Professional Gaming &How You Can Build a Career in It

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For parents who are saying that “you can’t play video games for a living”,well, you can thank the people behind the scenes who work so hard for the rest of the world to take pro-gaming more seriously.Apart from the prize money and the fame, internationally recognized players can now gain a US P-1 visa that is usually reserved for sports players.These visa holders can stay and earn a salary while “playing” in the US.

The route to becoming a pro-athlete however takes hundreds of man-hours of practice, skill, determination and teamwork.It is hardly a walk in the park.Here are 10 basic tips to start you off on the path of becoming a progamer.

有些父母总把“打游戏可不是正经职业”挂在嘴上，他们的孩子还真得感谢那些辛勤付出的幕后英雄，正是这些人让世人用更严肃的眼光来看待游戏。除了奖金和名声，国际知名玩家现在还能获得通常为体育运动员保留的美国P-1签证。持有这类签证的人可以留在美国，通过“玩游戏”得到报酬。

然而，成为一名职业玩家需要数百小时的训练，还有技巧、决心和团队合作。这可不是在公园里散步。以下是开启职业玩家之路的10条基本建议。

1.Know the jargon

1.了解游戏术语

Not necessarily the first thing to do but it is one of the more important ones, know that there is a lot of jargon involved in multiplayer games, and it’s not just limited to Internet speak.Game jargon varies, according to the games you play.

了解多人游戏里的大量术语，不要仅局限于网络语言——这不一定是首先要做的事，但却是一件相当重要的事。游戏术语五花八门，要看你玩的是什么。

For example in MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) games likeDOTA 2,League of legendsorHeroes of Newerth, there are terms like stun1stun眩晕：不能移动，不能攻击，不能使用技能。, hex/voodoo2hex/voodoo咒语/魔法：在《英雄联盟》中，即“符文之地与魔法”，是《英雄联盟》的背景。, disable3disable沉默：阻止单位使用技能或法术。, lane4lane路线：游戏地图中共分为三条路线，即上路、中路和下路。, neutrals/jungle or ancients5neutrals/jungle or ancients丛林野怪/远古巨兽：指在地图中野区丛林中的猛兽，击打可以获得效果加成，即buff效果。.

例如，在《刀塔2》《英雄联盟》或是《超神英雄》这类多人在线战术竞技（MOBA）游戏中，就有诸如“眩晕”（stun）、“咒语 /魔法”（hex/voodoo）、“ 沉 默 ”（disable）、“路线”（lane）、“丛林野怪 /远古巨兽”（neutrals/jungle or ancients）等术语。

First person shooter (FPS) players also give unique names to spots or areas on the map.This allows your teammates to know the whereabouts of enemy players.Competitive gaming relies a lot on strategy and fast and effective communication with your team mates.

第一人称射击类（FPS）游戏的玩家还赋予地图中不同地点或区域特定的名称。这可以让队友知悉敌方所处的位置。竞技类游戏非常依赖策略以及队友之间快捷有效的沟通。

2.Practice against AI or Bots first

2.先与人工智能或机器人对战练习

Many competitive multiplayer games today let you practice against Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Bots (Robots).If you’re still learning the ins and outs of the game while trying to catch up with everyone else, this is a good place to start.

如今，许多竞技类多人游戏都允许玩家与人工智能或机器人进行对战练习。如果你还处在了解游戏详情的阶段，同时又想赶上别人，那么这是一个好的起点。

You will be able to select a difficulty and practice on easier modes before moving on to harder ones.It is also a great place to get the hang of your controls and game user interface without having to think about where everything is.It may feel like a boring task but even the karate kid had slow “wax on,wax off6语出1984年影片《龙威小子》，又译《空手道小子》（The Karate Kid）。主人公丹尼尔学习空手道的第一课就是擦洗教练的汽车，为它“上蜡、刮蜡”。” beginnings.if it helps, think ofit as investing time into figuring out how to survive longer on the battlefield.

你可以选择难度级别，在相对简单的模式下练习，然后进入更难的模式。这也是一种上佳的途径，即便你一窍不通也可熟悉游戏控制器和玩家操作界面。也许这看起来很无聊，但哪怕是“空手道小子”也经历了漫长的“上蜡、刮蜡”起步阶段。如果管用，就把它当作时间投资吧——一种能让你明白如何在战场上生存更久的投资。

3.Play and learn together

3.边玩边学

Next up, play with real people.And who better to start storming the battlefield with, than with your friends.

