Competitive gaming - philosophical rambling

[Undyne]

This is just some philosophical thought that has crossed my mind as of recently, with the whole Camelot Colosseum tournament going on as well as me playing a few HotS matches. Also, I just may have been bored :awesome:
Note that I am detailing my own, very biased view on this, so well... if you want to argue against me you're welcome to, but don't take personal offense in what I say.
Note2: This is NOT meant to relate to the recent faction wars issues in any way. That's a different matter as a whole. Just in case someone comes along and wonders.

But, my question is: do you play games (especially competitive games) to win, to improve, "for fun" or why else?

I myself should say, I play to have fun. I realize that competitive games are... well, competitive. If you win you'll feel awesome, and if you lose... it kind of depends on your mindset.
I don't mean to judge, but people who play to win also tend to be the people who refuse to lose - the best example being the infamous League of Legends community, where the game is always either won thanks to you, or lost due to your teammates being bad. On the flip side, people who play competitively probably invest more effort into the game and become pro players eventually.
Playing to improve is also good, of course! But I dislike taking it too far, where you struggle to optimize your skill to get better, even if you have to move out of your comfort zone for it. I've seen many people do this, and more often than not they actually play better than me, but I don't know if they really enjoy it.

As a result I'm thinking that, because you have a rough 50/50 chance of winning in total when it comes to playing ANY competitive game, sport or whatever, you should start at zero. Don't take something for granted, don't think "I am getting into this ranked match/tournament fight/whatever else and I will win it easy-peasy." Because you might not win, and you'll be disappointed, or worse. Instead, enjoy everything you get.
Some examples:
Omniverse fight loss
Play2Win player: "ARRGH I CAN'T HAVE LOST I SHOULD HAVE WON THIS IS NOT FAIR THE JUDGE IS BIASED!" :rage:
Play4Fun player:"Hey, I did my best, I was outmatched, but I came close! I did quite well I think, and I believe that I can improve. Next time I'll get even better! Congratulations on your win, enemy player. You earned it!" :yay:
Omniverse fight win
Play2Win player: "I won. Pshh, was hardly a challenge anyway. I knew I'd win, I'm the best after all, Shakespeare's got nothing on my posts." mug:
Play4Fun player: "What, I won? Woah, this is amazing! I didn't think I'd win. Hey, I really enjoyed that, I hope the other person did too." :yay:

MOBAs, CoD, TF2 - anything competitive which ends with a winning and a losing team - Loss
Play2Win player: "What the hell? Why did we lose? My team is idiots, they didn't follow my lead, goddamnit, I should be way higher, this is unfair, I'm reporting everyone else for making us lose! Not damn gg, we didn't win so it's not a good game!" :rage:
Play4Fun player: "Oh, we lost? How? Oh right, I see, their strategy worked out when we weren't paying attention. Haha, that was a good one, they're really good players! But hey, we tried and it was a good match. I hope I can get to their level. We did our best, good game everyone!" :awesome:

Same games, Win
Play2Win player: "Cool, I won. Yeah, not my team, me! I did all the plays and carried those scrubs, they should thank me. Ungrateful idiots, thinking they helped. I better move on and win some more. GG ez-pz noobs." frogc00l
Play4Fun player: "Woah! We won this! This game was so much fun, we did great efforts as a team and those two players were really good. I hope I can get on their level some day. GG everyone, was fun!" :pink:

So yes, I don't know... am I being biased or even naive for thinking like this? And what's your way of playing?

[Yu Kanda]

When i play a game i do play to win, but i do not let it get to me. I enjoy the game, win or lose. What gets to me are rotten community's that flame whenever they THINK they are losing, never is a game over before its over. Once i notice the game is no longer fun for me i just let it be and go do something else.

i do see allot of truth in your post Alex ^^ people can't take a loss.

[Undyne]

I think that the problem is that people don't want to realize that there's a 50% win ratio, not 100% For every winner there's gotta be a loser. Perhaps they're too accustomed to always winning in singleplayer games or such.

But, glad to see that you're someone who tries to win without raging ^^

[Yu Kanda]

Don't get me wrong, i was a rager. And i mean i was a HUUUUGE rager, both ingame and irl. But at some point a switch flips over and you just get very chill and relax. I understand the ragers and know where they are getting it, but whats the point xD Nothing good ever comes from losing it.

[Roronoa Zoro]

You still rage

In all seriousness, though, I try to sit on the fence when it comes to things like this. There are times where I'll float because I did carry a game, but ideally I want to improve at a game whilst also enjoying it. What's the point in playing a game to get better and win if you can't have a bit of fun while you're at it?

[Yu Kanda]

You still rage

You sir, lie. Mr. going ham 24/7

[Roronoa Zoro]

#hamlife

[Corporal Light]

As much as I want to say otherwise, I can get very easily annoyed at loss. My mind is too perfectionist to accept loss and have fun with it.

Now, when it has to do with writing, it's not nearly as bad. But anything else, well, you'll sometimes hear the annoyed howls of some random animal on the planet. You now know who it is.

[Jade Harley]

I'm usually reluctant to start playing many multiplayer games because, most of the time, if I screw up my teammates will be upset with me. Even in like, online card games or something. People flip over it. I personally think it's kind of dumb to get upset over something so brief that can easily be rectified, but I guess being a newbie means I have less to lose in comparison to people who have been playing for a longer time.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