Terrible Loser

I saw yesterday’s PVP and it was like Scott Kurtz was inside my mind! (It’s incredibly important you view that comic before continuing. Go on ahead and look. I’ll wait.)

Did you read it? Good. (If you didn’t, go do so, but we’re not waiting for any stragglers. Keep up with the rest of the class!)

Explanation of Scott Kurtz’s mind-reading powers: I suck at losing. Which is a big problem for me, because I lose a lot. Munchkin? Settlers of Catan? Halo? (OMG am I terrible at Halo) Super Mario Brothers for the Wii? (There was much stress from badly losing the game)

The way it works for me is a series of if/then/else statements. If everyone has the same experience level then I am generally fine with losing. If I am the only one new to the game then I probably won’t play. My chances of winning are low and I won’t learn by continually being beaten. If I am the one with the most experience then I will play confident that I will win. When I lose, it is infuriating.

Wherever possible, I prefer cooperative play. Best-case scenario is playing a game where I am my only opponent. Example: DJ Hero. There are no goombas, orcs, flying-turtles, or spike deathtraps for me to blame for my failure. DJ Hero is learning music in easy mode. If I mess up a mix, I know I’ll do better next time and get five stars to boot. DJ Hero was the tincture that soothed the Super Mario Bros rage-beast (See Dex-Starr above for example of rage-beasts).

Now I have Starcraft II. Trey and I played each other last night and the first match, he crushed me. I got irritated, knew I couldn’t win and just surrendered. It made me grouchy. He gave me some pointers on how to do that role better and we played again. I won the next match, but he went a little easy on me so as not to upset the marital household. After last night, the PVP comic was just perfectly timed.

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  1. I recomend playing in co-op mode against computer teams … sounds like you would enjoy it more!

      • Jess on August 3, 2010 at 11:14 am
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      Funny, we tried that, because he knows how terrible I am with losing, but we got crushed by the AI. Now that we’ve played eachother and he showed me some tips, I think we’ll do better in co-op mode. I need to learn to lose gracefully otherwise raising children is going to be awful. It’s a skill I should have developed eons ago, so it’s about time I get on that.

      1. What are you playing? I can’t seem to pull myself away from the Terrans.

        1. I never played Starcraft, so I’m not real familiar with the other races, so I’ve been playing Terran and trying different strategies with it. The next one I try in 1v1 will be to create nothing but SCVs if it’s Terran v Terran and Zerg Rush their base. LOL.

  2. I recommend games like Arkham Horror, where all the player are playing against the game. Or, a simpler game, Betryal at House on the Hill, a game where sometime during it, one random player becomes the evail mastermind bent on destroying the others.

    1. See, I will get mad at the AI as well for being smarter than me if I’m just getting utterly crushed and not able to advance at all. It’s a flaw I’m trying to work out by way of practice and understanding. Doesn’t always work out so well, though.

      When it comes to Board Games, I’m generally really good at the classics like Othello and Chinese Checkers. Backgammon not so much, though I have tried to get into it and I’m way too impatient for Chess or Checkers. I get destroyed in Checkers like you wouldn’t believe. I also really like playing new board/card games with people just as inexperienced. The learning together becomes a bonding moment that I totally get behind and my disappointment at not winning loses a lot of its sting.

  3. If you play the AI make sure it’s set to Easy or Casual or AI for dummies cuz when John (whom I regard as an authority on RTS games) says it’s too hard I believe him.

    I know much better than to play AGAINST John in Starcraft II. He’d eat me alive and spit me out. If we do play at all it’ll be co-oped against the AI set to ‘deveopmentally challenged’. 😛

    1. I admit that I am still learning the game but we can play together without me getting too pissy. At least Trey has also completed the campaign so we can talk about it 🙂

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