Stress/anxiety when playing competetive games?

Page 1 of 2 [ 17 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next

BeggingTurtle
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 11 Jun 2013
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,374
Location: New England

30 Sep 2013, 3:47 pm

A few games come to mind, but typically only these ones generate stress because, well, people are ragers.

League of Legends: Why? Bad community and Ranked game pressuring your entire career there.
--Dota and Smite potentially qualify

Mario Competitive games (Mario Kart, Party, etc.): Do I really need to ask?

Shooting games with Ranked play: same reason as LoL, except the bad community.


_________________
Shedding your shell can be hard.
Diagnosed Level 1 autism, Tourettes + ADHD + OCD age 9, recovering Borderline personality disorder (age 16)


JamXmed
Raven
Raven

User avatar

Joined: 26 Sep 2013
Age: 28
Gender: Male
Posts: 105

02 Oct 2013, 7:52 pm

BeggingTurtle wrote:
A few games come to mind, but typically only these ones generate stress because, well, people are ragers.

League of Legends: Why? Bad community and Ranked game pressuring your entire career there.
--Dota and Smite potentially qualify

Mario Competitive games (Mario Kart, Party, etc.): Do I really need to ask?

Shooting games with Ranked play: same reason as LoL, except the bad community.


sorry but shooting games (aka as FPS = First Person Shooters) have possibly the worst community i've ever seen >.> seriously, i hate the League of legends community but the community in Call of Duty mainly consist of boys in the age range of 8 - 15 while the game is rated 18, Battlefield 3 (and soon Battlefield 4) has a community who, for the most part, treat any mistake as the end of the world, and APB: Reloaded (which i happen to play a little too much (also, this is actually technically a free to play mmo 3rd person shooter)) where, "If you are good at the game, You must be a hacker and if you are bad at the game, you are a noob".

If the game has competitive play, the community will always be bad, there is no buts about it. and with a bad community (or, as some game masters (GMs) would say, "Toxic Players) there is going to be people pressuring each other causing stress between each other and in most cases, the anxiety that you are never going to be good enough to prove these people worng (my experience, may not be the same with everyone...)



Bitoku
Sea Gull
Sea Gull

User avatar

Joined: 18 Jun 2013
Age: 47
Gender: Male
Posts: 222
Location: Calgary

04 Oct 2013, 11:55 am

ExceladonCity wrote:
Somersault! Somersault Justice! <3 Charlie.

:thumleft:

Quote:
To those of you who play competitive fighters: Do you prefer rotation or marathons? I personally hate doing rotation because I'm so used to a game like UMvC3 where you can get massacred in 30 seconds. I enjoy myself more when I'm grinding out 50+ games as opposed to the First To (X) series.

Well the tournaments I've been in haven't been really huge (nothing like the stuff in California at least), so they'll usually only have a few games going at once. I'll just always sign up for any of them I like to play, but not just any game indescriminately. I'm not a huge fan of the Marvel stuff personally. I primarily prefer the more core SF stuff, and other games similar to that more traditional gameplay style (CvS, KoF, GG, etc). My personal favorite is actually the SF3 series, if I had to choose one.

BTW, on the off chance anyone's interested in reading any of my fighting game guides, I've written a few of them that are up at GameFAQs. Just search for author name 'SAL'



SyphonFilter
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 7 Feb 2011
Gender: Non-binary
Posts: 2,161
Location: The intersection of Inkopolis’ Plaza & Square where the Turf Wars lie.

04 Oct 2013, 2:12 pm

Yes, I do get anxious at the prospect of being that one player who loses the for the entire team. I worry that I'm not prepared to play my role and that I'm just going to drag my team down, particularly when I'm playing the only medic for a full a squad in Dust 514. If you've noticed that I keep saying, "team", it 's because I tend to only play team-based games .



Misery
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 21 Aug 2011
Age: 42
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,163

04 Oct 2013, 7:47 pm

JamXmed wrote:
BeggingTurtle wrote:
A few games come to mind, but typically only these ones generate stress because, well, people are ragers.

League of Legends: Why? Bad community and Ranked game pressuring your entire career there.
--Dota and Smite potentially qualify

Mario Competitive games (Mario Kart, Party, etc.): Do I really need to ask?

