How do you cope with losing?

General Discussion
1

So, I’ll just start off by saying, I am super competitive. I know when it comes to fighting games, I struggle beyond belief. I used to consider fighting games as my second to last genre simply because they take more to learn and they are tougher than most other genres. I will still never like racing games, but fighting now holds a special place in my heart.

With that being said, I still can’t help but feel the bitter taste of losing. I mean, if someone taunts or teabags I will get super salty but that is another matter as it can still bother even the most disciplined. Still, even without someone disrespecting the match or me, I can’t help but feel like a loser. I don’t mean the obvious, but I mean it as I can often times get discouraged or lose my focus and go back into the match really aggressively which will only lead me to lose over and over.

I practice often and play KI everyday at this point, I have already poured over 500 hours into this game, which is a lot for me. I understand the fundamentals of most characters and can even touch on the advanced side of certain characters. As @TheNinjaOstrich knows, I do tend to lose my focus, grow impatient and hang myself with the many mistakes. I have done my best to hone in on my mistakes and anxiety since I last played against a great Jago player and have seen how great I have gotten.

For someone who never dedicated the time into fighting games as much as others, I have certainly come a long way. However, the road I have walked means little when I am easily shut down by the emotions of losing. We all have a desire to win as stated by Max…

So my question is simple after this long rant of nothingness… as fighting veterans how do you cope with losing? Maybe you eat a healthy snack of carrots, clear your mind through meditation, or even continue to practice. I am interested in seeing your way of coping with the feeling of saltiness or great defeat.

2

I go play FE: Awakening. Nothing is more theraputic than watching your units constantly get criticals and wipe out the field.

2 Likes
3

@oTigerSpirit The honest way I deal with losing, is to find out where I did wrong, and work on that to improve my game. Whether it be looking at a replay and watching all my mistakes, or going to the lab to practice, I try and learn and become better. I understand with Taunt Canceling into Tbags can get a little discouraging, and may even make you question why you play a fighting game. Trust me, Even as I was telling you for the most part, I’m really calm and that may have been an advantage I had over you during our sets, I still find myself getting (Not Angry), but disappointed in myself for not being able to beat a person I know I have the skill to beat. It just comes down to accepting your losses, and learning from them. Even the Tbaggers. If there was a reason they beat you, they had found some sort of tech you were falling into again & again, and exploited it. Like Max’s video, the desire to win is IMMENSE. We all want to win, we all want to be the top. But at the end of the day, it comes down to someone that has a cool head, has practiced, and is confident in their abilities.

But you are learning, and that’s all that matters. As long as there is some type of progress, you are doing great!

What Jago player was this? I’d like to play with him. Maybe I can learn something.

While your emotions are nearly impossible to avoid in a match, (Trust Me, If I said everything I was thinking in a match, you’d be on the floor rolling) The best thing to do is try to relax and just think about what is happening in the match. Not in an emotional way, but more like, “Ok. Eclipse is catching me too much. I need to play a more grounded footsie game.”

Bro, If that was the case, I’d have a 6-pack right now, and be as healthy as a horse. LOL

1 Like
4

It depends how I loose generally my attitude is that I loosing is no big deal so long as I learn and improve.

Sometimes I’m salty at myself because I might loose a game because I screwed up.

Other times I’m furious because I don’t feel like I was out played that my opponents character carried them.

It all depends.

But I think it is allways best when you think about the fact that every loss has a lesson to be learnt. Even if that lesson is your character doesn’t have the tools for the job and you should pick someone else

5

I understand your opinion. But, I’d like to put my two cents in if you don’t mind! :smile:

While another character may have better tools in order for a better matchup, it doesn’t necessarily mean you would need to switch to that character in order to get better after tons of losses. For example, I actually main Dan in USF4 (X360). As we all know, Dan is the worst character in the game, with no notable tools in his disposal. Sure, I’ve lost tons of times, but my goal was to learn Dan, regardless of how many times I would get bodied. I practiced & practiced, to the point where I have a Top 90 Dan on the Leaderboards!(Last Time I checked) I can beat Evil Ryus, Kens, Decapres, Yuns…It goes on. Sure I still lose, but I’m able to beat characters like that more consistently. It takes time to learn a said character and learn what to do and what not to do. By then, you will have learned all new things from losses, and be significantly better than other players. Same way we stick with Jago out of the ENTIRE Jago army out there. We keep learning and getting better, because we love the character! And regardless of the matchup, we challenge it head on.

Trust me, I know you well enough where if you had to fight a Killer Maya, you’d be like, "OH REALLY? (Puts Shades On) LET’S GO… :smirk:

^Just like this. LOL

6

Fighting game history wall of text incoming…

I’ve enjoyed fighting games my whole life, but extremely casually. I never played the original KI’s but once I bought my Xbox earlier this year I knew I had to give this game a shot. And I’m glad I did as it made a lot more sense to me and really got me into the genre more. Finding someone like Max to watch has also helped greatly.