接下来，与真人对战。若论与人一起开始在战场上一展身手，还有谁比朋友们更好呢？

Playing with friends also means you can quickly learn the game together by giving each other advice or by sharing your experiences.Who knows, this may also be where you form your team of similarly skilled gamers.

与朋友对战也意味着你们能够通过为彼此提出建议或是分享经验来快速习得游戏技巧。谁知道呢，你们也许还能因此组建一支水平相当的玩家队伍。

Gaming is not always all about fun,it can get intense and include arguments or disagreements, but that is what you have to deal with from knowing your teammates’ playing style inside out.In the long run, it helps to know that you have finally assembled a team who will watch your back when that is quintessential to winning.

游戏并不总是充满欢乐，它可能变得激烈，还包含争论或分歧，但这也是你全面了解队友游戏风格时必须面对的。长远来看，这会让你知道，你们最终组建的这支队伍将在胜利的关键时刻助你一臂之力。

4.Watch professionals play

4.看职业玩家打游戏

You can only get as good as your imagination can let you, so sometimes you need inspiration from the ones who have been there, done that.Watching professionals play lets you learn how the pros do it, how their complex teamwork and strategies work, watch their key twitch and split decision-making in action, tricks, ploys and more lessons that will help make or break your gameplay.

你无法突破自身想象的局限，因此有时候需要从别人已经达到的高度和做过的事情中汲取灵感。看职业玩家打游戏能让你知道他们是怎样做的，他们复杂的团队合作和战术策略是如何运作的，看他们在行动、技巧、策略和更多方面如何做出关键反应和迅速决策，这都有助于你提升竞技水平。

Other times, instead of watching someone play, you can opt for tutorials and guides where YouTubers explain what’s going on.You can also find walkthroughs of single player games on YouTube if you’re stuck at a level.

其他时候，你可以不看别人打游戏，而是选择观看YouTube上的“教程和指导”，这里的用户会向你解释各个步骤。同样，如果受困于单人游戏的某一关卡，你也能在YouTube上找到相关攻略。

5.Do what you do best

5.做最擅长的事

If you want to be serious, there needs to be specialization of skills.Even though there are a lot of characters,weaponry and classes that are individually unique within each game, it really depends on what combination you enjoy playing with the most.

如果你想变得更具专业水准，那么需要有一些专长。虽然不同的游戏各有许多独特的角色、武器和等级，但实际上你在游戏中最得心应手的操作组合才是关键。

This includes gameplay on the field,whether it’s running around the map,jumping headlong into the heat of the action, sitting still to farm gold or being the support member of the team.

例如，在游戏场地中就有不同玩法：要么在地图上四处出击，要么直奔激烈的战事中心，或是停下来开采金矿，抑或成为辅助团队的一员。

You can find fun in every aspect of a game but to be a real awesome team player, be really, really good at what you do, especially one you seem to have a knack for, and find other samespirited players to join you and fortify your team.

你能在一个游戏的方方面面发现乐趣，但如果想成为一名真正优秀的团队玩家，就需要做自己非常非常擅长的事情，尤其是你似乎很有心得的那件事；与此同时，需要找到志同道合的玩家加入你的队伍，使它变得更强。

6.Get some “gaming”gear

6.获取一些游戏设备

It can be really frustrating to be in the heat of battle only to find yourselflosing because of faulty hardware.There is a reason why brands like Razer, Steel-Series, CM Storm and Logitech have gaming gear that can tear a hole in your pocket.

在战斗最激烈的时候发现自己将因硬件缺陷而落败，这确实让人沮丧。这就是为什么雷蛇、赛睿、罗技等游戏设备制造商能让你大掏腰包。

They are built for gameplay: durable,responsive, accurate and overall will enhance your gameplay and improve game performance.That’s definitely worth investing in.

这些设备为游戏竞技而生：它们耐用、灵敏、精确，能全面提升游戏体验、改善比赛表现。绝对值得投资。

Gaming peripherals have high-quality hardware that also look good.While you may begin with cheaper alternatives, know that gamers swear by their gear, and take it from them that hardware plays a significant role in cutting down errors while in heated battle.

电游周边产品里的一些高质量硬件设备也相当不错。虽然开始你可能会入手比较便宜的商品，但要知道，玩家们极其信赖他们的设备，并且相信在激战中硬件会起到减少失误的重要作用。

7.Search for tips, tricks and guides

7.搜集建议、技巧和指导

Watching people play means you can closely watch their movements, but this doesn’t give you information about the many other things going on inside their head.Part of understanding the mechanics of the game is to read about it, study it in-depth.

