Two days ago I was done doing my ranked/stream grind in Rocket League (Obviously fucking killed it). I decided to do something very very very rare for me. NOT only was I going to play OFF STREAM, but also decided to play something outside the my current "Quadruple Crown" of games. Rocket League, Counter Strike, Valorant, and Diabotical. I scanned through the Epic Games Launcher....don't ask me why, but I did. I noticed this game titled "Rogue Company" and remembered my matchmaking buddy (and NATIONAL CHAMP) from the Halo days, Scott "Gandhi" Lussier was deeply involved with this game (catch that name drop on the chin). Of course, being a good eFriend I had to give this game a look. I am strictly a competitive gamer. It's seldom for me to give a shit about any game that doesn't have a balanced, entertaining, and SKILL based multiplayer. Typically, I don't invest a ton of time into third person shooters. Historically in esports they lack the prize pools, viewership, and the player base likes to take a nose dive after a few months of existence. "What about Fortnite Nick?" Fortnite has been mega successful, but even the most diehard fans will tell you that shit is wack as an "esport". It's hard to watch, RNG DOES play a untasteful amount into the outcome of a match, personality is spotlighted more than the skill of a player. In my opinion, it's the closest thing to the WWE that gaming has to offer. With all these terrible things being said about Third Person Shooters, Rogue Company well,...it fucks (the good kind of fucking). I think this game has potential to change the way we have looked at Third Person Shooters as an esport. Rogue Company has a ton of depth from it's characters, to movement, map design, and I could go on but my brain is mush. Each character has a different role, set of weapons, utilities, you know, the typical foundation of a class based shooter, yet I still feel like I can pick any character and if my aim is better than my opponents I will win the gunfight about 90 percent of the time. No, I am not gassing myself up. I am aware ranked is not out, I'm playing "randoms" and when ranked play does release my opinion may change when I play people that are of my caliber. It's just nice that when developing this game they said basically "you want to play a support? No worries you can still shred people". If you have the same mindset when it comes to games as me, you got to give this game a go. I don't see it becoming my "main" game, but I'd like to dabble with the scene, get to know the community a bit more, and keep an eye out for scrims and tournaments on Twitch. Speaking of community, whenever I get interested in a game I like to look up podcasts on said game. It gives you a better idea of what the TRUE diehards have to say about their game of choice. In my search, I found the "RoCo Radio" podcast (@RoCoRadio) and I listened to ALL of their stuff. It's just three dudes (@ChimpSteve, @RuckerSlays, @ChaingearGame) who have a very obvious passion for Rogue Company and want to see this game grow. They cover it all. This not a paid advertisement I swear. They just seem like a couple dudes that have a good thing going....well one of them did say the used to play a lot of the Uncharted multiplayer.....so yikes, but to each their own right.
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Am I nervous? Not really, but I did find the numbers to be very interesting. Day One of the NA Regionals back in August had ALMOST double the amount of PEAK viewership compared to Day One of the NA MAJOR this past Sunday. I could be reading too much into it. After all, I do predict as long as at least one of the "fan favorite teams" makes it in to the finals of the major the viewership does have the potential to skull fuck the numbers of previous ONLINE events. Followers are up and big time. Obviously, this is an effect of the game going free to play. The asshole pessimist in me is just thinking that Rocket League is at an ALL-TIME high when it comes to player base and these new players are hitting the follow button, but they aren't sticking around to watch. The NA Major needs to put on a show and I will be watching, I will be hoping that the games are entertaining and these Gods of the game pop the fuck off. We got to hook these new players to this drug called The Rocket League Championship Series and we got to get them hooked sooner than later.
3) Learning One Thing at a Time: If Rocket League was a book, this book would be gigantic. Each chapter would be a skill, mechanic, or concept. If you want to get better in a fairly quick fashion you are going to have to speed read multiple chapters at the same time. Yes, it sounds impossible, but you'll understand when I break it down. When I started playing this game I was obsessed with dribbling. I must of spent 90 percent of my time playing in free play just keeping the ball on top of my car for as long as I can. I could keep the ball on my car FOR AGES. My issue was I spent so much time learning how to dribble I struggled to flick the ball effectively. Flicking is very tied to dribbling too. I was hyper focused on ONE CHAPTER. Spread out your time. If you spend 3 hours practicing maybe split that time up amongst different skills and concepts you want to work on. For example, one hour on dribbling, an hour on playing off the wall, and one hour of learning rotations.
2) Fuck "Fake" Coaches: I know it's tempting. Especially for you NEW PLAYERS. Just don't. YouTube is OVER SATURATED with "how to" videos for Rocket League GO THERE. I am so fucking tired of seeing people who think because they hit Grand Champ for 2 seconds means they can charge kids the same amount as REAL professional RLCS caliber coaches for lessons that YouTube (a free service) already covers. This game truly embodies "hindsight is 20/20" after a goal is scored 80 percent of the time the mistake that lead to that goal is fairly obvious and the more you play this game the more obvious and easier it becomes to pin point issues. Just save your money...and subscribe to Nicktacular on Twitch. 1) Don't Fear Ranked: Casuals are fun and for the first couple weeks play casuals. Use it to warm up. Use it to try new mechanics you have been working on in free play. However if you want to truly get better at Rocket League you will need to grab your metaphorical nuts and play ranked. Ranked is the SINGLE best way to get better at this game. I mean it's the way the game was designed to play. It's going to be tough. It will be pure chaos. You will go from loving yourself to memorizing the suicide hotline by heart. As long as you are playing you will get better. I PROMISE. BONUS. Enjoy these times. I miss my early days of Rocket League. I miss having 5 other people on the field who also can't hit the ball. Whiffs everywhere, no one leaving the ground, GOALIES! Don't get me wrong I love this game still, but the charm has kind of rubbed off as I got better at the game. Cherish THIS TIME! A couple months back I was torn by what Joe Rogan said about gaming. Just a quick back story the man said in a nutshell "gaming is a waste of time". I do my best to not INSTANTLY judge or make an opinion. I like to think about it for a bit and try to both expand and counter such a claim. And to be honest, as much as gaming/esports has been is a giant part of my life I kind of half....well a third agree with his claim. This isn't something I am willing to fight to the death about because since THIS IS AMERICA everyone should live how the fuck they want. If you want to grind Raid Shadows Legends for 15 years and it makes you happy, go for it. A big part of me believes the way I think about this has a ton to do with how I was raised by my parents. I am very confident the way my parents balanced gaming, esports, and reality was PERFECT. Let me break it down for you. After years of playing Mario with my mom, Doom/Resident Evil with my Dad, and Madden with my Brother, online gaming became pretty common in 2003 and at this time I discovered Counter Strike. My parents aren't the "everyone is trying to kidnap and kill you on the internet" type, BUT they weren't ENTIRELY certain how I would handle voice chat in video games. SO they put the computer in the living room for a bit just to keep an eye and ear out for me and make sure I'm not being an idiot or menace on the internet. After a few months I gained my parents trust and the computer went back in my room. My parents also pushed the fact that school should always come first. Get that ass to school. Do homework. Study. Then Game. I was lucky enough to live in a pretty great neighborhood with a lot of friends who lived close by. These friends also enjoyed gaming so I ALWAYS had people over playing Halo or Counter Strike. My parents may have not said anything, but I knew that having friends made them a little less worried about the gaming thing. My family also pushed some outdoor/social time here and there as well. This wasn't a big deal at all because I was a very avid mountain biker and basketball player and thankfully a lot of my friends who game were also into these same activities so turning the games off occasionally wasn't painful at all. Fast forward to year 2008/2009. Halo 3 has been out for a few years. I have put thousands of hours into this game. I even began making videos. Gameplay Reviews, Commentary Videos, MLG Event predictions, stuff like that. Eventually, I became a name in the Halo scene. I may not have been a GIANT name, but it was flattering and solidifying of my efforts when I would be in a match of Halo and someone would recognize me and tell me that they were a fan of my content. My parents saw the income and success I was getting from making these videos and even though they were very excited and supported me, they knew gaming wasn't known as the most stable career choice. Especially when you got REAL bills to pay. When I graduated high school the family pushed me to find a good full-time job and continue working on videos and streaming part-time and if the opportunity arose to go full time TO GRAB that opportunity by the balls. More than 10 years later I am very happy my parents nudged me in this direction. I love my full-time job, the people I work with, it pays well, AND the gaming stuff is a part-time hobby that gives me a decent financial cushion. It's interesting that on social media you always hear about the "I quit working and began streaming full time stories and happily ever after blah blah blah", but you don't hear about the galactically bigger pool of people who ruin a big chunk of their lives because they took this HUGE gaming gamble. Just because the dream is part-time doesn't mean you aren't living a dream. My parents did it right. I am a 30 year old man. I have a good job, I make decent money, Bad Manners Esports is taking off, I am living with a SMOKE SHOW of a woman, and the stream is BOOMING. I am proud of the life I have worked so hard for. I am also very proud of my clean underwear record. Which sadly was compromised two days ago. I understand what is going through you, the readers mind..."how?". To be honest I have no clue. I wipe my ass extremely well hell I'm a baby wipe user. If I was a crazy person I would compare my ass wiping to the way a neurosurgeon does brain surgery. Clean, Precise, Organized, Methodical, and TEXT BOOK. Now knowing this you would understand my shock when I noticed this very small, yet prominent brown skid in my underwear. Dread overcame my soul. I felt like I lost my "grown man card". I was SHOOK. Out of pure shame and panic I immediately threw them out. I couldn't have my lady accidently stumble upon this mess when she (kindly and graciously) does the laundry. Yeah she has handled my underwear hundreds of times, but never a soiled pair. I can't have that on my conscious. I can't have this beautiful woman lay next to me in bed knowing that I have made this rectal mistake. WE may know my record is ruined, but I can't have her knowing. Let the new record BEGIN!
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