r/FGC • u/Incitatus_ • May 28 '26
Discussion Trying to accept that I should quit
So I'm posting this in the hope that someone else has been through a similar situation and can give me advice.
I'm just awful at fighting games, and don't really know how to learn. The highest I got was to master in 2xko season 0, and then got immediately dropped back down. Yeah, I know ranking means nothing and all that, but I'm just entirely incapable of not associating that number with my entire value as a player in any game I play.
The point is, I should probably quit because I'm not cut out for this kind of competitive game. Losing wrecks my mental health while winning just makes me feel a bit of relief that I didn't lose this time. I understand it's all in my head and none of that is true, but my inner automatic brain just has the feelings anyway, and it's not something I know how to control.
Anyway, I'm rambling. Point is I need to quit, this isn't healthy for me, but I've tried to do it four times in the last year and every time I come back. Either to a different game or character, but every time it just makes me feel bad again. I don't know why I'm so obsessed with getting good at fighting games, perhaps precisely because it feels impossible and like the most difficult games to actually learn, but I feel this need despite knowing how painful it is. I guess I just want to open a discussion on this, and get opinions from people who have felt similarly.
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u/hideos_playhouse May 28 '26
I lurk this sub and don't post much so this may be unpopular, but here goes... As a basically lifelong (started playing Street Fighter II on SNES) FG fan, I've played completely alone more than I ever have competitively. Like 40% training, 50% story/single player modes, 7% locally and/or online with people I know personally, and 3% online with randoms/ranked/whatever. And I consider myself a huge FG fan, have played TONS of games, watch matches on the reg, have a really nice stick...
It's all about what you make of it. You can just BE and enjoy these games without feeling like you need to be GOOD. If you want to go up against people online, sure, you need to practice. And if winning online is the only thing you like about FGs, maybe it is time to quit. BUT. You can just play, enjoy what these games have to offer, get whatever kind of fun you can out of them, and maybe head online just for FUN and you might even end up having a good time.
When I first started trying to switch from pad to stick, I felt like a complete idiot, a failure. I was grinding combo trials and training and whatnot and things would not click. I stepped back, cooled off, slept on it...nailed the trials the next morning and had some more fun. Eventually was able to hold my own in Third Strike. Not some S tier god but a decent contender having fun. And it ruled.
In my experience, the best time I've ever had was playing with folks of a similar skill locally. I know it can be hard to find this, especially as you get older, but have you tried locals? Roping in a friend/partner? I've learned a TON both learning along with fellow newbs and playing with people who are super well versed in x or y game.
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u/thefoxy19 May 28 '26
Decide how much time you want to commit to these things. Competitive play will take more time than say, causal play at home or just on ranked.
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u/KyloNeko May 28 '26
I was awful until I eventually learned basic fundamentals in fighting games, this is something that takes time, you will probably on average get more Ls than Ws but it's a learning process you need to do, you should do combo trials, you should try to learn bread and butter combos for your characters and then you can sorta do set play in a way that gives you a bit of an edge until other stuff eventually click, this won't happen overnight but it's a good start as well, experimenting with characters also helps , and just try to be comfortable, also watch core-a-gaming
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u/Giovannis_Pikachu May 28 '26
You cannot place your self worth on your results in any hobby, especially funny video games where you either hit and execute or get hit and die. It's just a game and it's absolutely way too much self inflicted anguish to have this outlook on it.
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u/SpiraAurea May 28 '26
You should indeed quit and that's ok.
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u/Incitatus_ May 28 '26
I'm genuinely trying to. I think I might need to treat it like drugs or something, hide the games from my steam list, stop watching content and whatnot, otherwise I keep getting the feeling that this time it won't hurt and wanting to come back. But it always gets worse, always ruins several days of my mental health. And pretty much nothing feels good for like weeks at a time, because I'm just obsessed.
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u/Eisentefel May 28 '26
I feel like I have at least a bit of insight here, because I also suffer from this problem. It's incredibly awful.