看别人玩游戏意味着你能近距离观察他们的一举一动，但这并不能使你了解他们大脑内部的运转。从一定程度上说，要了解游戏机制就要认真学习，深入钻研。

The internet is a great source to find out more in-depth things of just about any game.We’re talking about knowledge on the characters, their skills, their moves with weapons, their armory, the playing field and more.No one said it was going to be easy, but the hard work may be well worth it to win games.Once you learn what each character is capable of doing, you won’t get caught off guard so easily.

互联网是能找到任何游戏深度资源的重要平台。我指的是有关角色的各种信息，他们的技能、带武器移动、军械库以及游戏场地等。这绝非易事，但为赢得比赛而付出艰辛是值得的。一旦知道每个角色的技能，你就不会掉以轻心。

8.Learning from hack-free experience

8.积累经验，杜绝外挂

No one turns pro overnight, even professional gamers have to practice and train for hours a day—check out their live stream to get a feel of what gaming a whole day feels like.Consistent gameplay and charting your progression in terms of team performance may actually help build towards a gaming career.

没人能在一夜之间成为职业玩家，哪怕职业玩家也必须每天花费大量时间训练。看看他们的直播就知道玩一整天游戏是什么感觉了。持续的游戏竞技以及根据团队表现记录自身进步也许对成为职业玩家都有切实的帮助。

Take every win and loss as a challenge to better your gameplay but it’s important to enjoy the game for what it is.If you ever find yourself needing to turn to hacks, don’t.While you may be thinking about using hacks to advance in the game, it isn’t actually a good step, mostly because you’re “not playing” the game anymore.

将每一次胜负都当作提升竞技水平的挑战，但享受游戏本身也同样重要。如果你发现想求助于“外挂”，可一定打消这个念头。你也许想过以作弊的方式在游戏中取得领先，其实这并不光彩，因为你基本上不再是在“玩”游戏了。

Pro-gamers are gamers who fully understand the game and exploit its mechanics (without hacks) to their advantage.It’s also the reason why many other fellow gamers respect their determination to climb their way to the top,hack free.Stay away from hacks and play it the right way.

职业玩家能充分理解游戏并利用游戏规则（无外挂）打造自身优势。这也是其他许多玩家尊重他们的原因：他们决心以无外挂的方式向顶峰攀登。远离外挂，公平竞技。

9.Customize settings for performance

9.根据电脑性能进行自定义设置

This is an extension from #6.Games can be very graphically demanding and might require you to have a high-performance computer in order to enjoy an immersive gameplay.However, it’s ok if you don’t have a beefy computer.All you have to do is lower the graphic settings to ensure you have smoother gameplay during intense clashes.

这是第6条建议的延伸。游戏对画面的要求颇高，也许还需要一台高性能电脑以享受沉浸式的竞技体验。不过，没有足够给力的电脑也无妨。你只需降低画面设置，以确保在激烈比拼中能有更加流畅的竞技操作。

Don’t worry of what others might think of the ugly graphics, pro-gamers do it all the time.They need fewer“beautiful” features because they’re not there for that.To them, the correct actions are what matters.Taking the load off the machines means less distractions anyways, and better performance.

不用担心别人会对难看的游戏界面有什么看法，职业玩家一直都是这么做的。职业玩家不需要那么多“好看”的东西，因为他们的目的并不在此，对他们而言，正确的操作才是关键。总之，减少机器负荷意味着更少的干扰和更好的表现。

10.Be nice to everyone

10.友好对待每个人

As competitive as it can get in the gaming arena, everyone’s there to play.Even if it is there to win, everyone is still looking for a good game.Don’t ruin the mood with senseless verbal brutality, particularly if you are new to the game.

游戏的舞台竞争激烈，每个人来这里都是为了玩游戏。尽管获胜是目标，但大家仍然希望拥有良好的游戏体验。因此，不要用毫无意义的过激言辞破坏兴致，特别当你还是个游戏菜鸟的时候。

Being nice to strangers can get you far, find you a fellow player to brave the tough training sessions ahead and some of them can teach you a thing or two about how to master the game faster and better.May the best player win!

友好对待陌生人能使你走得更远，帮你找到一个并肩熬过前方艰苦训练期的队友。而且，有些人还能教你一两招，让你更快、更好地掌控游戏。祝最好的玩家取得胜利！