.

The closer the game gets to the finish the harder you will try to win, and even though you may get thrown off by the weight of the game at first, the sheer stakes will make you play with your absolute best and do anything to win.

Learned Helplessness in Competitive Play

Learned Helplessness is a term pioneered by psychologist Martin Seligman who created an experiment in which 2 groups of dogs were placed in a box with an electrified floor. The first group was given a switch that they could use to turn off the electrified floor, while the second group had no way to turn it off. Then he placed both groups of dogs into a box together except this one had a low partitiion wall that the dogs could jump over to get to safety. Once the shocking started, the dogs in the first group immediately jumped over the wall but the dogs in the second group just stood there and took the shock without even trying to escape.

Here's a model


So, you're probably wondering what this cruel experiment has to do with us, the people who play TF2. Well, hold on we're getting there.

To Seligman, the dogs in the experiment had acquired learned helplessness. They had a way to get out, but they chose instead to suffer the pain because in the minds of the dogs, they couldn't escape it. In TF2, when we play competitive, what happens to us in our very first game can likely effect what happens to us in every other competitive game we play. If you end up getting curb stomped the first time you play competitive, you may get it in your head that you're not good enough for competitive and there's nothing you can do about it. You become like the second group of dogs in Seligman's experiment.

If this sounds like you, then don't worry, you're still in luck.

Seligman went on to refine his model of learned helplessness in a paper called "Learned helplessness in humans". In this paper, Seligman argued that the things we blame our faliures on exist across 3 dimensions.

• Internal vs. External
  
• Global vs. Specific
  
• Chronic vs. Transiet

Internal deals with whether or not you believe the ability to succeed is absent in you, while External deals with whether or not you believe it's absent in everyone.

Global vs. Specific deals with whether or not you feel helpless in all situations or just one situation.

Chronic vs. Transiet deals with whether or not the helplessness is long lived (i.e. frequently reccuring) or short lived (i.e. non-recurring.)

Unsurprisingly, the one's that apply to us the most as gamers are Internal, Global and Chronic. Things like believing that everybody but you knows how to play scout (internal), doubting your reflexes are up to par with everyone elses (Global), or blaming your internet connection as the reason you didn't do so well (chronic). These attributions make you feel helpless, and that makes you more likely to just stop and give up.

In order to get around this, you need to recognize the reasons you feel helpless, and come to the conclusion that it is absolutely not the case. Shifting the blame off of ourselves can help us to dig out of the learned helplessness pit. As Jamie Madigan said in his article "Players, when met with failure, should look for different things to blame. Blame hackers and find another servers. Decide that it’s your team that sucks, not you. Maybe you’re having trouble because it’s super late and you’re tired. I mean, maybe don’t SAY these things in game chat or out loud. That would make you kind of a jerk. But at least you won’t be a helpless jerk."

Finding ways to get yourself out of the learned helplessness hole can be all you need to get yourself into competitive.

The End

That abouts wraps things up here. This is just a list of the Psychological factors that affect the way that we play in Team Fortress 2. Keep in mind that I am not a psychologist or even a psychaitrist so I'm not an expert in this field. Most of this guide is based off of research and my own personal experiences.

If you have any other Psychological Factors that I may have missed here, feel free to comment them in the comment section below. Be sure to include reasons and explanations as to why. It's also welcomed that you include sources.

If you enjoyed this guide then be sure to rate it up and help it reach the top of the guides so more people can see it.

Here are some of the other guides I have written:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=522992228

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=518517160

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=288875758

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=303158788

EDIT:
Wow, I can't believe how popular this guide has become, I never actually imagined it getting this far. I just want to say thank you to all the people who read this guide and especially to those who rated it up. You guys are the best.

Sources

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2656292/
Alhola, Paula, and Päivi Polo-Kantola. "Sleep Deprivation: Impact on Cognitive Performance." Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment. Dove Medical Press, Oct. 2007. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.

http://www.psychologyofgames.com/2015/02/red-vs-blue-which-should-you-choose/
Madigan, Jamie. "Red vs. Blue: Which Should You Choose?" The Psychology of Video Games. N.p., 27 Oct. 2015. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.

http://www.psychologyofgames.com/2016/03/learned-helplessness-and-halo-5/
Madigan, Jamie. "Learned Helplessness and Halo 5." The Psychology of Video Games. N.p., 01 Mar. 2016. Web. 10 Mar. 2017.

http://www.bettermind.com/articles/factors-that-affect-focus-and-concentration/
Schwartzbard, Julie. "Factors That Affect Focus and Concentration - Better Mind." Bettermind. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/27/how-color-affects-our-moo_n_1114790.html
Shah, Riddhi. "How Color Affects Our Mood." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 27 Nov. 2011. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.

[GrandMaster]

You should change your mindset towards the game. No matter how many matches you lose or how many times you died, have fun. Stay relaxed. It's a important to keep this in mind.

[Full_Metal_Meme]

what do I do if I am feeling anxious/depressed ingame BECAUSE I can barely play?

I've tried all sorts of things to improve aim, walkway, MGE, practicing in general for over 2k hours between 2 steam accounts and it amounted to nothing.

I love tf2, but maybe I should just give it up since I'm not enjoying it by spending 90% of my gameplay respawning and have proven to be incapable of improving at the game.

[Gekas God of War]

cringe

[Gekas God of War]

god what a waste of time

[gordonz]

Holy high effort post. Did you study sports psychology in school or sumth?

[AwesomeSause]

i killed a pro pyro many times on 2fort when i first started playing, is that skill or luck?

[Just_Velvet]

I feel this writer expects the worse and least attentive of me, and I feel insulted just going over author-backlash over things like believing this article is click-bait, having low-attention spans, etc. Just tell me your thoughts without expecting me to yell at you, fuckhead.

Like, geez, I feel bad already just for reading this. Stop making me feel bad for reading your article.

[Eternity_Sword]

About flanking pyro and panic was very true! in fact all good flanking pyros try force enemy into panic .

[󠀡󠀡]

Anxious is actually a good thing (spies)

[7i0Elite]

should be more poupluar