Anyways on to losing… I’m at about 80 hours in this game and have only played about 5 matches online lol. I have more online time with MKX (50 matches total maybe?) and from what I find is I can handle losing to someone I know, whether real life or forum. I can get pretty salty otherwise, although most of that I will probably blame on MKX’s horrible netcode. I obviously spend most of my time in this game solo either practicing different characters to find a main or just doing story/single fights against medium AI. I’m thinking this week to finally get a main and practice against hard AI and maybe finally go into ranked.

I’m probably too much of a scrub for your level but maybe we can try some matches. I’d like to get into a room with some people and give it a shot. Good thing about that is when I get bodied I can at least just watch some good fights while I wait my turn.

7

Very true, the path to being the one with the Jago will be my density… heh.

I have certainly grown. I have a comeback clip stored in my Upload and I certainly see how much I have advanced as a player, still crazy to remember I couldn’t even preform Thunder’s Triplax and Ankle Slicer.

You will find him in your Shadow Lab :grin:

You know, I found a funny trick that has somewhat helped me improve on catching some mistakes, albiet its not the best of methods when the match is very fast paced i.e Sabrewulf or Maya. But, when I am playing another Jago or Thunder I often find myself commentating the match and it somewhat helps me pick apart what I am doing too much and little of, I have caught myself in critical mistakes too which was nice.

:joy:

8

Yeah, I will sometimes resort to other games, I jump on State of Decay because I can brutally axe Zombies in the face. I never tried Fire Emblem, is it really good? I was considering picking up a game this week.

Agreed, seems like after any match there is always something that can be different to change the outcome of said match.

I think we are in the exact same boat, pass the chips will ya? :grin: I only played the original KI with my brothers but never got passed the first round and overall was too small to really get into it. I also never thought I would’ve gotten so attached to KI as much as I did and Max has also made me see the greatness of fighting games and the ways of KI.

This is main reason I dropped this game completely. There are also other issues I had with the game, but that is another topic.

Yeah, I spend more time in Single Player/Survival then I actually do online. I actually have two tips regarding Hard difficulty and transitioning into competitive online. Regarding hard difficulty, I find it best to play it more offensively because if you are more defensive and once the CPU starts to do its damage, they oddly become even harder than before. As for online, I suggest going into Shadow Lab and trying the survival, jump a few tiers up to get the competitive players so you can get a feel for rank without the pressure.

Not at all, believe me I am really not as pro as most people on the forums. If anything I have more single player time than I will ever have online. I am not bad by any means but I am no where near the competitive level most people are. I don’t have the focus nor discipline yet, but eventually.

1 Like
9

The Ostrich speaks the truth!

I had a motto on the old forums that went something like this:
“Winning is succeeding; losing is learning.”

I’m a teacher and it’s my job to make sure that all of the children that are under my wings learn how to stay dry when it rains - and yes, even the ostriches. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Let’s face it, I don’t think we know anybody on this God’s green Earth that actually likes to lose - and I mean nobody. However, it’s a fact of life - it WILL happen. What separates the good from the bad is not because of whether they win or lose, but rather how they handle themselves in the process - those that can are the REAL winners. For example, you can have the worst loss of your life, go back and study the crap out of it, and come out much improved. Conversely, you could have the easiest win of your life, decide to continue using the same strategy to keep winning, but never learn anything new or improve in the process. Here’s some advice for you - that winner? He won’t be winning for long. That loser, however? He’s going places. :wink:

The others are right. Go into practice mode, read Infil’s Guide, learn with and from friends, ask the pros, etc. - there’s any number of things you can do to improve; you just have to do it.

Here’s 1 thing I tell my students all of the time: “Crying and whining won’t solve the problem; you might get what you want (particularly if someone else caves), but it won’t be an actual solution if it happens again for next time. Crying and whining won’t fix anything and gets you nowhere in the longrun - it’s the easy fix at best”

It’s like that whole give a man fish saying. “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

In any case, I guess I’m kind of rambling at this point. :sweat:

In your best Frozen sing-song voice, just sing out loud “losing never bothered me anyway!” or sing Pharrel William’s “I’m Happy” or The Lego Movie’s “Everything is Awesome!” I’m sure you can at the very least fake it 'till you make it. :wink:

The only time I hate losing is when the opponent’s an arrogant winner. They’ll teabag you or do other innane things AFTER winning. I’m all like “seriously!? You’ve already won! What more do you need to prove!? That you’re a douchebag!?”

My favorite genres when it comes to video games have always been shooters and fighters - and I like them both for the same, but also very different reasons. I like both because of the kind of strategy they both bring to the table. With shooters, you’re often working as a team trying to get the upper hand on the enemy group by communicating, flanking, etc. With fighting games, it’s all about personal self-control and how well you handle yourself in a 1v1 situation where all things are (generally) considered equal.

