Episode 2-9: Ego Trip

In this episode AV and Peon discuss the ego. What is it? How do you control it? Is it affecting your ability to improve at Smash? They cover these questions and more to get to the bottom of how to look at the game once we've seen it all.

Questions
==== '''Discord member UltiMutt: What is the time each of you got the most tilted in a match? What went through your head, how did it affect the set, and looking back what would you have done differently to get out of that mindset?''' ====

AV:
"[laughing]"

Peon:
"What? What? Why are you laughing?"

AV:
It's because I've never been tilted during a set. It takes a lot to tilt me [laughing]. It's literally only been one time. There was a time when I played Sheik in Smash 4. Sheik was my very first main before I switched over to the illustrious Grape Ape. I think that I was playing against this Bowser player in my region. It was in game one and he said out loud during the match:

"Is all you're gonna do is sit there and throw needles at me?"

This was during the tournament set. He turned over and said that to me. I had no idea how to take it. I didn't think anyone would actually do that. Literally no one has ever talked to me like that and if they have it's usually more really friendly. Kind of like sometimes you'll have a really friendly tournament match with someone and having fun and you are just kind of bantering and it's super cool. This was literally the opposite. This guy was actively BMing me and, the thing is, it got to me. I started approaching him every time. I played super aggressive, even though I didn't want to, and I lost the set quickly. It was awful. It was super out of character for me because you can do anything and I don't get mad about for-glory tactics or any gimmicks. If someone does something really silly online it's like, whatever, but that moment I actually don't know what I'd do to get out of that. I lost and I don't know what I would've done differently. I  don't know how to react other than to keep a cooler head.

Peon:
Yeah, for me, when it comes to tilting, its going to sound a bit ironically egotistical, but I am really good at not getting tilted. When I play a match I don't really get tilted.

I've been competitive gaming since I was 5 years old. I've been an athlete my whole life, you know. I've played basketball in High School, in a basketball town. There would be thousands of people at these games. It was very competitive. People would b eyelling from the stands:

"Ginger! You bitch, ginger!"

Screaming at me. You develop a tough skin a little bit and I was just cut out to be not getting tilted. I will tell you this, playing tilted, you play worse as a result. You let it affect you in a way that's not good. There's a Luigi player in my region, who is a great friend of mine, love him, he listens to the show. I hope you hear this DiamondDonphan. He'll be up 2 stocks, and he'll kill you with some bread and butter combo, and he will just start violently shaking in his chair, like:

"Yes! Yes!"

And he will taunt in game. He's just a really silly guy, but it can come off, especially to strangers, as annoying. So, whenever I play and somebody starts doing that stuff, I get pseudo-tilted, where I'm like:

"Oh, this guy right now. Really!?"

I just end up playing a lot better as a result. I play super lame. I really try to make him regret doing that. I don't know, it's kind of a cop-out answer.

AV:
"No, that's good. I'm the same way. I just don't get tilted, except that one time. I love the guy now, but that was my very first set with him and my very first interaction with them that set it off on a really funny tone."

Peon:
Yeah, first of all, Vitriol, it's a great start that you are questioning it, but a lot of people that rage, that I've encountered always have an excuse for their rage. They'll yell and they'll get mad.

I played Counter Strike with this guy in college. The sweetest guy in the whole world. He'd bake a cake for your grandma and knows how to make banana bread. He is just this super nice, sweet, gentle soul, but the moment he dies in Counter Strike, he'll scream at the top of his lungs, like:

"WHAT!? HE'S LAGGING!!"

He would freak out and I'd be like:

"Dude, there's no way that's helping your play. That could not be helping our team. You're allowing yourself to get too emotional."

Then he'd answer back:

"Dude, just let me get upset and play the game."

Or he would always have some deflection or maybe I was just genuinely being annoying about it, but I think that your acknowledgment is a huge first step. So, how do you fight that. I say attack at its source.

What's making you upset? You said losing to gimmicks and ridiculous rule sets. I think that this is a classic example of you're putting up false, unoptimal expectations of what you're going to be getting out of the online experience.

The online experience, for better or for worse, certainly for worse, is terrible man. It's terrible. If you play online to get a legitimate tournament, kind of, competitive practice, you're in the wrong place. If you want some okay, decent experience and you know, with a sort of casual twang, knowing that at any point you could play against any character, with any rule set, on any stage, you have to know that going into it. That's what you should expect, and anything better than that needs to be a blessing from on high. AV?

AV:
"That sums it up really well. Just carry your expectations with that wonderful dose of self-awareness. That's all I have to say."

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