Shooting games with Ranked play: same reason as LoL, except the bad community.


sorry but shooting games (aka as FPS = First Person Shooters) have possibly the worst community i've ever seen >.> seriously, i hate the League of legends community but the community in Call of Duty mainly consist of boys in the age range of 8 - 15 while the game is rated 18, Battlefield 3 (and soon Battlefield 4) has a community who, for the most part, treat any mistake as the end of the world, and APB: Reloaded (which i happen to play a little too much (also, this is actually technically a free to play mmo 3rd person shooter)) where, "If you are good at the game, You must be a hacker and if you are bad at the game, you are a noob".

If the game has competitive play, the community will always be bad, there is no buts about it. and with a bad community (or, as some game masters (GMs) would say, "Toxic Players) there is going to be people pressuring each other causing stress between each other and in most cases, the anxiety that you are never going to be good enough to prove these people worng (my experience, may not be the same with everyone...)



League's community at least has become somewhat better in recent times; Riot has done a decent job at starting to chip away at the jerkbags that try to ruin things for everyone. I've actually had a decent experience with it so far (though it helps that I *never* yell back at anyone, or allow myself to get into an arguement/flamewar. Just mute, report, ignore, done, back to game....).

As far as I'm concerned though, the absolute pinnacle of toxicity is the community for Dota and Dota 2. I like that game alot as well (I seriously cant decide wether I like that or LoL better... so I just play both) but holy freaking crap. I think that community may actually be the tenth circle of Hell. It's.... just horrible. And believe me, it does NOT help for the whole "competetive anxiety" thing here.



Ladywoofwoof
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 29 Mar 2013
Age: 42
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,879

04 Oct 2013, 8:39 pm

I'm definitely not wild about competitive games, compared to games played for enjoyment - that's for sure.

With games which are inherently competitive (such as MTG or Warhammer 40K) I prefer to play them in a laid back way with people who are playing for enjoyment, rather than playing against people who are fixated with winning.
I was massively deterred from playing both games for a while, after playing against people from the local gaming club who were so competitive that they would play in an unfair way, play dick moves, or basically just cheat. I find that very unpleasant to deal with, those kinds of people.

I don't mind playing the MTG : DOTP games over Xbox Live, but I play those in quite a laid-back manner against strangers - and am hugely entertained whenever I get a 'running commentary' from somebody who is getting all competitive and froth-nosed about it.
:lol:



ExceladonCity
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 17 Aug 2013
Gender: Male
Posts: 586
Location: Louisville, KY

04 Oct 2013, 9:05 pm

Bitoku wrote:
ExceladonCity wrote:
Somersault! Somersault Justice! <3 Charlie.

:thumleft:

Quote:
To those of you who play competitive fighters: Do you prefer rotation or marathons? I personally hate doing rotation because I'm so used to a game like UMvC3 where you can get massacred in 30 seconds. I enjoy myself more when I'm grinding out 50+ games as opposed to the First To (X) series.

Well the tournaments I've been in haven't been really huge (nothing like the stuff in California at least), so they'll usually only have a few games going at once. I'll just always sign up for any of them I like to play, but not just any game indescriminately. I'm not a huge fan of the Marvel stuff personally. I primarily prefer the more core SF stuff, and other games similar to that more traditional gameplay style (CvS, KoF, GG, etc). My personal favorite is actually the SF3 series, if I had to choose one.

BTW, on the off chance anyone's interested in reading any of my fighting game guides, I've written a few of them that are up at GameFAQs. Just search for author name 'SAL'


Marvel 3 is sensory overload in a nutshell. I still play it, but goddamnit, it can be the most brainbreaking experience ever. The FGC here in Louisville has been budding pretty well, so the core SF stuff is actually starting to come into circulation. Back to the topic at hand...I typically enter Smash tournaments, so there isn't a whole lot of hype for games outside of Smash. If Marvel were present, I'd be all over that just as much as Smash.



Misery
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 21 Aug 2011
Age: 42
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,163

05 Oct 2013, 6:36 pm

SyphonFilter wrote:
Yes, I do get anxious at the prospect of being that one player who loses the for the entire team. I worry that I'm not prepared to play my role and that I'm just going to drag my team down, particularly when I'm playing the only medic for a full a squad in Dust 514. If you've noticed that I keep saying, "team", it 's because I tend to only play team-based games .


Ugh, that, yeah. I hate that bit; the thought of the team losing, and it being MY fault entirely. Ugh. It does make team-based games a bit harder to deal with, at least in my case.



Bitoku
Sea Gull
Sea Gull

User avatar

Joined: 18 Jun 2013
Age: 47
Gender: Male
Posts: 222
Location: Calgary

06 Oct 2013, 12:15 am

ExceladonCity wrote:
Marvel 3 is sensory overload in a nutshell. I still play it, but goddamnit, it can be the most brainbreaking experience ever. The FGC here in Louisville has been budding pretty well, so the core SF stuff is actually starting to come into circulation. Back to the topic at hand...I typically enter Smash tournaments, so there isn't a whole lot of hype for games outside of Smash. If Marvel were present, I'd be all over that just as much as Smash.

I can play the Marvel stuff okay on a more casual level, but I'm just not really able to handle tournament level playstyle for it. Like you said, I think it's just a little too overstimulating or something. I've tried Smash Bros a little bit, but couldn't really get into it. Maybe partly because I've always been more of an arcade and PC player than a console player. I frequented the arcades until they all finally vanished in my city, at which point I haven't really played that much fighting games, and switched mainly to MMOs for my social videogaming fix instead.



Dennis
Deinonychus
Deinonychus

User avatar

Joined: 2 Nov 2005
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Posts: 361
Location: Ohio

06 Oct 2013, 7:43 am

I used to do Dance Dance Revolution tournaments in high school and I would get really anxious. Seemed like it may have been a detriment to my performance sometimes.



foxant
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

User avatar

Joined: 17 Jul 2015
Gender: Male
Posts: 131
Location: Brazil

29 Jun 2016, 3:48 pm

I know its a old thread but i want to share my opinion too! For me, street figher is the worst. Mainly because I have a peculiar modus operandi about fighting games. I often explain that I am beginner and if possible to facilitate a little with me. In fact the problem is that I've been wanting to play but my toughs and reactions are a bit slower than others, so it's challenging to play fighting games for me... the street fighter matches are extremely fast but still I try but it's very rare I win a round and a fight is ultra rare .. I feel extremely frustrated after losing several matches in a row.... Sometimes my opponent said he would take it easy(most of time he lies) with me and catch me on the wall with punches and slaps. I have the impression that there is too much lack of empathy and compassion in online fighting games. The ego of these elite gamers is terrible. I'm a great player tekken, and always in the online mode that I realize I got someone much weaker than me, I do not fight 100%. In fact, sometimes I even let my opponent win a round, only to decide everything in round 3. And in that round, up to half life bar, I take lightly, then I decide to finish. Treating a weak opponent the same way as you treat an elite player, it is a tremendous disregard for the feelings of the other person, in my opinion. More so if the fight with that person and know that she has no chance of winning... Why not at least give false hope, instead of destroying it give her no chance to react? I do not understand how most people feel happy doing it, it seems wrong to me. When I play with friends I pretend to lose and let them win a few times because I do not want to see them sad. So street fighter(and some fight games) stress me too much.


_________________
Your neurodiverse (Aspie) score: 152 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 55 of 200
You are very likely neurodiverse (Aspie)

Special Interest: memes


Misery
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 21 Aug 2011
Age: 42
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,163

