Ignoring the Basics
Jumping into matches without understanding how the game actually works is one of the biggest mistakes new players make. It might seem like you’re saving time, but you’re actually setting yourself up for frustration later.
Don’t Skip the Learning Phase
Skipping the tutorial or ignoring in game prompts might feel like a shortcut, but it usually leads to:
Misunderstanding core mechanics (movement, combat, objectives)
Slower progression through beginner ranks
Missed strategies that experienced players exploit
Core Mechanics First, Matches Second
Before you drop into your first competitive game, make sure you:
Complete the tutorial or practice mode if offered
Learn the basic controls, UI elements, and game objectives
Test different movement and combat techniques in a no pressure setting
Why It Matters
Setbacks early on can lead to discouragement or bad habits. Mastering the basics gives you the confidence and clarity needed to grow as a player. You’ll die less often, deal more damage, and make more meaningful decisions without having to panic every time a fight breaks out.
Tip: Practice doesn’t have to be boring. Spend 15 20 minutes in training mode trying out weapons, learning recoil patterns, or experimenting with movement to build your muscle memory.
Poor Control Settings
Most beginners stick with default settings. Big mistake. Default sensitivity and button layouts are made to work for everyone which really means they’re optimized for no one. If your aim feels sluggish or your character moves like they’re underwater, your settings are probably holding you back.
Sloppy movement and slow reactions aren’t always about skill. Sometimes it’s just a bad setup. Slightly tweaking sensitivity, button binds, or dead zones can make you quicker, smoother, and way more accurate. You don’t need pro level reflexes you need a layout that fits your style.
Take 15 minutes and dial things in before grinding matches. It’ll pay off fast. Use this guide to get started: Beginner Control Settings Guide.
Not Understanding the Map
Maps are more than just pretty backdrops they’re the battlefield. And if you don’t know your way around, you’re basically wearing a bullseye. Getting lost doesn’t just slow you down, it makes you an easy target. Good players know the terrain better than the back of their hand they don’t waste time roaming or second guessing where to go next.
In both solo and squad play, lack of map awareness splits focus and kills communication. You can’t help your team if you’re looting some random shed while they’re stuck in a firefight. Knowing the key zones, high traffic choke points, and prime loot areas gives you an edge before a single shot is fired.
Study the map early. Drop into different zones. Take note of where action tends to build. Awareness isn’t just a skill it’s a multiplier for everything else you do right.
Over Reliance on Luck
Many new players fall into the trap of blaming outcomes on bad luck or poor loot drops. While RNG (random number generation) does affect what gear or items you receive, relying solely on it is a fast way to plateau.
Why It’s a Problem
Gear dependent mindset: Waiting for powerful items instead of improving core skills.
Missed learning opportunities: When luck is your excuse, you don’t analyze mistakes or adjust strategies.
Inconsistent performance: Skill based play gives you control; luck based play leads to frustration.
Strategy Beats RNG
Instead of gambling on high tier loot spawns, focus on:
Positioning: Being in the right place often matters more than the gear you have.
Decision making: Smart choices under pressure win fights more reliably than rare weapons.
Game knowledge: Understanding rotations, spawn points, and enemy behavior reduces reliance on chance.
Bottom Line
Hope is not a strategy. Skilled players win even with average gear, because they know how to outplay, out position, and outthink their opponents. Master the fundamentals, and luck becomes just a bonus not a crutch.
Weak Aim and No Sensitivity Tuning
If your flick shots are missing or your aim feels like it’s fighting back, don’t blame your reflexes just yet. In most cases, it’s your control settings doing you dirty. Default sensitivity settings are built for average results not precision. Tracking, snapping, and micro adjustments all fall apart if your aim setup’s not dialed in.
Fixing this isn’t fluff it’s foundational. Customizing your aim sensitivity based on your gear and playstyle builds muscle memory that sticks. Whether you’re on controller or mouse and keyboard, fine tuning your settings can turn erratic aim into automatic headshots.
Not sure where to start? The Beginner Control Settings Guide breaks it all down and helps you lock in settings that actually work for you.
Tunnel Vision
It’s easy to get locked in on one enemy during a fight, especially when they’re low health or you’re about to finish them off. But when your focus narrows too much, you turn yourself into an easy target. Enemies don’t exist in a vacuum where there’s one, there’s often more. While you’re chasing one kill, their teammate could be flanking. Or worse, a third party rolls up and wipes you both.
