This isn’t just a fighting game question but more of a general competition question. I absolutely hate to lose. I hate it so much that I’ve pathetically avoided competition in a lot of situations in my life, but I’ve also pushed myself to become exceptionally skilled at certain things.
The problem is, I’m new to this game and I’m losing, a lot. I expected that, and I even expect it going into a match, but after getting destroyed sometimes all logic goes out the window. I just rage and I can’t seem to help it, and it can even put me in a bad mood for a while.
Has anyone else experienced this and been able to overcome it?
This question has been coming up a lot at the newbie dojo lately. This is one of those life lessons that I’m surprised many people still grapple with.
When I was young and learning to play tennis, my parents used to tell me that getting angry on the court was a good way to beat myself.
Aside from that, you really need to understand that while you might be talented at many things, fighting games is still not one of them. You have no business having an ego about something when you’re at the beginner level. Such a mindset precludes an opportunity to actually learn anything.
You have to get past it yourself. Being consistent is one of the hardest things in SF, yet people rarely realize this and build up an idea in their head that they shouldn’t lose to x type of player/playstyle/etc. When you’re trying to improve in the game, your only goal should be improvement, which means losing. Often playing to win all the time hinders improvement so you have to accept that losing a lot is an essential part of your improvement. If you just want to win then invite your friends over who don’t know how to play and school them, but the gratification of that wears out pretty fast.
Well, youll never be as good as me - so that should put you mind at ease.
Seriously, give up. I’ll take your stick on your way out.
Ok double seriously not just in FGs, but in everything failure is sort of an intrinsic part of the process. I admit that I learned a lot of life lessons through FGs, but I suppose the biggest one I gathered was respect. Obviously. Jokes aside, I find that if you respect the guy on the other side and have an open mind willing to learn there’s really nothing to be angry about. Not so much on the ‘its just a game scale’ but because it has rules that can be understood. Variables that can be manipulated. As was said if you go into it emotionally you’ll just find yourself grasping at straws. We don’t learn to play the the drums by throwing them at the wall.
Comprehension is the first step toward peace. That’s what I always say.
Final note: getting mad is natural I rage everytime I get hit with a b+1 from Steve - but don’t let it ruin your enjoyment of the game. Easier said than done but have a clear mind about these things. It’ll help you even further than the TV screen.
losing a lot is just a sign that you need to practice and get more experience.yea it can be frustrating.lord do i know…go over your loses in replay and study why it went bad.everybody has to deal with their ego in someway.don’t let it hinder you from learning what you need to get to that next lv of play
hmm for me i just try to interpret the way i lost…like did i lose because of my mistakes or did i lose b/c i got outplayed? if it’s mistakes then I just watch the replay to understand where i went wrong…most of the time its been just being random or execution errors like finishing a block string with a move that can be easily punished lol but for being outplayed, you just have to learn…realize the setups, baits etc. usually when i lose i ask my opponent “hey were you doing os or did you frame trap that?” then they usually give me an answer and i just learn from it and try to do better in the rematch
besides what the others have said… go on SRK, study up on your character, ask questions, watch how the pros play, body your friends.
more often than not, the reason people lose is not cause of their attitude, but simply because in a competition of skill, the person with the superior talent/skill will trump the other. so if you really can’t get that bad mindset out while playing, it’s a good idea to stop playing for a while and do the homework on your characters before going back. FGs aren’t something you don’t get good at right away, you have to take the time to learn the game before taking it into real competition. but you probably already knew that. yeah some people just can’t get over a loss that easy, so if you dislike losing that much, why not
As others here stated, take a loss as a chance to level up your game. Personally, I’d rather lose a set in casuals then win with little effort. Unless in tourney play, constantly and effortlessly winning bores the hell out of me.
I do understand this on an intellectual basis and I even acknowledge it to my opponent, but when I start losing control in a match I also start losing control over my emotions. I’ve encountered this personality flaw in the past but fighting games seem to force it to the surface very efficiently.
The main reason I made this thread was to learn whether or not this is a common issue that FG players experience and overcome (less serious), or if it’s more of a unique personal issue (more serious).
Learn that every loss should be taken as motivation to get better. Instead of just going into rage-mode, take the time to understand why you lost and what you should do to correct it. Maybe you need to stop trying to go for the reversal DP everytime on wakeup, or you take too many unnecessary risks, or you don’t push the advantage enough when you have it. Turn that negative energy and make it work for you so that you can start improving your win:loss ratio.
Developing mental strength is a bit part of fighting games, and if you keep beating up yourself over every loss, you’re not going to last too long playing fighting games. Stay salty, and level up your game.
Well I believe it’s not a serious issue if you deal with it sensibly, and the issue is a combination of the things you describe.
First of all… in fighting games, it is 1vs1, and by the end of it, you will have by definition, a winner and a loser.
It’s not a team game where you have a few buddies to ‘take the loss together’ and walk it off.
You can’t blame anyone but yourself for not performing. It’s, in essence, your fault you lost.
You can take that as an incentive to improve, because eventually getting a win means you’ve probably accomplished something.
You can take that as a failure, a set-back, to keep you from improving because ‘they’ll always be better than me’.
It’s the reason I picked up fighting games because my losses are personal and make me want to become better, and learn from mistakes. In team games, specifically modern FPS games, you feel a sense of accomplishment even if you’re absolutely crap because your team can carry one mediocre player. You aren’t given crap about it because you won, and if you lose, well, the seven other players on your team did as well. You don’t feel so down, naturally.
In the long run, less idiots play fighting games because only those who are mentally mature to handle the thought processes going into these games can hold on. It’s not memorising long macros, maps, or controls that brings you to victory. It’s out-thinking your opponent in a similar sense to how RTS games are at the highest level (which was the genre I came from previously).