30 Jun 2016, 9:07 am

foxant wrote:
I know its a old thread but i want to share my opinion too! For me, street figher is the worst. Mainly because I have a peculiar modus operandi about fighting games. I often explain that I am beginner and if possible to facilitate a little with me. In fact the problem is that I've been wanting to play but my toughs and reactions are a bit slower than others, so it's challenging to play fighting games for me... the street fighter matches are extremely fast but still I try but it's very rare I win a round and a fight is ultra rare .. I feel extremely frustrated after losing several matches in a row.... Sometimes my opponent said he would take it easy(most of time he lies) with me and catch me on the wall with punches and slaps. I have the impression that there is too much lack of empathy and compassion in online fighting games. The ego of these elite gamers is terrible. I'm a great player tekken, and always in the online mode that I realize I got someone much weaker than me, I do not fight 100%. In fact, sometimes I even let my opponent win a round, only to decide everything in round 3. And in that round, up to half life bar, I take lightly, then I decide to finish. Treating a weak opponent the same way as you treat an elite player, it is a tremendous disregard for the feelings of the other person, in my opinion. More so if the fight with that person and know that she has no chance of winning... Why not at least give false hope, instead of destroying it give her no chance to react? I do not understand how most people feel happy doing it, it seems wrong to me. When I play with friends I pretend to lose and let them win a few times because I do not want to see them sad. So street fighter(and some fight games) stress me too much.



You know, you're one of the first that I've met to say things like this. You sound like someone I'd get along with, actually.

I've played... alot of fighting games. I'm aware of how damn braggy it sounds, but I ended up becoming a bloody master at certain ones (Guilty Gear and Arc's other games). For whatever reason the genre is easy to me, and many games in it are actually too slow-moving to hold my attention easily, which is one reason why I like Arc's games so much.

As my skill rose, I kept fighting stronger and stronger players; some of the time this would happen at anime conventions, as it's a great opportunity for people in the local area to meet up for stuff like this. This was typically the times when I'd get to fight people in person instead of online or something, which made it... interesting.

And the sad thing was? They can be every bit as freaking nasty in person. And yeah, they're often a snarky group. I watched them screw with other players a bit too much... got more than a little tired of seeing it over the years. They fight a new player, and they just dont even hold back. They wreck them. This, typically, would be when I would step in and wreck THEM... but that doesnt really solve the problem, it just makes *me* feel less angry about it. Sort of. And some of them just get even nastier when they lose. Like they cant handle the POSSIBILITY that they, clearly the focus of the damn universe, could POSSIBLY lose.

Worst one I encountered, was at a convention in Chicago. I just sat down for some casual fights, after watching him irritate a few others, though he hadnt gotten mean yet. So I fought him a bit, I won some matches, this being in Guilty Gear. He kept trying the same stupid strategy over and over, it didnt work. I didnt realize just how aggravated the guy was getting though (I was just in a "meh" state myself at the time) until I went to switch characters. The guy flipped the heck out, and yelled at me to use the character (Bridget, my best) again, so he could teach me a lesson. I did finally lose that one. And then he says, LOUDLY, "THATS RIGHT! THAT is how it goes! HAH!". Aaaaaand my berserker switch flipped at that one. Next match was a freaking massacre, which is typically what happens if I go into that mode while playing one of those. He... didnt take it well, despite all his stupid bravado. Jumped up, shrieked an F-bomb at the top of his lungs (in a crowded game room), launched the controller (which wasnt his) at the wall, and stalked off.

And I'm thinking... WHAT was the point of that? Yes, I can understand getting a bit incensed if you're having a rough time. But getting THAT boiled over? I got the impression that it wasnt the first time, and over time as I got more familiar with the fighting game community, I would learn that this sort of crap was common. These people would make fun of newbies, call them scrubs, say they'll help them learn and then destroy them, and then laugh about it... until they themselves lose a match. And they just break down like toddlers having a tantrum. I was constantly appalled at the sheer immaturity in the community. There was none of that "being a good sport" sort of thing. It got even worse if they lost to someone who was fighting "the wrong way" (aka, me, since I dont use the usual tricks, which in theory should make me a "scrub", except that I was the one doing the winning, and... yeah, they didnt like that). But it was watching their treatment of newer players that REALLY ticked me off. Eventually I just decided I didnt want to have anything further to do with them. I dont bother with places like fighting game sites anymore, or anything like that. Because it's so freaking stupid! I mean, these guys remind me of the bullies I used to deal with in highschool. It's ridiculous.

