this post was submitted on 16 Dec 2023
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I've seen "competitive" games turn level-headed friends into seething piles of swears. They aren't having fun, they admit to not having fun, they acknowledge that they hate it... But they keep going because ranks, clout, commitment....
Games should have stakes, but modern ranking systems are designed to addict the exact same way that loot-boxes and other similar mechanics do. They hook and pull in deeper and the only way I've seen friends quit is when it gets so bad they go cold turkey. And only then do they look back at months or even years of playing a game, and see nothing but a waste of time and money.
But it works! These systems pull players into the grind like they're getting paid to play, even when they are hating every second.
I love some of these games, but I only learned to maximise my enjoyment of them once I began playing them casually. And it's such a pity that my friends who haven't learned the trick of not taking it so seriously, burn out on them, while I just keep going and having fun. I run out of people to play with on a regular basis because of this.
Just one factor of the design of these systems is that they have you feeling like you have to consistently win, in order to be worth something. And as that is obviously an impossibility, it leads to every loss taking three times more than what a win is able to give.
I mean yeah, there are always going to be people with problems. But the guy I was responding to was leveling complaints like "playing badly shouldn't impact the outcome", "it's bad that a team loses", and "people should be free to afk whenever". Like at that point, just play different games, these aren't your cup of tea.
And for what it's worth, I personally quite like the stricter competitive nature of many games. I like playing ranked games where everyone is solidly playing to win and competing on skill. Just because some people have a ego problem because of ranks, it doesn't mean the system should be scrapped.
There's a pretty wide gap between playing casually, and grinding to the point of burnout. It's plenty possible to take the game seriously, such that you care about doing your best and continually improving, without just dedicating your entire life to the grind.
You lead a rich inner life.
Bub, I'm not the one throwing a fit like a toddler because online games can be competitive
No, you're just making things up and calling names. Like a rational adult having a sensible conversation?
Toxic and competitive are separate things. I'll gladly help you understand how, if you can stop having the argument you'd rather be having, and interact with the words I actually wrote.