While I do agree some matchups are certainly harder than others, I don’t agree that you should change characters simply because it’s a hard matchup, unless you’re sure you want to. The reason I say this, is because sticking it out and learning the matchup can take you far - and if you handle the toughest of matchups, well then what does that say about you and your skill?

If you want to play with me sometime, I’d be happy to help you out as a sparring buddy and offer advice wherever I can - the bird can vouch for me (if he ever gets his head out of the sand). :facepunch:

Remember to stay positive! :heavy_plus_sign:

There’s more that I’d like to say, but I’ve typed up so much as it is that I’m falling asleep in my chair… I’ll probably be counting sheep in a few minutes…

:sheep: :sheep: :sheep: :sheep: :sheep: :sheep: :sheep: :sheep: :sheep: :sheep: :sheep: :sheep: :sheep: :sheep: :sheep: :sheep: :sheep: :sheep: :sheep: :sheep: :sheep: :sheep: :sheep: :sheep:

2 Likes
10

I got that “find him in your Shadow Lab”…Thanks dude. It really means a lot to me that I’ve helped you improve. :blush:

11

Depends on the manner of the loss. I’m generally furious at any loss caused by a dropped combo or similar execution error. Other than that I’m pretty chill in pretty much all situations, including losses to teabaggers or taunters - though to be honest, that really hasn’t happened in a while. Whether I’m furious or just annoyed by a loss, however, I always try to keep the feelings out of my play.

If you lose because your opponent simply outplayed you, then there really isn’t much to be upset about IMO. If I lose to someone who I feel isn’t as good as me, then it means that I made poor decisions or otherwise didn’t react properly to certain things. And if that’s the case, then now I have a mental note about what not to do or how I need to improve my own play to ensure that doesn’t happen again. If I lose to someone who is simply better than me, then I still get to use the data from that fight to learn how to play better myself, both on offensive things that I can steal, and things I need to better watch out for on defense. There’s no shame in losing a match, and in a game like KI, simply playing a lot will teach you a ton about quickly recognizing patterns and tendencies. Both victories and defeats tally into that ledger if you’re willing to pay attention.

Don’t get me wrong - I do not like losing. I just make sure that my hatred of defeat gets channeled in a cerebral context. Getting mentally angry or guard broken will get you absolutely destroyed in this game, so it’s very, very important for you to keep your head after a loss. It’s fine to get upset about a loss - it’s not fine to then play poorly because you’re upset about a match.

On the other discussion, I actually don’t really think counter picking is all that bad. Some MU’s just suck to play and are basically just anti-fun. I see minimal benefit to playing such a match-up if I don’t feel like it. If I see a Riptor card there’s a decent chance I’m going to pull out Sadira - a lot of times I just don’t feel like putting up with her shenanigans as Hisako. I do think it’s important to learn as many MU’s as possible, but sometimes you just need to mix things up and do something else. Have fun, and if a certain fight is just patently not fun, then what’s the point in playing?

12

Some days I cope better than others…

When I am doing well it’s because I approached the game in a good mode, without any expectation that I would win a lot of matches. Success certainly helps keep me happy, but it’s like Luke in the cave - you get out what you bring in with you.

In general, I do poorly when I am angry or upset before I even start to play. When it is late and I am tired or I fall into the “one more win then I can quit happy and go to bed trap.”

The truth is, the game is supposed to be fun. Most of us have enough stress and pressure in our real lives. We don’t need it from a game. If you aren’t having fun, stop playing. Most importantly, don’t listen to people who would make you feel bad for losing.

13

I have only played FE: Awakening so I can’t speak for the rest of the series. But Awakening is godlike and I highly recommend it. Prepare for some emotional parts, though.

14

But you wouldn’t be able to find me, so how could I be under your wing? :smirk:

Angry-ostrich.jpg600×405 113 KB

Edit: I have no Idea how this picture relates to that quote. I just thought it was a funny ostrich picture.

15

this is me!!! LOL

16

Lol. I think it’s all of us at one point or another. I have a variation on it where after I get the win I go “that guy wasn’t good enough, gotta find a tough match to win” :laughing:

1 Like
17

I just shrug it off and tell myself better luck next time and then avoid making the same mistake again.

I can take loosing a match but to go a-wall on someone is just out of control.

18

I go to the kitchen and make saltine crackers with all the salt.

1 Like
19

I don’t usually eve rget upset loosing in KI unless the guy was a real ■■■■■■■. I just congratulate them and wish them luck in the next fight.

20

@TheNinjaOstrich

If you wanna get wet rather than stay under my wing, that’s certainly you choice - but I know without a shadow of a doubt that you’ll drown. :wink:

As for the pic, Ilike it. :slight_smile:

@FallofSeraphs76, @BigBadAndy, and @STORM179

I’ve had many of those nights. You’re trying to end on a good note (or a better 1) and you just can’t quite get there, so you either stop out of frustration, due to responsibilty (such as school or work the next day, or )because you simply fell asleep. :relieved: