I concur with the above post though I’m on the other side of the fence… A hyper competitive gamer who generally only plays cause of the scene. I get my kicks from beating human opponents or against not completely stupid well designed fighting game ai… (LoL)
Over the years I’ve payed against some of the best players in the world, and seen some of the best players in the world… Most of them all get salty. It’s just that some people handle there salt differently than others. I won’t name names but I know of a good tournament player that has gotten top 8 at evo in the most popular fg that year who would just walk away and talk to no one for long periods of time after a loss…, you could try and talk to him… But no. He just wanted to sit down by himself and internalize. I know others that do the hand wave like “ah that wasn’t shit, you ain’t shit” after having lost. I know others that roll there eyes… Others that laugh as if you beating them is some sort of joke. As if to say "hahaha you take this game seriously don’t you??? Haha…
And then there are the playstyles… People that start to try and clown in game cause they think you are wack, by doing trollish shit like running out the clock when they have a huge life lead and lots of time left… Complete dick move. Or other path at will repeat some stupid pattern to try and clown your inability to consistently beat it if it isn’t done completely obviously… Lots of ways to troll in game. But these same people will cry foul if you call them out for playing like dicks, yet get mad if you troll them with the overpowered character stuff, newb character stuff, flowchart stuff… Ie general salty losing comments.
Me personally, I like it more when I’m playing against someone that is verbally a dick when they lose… They are at least being honest. NO ONE likes to lose. So acting like losing isnt a big deal is either a lack of respect for the game, or a lack of respect for the opponent, a lack of respect for oneself… But it isn’t a positive thing at all.
Opponents that complain can be called out, argued with and proven wrong and eventually see the error of there ways (I’ve had it happen to me on multiple occasions, and I’ve done it to other people as well) but opponents that try and maintain an I’m happy with whatever outcome rosy demeanor usually come from super weak scenes that will just stagnate when the game is no longer the flavor of the month.
I don’t think being an upset person outside the game is acceptable, but in game tempers flare and in my mind its as natural as hitting back when someone is punching you…
But I always have to remember that there are some people out there that won’t punch back, they just curl up and take the beating. And it’s wrong for me to judge those people the way that I would judge myself… Which is the biggest thing and reason that allows me to not be so mad when I lose, and instead to be civil.
It’s tough, but it can be for a good cause… Don’t want to scare away the timid dudes.
