Dealing with anger

I scream a lot of profanities when I’m playing online, usually due to bullshit happening because of lag. Rollbacks are so fucking annoying. When I’m playing someone locally and they get me in a good trap or tick throw me constantly because I’m not reacting fast enough, I get super pissed but I don’t say or do anything, I just let it build up and fuel my game. Occasionally it doesn’t help to let it build up and it culminates in me throwing something and saying that I’m done for the night, then later apologizing for my immature outburst. During tournaments, nothing gets me pissed because I’m so in the zone that nothing really matters except the next few fractions of a second; whatever happened before that moment is irrelevant.

This thread probably should have been /ed after James’s post, ,but I’m glad it wasn’t as I got to see that wonderful comic once more<3

Deadfrog with the win.

If I get my ass kicked, I get excited, because it gives me a new challenge to overcome, and the chance to improve my game.

I wouldent like HDR/ST if I had no challenge.

That’s easy.
Win and you won’t be angry.

I personnally never get mad when i lose to a better player, i just tell myself i need to improve or play the macthup better. However i get very irritated when i lose to myself because i missed a command or i dint react fast enougth to a jump in. My solution is to take a deep breath and tell myself im goin to improve and not let it happen again. Breathing control helps alot if your into martial arts its one thing that helps anger problems. I always remember in order to win you need a heart full of passion but a cool head.

Take a look at my posting history. Even when someone tries to insult me, which happens often on this forum, I never respond in anger. I’d rather use humor (like I did in the post you responded to) or logic to make my point. I’ve been this way since the days of Usenet.

Smugness and aggression abound on the internet. I’m used to it and would rather not add to it. Think of me as the internet version of Gandhi.

But going back to the original topic, anger is a byproduct of fear. Maybe your anger is stemming from the fear of losing. Getting over the fear of losing is the first step to getting rid of the anger you feel after losing. Try playing with people you know for a while since losing to your friends is a lot less irritating.

If your anger is stemming from the trash talking that happens on Xbox Live, disable voice chat in your system settings. I did that and it creates a more relaxing atmosphere.

Also try playing with the sound off. Sometimes the sound itself can get you amped up, especially when the music speeds up at the end of a match. The endless repetition of some of the sound effects can also be an irritant.

I found that friendly matches with a big room, preferably with people who use headsets, are therapeutic. If you aren’t good enough to stay in the game with a win-streak, you take a break and observe. Chances are the person you lost to is beating everyone else too.

Scoreboard matches can be fun because you play more often, but you might get lots of consecutive losses with no breathing room in-between.

I usually hang in scoreboard matches and friendlies just fine. I also like friendly matches because I don’t feel like I have to use my best character. I tend to use characters I’m not as good with (IE everyone except Blanka), but I still play to win.

It can be frustrating to give your all constantly and lose a lot, so try some more casual 6-person games.

Sorry, I let a lot of things go, but you just compared yourself to gandhi.

You = Posting on an internet forum from your suburban home, and not just any forum mind you, one based solely on fighting video games.

Gandhi = The leader of the political movement to free India from British rule, became India’s (and the world’s) symbol of peace and freedom.

You really need to take a look at yourself, and realize what you just said.

i think people are getting mad on the other end too… seriously like my new thing in ranked sometimes is to get a lead and run away like a bitch and let the timer go down to 0, and some people just can’t do anything about it…

also on top of that I’ve played people in ranked and I’ll beat them and sometimes I’ll play them again and they already have their E. Honda ready (I play cammy)

I agree with James on this. I think intensity is a strong indication that you are going somewhere as long as it’s channeled correctly, whereas being too cool about it means the player might be too complacent about losing, and then it’s probably about something else that has nothing to do with getting better, perhaps insecurity or a myriad of different emotions that aren’t related to improving your skill level.

