I don''t know about the ""luck"" or ""karma"" connection, but I do know for me it is nearly impossible to game during the work week. I just don''t have the energy or concentration for it.

I may play a couple hours if at all during the week, but a Saturday or Sunday session from 8 a.m. until 3 or 4 is more my norm, and I play better then.

GTA3: VC. I could never get past the RC helecopter demolition mission until one day it all synch''d up. In MechWarrior 2 there was a mission where you had to blow up a cooling unit and then bug out in a medium mech. I could never get past it then *bam* I got past it. I was freakin'' stunned that I pulled it off.

More recently, in the Tribe Beta I hit the top of the list while struggling, in vain, to defend the flag. Not sure what I did right, but my name was all over the place; top of the list, most flag returns, most Mid-Air discs.

The same thing happens to me with Counter Strike.

But I liken it more to ''inconsistency'' than ''luck'' or the lack thereof.

I''ll have rounds (hmm... Aztec, CT side) where I''ll go 3 and 17 and honestly feel like quitting and uninstalling the game. Then, we''ll switch maps (or I''ll log off and play the next day) and go 19 and 5, having multiple kill rounds.

It''s just frustrating - I''d even kick down my ''top skill time'' a few notches to always be at that level... to be known as the guy who, without fail, will do pretty well. Better than sucky with a few shining moments.

Yeah I''ve had that happen. I wouldn''t call it luck or karma tho. I think it''s desire and just being in the mood. If I play too much I lose interest in games so I have to balance it out.

Sometimes I look at a game and I sorta half-heartedly play it. I''ll finally quit cause I''m just not in the mood to solve puzzles or what not and I''ll shelf it for a few months or weeks or days. Then, if and when I visit the game again, it''s with a refreshed mind and a new perspective and a slight familiar feeling from having dabbled in the game before and wha la it''s a different beast and it''s fun.

For games like bf42 which I still play I can''t play it everyday any more. I burn out. My interest level and performance stays much higher if I play say twice/week. Also helps if I try different things within a game to keep my interest up. Bf42, for instance, I switch between classes, vehicles, stationary guns, offense/defense, etc to keep myself interested and challenged.

I agree with the many point''s folks have made here. My
example is Alien vs. Predator (well most recent). I got it when it first came out and didn''t get very far. Just installed it a few weeks ago and I''m much farther now. Actually this has happened with MOO2 and X-Com (this was great, but I was always moving on to other games. But this time I really got far into it...so very good).

Mood and such can be it too, but there is that ''it all falls into
place'' aspect. One can have ''it''. And ''luck'' is part of the cosmic crap shoot. As Napoleon once said (or close), ''...I''d rather have a lucky general then a good one...'' (in Corsican French of course)

When I''m on in America''s Army or Jo or whatever, it''s a nice sprinkling of both (i.e. skill and luck) that really(!) make''s it a sweet session of success.

And as Ducki mentioned, it''s so great to find a game that the Mrs. (in my case SO) really digs a game and playing with you (or without you!...but she''s ''playing''(!!) . Life is good at those times

When I used to play Jedi Knight 2 online quite competatively, I learned to accept this as a fact of life. There are times you can just kinda unfocus your eyes a bit and see the whole screen rather than part of it. I played so often and so much that I was basically running on autopilot. That''s when I did my best.
I learned to figure out quite early when I wasn''t going to be able to do that and called it a day instantly.
So yeah, I know exactly what you''re talking about.
And CEJ, I was stuck on the exact same mission, I believe. I just grabbed a the smallest mech you could, [firefox?] put almost all of my weight into engines, ran past/around everyone.

*gets in the way back when machine* I think I did something similar but with a vulture (?). Nothin'' but small lasers if I remember right.

Now, a game that required luck; MechCommander. anyone finish the original? (not the second one that was published by MS).

What happen''s when the mind is maxed and now loosing
synapsis(envision a old boat taking on water if you will)?
(and I''m talking about the part that works of course

Another factor is ''staying loose''. If you are more relaxed and sort of what Morrolan mention''s, ''...kinda of unfocus...'', you do indeed become more one with the surrondings and can do amazing things (Buddhist ''unfocused focus'' of ''enlightenment''. Hey wait, this is getting way to heavy *Chuckle*

what I would call ""The Zone.""

when I start playing a game when I should be doing something else, have to do something else, or I have to go somewhere within 1-2 hours of my starting. that''s when I play the best.

example: XMas on the SNES and Super Mario All Stars, or the PSX with Loaded, and we had to leave for a relative''s house soon. it''s also bad when I go for ""one more game before I leave, I have time,"" and I miss dinner.

for some reason, when I set aside time to play games, many times I play poorly or get extremely pissed off.

example: NBA Jam and Mortal Kombat on release days for Genisis, Soul Edge on PSX, Burnout 3 for XBox.

This is a core concept in one of the ancient japanese/chinese martial writings. I forget which one, but I think it may be The Book of Five Rings. When you focus on an opponent, or more importantly, part of an opponent(i.e. sword arm, feet, head) you become easy to fake out. When you unfocus your eyes and ... well, essentially, use the force, Luke, you become difficult to fake out, and better aware of the entire situation, not just the part you can focus on at any given moment.
You flow like the river, sway like the willow.

On folks getting frustrated at Burnout, I just can''t see that. For me. I''ll try a race a couple of times, and if I''m not ""there"", I try a different one. It''s like Penny Arcade said, you unlock stuff so frequently, there''s always something new to try out. If you start to scream at the screen, you can just hit another challenge/track/intersection. Yeah, load times suck, but you have almost the same amount of load time switching events as you do retrying an event, so I find it much easier to sample everything like a buffet as opposed to working my way through a 7 course meal one course at a time.

That''s just me, though.
It also helps to play it in the taking turns way of handing the controller back and forth. You try, someone else tries, etc. It definitely alleviates any potential banging-your-head-against-a-brick-wall sensation you might get.