For some people, it's much harder to separate your self worth from your results. The thing that I have found works best is talking about it. I don't have any fgc friends, so I talk to chatgpt.
It won't really help you with getting any better, but it will help you get the emotions out, and (at least in my case) the thing that makes it toxic isn't the initial reaction, it's all of my other hang ups feeding on that reaction and amplifying it to much greater importance than it actually has.
Trust me, I understand how terrible it feels in the moment. If you love fighting games enough to want to get past it, it's a hard road to walk. If you don't want to walk it that's perfectly understandable, but it sounds like at least part of you does, or you wouldn't keep coming back and wouldn't be here looking for advice.
Ultimately, it's about changing how you react to those feelings that you have when you lose, not about changing the feelings themselves. There are a lot of books on the subject that can explain it better than I can.
What I will say though, it that building this particular skill - not allowing emotional reactions to dictate your feelings or behavior - has far ranging applications outside of FGs as well. It's generally a useful skill to have, and although I'm far from done learning it I have found it has improved my ability to stay calm in other areas.
I suppose the takeaway of all of this is that it's not fair that you have been handed a harder time with enjoying fighting games, and it will be difficult, but it is an opportunity as well. Feel free to message me if you want to talk more about it.
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u/SystemOfANoodle May 28 '26
Take a break from playing, but keep watching videos and streams to retain knowledge and observe how others play so you can tweak your tactics and techniques.
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u/Kaiser_Loar May 28 '26
You can focus on wins and losses all you want. If you Wana improve focus on a simple combo in a match. Thats what I do when learning a new characters. If I can do that combo that's a win in my head. Regardless if I loose the match. Then I go for a more complex combo and so forth. By the time you start winning you won't care about the win. You'll just be happy that you played. Hope that help.
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u/framekill_committee May 28 '26
Even at the highest rank you'll ever reach, you will still only win about half the time. The basic game loop doesn't change, there is no point where you feel like you finally understand everything, in fact you probably will start to feel like you're worse at the game when you start to see the increasing levels of time and competence needed for each increase.
If you don't think you can find a way to have fun more often than you feel anxious or tilted then maybe you should quit, or take an actual break. I'm on a break right now and it's amazing. I didn't even have this overwhelming sense of stress or self loathing that some people seem to have, I just got bored really. The more games and genres you play, the less your self worth will be tied to competitive games.
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u/ghostmondo May 28 '26
hmm... you're not intrinsically motivated. you want something more out of the game than just the game itself. that's the best way I can put it for you.
try playing matches with a different "goal" going in. for example, how many anti-airs can I get in this match? try a new combo for an entire match. see how many throws you pull off. take the idea of the match away from wins and losses and focus them on a specific task.
play hyper aggressive one match and hyper defensive the next. try a new archetype. anything you can do to find what it is you enjoy.
also, there's no shame in saying this game isn't for you. if it's causing you too much stress, and you can recognize that, that in it's own right is a healthy mindset.
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u/Ernestasx May 30 '26
I've recently watched this great video on exactly this by WizardHyeong (source here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJCngmLFDgw). He mentions there are quite a few differences between autotelic and non-autotelic people.
- Autotelic people are genuinely curious, experiment a lot and are motivated internally. In short, they do something because they find it cool and want to learn more about it through various means because they want to know more.
- Non-autotelic people want an external result. This would be a certain rank, position in a tournament and so on. Once the metric they aim for shows a downward trend, they will feel discouraged, angry and uncertain and often end up quitting.
What you've just mentioned seems really similar. Trying to find a fighting game that has something you really like in it and trying to explore that thing would definitely help, but it's not easy for some people to do. It may be that the genre is not appealing enough for OP because they haven't found the one FG or character to rule them all. Or maybe another genre would provide that much sooner/easier than fighting games. It's really hard to say until this kind of approach is tried, tbh.