I mean, if I'm going up against someone new... I hold back. Alot. What I've learned, not just from fighters but moreso from shmups, is that it's bloody impossible to learn something new if you're thrown into the deep end filled with exploding laser piranhas right off the bat. Nobody can learn when they're stomped without having a chance to DO anything. You gotta ease into this stuff, and jerks like them never allowed that to happen. So I've always made a point of allowing it. Not that I just LET the other player win, mind you. Typically my way of teaching is to hold around a certain skill level, and keep it there until they win a couple of matches; then I can go a little further, and so on. Takes awhile, but what doesnt? And really, not everyone is in it to be a competitive tournament player; some of these people just want to have some FUN. For me, if my opponent isnt having a good time... neither am I. I know these are seen as competitive games, but to me they're most enjoyable when both players are laughing and having a good time at it. It doesnt HAVE to be hyper bloody serious all the damn time. The only time I will go all out is if someone very specifically ASKS me to, which happens every now and then. In that case, they asked, and probably know full well what's coming. But if they dont ask? I dont do it, simple as that. I dont see it as being at all respectful to just do it the way the community does it.

And really, isnt gaming supposed to be FUN to begin with? Ugh. I wish more gamers could understand this stuff!

Bah. I dont mean to rant here, but this has irritated the hell out of me for a very long time.

You're one of the very, very few that seems to already understand it. That's pretty darn rare, at least in my experience. So kudos to you for that one.

If we at all played the same games, I'd invite you to join me in one, but I dont play the ones you to. Tekken isnt really my style, and Street Fighter is too slow for me. Though honestly I'm not against giving SF a go anyway despite that, but as no friends of mine care about it, I've not touched it in ages. Mostly I just stick to the fast combo-focused fighters.

What I can say though is, keep up that attitude of yours. You do new players a good service by being nice like that towards them. It's a ray of sunshine in what is otherwise a giant pile of angry, screaming jerkbag clouds.

Just try not to get too frustrated. Which is kinda difficult, I know. Even after all these years, I'm still angered by it all rather easily.



Kuraudo777
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 20 Sep 2015
Posts: 14,743
Location: Seventh Heaven

30 Jun 2016, 10:04 am

I must say, I think getting beaten in Pokemon X by some guy with a shiny Gengar and shiny Darkrai helped me not be so...what's the word...arrogant about my Pokemon gaming skills...I mean, sometimes when I play and my team gets ultra powerful I can feel rather excited about how powerful I am...although that match certainly did nothing for my self-esteem, which is already dangerously low. The only other times I play with other people is when I play Smash Bros. with my cousin [whom I will almost always lose to, but I don't mind] or my Aspie gaming friend [who I sometimes beat].


_________________
Quote:
A memory is something that has to be consciously recalled, right? That's why sometimes it can be mistaken and a different thing. But it's different from a memory locked deep within your heart. Words aren't the only way to tell someone how you feel.” Tifa Lockheart, Final Fantasy VII


Abyssalrider
Blue Jay
Blue Jay

Joined: 17 Mar 2016
Gender: Male
Posts: 85
Location: Wisconsin

30 Jun 2016, 3:00 pm

I've stayed away from pretty much any form of competitive multiplayer since 2008, got sick of people hating me in Star Wars Battlefront 2 on the PS2 And PC. I was really good at it (regularly got Public Enemy, Deadeye, Tank Buster, and listed as Nemesis for most if not all opposing players as 20% or more of the total kills of the 24-32 players on the team were mine), wrecked enough people that even when on the same team as them, they'd shoot me just to try knocking me out of the top 5. Usually failed to do so, which made them even more angry at me, by the time i stopped playing there were actually a few clans made entirely of people that didn't like me, which got together because they had not liking me in common. after a couple years of that I decided to stop playing online, and stayed away from any competitive play because they might recognize my username. Which was Sgt_Striker on both systems. The clans still exist last i checked too, but oh well. Started playing Dust 514 a couple years ago, but stopped because my skills got really really bad after 5 years of not touching online shooters. Now i stick to primarily co-op games (usually PvE in mmo's). using a different name which is mostly the same or the exact same as the one i use here (Abyssalmerc or Abyssalrider). Can't bring myself to try competitive matches of any kind anymore, no interest in bringing the potential of an SWBF2 repeat, and it's just not worth it anymore, though i do bring up my old username every once in a while in chat to see who knew me and what they thought of me (usually get hilarious responses) though i never reveal it was me if any of them still have lingering hatred.



