by the way the game has got alot easier.
i used to be like 1650.
i came back ( i play around the same sort of standard)
and i was 1750, now im playing at more a 1800 standard, more n00bs are coming to the game ( was 1st in sales) so n00bs now can go like 1650 which means the 1650 can go 1700 and the 1700 now can go 1750 etc.
i agree with most of the things you say, but i dont agree with point 2, i think that you should watch record games not off experts but off people who are better ( not greatly) then you and yours, see what they did etc, also play people who are a little better then yourself, learn what makes them better etc, play with them and talk to them, and check their stats a few times in the game for upgrades etc and see what he/she is doing.
play agianst him/her and ask why they won or what you did well, i kinda agree with the dont copy experts, you wont be able to pull off what they do, unless you understand the game as well as they do, like a loki rush will work better on say savannah, then archipelago or something.
TO EVERYONE
i advise after you learn one god well, and you arent improving much, then change the gods, play random, see who has weaknesses to what etc. learn the game as well as you can. Before you play eggy you cant say that you need to raid their gold ( if you dont no what it is like) if you play as norse or attie you cant say that fights should not go mythic, until you know why.
hope this helps.

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Well, if you lose a rated game, then you have met someone who is better than you but probably not much better than you. So by then watching the recorded game, you can learn from them. And that is exactly what I said: you only need to watch your own games. What I do is that I watch my recorded games from the opponents view to see how they reacted to my actions.

[This message has been edited by anders128 (edited 08-10-2004 @ 09:04 AM).]

Interesting topic... eX_Hope has written on Aotsanctuary that he jumped from 1800->2000 rating in a couplle of weeks using your method (watching your own recs).

I'll try what you suggest, watching my own recs. But I wont stop watching experts recs, they're interesting and fun to watch, though I havent learned that much.

The most important thing I've learned is never stop producing villagers, all the other thing I've learned has I learned myself.

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Of course, if you think it's fun to watch them, then do it. But don't try to do anything they do. Personally, I think it's more fun to play games than watch games .

I watch expert recs to see what they do vs different gods. That has helped me alot, so now there is only Zeus who really bothering me (with his hop rush).

im not sure if this is right but i cant seem to remember the release date of tt. When you started playing vanilla was tt out yet? If not this is what happenned.You reached your rate pinnacle in vanilla and then quit. When you came back you continued to play vanilla but all the competition moved to tt. So obviously your rate would rise tremendously.

I agree with you 99.999%. The only thing I did differently was that I did watch expert recorded games, however trying to copy them is a bad idea. Looking at his early game and picking up little hints and tips from their gameplay helps a little as well, but trying to reporduce his game or plan is almost impossible.

Besides that, you're right on all counts. Hats off to ya.

i hit 1828 in vanilla by 10/10 games by just copying HellFire strat of Ra... now tell if watching games doesnt help that much.. if you would have a chance to play RA's in TT almost all is using HellFire's Strat..

reading guides help too... why? read the guide for each civ and somehow you might encounter that in a game and you'll know what you'll do...for example Zeus/Poseidon TC steal...if you read about it you will know what to do instead of panic..

if you dont read guides then you posted your own guide??? funny one mate

play more learn from every defeats.. and dont get the losses got into your head.. thats the good tip.. and yah HAVE FUN cos its a game..

btw my vanilla ratings decayed

i will hit 1800 again at least i'l try... auto-queve really have its toll hehehe....

good luck

*doesn't know how to quote *
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I never visited any forum or read any strategy discussions/guides etc.

Sooo ok then... why did you post it! Surelythis is a forum, and that is kinda a strat guide!

However, i'm just picking out the irony, i think what you say holds some good ground. Essentially you just gotta play and not be afraid to loose rating, and don't stay put when you get a rating you like and not play because you're afraid you're going to loose it! (all this coming from me, a pretty crap tt player)

All i'll say is really that vanilla is sooooo much easier its funny!

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You must have missed my point in the beginning of my "guide":

***This is not a regular guide. I'm not an expert like other guide authors in this forum pretend to be. This topic is more about how I did to get better on AoM and my personal opinions. And maybe this is crap, but I hope at least someone can use it to get better.***

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Well, now I did visit a forum but only to share my methods and opinions. I still don't participate in strategy discussion.

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But if you don't read the guides you won't know what to do and therefore has to develope your own strategy to counter it. And that will, as I said, result in a deeper understanding of the game. Yes, you might loose some games because of not knowing what to do, but in the long run you'll improve.

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Yes, this may be a reason, but not the only reason. A jump from 1680-1730 to top 100 and a rating of 1875 (and I'm still improving), would that be because of less competition and nothing else?

I changed the topic title

Thing is, watching my own recs is so ridiculously boring. If I win the game, then I end up feeling as if I just watched it to boost my ego, which isn't a great thought.

What has helped me recently in Expert games is using the Pause feature. It's quite remarkable how, when you put yourself in another's places, your whole attitude changes. For example, I was watching this one rec yesterday, where I paused the game and imagined what I'd do. Then I unpaused it and saw how silly my idea really was..

First off, nice post!

I am the same way. I read guides and watch recs, all that stuff.

People do it for various reasons. I think a big one is just to feel more a part of the AOM gaming community. If you are doing that then you are more 'involved' if only on a personal level.

I myself do not play rated that much so I have not truly seen how high I can take my rate. I find it more fun to play 2v2 (and 3v3 sometimes) advanced games. The trouble there is that you will get unbalanced teams and a 1600 smurf who is really 1750, etc.

Also I think that 2v2 makes it harder to improve because you may get double teamed and if you have a weak partner then it's GG. Example: yesterday I played a 2v2 on Midgard. It was me (Zeus) and a 1750 (Hades) vs. a 1795 (Loki) and 1650 (Isis).

It turned out to be a fun game, but I was just trying to stay alive from 6 min. on. The Loki guy hit me hard (took water - ugh!) and I was struggling to get back in it. At like 10 min. I only had 1 Rax and one Archery with a small army. I felt like a 1580 noob, but since I was taking the bulk of the assault, my partner was untouched (it always seems like I am the one who gets hit and is battling while my partner relaxes and booms - lol) and went big. He hit the Loki guy from the side with a nice army and wiped out his forward build. The 1795 Loki quit!
The entire game while I was getting beaten down and forced back into my base I kept telling myself: 'Just hang on, we will win this one...this will give (my partner) time to attack...' It ended up working.

Afterwards the Loki was yelling at his partner that he sucked, etc. Which was interesting because the partner kept saying 'Man, I told you I was trying out Isis...' and when I watched the REC I saw that Isis guy had like 2000+ of both Food and Wood, but only 300 gold at the end - he didn't spend any resources or even trade for gold....weird

Overall my point is that understanding the game is a huge part in getting better.

Quoted from anders128:

That is so true. If I had not understood that even though I was sucking that game, it was giving my partner a chance to help us win - I would have quit at 10 min.

There is a lot to be said for knowing what/why/how and that can make the difference. If you play more and watch how YOU play then it will get you to that understanding faster.

Although I do notice that one thing sticks out - always use Hotkeys. I agree with all you points but I would add that one too. Using Hotkeys and being FAST in gameplay itself can make the difference. If I am slow at the start and my enemy has 5 more villes at 5 min. then that may be the game right there.

After I read this "guide" I've actually started watching my own recs. I did that a coupple of days ago, and I havent noticed any difference in how good I am (of course, learning takes time), but it is actually very interesting looking for my own mistakes.

I'll reply to this thread later if I actually get better playing the game.

Btw, are you scandinavian or something close to scandinavian? "Anders" is a common name here...

I'm from Sweden.

BEST GUIDE EVER WOW WOW COOL MEGA

um about the no compition thing its true. your rating is higher cuz everyone else who was at your rating pre TT is now gone. therefore u can get higher without play ppl who are equal to u

I'll add it.