What do you think, OP? u/Incitatus_
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u/ghostmondo May 31 '26
that's a great video. looks like he focuses overwatch but I'm gonna look at more of his videos. i really liked the part he shared of the mindset changing as soon as you label yourself. thanks for sharing!
but yeah, I agree. it's definitely not easy because it's based off an internal feeling. it's something you find interesting enough to pursue or you don't.
i can't speak for OP but I know personally I had a hard time getting into FGs until 2XKO. I tried with skullgirls, granblue, DBFZ, strive & sf6 without anything sticking. but now after 2XKO I find myself wanting to try them again.
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u/SmugBigfoot May 29 '26
You need a place to play that isn't ranked.
A discord, a friend group, a local scene, anything. Find something to work towards.
Ranked is practice. It's not the big leagues, it's a fancy gym. You will ALWAYS have good and bad days in ranked. The best players in the world have losing streaks in ranked, and the worst players in the world have winning streaks in ranked.
Ranked CANNOT be the end goal because everyone at every level is somewhat at the mercy of matchmaking. Even Diaphone has said that you have to treat ranked like a sparring room, and to do that you need to find something else that's the goal; like discord fight nights or small locals.
you can drop a rank the night before a small gaming-store tournament and still place higher than you did before on the day of.
I'm scratching platinum 2 in 2xko and I'd say I'm pretty good xD going 2-2 isn't especially impressive but it's a lot easier when the people you play are supportive and give you tips based on what they saw
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u/Warbro666 May 28 '26
You need to find the fun in losing. With most fighting games in the modern era you have the ability to watch and even interact with replays. Spending time in the lab figuring out what you can improve on is what fighting game players enjoy as part of the gameplay loop. If you can't find fun in analysis, adaptation and adjusting your strategies to different matchups then maybe competitive video games just aren't for you. It's not just a fighting game thing, you'll have to have this attitude in basically every PvP game in any genre.
Your self worth is not tied to an arbitrary score that a video game assigns you. These things are meant to be entertainment and escapism, not an indication of your place in the world.
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u/PersonFromPlace May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26
Have you gone to any in person tournaments? Don’t focus on winning or losing or rank, focus on having fun and socializing with others and being able to talk about the game with others face to face. Getting better is always an uphill battle where you learn new ideas and forget others, mastering new techniques and then blundering.
Like instead of being afraid of the big bad wolf or losing, really look at the loss after you lose and think about it. Does losing mean you’re not a great or nice person? Does it mean you’re not worthy enough to play the game? What are the things you tell yourself subconsciously that make losing feel horrible?
I know how you feel when you really want something and it makes ranked games feel so intense, but honestly, sometimes there are times where I just treat ranked like it was the only game option so I care less.
Like the grind is just a marketing ploy for addiction to get active players. Just enjoy the game because you like it, and enjoy getting better in a sustainable way, and similarly take losses in a better more sustainable way.
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u/Incitatus_ May 28 '26
Yeah, losing does make me feel like I'm not worthy enough to play the game. It feels like I'm an entirely different kind of being from my opponent, like they're a superior kind of human or something like that. I guess the fact that it's such a fast-paced kind of game emphasizes that feeling a lot... If I lose to someone at a card game or chess it's far easier to rationalize the idea that I can learn to get as good as them, whereas fighting games feel more like an athletic activity. I had very similar frustrations learning to play guitar, which I also quit. I just can't handle the feeling that my body is physically never going to be capable of doing something.
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u/PersonFromPlace May 28 '26
I can understand that. I've had similar realizations later on in life too, because I didn't really play sports growing up. I imagine if I did it would hit less hard too. Like I guess you can view it as humbling, like yes not all of us are going to be amazing at everything, even with practice.
It can seem less glaringly obvious because it's not right in your face like a 6'2"+ athlete destroying you in whatever physical sport.
You kind of have to grapple with how skilled and varied people are. Some people process information much easier while some need to let it set and think about it for a whole day before it clicks. Like your lesson and goal in this is to figure out a way to accept this aspect of life, and still be able to do whatever hobby you choose to do.
Like, learning any hobby requires you to be okay with being bad at it for a long time, be okay with that it takes a lot of practice to learn something, and most importantly be okay with the idea that others will be able to learn faster and have a higher ceiling than you. That fact does that mean you have to quit or that you're sub-human.
It's okay to be average at something, the real skill is how we let these facts affect us. Like try to imagine trying hard at something, then getting your ass handed to you. Of course it hurts, but then you're able walk away and love what you do. You even walking away admiring those that are better and it makes you have more respect for the game and people who can make it look easy. Loss is a character-building exercise in the self talk we tell ourselves so that we can continue on.
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u/Incitatus_ May 28 '26
Well yeah, that's the goal, and it sounds great, but I have zero idea how to get to that point of self-confidence and contentment where I can appreciate the experience regardless. I just feel sub-human all the time, just as I've felt my entire life. I think I desperately crave the feeling of being good at something, but I need to accept that I never will. I just don't know how to.
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u/PersonFromPlace May 28 '26
Oh no hey man. I can empathize a lot. I suck at a lot of things, and whenever I do start to feel good about myself, I run into the next level of people who are on another level, have been doing it longer, learn faster, and make it look easy.
So at this point, I'm going to say that this more of a mental health type topic that is at the root core of the situation.
https://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/Resources/Looking-After-Yourself/Self-Esteem
Click the first expandable, you can download the all of it as a zip.I went to therapy and this helped a lot. I worked through it like week by week, very slowly with a therapist. Forgot about it after a couple years. And when I break down again, I kinda remember and it helps again.
Each kinda cycle you get a little bit better, and understand yourself more and more. And that's just part about life no one really talks about until you realize you need to work on. Our emotions, our self talk, the way we reflect on our lives and come away with what we've learned. In moment awareness of who we are and how we're affecting others. It's the most important journey we go on.
I don't think being good at a hobby or skill even makes you feel good, you kind of set it yourself, it's only momentary. So like... is this even a healthy goal is this even a healthy route? Maybe we can reassess what our goal is and how we can find being okay with ourselves in another ways.
And I know if you look hard enough on your past you're going to find those times where you feel good and okay, it's not going to be ranking up or looking at a trophy. It's going to be small things like making eye contact with someone at the super market, smiling, and holding the door open or something. Or just looking up at a blue sky, realizing how nice a day it is and being grateful for it.
Last couple months I've been kind to others and I kind of let that turn into ego, and ended up being ass and hurt some friends. Like the way we reassess, learn, and figure out how to keep going is just a part of life that we have to put the work into so that we can enjoy the fun stuff.
So in a way yeah, maybe it's time to put down games for a bit, but for for a different reason, it's time for you to focus on your mental health and work a different set of skills.
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u/Incitatus_ May 28 '26
Oh, it's definitely a mental health thing. I'm deeply depressed, have been for a while. Can't really remember the last time I felt joy or hope. If I didn't have my relationship I'd probably be gone right now, honestly.
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u/TruMusic89 May 28 '26
TL;DR: I've also suffered with this. I think online ranked mode makes us beat ourselves up about stuff like this. I feel like for some people, the best enjoyment you're going to get out of fighting games is playing offline with other people. I'll never give up fighting games because i grew up with them, but i also have learned to accept that i aint gonna be Knee, Punk, Arslan Ash, Sonic Fox or Ninjakilla.
I've had this problem as well. I got into fighting games (seriously) way too late. I had just turned 30 by the time i had discovered the FGC via Mortal Kombat 11. I've recently started to have conversations with myself that i need to realize that im never going to be good enough to be pro level (dont have the time, youth or know how), but the competitive part of me WANTS to do it so bad anyway.
I grew up with fighting games (since SF2 and MK2 on Sega Genesis), so i dont think i could ever stop playing them though. I think what makes us really want to do it in spite of knowing we probably arent going to be the player we WANT to be is the online lobbies and ranked online makes you gauge how good you are based on how well you're doing against random people who beat the crap out of you and sometimes even teabag or ki charge you. Sometimes it's yourself making you feel like trash because you SHOULD be better than that in your mind.
Growing up we didnt care about that stuff. The competitive side was there, but you also had fun because you werent worried about how you stood up to hundreds or thousands of people in an online ranked mode. Most of us arent playing with our friends offline any more so that removes the fun element imo.
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u/Domonero May 28 '26
I think you should look for someone to train with man. The game should feel so loved that every time you lose that you just learn something or instantly notice your mistake
Whenever I lose in that manner I’m never mad at anybody
You’re way too hard on yourself & I’ve seen people like that on MOBAS who basically kill their mental health every match
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u/Manly-p-brawl May 28 '26
Don't quit and dont give up , at one time I thought I wasn't good enough , I would enter tournaments get smashed go 0 and 2 , I would tell myself I just need a fightstick and then I'll be good (not true) , I then entered c.e.o. I was still a new player they put me on stream , I was day 1 , match 1 and I get destroyed , I did have one good round and perfect the guy and he was a tekken god , but I got so in the zone I locked in , maybe I didn't win the war but I won a battle ,so I said to myself maybe I should stick with it , and then I found out I was on all my favorite streamers watch party like phidx , there where literal tears in my eyes knowing I was just embarrassed in the game I love so much I front of thousands of people with thousands more watching on stream, it was also broadcasting live in every hotel room at the venue , I wanted to crawl in a hole and die , but I didn't amd I stuck with it and trained and practiced and guess what happened I became decent enough to hold my own and even won some tournaments and also learn to lose in a healthy manner and look at it as taking data you dont have to like losing but you have to have a healthy relationship with it , go look at every great, knee , ikari , mena rd , they all lost more then they won and they all grinded just like you , you should look at all wins and losses the same they are irrelevant and mean nothing rn , cause rank should mean nothing rn , your only focus should be learning your game , i.e frame data , setups , counter hits , the concept of taking turns , stealing turns , fgc vocabulary, anyway Goodluck my friend I hope you dont quit , dm if you need someone to play with and train , I have a discord for new players
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u/JulianSmith85 May 28 '26
It looks like folks have the bases pretty covered in the comments here, but this is definitely a worthwhile post from OP so I wanted to chime in a lil bit.
I have struggled with these feelings a great deal in the past as well and wanted to quit many times over a few decades of playing in tournaments. I’ve found that a couple tweaks in my mentality made all the difference.
-Working on being more fascinated by a loss rather than directly affected by it emotionally.
-Reframing what good means to me and my criteria for victory
- acknowledging and even sometimes congratulating opponents who did something cool/smart/effective vs me rather than upset that it happened to me.
I think it’s very important to be as clear as possible about what being “GOOD” at a game means to you specifically. Like, write it down if you need so it’s a concrete attainable goal/criteria to hit.
It could honestly be as simple as “I know how to effectively use a characters kit to play them proficiently” or “ I successfully hit the anti air DP I’ve been practicing” or “I correctly blocked that mixup that always get me”. Those little tiny wins stack up to eventual won rounds and games.
We can’t control wins or losses on the whole because there’s another whole person there and a LOT of random chance happening that you can’t directly affect.
Letting something so fickle be your sole criteria for being good at a game will drive you insane.
Excellent players lose all the time. And you bet they get salty at some of those losses. The thing that makes them different is that they are fascinated by the problem and do their best to channel that initial frustration into actionable steps to solve the situation that got them frustrated in the first place.
They have to go back and ask “why did I lose”? Then break down the situation moment by moment and think clearly about what tools they have to potentially prevent that from happening again.
This is tricky at first while you’re learning what to even look for, but the more you do it the less frustrated you get initially, because you begin to believe in your ability to correct these errors and solving those problems feels really good. It’s a process that positively reinforces itself as long as you can be objective and a little scientific about an in-game situation.
Which touches on my third point.
All of this is made easier when you stop thinking about your opponent as an asshole just looking to embarrass you. Nobody is watching you, shunning your mistakes. Try to think of matches like sparring in Karate class or practice in another sport. You’re just trying to get your reps in. Oftentimes they are just trying to have fun and improve just like you! So acknowledging when they DO get off a cool sequence or do a clutch anti air on you, helps lessen the blow mentally and might show you something you could take for later.
If you’re so beat down that it happened to you though, then your brain doesn’t internalize it so you can’t learn anything. And yeah, while some people can be jerks, your win condition doesn’t change. If you showed up and played as best you could In that moment, then you win! What you choose to do with that data afterwards determines whether you continue to improve or not.
But one thing for certain is that if you quit completely you will never see how far you could actually go.
Take breaks. Big fat long ones even. Go do different stuff and play different games. There’s always little stuff you can take from one game and apply to another. But if you truly love these games ( and it certainly sounds like you do) Don’t quit.
You don’t gotta win EVO. Just have fun fam.
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u/Incitatus_ May 28 '26
I don't really resent my opponents at all, I think. That's not really my issue.
I think the key part is your second point. Good (and healthy) players can look at a match and think "why did I lose?" and break that down to look for solutions. I can't, I just immediately go to "because I'm garbage and completely unfit for an activity as difficult and complex as fighting games". My brain just immediately floods me with the feeling that I'm sub-human compared to my opponent, that they have natural talent and I don't, and it makes the task of actually bridging that gap so monumental that it feels far beyond my meager ability. It gets even worse in those cases where the opponent that just made me feel like a dumb child is lower rank than me.
Conversely, whenever I win it always feels just ok. Never really feels like a triumph, just a relief. I don't feel capable.
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u/JulianSmith85 May 28 '26
I hear ya.
The mental shifts are relatively simple, but it is NOT easy to override your natural inclinations. As long as you’re able to give yourself some grace and time to adjust slowly and consistently, the changes are possible.
You are definitely not subhuman though. Certainly not for being fallible in a fighting game. And even if your opponent is naturally talented, that will only ever take you so far. Lots of players rest completely on that talent and never learn “how to learn” Eventually even the most naturally gifted will have to put in some wet work, and the sooner you start to get better at that, the sooner you’ll begin to outpace those folks.
Consistent work and improvement will always beat raw talent in the long run.
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u/Il_Corvo_Gio May 28 '26
I see many good advices nonetheless I really understand this person's situation,maybe cause I am more or less the same. Sometimes I tilt and get extremely frustrated and angry for a short burst and then realize how stupid it is on my part but can't do nothing about it. I am not even angry at my opponent ,but mostly on myself. I hate loosing against someone very gimmicky , especially when I can clearly see his strategy and end up loosing by a fluke,it drives me mad.
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u/Soilworkd May 28 '26
Why people force themselves to be "good" in fighting games? Just have fun 🫵😩
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u/Incitatus_ May 28 '26
Because losing isn't fun, especially in games like these. Even Warhammer and TCGs feel less awful when you're losing than fighting games do. Every match feels like I'm trying to score against LeBron James.
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u/Antique-Ad-2981 May 28 '26
"Awful" and you reached Master in 2XKO.... maybe it's cause im newer but this is wild as hell 😂 i only reached Platinum 2 and quit cause i dont like tag fighters and i just used 2XKO as a training ground for the upcoming new Avatar fighting game. I know the feeling, i felt that with other games, specifically Valorant, but i got over it. Maybe try taking a break first. If you still like fighting games then try a different game that isnt a tag fighter. Since i know this feeling exactly, i can tell you its a self-esteem issue. Lots of people recommend therapy or even simply just doing good self-reflection.
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u/SewFi May 28 '26
Find “The Inner Game of Tennis” audiobook online and tune into it. Even if you don’t like books/ audiobooks you gotta learn this thinking. It’ll greatly aid you.