Adamantus
Velociraptor
Velociraptor

User avatar

Joined: 2 Nov 2010
Gender: Male
Posts: 466
Location: England

24 Oct 2017, 1:51 pm

SyphonFilter wrote:
Yes, I do get anxious at the prospect of being that one player who loses the for the entire team. I worry that I'm not prepared to play my role and that I'm just going to drag my team down...

I totally agree.

I've said this many times but I've been disolutioned by video games since about 2000 now. The PSX era was incredible and life-changing, PS2 had 1 or 2 good games and then PS3 had zero titles I enjoyed. I only ever used the PS3 as a media center. I tried the PS4 but found all the titles violent and disgusting (Tomb Raider and The Order).

I believe in fixed storyline games where I feel I am better understood as a person. At the moment I'm trying to improve my understanding of Baldurs Gate so that I can play it successfully.

Multiplayer can be fun with friends but not strangers, it becomes all about beating others and your only wins are invesely someone else's loss.



Misery
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 21 Aug 2011
Age: 42
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,163

25 Oct 2017, 7:00 pm

Adamantus wrote:
I've said this many times but I've been disolutioned by video games since about 2000 now. The PSX era was incredible and life-changing, PS2 had 1 or 2 good games and then PS3 had zero titles I enjoyed. I only ever used the PS3 as a media center. I tried the PS4 but found all the titles violent and disgusting (Tomb Raider and The Order).


Try some different types of games.

I went through pretty much exactly the same thing with those consoles: PSX era was pretty cool. PS2 was... let's just say I didnt care for that device, but it had some decent games. PS3 was just LittleBigPlanet. PS4 is... er... missing. I dont know where the bloody thing is, and honestly, dont care enough to look for it, which sums up my opinion of the damn thing. And the less said about the Xbox line the better.

Like you, I dont really care about all these super violent spectacle games, which is the best term I could come up with for them.

But that's just the AAA side of things. I know those publishers want you to believe that AAA games is all there is, but that's not the case.

I dont buy AAA games anymore. I stopped years ago, actually. Big releases? Dont give a flying fart. Well, Nintendo occaisionally puts out something nice, but that's about it. What I actually got into was indie games on Steam.

Why? Because no matter what type of game *I* personally want, it exists somewhere on there. I wanted games where the gameplay, not the graphics and spectacle, came first. Games that werent just guns and blood for the sake of having guns and blood, and games that didnt try so bloody hard to be movies. I wanted games from developers who understand what "fun" is. And I wanted things that were actually challenging.

What I discovered: there are entire genres that are completely missing, when it comes to the "big" games. I found the shmup and roguelike genres, and those gave me everything I"d been missing. I also found lots of retro-themed games, turn-based strategy (non-existent on consoles, which is a shame, because there's soooooooo much depth to so many of these), and even super-quirky yet super-awesome stuff like Dwarf Fortress. Not to mention games that are actually creative, something that doesnt happen in AAA games anymore (they literally cant afford to do that; too much risk of losing WAY too much money if a totally new idea fails). And lastly, I wanted games that werent made under the heels of greedy, shady, nasty corporate groups.

I went from buying games very rarely... because again, the "big" guys hardly ever put out a damn thing I cared about... to buying games very frequently, because there were just that many awesome things being put out.

My all-time favorite games, most of them come from this grouping. Things like Binding of Isaac for instance, which as far as I'm concerned is one of the greatest games ever made. Or Spelunky, which is just bloody brilliant and a rare example of emergent gameplay (a term that never, ever occurs in the AAA scene, yet is one of the most incredible concepts I've ever encountered). Or games that are much less known, yet equally awesome.

I personally dont play story-focused games, entirely because I dont really want to. With certain rare exceptions like Undertale. But if you want story-focused games, or classic-style RPGs similar to Baldur's Gate, or who knows what else, try looking in new places. There are TONS of them out there. And frankly, damn near all of them are better and deeper than what the Big Guys put out (since all they're after is spectacle and visuals, because that's what sells $60 games these days).

....Also these other games are very dramatically cheaper, yet last longer. I have multiple games where they cost about $10, yet I've gotten hundreds of hours out of them.

You used the term "incredible and life-changing", and honestly, that's been exactly my experience with these sorts of things.