Quick Question about studying games Forum

[hitmanhart408]

Usually I study games by writing my diagram on the page and then I have a notepad where I work everything out for each question. Sometimes I write the diagram and work on the notepad. What do you you do? Would it benefit to practice writing it on the same page as the problem?

[rinkrat19]

If you can't fit your diagram AND all your work on the page with the game, you are going to have some trouble on the real test.

I recommend very sharp pencils.

[Br3v]

Work it out all on the page. No notepads on D Day.

[Lyov Myshkin]

meh.. i think using pieces of paper is generally fine when you're just starting to learn games. it's probably a good idea to reduce the amount of room by starting out with a full sheet, then fold it in half when you think you can handle it, then into quarters when that seems doable.

also, i don't really like pencils, so i used to practice doing games with pen. i still think it's not a bad idea, as it solidifies some good habits (like writing shit into your main diagram and then erasing it). it also encourages you to be really purposeful in writing stuff (i.e. diagramming, transcribing rules, etc) since you know you can't erase.

eventually though, yeah you should practice with sharp pencils.

[bp shinners]

meh.. i think using pieces of paper is generally fine when you're just starting to learn games. it's probably a good idea to reduce the amount of room by starting out with a full sheet, then fold it in half when you think you can handle it, then into quarters when that seems doable.

I disagree. When you have an entire sheet, you want to fill it with diagrams of every possibility. That's gets you in the bad habit of wasting time by diagramming out every possibility. Yes, it sometimes sucks to have such a small amount of space to work in. However, overall it's a blessing because it forces you to only write out stuff that's actually going to help you get an answer. Most people with timing issues on LG have those issues because they just keep writing stuff out - that's not necessary and a waste of time.

[Lyov Myshkin]

I disagree. When you have an entire sheet, you want to fill it with diagrams of every possibility. That's gets you in the bad habit of wasting time by diagramming out every possibility. Yes, it sometimes sucks to have such a small amount of space to work in. However, overall it's a blessing because it forces you to only write out stuff that's actually going to help you get an answer. Most people with timing issues on LG have those issues because they just keep writing stuff out - that's not necessary and a waste of time.

I would definitely agree that the tendency is there to diagram all possibilities with an entire sheet of paper.

I also realize that what I'm advocating (or at least describing as a personal preference of mine) is a bit unusual from the norm, but I have to point out once again, is the fact that when I don't hate this practice when a person is first starting out with games. Games can be pretty confusing at first, I personally learned a lot about what I was supposed to be looking for by writing everything out.

Definitely the goal is to be able to compress the possibilities into a succinct symbolic form as quickly as possible, but being able to figure out the possibilities seems, to me anyhow, to be a necessary-ish condition of that.