Situational awareness is everything. Strong players constantly check their surroundings, watch their minimap, and listen for audio cues. If you tunnel, you stop playing the wider game. Keep scanning. Take quick glances behind cover. If you’re in squads, call out positions and trust your team to help secure kills rather than handling everything solo.
Tunnel vision doesn’t just cost fights it costs entire games. Stay sharp.
Poor Timing on Engagements
Running headfirst into every fight might feel bold, but it’s often just bad strategy. A lot of new players think more fights = more chances to win. In reality, jumping into a brawl without backup, a solid angle, or even knowing how many enemies are stacked against you usually ends with a respawn screen.
This comes down to poor judgment on risk versus reward. If you’re low on health, out of resources, or your squad’s lagging behind, it’s not the time to play hero. Good players don’t chase every red dot on the map they pick their moments. They assess terrain, third party potential, and whether they’ve got the upper hand or not.
Backing off isn’t cowardice. It’s discipline. Smart players are patient. They play to survive, reset, and win fights on their terms because knowing when not to fight is what keeps you in the game longer.
Ignoring the Meta
Running into matches with outdated gear or off meta builds is a fast track to frustration. What worked last season might be useless now and no amount of skill will save you if your setup can’t compete. The meta shifts constantly, and the best players stay ahead of it.
Pay attention to patch notes. Developers tweak damage outputs, cooldowns, and item stats all the time. A minor nerf or buff can change the power hierarchy overnight. Ignoring these tweaks means you’re showing up to a gunfight with a slingshot.
Also, watch top tier streamers not just for entertainment, but for education. See what loadouts they’re using, how they rotate items, what perks they pair together. Think of it as watching game tape: prep work that builds smarter gameplay.
Stay flexible. Adapt fast. If you’re not adjusting your builds, you’re playing at a disadvantage before the match even loads.
Not Using Headphones
Sound isn’t optional it’s intel. Footsteps, reloads, doors creaking open every noise in the game is a clue about what’s happening around you. Skip the audio, and you’re basically closing your eyes in a firefight. Good players use sound like radar. They track movement, time their pushes, and dodge ambushes just by listening.
If you’re playing on tinny laptop speakers or muting the game to stream music, you’re doing yourself dirty. A decent pair of headphones isn’t a luxury it’s a weapon. You’ll hear enemies reloading behind a wall, catch someone creeping in from a side flank, or even hear the exact direction a third party is coming from.
Fix it quick: ditch the distractions, lock in with solid audio, and start playing like you can hear the battlefield. Because you should.
Playing Solo in a Team Game
This one’s simple: if you’re in a team based game and you play like it’s a solo match, you’re a liability. Not pinging enemies, not calling out loot or rotations, not backing up your squad it all adds up. You might think you’re doing fine on your own, but in reality, you’re dragging the team down.
Most modern shooters and battle royale games are built around coordination. They reward squads that stick together and punish lone wolves who take off without a plan. Even if you don’t have a mic, the ping system exists for a reason. Use it. Mark enemies. Alert your team to loot. Suggest directions. It’s the bare minimum, but it goes a long way.
You don’t have to be a shot caller. You just have to avoid being silent and selfish. Games are won with information, backup, and just enough teamwork to outlast the chaos. Start communicating even if it’s only through quick marks and well timed assists.
Barbara Goodebenics has opinions about upcoming game releases. Informed ones, backed by real experience — but opinions nonetheless, and they doesn't try to disguise them as neutral observation. They thinks a lot of what gets written about Upcoming Game Releases, Competitive Play Insights, Sticky Game Strategies is either too cautious to be useful or too confident to be credible, and they's work tends to sit deliberately in the space between those two failure modes.
Reading Barbara's pieces, you get the sense of someone who has thought about this stuff seriously and arrived at actual conclusions — not just collected a range of perspectives and declined to pick one. That can be uncomfortable when they lands on something you disagree with. It's also why the writing is worth engaging with. Barbara isn't interested in telling people what they want to hear. They is interested in telling them what they actually thinks, with enough reasoning behind it that you can push back if you want to. That kind of intellectual honesty is rarer than it should be.
What Barbara is best at is the moment when a familiar topic reveals something unexpected — when the conventional wisdom turns out to be slightly off, or when a small shift in framing changes everything. They finds those moments consistently, which is why they's work tends to generate real discussion rather than just passive agreement.