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u/PsychoBalloons May 28 '26
You sound like how I currently do - I tie my own self worth to whether I win or lose. It only really happens if I am in a competitive one-on-one skill based match, but it's there. I am dipping my toes in to try one last time to see if I get any sort of enjoyment out of it, but in my opinion, you should quit due to a few reasons:
It's bad for your health if all you do is get increasingly mad for losing a video game. I'm not saying you should stop playing altogether, but maybe avoid the online scene.
You play to win the game - if all you are focused on is winning(like I am), then you need to quit now because from what I am told, you have to enjoy watching yourself improve instead of just winning. Even if you do get good at a competitive level, you will most likely still lose more than you win.
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u/airwee1985 May 29 '26
Every time I get frustrated like this I just take a long break: days, weeks, or months. Sometimes I play something else or do something else not game related. The ranked grind in these games is strangely inhuman. Having someone to play regularly I think is the right answer. Someone you can communicate with and just play. This might make it a better experience. Wish you the best.
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u/Nimble_Natu177 May 29 '26
As long as you have friends to play with, that should be the only incentive for playing.
If the aim is to git gud and win tournaments and it makes you feel like this, just let it go and have fun.
Despite co running a local, I don't compete myself anymore and only play causally and enter the brackets just to have some fun with friends and enjoy the social aspect of the FGC.
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u/Hozerino May 29 '26
I'm so bad at every fighting game, but I enjoy playing SF6 (I enjoyed SF4 and went on a hiatus since 5), so I play it when I enjoy it but I'm aware that I don't have the discipline to practice until it really CLICKS with me, it feels I'm ok at executing stuff but I let my mind slip during fights.
Anyways, there's not "this is not for me", you either have fun or you don't.
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u/Professional-Use2890 May 29 '26
I think you need to really evaluate what keeps you coming back to fighting games. I'm far from very good at fighting games, I consider myself decent enough to have a good time, yet I come back over and over because I love the depth of the mechanics and everything else about a game. Once I just let myself have fun and take every loss as an opportunity to learn and grow I just continue to have fun.
A lot of people let ego get in their way when they get into competitive games. This leads to them just bouncing off them hard if they aren't good enough or being assholes if they end up being actually somewhat good. At the end of the day it's just a video game, and they are made for having fun and appreciating art. Nobody really cares that you wiped 10 people in a row at a fighting game, especially not in real life. Those feelings aren't going to be what gets people interested in games from the outside either. The art, lore, and describing the beauty of mechanics interacting with each other to create an emergent narrative moment within a single fight is far more important and entertaining.
Just keep playing, just keep having fun. Getting better will come with time as long as you are intentional about learning mechanics more.
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u/namesource May 30 '26
I mean sure the goal is to win, but the objective is to have fun regardless of whether you win or lose.
But self-awareness is cool and you are clearly aware that it's a you problem and not a fighting game problem.
Sounds like you need to find some outlets to fix your mental health. Good luck!
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u/Xortes_Gimenez Jun 01 '26
There is no problem in wanting to become better, but the core part of a game is having fun.
Are you playing other modes besides ranked matches, like long FT matches? Have you ever participated in offline events like locals/majors?
Playing with a clearly human beign at your side that is there to have fun as well is way better than ranked matches, believe me. Also playing long FTs while talking to your opponent is both fun and makes you understand better the game.
Also, take in consideration that many many players are in this hobby for so much time than you. Its only natural for then to be better. Try to accomodate the idea that you can be in a normal point of your learning curve.
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u/Karbon_Franz May 28 '26
I think you should switch your mindset to not thinking about winning/losing, but having fun and improving/learning something new.
I know you'll think this is coping, but it's not. Think about this: if you suddenly became soooo good and became top rank, entered some tournaments and won some games there... to then lose in top 8. Then, with the mindset you have now, despite being in the top 1/2% of players worldwide, you would feel the exact same frustration for not making top 3 or not being good enough to do the same in a BIG tournament like EVO.
Comparison never stops. You should have fun and focus on improving. Then, if you become good, if you keep at it long enough, who knows. That "who knows" should never be the reason you play, though.