Winston Churchill supposedly referred to his depression as bouts with the "Black Dog", something I'd thought to be under control on my part but as I learned the hard way in August, it's not always the case.
My recent malaise included a sympathetic ASL burnout which was so pervasive I couldn't even face visiting Gamesquad or opening my email client to catch up with my PbeM opponents. Those of you who found our games abandoned without the courtesy of an explanation until now, my sincere apologies.
A combination of the realities of my working week and a general desire to do nothing other than reactive recreation (ie watching Rugby matches and catching up on various TV series) coupled with a somewhat incorrect impression that I was losing every game I played really put me off ASL (and in effect all gaming).
The low point was missing out on the Operation Veritable sale that MMP put on a few weeks ago...OVHS is one of my Holy Grails of ASL, along with ABTF and KOTH, so to miss out on that purely because of timing between paysdid nothing for my PMC.
So that's the bad part of the year out of the way.
The lessons kicked into me after this are pretty straightforward:
1. Don't overcommit to PBeM - 2-3 games concurrently is about the maximum I can manage
2. The VASL League is not for me - Live VASL with Euro players doesn't work when under time pressure - so better not to commit.
3. Live VASL play - only have 2 games running concurrently at a time. Otherwise I get scheduling conflicts.
4. Look to quality of play rather than speed and quantity.
5. Avoid playing anything over more than 2 full boards on VASL, at least until the triple monitors are set up with a 27/30" main screen.
6. Don't feel pressured to accept every offer of a game - be grateful to have enough people wanting to play.
7. Take advantage of the local FTF opportunities when popssible - it gets you out of the PBeM habit and a mindset that can be detrimental to FTF play.
8. Stick to a playlist - play scenarios that interest you, not because you feel obligated.
9. Don't sweat the hard yards - the results will come, just focus on playing well.
10. Above all, have fun and take a break when you feel playing is becoming a chore.
11. The final one, always look forward to ASLOK 2013 - getting there is half the fun
Pete
