Absurd Minds

I've been reading this book about competition and the way it influences your mindset and self esteem, and I can see a lot of it whenever we matchmake together, that causes a lot of negativity. I read this quote, however, and it really struck a chord as being pretty spot on with the mentality:


I see that a lot when we play together, because everybody gets so wrapped up in the competition instead of in the enjoyment of playing together with a group of people with whom you have strong communication and strong in-game cohesion. If the round is lost (note that I said "if the round is lost", not "of somebody makes a mistake"), immediately we turn to arguments about who did what to lose the round." You planted too soon", "you didn't cover my back", "you saw him, why didn't you shoot". We look to blame each other for the loss instead of simply taking what we learned about our cooperative effort as a team, and we use it to push blame instead of to improve.

Then sometimes we take it a step further, into revenge. "Well if you're not going to follow my call perfectly, then I just won't call anything" or "might as well just run around where I want because you're just going to let me get flanked anyway". Once again we're so caught up in the win and loss of the match that losing a few rounds because of mistakes will actually cause us to purposely work against our own team.

And we do all this so we can ignore our own shortcomings. We blame the bomb planter so we don't have to think about how we completely whiffed our spray on that bad guy. We blame the guy covering our back to avoid admitting we changed our position and forgot to communicate it. It's easier to criticize imperfections in others than in yourself.

I want to challenge everybody as they play to stop focusing so much on whether you won the round or lost out, so that you can stop trying to find who you should blame for the loss. I want to challenge you to recognize that everybody in the game, including yourself, is going to make mistakes, and to play together to try to reduce those mistakes - and take into consideration that blaming people for the round loss is not anywhere close to the same thing as providing constructive feedback at an appropriate time rather than in the heat and anger following a lost round.

I hope this post makes sense. I'm trying to type it really quickly on my phone before break is over and I'll probably have to edit it when I get home.

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I completely agree with what you've said. The main reason I never solo queue is because I get much more enjoyment playing with a team of people who communicate and use tactics to win the game. When you solo queue players "tilting" decides the match more often than not.

What I think underlies this "tilting" and all the toxic behavior is people's mentality when it comes to rank. I think players more often than not view rank as some sort of badge that they can achieve just by winning more games. They then associate higher ranks with winning more games rather than an improvement in their skill. This only proves to be a catalyst of toxic behavior. The players then view every match loss (and sometimes round losses) as a digression of their rank.

I believe the correct behavior is to play matchmaking for the fun of playing the competitive game type. We should all strive to play this way. As we play more we will have the opportunity to learn what we did wrong when we lose a match, but also what we did right when we win. If more players went into CS with this outlook we would have a much more supportive and less toxic community.

Yeah, I love playing with my clan because I love the teamwork of the game. I love the communication and the strats we can do. I think a lot of people, including me sometimes, get so involved in the win/loss that they allow themselves to turn to toxic behavior like useless blaming and revenge tactics.

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I agree with this 100 percent. I was actually telling a lot of the cevo guys about this. I want to take on our next season with this as our main goal. I think we will do better overall and I think we will definitely enjoy our time much more.

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I'm so official, like a dealer with a pistol or referee with a whistle.

I play so much better if I'm laid back and not worrying about the game. In everything competitive I do whether it be CS or other sports I always do better calm

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Since plastic is made from petroleum and petroleum comes from dinosaurs, then that means plastic dinosaurs are made from real dinosaurs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzpndHtdl9A

In serious talk, I believe this is about the game on mist but I think it also applies as a general rule. It is only a game and I understand why people are frustrated but to do revenge or not try is unsportsmanlike. I didn't think I was telling other people how to play. I stated my spot, where I would play it and we lost. So what. I said this the day of the match on mist. "You can't win em all". If you think you will win 100% of your games, sorry but it's not going to be happen.

I agree with what anubis said 115%

I hope no-one took offence to this.

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It's not just about that game. It's about a book I am reading and applicable to many of the matches we've ever played.

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Yup, I think this is definitely huge when it comes to talking about most people and any sort of competitive play. I've never seen it put into words so clearly.
I, personally, cannot handle toxic environments where people turn on each other for not being perfect. A lot of people in this clan take the MM very seriously - which is fine. I also take any MM I do seriously. However I can't allow myself to get caught up in the won/lost aspect of it because then I'd find no enjoyment in the game. Instead I try to enjoy the small victories - outsmarting my opponent (even though they'll hunt me down and slaughter me like a rabbit in hunting season), managing to out shoot someone else (even though 80% of the time they have far greater accuracy than I do), being bait/distraction for a teammate (even though I die, it sometimes means my team wins, so yay for that. And even if my team doesn't win, being a distraction is fun as hell), etc etc.
But there's a difference between being serious/trying your hardest and expecting perfection from every one of your teammates. Yeah, people are going to fuck up and make mistakes. Sometimes they make dumb mistakes that no one of their level should make. But ultimately your goal shouldn't be to win all the time. It should be to have fun and to improve.

Good Luck Have Fun
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Fun

Fun is what it all boils down to. This isn't a job. It's to enjoy yourself. When I (or you) take everything seriously I (or you) can't have fun.

I don't think that taking it seriously and having fun are mutually exclusive. I think it's possible to take it seriously and still have fun. However, I don't think it's possible to focus on win/loss and still have fun. You can control yourself and you can try to make yourself better and you can try to play better than you did yesterday, but the outcome of the game depends on nine other people that you can't control. This is where the lack of fun comes in. You're worrying to much about how to blame the nine other people in the server for your loss than you are in focusing on being a serious player who is trying to the best they can be. It's not being serious that kills the fun - it's when you turn that level of seriousness into things you absolutely cannot control that you can't have fun.

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yeah this has nothing to do with me getting upset. not to mention none of the issues you mentioned had anything to do with it either.

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I'm so official, like a dealer with a pistol or referee with a whistle.

I'm guilty of this. I can justify it but in the end, it's a flaw. I get so aggressive with teammates because if I am on a team (literally any kind of team for any sport or game) it is expected that all team members will put in the same amount of effort. It doesn't matter what happens that gets in the way, if you miss practices, you get kicked off the team. Not being able to kick people of the team just builds animosity towards them (for me). I play casual leagues, and have fun because I can relax and not put 100% effort in. It's JUST about the fun and team building. But if I play in a competitive league, you better put your damn time in or you aren't a teammate to me.

For me, it's not about the skill difference, it's about the lack of effort (mostly talking IRL issues). In my volleyball league, it was casual. But one girl wouldn't come to our games or practices and when she did, she sucked and wouldn't listen. All I can think is "GTFO my team then if you aren't willing to do anything. Why are you here".

I was really mad at her and didn't help the team at all with my toxicity. I didn't say these things, but my attitude, body language, and aura made it obvious.

Like I said, I can justify it to myself, but it's a flaw.

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Honey Badgers have very tough skin. The skin is very thick and rubbery, which is almost impervious to arrow and spears. Even a blow from machete can't scratch the skin. The skin protects them from bites.

As long as everyone's putting in their best effort I'm fine but if you stop trying(especially if you're losing) it is less enjoyable for everyone and you're being a dick by throwing away a game that was possible to win

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Since plastic is made from petroleum and petroleum comes from dinosaurs, then that means plastic dinosaurs are made from real dinosaurs

The problem is it's very difficult to quantify "best effort". Yeah, when somebody simply isn't showing up, that's one thing, but just because somebody isn't acting exactly like you doesn't mean they aren't putting in just as much effort as you are.

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