How long does it take you to get back to good form after an absence?

[blackwiggle]

I have just been "Attempting" to race with the usual suspects in,what would generally be considered at this forum the Elite Phantom league ,and well,to be honest I wasn't any good.
I used to be getting a few 2nd or 3rd's at least in the same company,not now.
Quite frankly "I Sucked"
I was getting owned big time.
My lines were horrible,my air braking abysmal,weapon pick up's [if any, were average] but I should of chosen better what to do with them.
People whose "On Track" antics are quite familiar to me were either making me double think myself,or I have lost the ability to be able read their usual mannerisms to out maneuver them.

It's been a while since I raced in such company,and it showed.

Anybody else "Lost the Touch" from a prolonged absence ?
I haven't raced ruthlessly for at least 2 months,possibly 3 due to a lapse of interest.
But I didn't think I would be losing by 10+ sec on my return.
That hurts.

If the same has happened to you.
How long did it take till you got your racing head back on?
And what did you do to get your "Chops" back,[I tried racing elite but I find it a bit to easy now after racing the top phantom pilots here]

[yeldar2097]

I went on WO sebatical () when I had my exams during summer.

Took a few (very intense) hours in TT to get back to where I was...If you're looking to get back into it quickly then I'd recommend chasing some of your ghosts on a track/tracks with complex/difficult lines...I think I did Sol 2 and maybe Vineta K (to get BRs/pitching on the go again)....not sure.
If you just want to get back into the game in general it might take a bit longer. I'd advise against going sub-phantom to get back into the swing of things (I know some people have tried this) because you'll get far too used to whichever class it is that you choose and your phantom game will inevitably suffer.

/two cents

[IDReaper]

I've been out of it maybe once or twice before but in general I don't really lay on the hours like a lot of other pilots I've seen. It takes me either a few runs of speed lap per track for a couple of days attempting to catch my ghosts or a single night of online races. The latter works much faster but it is rather embarrassing. There have also been many times when I found that after not racing for a while I prefer a different ship. For instance I tend to have a small favor towards Mirage but to get back into Wipeout I almost always have to use AG-Sys classic. All in all though I have found that even with a lack of practice I never have really dropped into abysmal levels. Conversely though practice doesn't make as much difference which is a downer.

[JJPAP]

I easily "forget" how to do it as well and it comes in many forms:
a) "Away from the game": Was away on vacation for a month this summer. It took me several intense weeks - (not just hours, Yel ... lol) - to get the hang of it again ...
b) "Ghostbusting": Sometimes I get (too) caught up in doing TT´s and SL´s. When entering the MP-arena, I´m usually like a frog on ice - and getting really anoyed ´cause everybody is evil to me ...
c) "Speeding up": At a certain time I spent quite some time at slower speed-classes to see how well I managed. When I went "back" to Phantom: - nothing felt natural ...

[Dark_Phantom_89]

I once didn't play for a month and it took me a good week to get properly back on form. Phantom seemed too fast at the time until I had some serious practice at it - then all went back to normal.

[Rezatron]

Didn't play much WOHD last week and when I came back on the weekend I was a little wobbly. Jumping right into high level multiplayer races is not the best idea.

I played a few rounds of TT Talon's Junction (r), Tech De Ra (r) and Modesto (r) on Rapier and that set me straight. Between that and a few online warmups, I would say 1 hour or so is how long it takes me to get back into business.

[Mateo]

Anybody else "Lost the Touch" from a prolonged absence ?
I haven't raced ruthlessly for at least 2 months,possibly 3 due to a lapse of interest.
But I didn't think I would be losing by 10+ sec on my return.
That hurts.

In early summer I've had a brake for 5 weeks and it took me about a month to reach the same level as before. Since Fury was released I nearly completely stopped playing WO, I don't want to know how long it would take to become competitive again now...

[shapealot]

thanx brainbeat. i didnt know any better, id never played wipeout before HD

[Handmadelion]

Well me and my DS3 had a falling out ever since he developed this erectile dysfunction, extenze needing, flaccid trigger. But it hasn't been all bad. I'll say more than a few races. I usually do that, just a few races already on Phantom elite. Or a tournament. And by then I'm ready to go online and mingle with the other quality racers, which there are a lot more of now by the way. Lot of new names online flying past me.

[Rubix42]

It takes me a week of playing daily to get my touch back whenever I come back after a break. I've never been a top WO pilot, nor will I ever be. I love the series, but I like playing too many other games to ever reach that level of being an Elite pilot.

Regardless, just remembering the little tricks you used to do without thinking, and getting your brain back into form of having split second reactions takes some time. What you have been doing during your break from the game will help. One time I took a break and played Ninja Gaiden, came back and playing that fast paced game helped improve my WO skills. Another time I played FFXII and that game destroyed my WO skills as it is so slow paced.

[newtype]

I'm about to find out...

[LOUDandPROUD]

Oh, man...I haven't played in months. I imagine if I started playing daily again, it would still take a couple of weeks to really get back in the groove...at LEAST.

Hello to everyone, by the way! Miss you all!

[ProblemSolver]

Hi L&P, what have you done in the meantime?

[LOUDandPROUD]

Hey PS! I've been catching up on all the other games that have been sitting on my shelf. Played through Heavenly Sword, Bioshock, Mirror's Edge, GTA IV and Mass Effect...now I'm working my way through Tomd Raider: Underworld. Still have Devil May Cry 4, Metal Gear Solid 4, Dead Space, Gears of War 2, Saint's Row 2, Resident Evil 4 and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed on my shelf that I need to get to, as well! Man, I have a lot of work ahead of me...whew.

Good hearing from you!

[ProblemSolver]

@L&P: Lucky guy! Well, I have to play catch-up on catch-up before catching
up on other things. xD I even have to play UC2 ... damn. Anyways, my next
game in line will be FF XIII. After that Heavy Rain, GoW III, and GT5. Something
like that.

On-topic: I haven't played for weeks (six or seven) but I got virtually no issues
to come up speed again. My first run was on Metropia Reverse ZONE. To my
surprise I was only about two zones away from the global record, first run. lol
Got a nice tunnel vision. Sweet. After that I played a 12 random tourney,
lost only one due to elimination.

Quite interesting, staying away from the game for awhile may even improve
one's racing skills since some fixed trained patterns (steering, visions etc.)
aren't that strong. So you got a chance to readjust things.

Playing WipEout HD Fury again showed me once again what an awesome game
this is!

[LOUDandPROUD]

Nice! Like you, I'm really looking forward to playing Heavy Rain, GoW III and GT5! Should all be fantastic games!

And I'm not surprised you were able to just jump back into WO after not playing for 6-7 weeks and dominate right off...you are a WO freak!

[someguy789]

I can normally win the average online race after about an hour but to be back at my best I normally need about a week of playing

[Mr Phlanj]

I just hope people are still playing by the time i get a ps3 It's been about 3 months since i last played with other people so it will take me some time to get back on form, but i always feel like a winner because a loss will never get to me

[AG-wolf]

Not quite sure but it's definitely a noticeable length of time I imagine... I haven't been playing ever since the 3.20 system update since I haven't been able to play online, so on the rare occasion that I get online at my friend's house, I always get my sh*t tossed. It's really frustrating, too, because I know I'm better than what my times suggest when I'm racing against decent pilots I ragequit, and then I'm reduced to sending them a message with an explanation lol

[Aeroracer]

ive not been playing wipeout for 3 months now but i gonna start up again now i got my ps3 back online so i will time it to see how long it takes me to get good again..