It’s actually a pretty difficult topic to quantify, there are many justifiable reasons for a person to feel angry and as a result express dissapointment, be it at the game or at the players own inability to do what was necessary to come out victorious. It could be missing an input at a critical time that you know you can otherwise do, it could be at letting the opponent get away with something they shouldn’t, it could be the games design which simply makes the solution to a specific tactic far more difficult or complex than the tactic itself is to execute, thus making you feel like you knew the correct strategy or option to beat it, but you somehow couldn’t and as such the end result of the match doesn’t feel like an accurate appraisal of the actual skill level in that players mind. There truly is an infinite number of reasons why someone can be upset at losing or failing to secure a win, and I believe that anger is a natural emotion and it’s indeed part of the process of becoming a better player. A lot of these types of games have many variables to them, and unfortenately it’s possible to lose control of a match if you happen to fail at any given juncture. I believe to get better is to constantly study your failures and work on improving yourself contantly in each area that you need to and be intense if it need be. It’s difficult for me to state it plainly like this, simply because I have a very tough time taking my own advice, although in my heart I feel it to be true. Getting better at each game is to accept what it is and work from there, even if the frustrations you feel may in fact be justified. One should use the frustration as fuel for improvement, and vent it only in the right way, prefferably in a private inward manner when you have time to study and rethink what occured in any given match.

It’s funny that I ran into this topic because it really has been something that I have contemplated for some time, and Im thankful that at least a few very well written Ideas have come forth as a result of this thread. Being angry “the wrong way” about losing can serve as a sort of block if you will, one that can seriously constrict improvement in the particular game, and so Im very happy that I could encounter a thread like this so that I too can write down what I feel about this and hopefully open my mind to the ideas of others regarding this matter. It’s certainly somewhat therapeutical.

I admit that sometimes I get upset with some fighting games, but not to the point that I get totally enraged in anger that I’ll damage my own property. Except for Tekken, which is why I don’t play it in tournaments anymore. When I get to the point where I feel I’ve put my all into a game and I still feel like I’m not getting anywhere I know it’s time to let that game go. I guess you can call me a quitter, but I’m saving myself alot of headaches from doing so. I still play it, but not seriously anymore. Hopefully when 6 comes out then that might change it for me.

Just read this thread today.

Don’t worry. I just started writing an article on this. Maybe I can get this on the front page.

-j

I just wanted to quote this post because of the sheer truth contained in it. He’s totally right, if you don’t have a temper, you can’t possibly know what it’s like to have one. I’ve “tempered” mine over the years, but as a kid, I broke pretty much every NES controller I had in various fits of anger.

I got pissed off last night because I still have trouble with Gill in 3s. I don’t know why, but i can never seem to beat him on the first try and sometimes even end up having to fight him 5-7 times before I come out with a victory. How do I deal with it? I yell, maybe throw a pillow or two. I think it’s better to let it out than to keep it bottled up, but you need to find out how to let it out without hurting people or destroying anything. THAT is unacceptable IMO, because I’ve broken things in fits of anger only to realize afterwards that I was being an idiot.

Anyway, my advice would be to let yourself be angry for about 10 seconds. Count to ten, let yourself be pissed, but after that 10 seconds, that’s it. No more.

When I play someone who is doing something I can’t beat, I keep asking them to play (local matches), so I can learn to beat it. Being angry won’t help me solve the problem.

I’d love to play people better than me all the time so I could learn to be better than them eventually.

I totally hear you on the 360 controller. I’m spending an ass load of money on a real controller.

Don’t you hate having to compromise the way you play because you’re using a pad? I hope I lose the things I’ve learned while playing with the damn thing so I can go back to the normal way of playing when I use a stick.

I get mad when I lose because of bad matchups. Other than that, I try to be a “nice” guy online. Sometimes my temper gets the better of me though. Plus I’ve only been playing with my new main (boxer) for a couple of weeks and it’s still frustrating when I lose to tactics that I would normally beat with Ryu.

Me 2. I get furious when my moves are dropped due to lag especially supers when I timed them and saw an opening and only a normal came out.

This.

I can’t believe the reversals I cannot perform.

I can’t believe the matches I’m losing to scrubs.

WHY did I just jump while trying to walk?

I want to bash the head of the creator of this abomination with a spiked stick.

I got lost to a scrub once and he taunted me during match and when I lost I almost broke the controller.

RAGE! :mad::annoy::crybaby:

the only thing that makes me hot about hdremix is the bitches who have turbo buttons on…they will only be dizzy about half a second and a multiple hit grab is almost 50 percent health…shit is stupid :frowning: