Do Pro Starcraft 2 players have fast reaction time and multitasking??

[kyrax12]

I read some articles about this sort of thing, but I don't know if it is true or not. After watching some pro players with their insanely high APM and multitasking, I wonder if Starcraft 2 can help hone their reaction time and maybe even their multitasking skills in general.

 

[toughtrasher]

Most likely yes. But I wouldn't be surprised if someone average is doing well in Starcraft 2 just off of plain skill, rather than reaction time etc

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Video games are not a substitute for physical therapy or mental and physical exercise. You want to improve your reaction times and multitasking abilities, hit the gym and get a good night's sleep.

 

[MistaFreeze]

Video games are not a substitute for physical therapy or mental and physical exercise. You want to improve your reaction times and multitasking abilities, hit the gym and get a good night's sleep.

I can vouch for this as well. Just playing CS GO after a couple weeks of serious lifting and nutrition, I've noticed substantially better coordination. My muscle memory has also vastly improved.

 

[blastingcap]

I read some articles about this sort of thing, but I don't know if it is true or not. After watching some pro players with their insanely high APM and multitasking, I wonder if Starcraft 2 can help hone their reaction time and maybe even their multitasking skills in general.

SC2 is among the hardest-core RTSes. A great SC2 player will be great at pretty much any similar game because of the sheer speed, accuracy, and micro and macro management involved.

That said, it has to be very similar to get a significant benefit.

Then again didn't Schilling buy an air force reaction simulator to improve his pitching? So you never know, I guess.

 

[BrightCandle]

If you measured there reaction times with one of the usual tests you would probably find they are pretty normal, because humans all have very similar reaction times. However they have a lot of muscle memory for making particular combinations of key and mouse combinations and they can really push out the button combinations. Their default reaction times are pretty similar, but they have trained themselves to do a whole bundle of particular actions in response to certain stimulus.

 

[jojojonny]

I've been watching some SC2 tournament streams and it's a little apparent when the pair is mismatched. Some are much faster to respond and are able to notice smaller details.

 

[_Rick_]

It's much like being a racing driver.
To get to F1 level, it's not enough to perfectly drive the car. You have to drive the car to a sufficient level, while being able to manage the race, which is a completely different mental challenge.
In Star Craft, you have to play the game at the macro/micro level very fast, while being able to formulate an appropriate strategy.

 

[toughtrasher]

Agree, it's all training. They aren't superhuman or anything, they just seem like they have more abilities than non-pro players because they've trained themselves to do something specific numerous times over.

 

[BrightCandle]

I have spent 10's of thousands of hours playing FPS games, the end result of which was I won a European championship and now maintain a high level of accuracy in game. I don't think about shooting while I am playing, that is pure muscle memory. I think about position, focus on what I hear and see and estimate where the enemy is and how he is moving and where I would best be to stop him achieving his plan. The RTS pro's are the same, they don't really think about how they knock out a unit and get it into place, they are spending their time looking at the battlefield and trying to determine what it is they need to do and what strategy to pursue. Given enough time playing SC2 you too would find you don't focus on the mechanics, you focus more and more on the strategy and wondering what your opponent has and where.

 

[darkxshade]

I will say this from my personal experience. I've been working in the financial sector for over about 8 years now and in those years have yet to encounter a colleague who is as efficient and productive as I am. And I attribute my skills and abilities to the many hours I've spent playing Starcraft back in college. Playing Starcraft taught me how to manage and multi-task efficiently by taking the time to learn and get accustomed to using hotkeys. Sure it's slower than clicking at first but once you have the shortcuts down, damn I just blaze through my work.

Every once in a while, my managers and coworkers would come up to me to discuss certain issues encountered for the day so we can try to figure it out together and they'd be like, open this, pull that up, do this do that, etc and without putting my hand on the mouse I'd have everything they asked for opened with a few keystrokes before they even finish their sentence. And every time without fail, they'd be gobsmacked at how I did it.

I wish I could put down that I was good at Starcraft in my resume cause personally, I feel it carries more weight about my abilities than some of the other stuff I put on it to make it look nice. And I didn't even played competitively.

 

[blastingcap]

If you measured there reaction times with one of the usual tests you would probably find they are pretty normal, because humans all have very similar reaction times. However they have a lot of muscle memory for making particular combinations of key and mouse combinations and they can really push out the button combinations. Their default reaction times are pretty similar, but they have trained themselves to do a whole bundle of particular actions in response to certain stimulus.

Human reaction times vary... depends on what you mean by "very similar." I do agree a lot of it becomes almost automatic after a while.

 

[Anarchist420]

multitasking ability is inherited from your mother (women can multitask better than men which means the former have higher IQs). it cant be improved by playing vidgames

 

[kyrax12]

multitasking ability is inherited from your mother (women can multitask better than men which means the former have higher IQs). it cant be improved by playing vidgames

If that was the case, there would be more girls in Esports.

 

[blastingcap]

If that was the case, there would be more girls in Esports.

Actually, that's proof that what he said is true. Females are too intelligent to waste their lives playing Esports.

 

[kyrax12]

Actually, that's proof that what he said is true. Females are too intelligent to waste their lives playing Esports.

Er... What about Korean females?

I heard you can make a semi-decent living playing e-sports. (Especially in Korea) Being on a good team means you get a pretty good check every month.. Well from what I heard.

 

[blastingcap]

Er... What about Korean females?

I heard you can make a semi-decent living playing e-sports. (Especially in Korea) Being on a good team means you get a pretty good check every month.. Well from what I heard.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_emoticons

= wink = just kidding

 

[_Rick_]

If that was the case, there would be more girls in Esports.

Matter of competitivity.
Due to basic biology, men are conditioned to compete in the open, while women use a more subtle approach to establish social hierarchy and attract mates.
While there are competitive women, they're far rarer than men, relative to the overall population.

And that's why you don't see many girls get into competitive gaming, sports etc. They lack the testosterone-drive to bash each others head in.