Sooo… after reading a majority of this thread I came to the conclusion that a majority of people are against the act of tea-bagging and it does to some degree upset you. On the other hand, the minority, we have people who don’t understand what tea-bagging is and how it effects a player.
I’ll say this right now, I think it is disrespectful for people to teabag, more so in a fighting game. With that being said, no I don’t need therapy and no I don’t have a low self esteem. Let me lay it out for those who don’t understand the effect of being a complete douche online.
I tend to play about 80% of my potential, I normally like to be a fair competitor without discouraging the opponent so that they can catch on to their own mistakes and grow from their matches. Some competitors can be a great advisory but in that case I only fair up to 85% of my potential. It isn’t until I am taunted that I will play a little more fierce, I often take the taunt as a gesture to take the match more serious and try harder than usual or maybe that I am not catching on the the mistakes I keep making. Still, it isn’t until I am tea-bagged that I will use all the tech of the character and knowledge of the match to pull off the win. As said by @swordman09…
In a perfect world, you will triumph over all who prove to be the douchioust and get the revenge you rightfully deserve. However, not everyone is a Gutter, Swordman, Maximillian, etc. with all due respect it may be a matchup similar to Rico, whereas you simply cannot win even when playing to your full potential after being tea-bagged.
This is where it makes a difference and is damaging not only to the player but to the community. You, as a person who teabags, may not see anything wrong with the act but to someone who invests the time and becomes a passionate player it will hurt, simply put, it stems from pride and payoff.
Alas, the controversy makes an appearance, how can someone be upset it’s just a game right? Yes, obviously a majority of us are grown men and women who can process the fact we are participating in a virtual representation of imaginary characters combating against each other in a fictional universe. That isn’t the point here.
Usually when someone teabags, they are “trolling” or in most cases just being a douche - there isn’t anything too it besides that. You are disrespecting someone because lets be honest here tea-bagging comes off as “hey f-uck you”. You can rationalize it any way you may choose to but the intention is always to antagonize the other person which is simply being rude.
Now, this is different for many people and many situations sooooo…
- For someone who is terribly losing and teabags, the situation becomes focused on trying to bug you before they lose. In most scenarios, this hardly effects anyone since it is easy to shrug off. It comes off as “s-crew this” rather than about you as they accept the loss terribly.
- For someone who is your friend, it’s all fun so long as you aren’t taking advantage of the situation and just try to look stupid. When I play with my girlfriend I will teabag her while making a ridiculous noise to indicate I am obviously making fun of myself.
- For someone who partakes in the act, it doesn’t need to be said but I will anyway, you’re a douche. They will differ against my entire post because they do it and will see no consequence nor effect to it.
- For someone who isn’t as invested as someone else. Lets take something you do feel passionately about, maybe you are in the varsity football team, it is as if the other team drops you and immediately after tells you, “stay down son”. This boils the blood does it not? It isn’t different in the case of a game because some people are just as passionate with that as they are with another hobby. The difference is how connected you are to the game and how you receive being disrespected.
- For someone who genuinely doesn’t care, you have the patience of a saint, consider yourself rare. It isn’t likely but some people are competitive and as passionate but for some reason when they are tea-bagged it has no effect. Chances are you have an abundance of self-esteem and can easily manage the rudeness of others.
So, are we as gamers too sensitive and have low-self esteem? At this point if my rant/argument has only persuaded you that I, as a gamer, am too sensitive and have a low self-esteem then let me provide with a better example. Maximilian Dood, a great fighting game player who has attended tournaments and passionately invested the time into the game also finds tea bagging disrespectful and completely unnecessary. I have watched several streams and his frustration with being tea bagged. I wouldn’t see anything that can be considered as him needing therapy or having low-self esteem considering how well off he is in his own world. I simply see someone who understand the rudeness of tea-bagging and is passionate enough to label the action unnecessary.
Anyway, I have ranted long enough. Point is, don’t be a douche. If you do it and think others are sensitive, you’re a douche that’s all there is too it. If you don’t find disrespectful then maybe you aren’t as invested nor feel as passionate as someone else. However, if you are just as passionate and still don’t feel the effects of three full ultras followed by a flurry of teabags then you just have the patience of a saint and I salute you.