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I've made it my goal to never whine about cards...care to join me?


Trinecity

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I use to play a lot of chess online, and the sportsmanship was absolutely horrible.  Malifaux (I play mostly on Vassal) is a breath of fresh air in comparison, but I've noticed one area that could maybe be improved; whining about cards.  I mean, I don't mind if someone facepalms when they flip the black joker.  That's part of the fun after all.  But I do mind if every time they draw a card lower than a 7 they make a big deal about it.   I think this sort of complaining is masking a bigger issue they may have, which is the inability to assign fault to themselves.  

 

Before I sound too condescending, please know that I'm completely guilty of this at times.  After a game that was ripe with golden learning opportunities, I was instead focused on the bad luck I had in the game.  My goal is to instead embrace the loss, own up to it, and learn as much as possible from it.  I think this mindset will eventually make me a better player, but will immediately make me a better sportsman.

 

And as a closing thought, if you find yourself whining about cards in an unhealthy way, ask yourself what exactly you're trying to accomplish.  Are you trying to cheapen your opponents victory?  Are you trying to absolve yourself of any blame for the loss?  Do you think you're opponent wants to hear how bad your cards were?  I just can't think of any good reason to do it...

 

So what do you think?  Is it an unrealistic goal to never whine?  Am I way off base?  Would you have more fun with someone who complains or someone who didn't? etc etc etc

 

 

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I think this campaign needs better branding.  :mask

 

As such, I propose a different motto, "Embrace your fate!"  Even with a hand full of cards, you can't always cheat fate.  And when your hand of cards have all been played, and you're on a negative flip, and the deck gives you a three, you've got to look your luck in the eye and show it what you're made of. 

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My approach is... reversed. I whine about my hand regardless of the actual cards in my hand. On principle.

 

I don't usually whine about my flips. There is a guy though, who has this knack for pulling the Black and Red Joker on consecutive damage flips with Rasputina, turn after turn....

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My only comment about bad card draws is usually, "Hey! I drew a Lynch hand," except, of course, when I'm playing Lynch, in which case I say, "Hell yes!" :D

 

I never see aces when I play Lynch. Only 2's. :P

 

I think I will try it, but it's hard to not blame the cards when all you flip are 6's or lower, and the opponent has all the high cards....

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I never see aces when I play Lynch. Only 2's. :P

 

I think I will try it, but it's hard to not blame the cards when all you flip are 6's or lower, and the opponent has all the high cards....

 

How did he get your high cards?

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How did he get your high cards?

 

Well, you know those fancy card tricks.....

 

 

Is it an unrealistic goal to never whine?

 

As it's said in our country: "Never say never". You can resolve to not whine often, or to not complain that much, but I will bet there will be a day where your luck turns sour, and you will whine.

 

It's a fine goal nonetheless.

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Good initiative but it's a normal psychological defence mechanism of the mind so we have to fight really hard to get rid of it. We play games because we want to have fun AND defeat the guy at the other end of the table. The importance of the second part can vary from player to player but it is there, even for the most humble guys who continuously say that they don't care about losing.

 

So if things start to look bleak on the board your mind starts to look for answers about why did this happen. Probably reasons: you had horrible luck, the game is not balanced properly and the opponent had better forces from the start, your opponent played a better game. For your mind the third one is the hardest to believe so you usually go for point A or B. You convince yourself that cards and/or poor design forced you into a losing position and to "prove" this you start to curse every single flip that doesn't yield a 7+. With this your mind gets much more content. True story: I had a game where my opponent exploded from rage because he only flipped a severe on a damage flip. Yeah, your brain can do terrible things to you... :)

 

But I can wholeheartedly agree with the OP that when you are in a losing position, cursing will just make it worse for you. You will lose focus and with that the opportunity to turn the tables with some brilliant play on the last part. And even if you lose a game, you can learn a lot if you admit your mistakes and give credit to your opponent's tactics. This won't work in case your eyes see only red when a 3 comes up on a duel. You can learn so much from a win but tons more from a "good" lost match.

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People will always use luck as a way of not having to face up to facts.

 

Players seem lucky because they get a good card and the capitalise on it and make it count, it's not luck but skill.

Players seem unclucky because they get a bad card and they let it beat them instead of contingency planning. This is just lack of skill.

 

Do you remember that time that you opponent drew poor cards all game and you still lost? Didnt think so, but you certainly remember when you got smashed because of that joker.   

 

I am not a skilled player at all, but i do know you need to remove the thought of luck if you ever want to get better.

 

Relevantly,

 

The dirt of luck.

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People will always use luck as a way of not having to face up to facts.

 

Players seem lucky because they get a good card and the capitalise on it and make it count, it's not luck but skill.

Players seem unclucky because they get a bad card and they let it beat them instead of contingency planning. This is just lack of skill.

 

Do you remember that time that you opponent drew poor cards all game and you still lost? Didnt think so, but you certainly remember when you got smashed because of that joker.   

 

I am not a skilled player at all, but i do know you need to remove the thought of luck if you ever want to get better.

 

Relevantly,

 

The dirt of luck.

 

Are you, in any way, related to Myyrä? Just asking.

 

Also, you're describing a rather typical problem of social psychology called fundamental attribution error: Your own success is attributed to skill and planning, your opponents success to luck and chance. Paraphrasing, of course.

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People will always use luck as a way of not having to face up to facts.

 

Players seem lucky because they get a good card and the capitalise on it and make it count, it's not luck but skill.

Players seem unclucky because they get a bad card and they let it beat them instead of contingency planning. This is just lack of skill.

 

Do you remember that time that you opponent drew poor cards all game and you still lost? Didnt think so, but you certainly remember when you got smashed because of that joker.   

 

I am not a skilled player at all, but i do know you need to remove the thought of luck if you ever want to get better.

 

Relevantly,

 

The dirt of luck.

 

Bad things are for some reason easier to remember than good things. Like in a day there can be a hunderd good things told about you and one bad thing, and the bad thing will haunt you in your sleep. 

 

I mainly calculate the average chance when I try to do something, then adjust it down a little bit. Helps me feel better about it because I felt like a planned it.

 

(As for luck, I played a game of Wrath of Kings last friday, and both players d10's came up on a 10 about 40% of the time. I cannot attribute that victory to anything beside luck.)

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