Staying Up Until 2 AM Watchin a tetr.io Tournament

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Staying Up Until 2 AM Watchin a tetr.io Tournament

Post by pinback »

Instead of going to sleep, I wound up staying up until 2 AM last night watching a tetr.io tournament featuring most, if not all of the world's best players. I got up this morning and wrote about my feelings on my Discord, but thought I'd share my feelings here too:

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I'm trying to think of something comparable, and I can't.

Take any sport at the highest level. These athletes are doing things I know I could never do. However, I can at least understand what they're doing, and how they're doing it.

Tiger spent his whole life on the practice range, so he can shape golf shots and putt perfectly. I can never be anywhere near that good, but I see what's happening. When MONEY MACK wins the Bengals game on a last-second field goal, costing me $30, I can see he's very good at kicking and spent his life practicing, and I could go out and try to do it and fail, but I get it.

How about pro videogamers? I've watched pro Counterstrike tournaments, and again, I could never be as fast or accurate as they are, and can't strategize as well, but I get it. They're still rushing B on Dust 2, still camping and shooting the other guys. They're just doing it way, way, way better than the rest of us.

Board games? I'll never understand how Magnus figures out what move to play, but I know how the pieces move, and I can move the horsey guy around, same as him.

This was... something else.

Watching this, not only could I not follow what was happening because it is SO insanely fast, I don't even understand how it's possible. So unlike the above, I neither understand what they're doing, or how. I don't know how you "practice" to do what they are doing, because I don't know what they're doing.

The only comparison I came up with which is anywhere close is watching world record Rubik's Cube solvers. I can't see what they're doing and don't know how they're doing it. But part of the reason I can't see is because their hands are on it, hiding parts of the cube all the time.

Here, you are seeing the full board at all times. You're seeing exactly what the players are. And staring right at it in full screen... I still cannot tell what they're doing.

They never go below placing 3 pieces per second, and often go on stretches of playing 4+ pieces per second. Tap that out with your finger to see how fast this is.

When I play, I look at the piece, think about where it would fit best, and then put it there. If I'm feeling really adventurous, I may look at the next piece just to get ready for it! Pro strats! tetr.io says that I am doing this almost, but not quite, once per second.

These guys don't do that. Somehow they rotate and place pieces perfectly, setting up for T-spins and "all clears" and all the special moves, virtually instantly. I don't know how you figure out where to put them that fast, and I don't know how you press the keys that fast to place them so quickly and accurately.

I don't know what they're doing, or how they're doing it.

Fun to watch, though. You can get a general sense of what's going on just by blurring your eyes and seeing how each guy's stack is moving up and down, but if I had to explain what was happening, no chance.

Unreal.

Also everyone playing was Asian except one white guy from Tennessee. He won. The only guy in Tennessee to win anything yesterday (fuckin' Titans). USA! USA! USA!
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Re: Staying Up Until 2 AM Watchin a tetr.io Tournament

Post by AArdvark »

It's a lot like Katate or baseball. There are only a finite amount of moves and having practiced them to an insane degree, they can instantly place the blocks in the best position. Think of moving from a D barre chord to an A minor I chord. You can position the fingers instantly without having to look because youve done it ten million times. Thats what these Tetris-shredders are doing. They make it look like magic.

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Re: Staying Up Until 2 AM Watchin a tetr.io Tournament

Post by Flack »

It's like moving from a D barre chord one of six other chords being shouted at you in a random order four times a second.
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Re: Staying Up Until 2 AM Watchin a tetr.io Tournament

Post by AArdvark »

Yes, like Guitar Hero on steroids. That's another hated game rhat makes my head explode

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Re: Staying Up Until 2 AM Watchin a tetr.io Tournament

Post by pinback »

AArdvark wrote: Sun Jan 23, 2022 10:16 am It's a lot like Katate or baseball. There are only a finite amount of moves and having practiced them to an insane degree, they can instantly place the blocks in the best position. Think of moving from a D barre chord to an A minor I chord. You can position the fingers instantly without having to look because youve done it ten million times. Thats what these Tetris-shredders are doing. They make it look like magic.
Have you watched it?
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Re: Staying Up Until 2 AM Watchin a tetr.io Tournament

Post by AArdvark »

I cant bring myself to face that pain. From your description it sounds like a madness fest. There were (are) Zelda NES competitions where players compete to get thru the game in the fastest time. It took me months to beat that game and these guys are doing it in fifteen minutes or so. The PAIN! I can't watch another example of why I'm a middle-aged loser.


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Re: Staying Up Until 2 AM Watchin a tetr.io Tournament

Post by pinback »

So you offered your opinion on something you've never seen. Even with the sound off.

I got a lotta problems with you people.
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Re: Staying Up Until 2 AM Watchin a tetr.io Tournament

Post by AArdvark »

So you offered your opinion on something you've never seen
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Re: Staying Up Until 2 AM Watchin a tetr.io Tournament

Post by Tdarcos »

pinback wrote: Sun Jan 23, 2022 3:12 pm So you offered your opinion on something you've never seen. Even with the sound off.

I got a lotta problems with you people.
Oh come on! You described how other people are performing in a game insanrly fast, so fast normal people could never keep up, you thibnk that someone can't reasonably decide that they don't want to watch?

I've never shot heroin, never seen it personally, but I think it's bad for peoplr and I''m not interested. Do tou think u's unreasonable for me to offer my opinion on something I have never seen or tried?

It is quite reasonable for a person who knows someone else can do something so fantastically well they could never even come close, and does not want to be disappointed by being reminded just how much they suck compared to a master player.

As a person with addiction problems, you, more than anyone else, should understand the concept of people who can't have something, might not want to watch other people doing something they could never hope to come close to performing. Would you want to warch videos of people having fun at parties, and enjoying having (alcoholic) drinks with their friends, and neither being addicted not having any problems?
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