Gaming rage and anger management - please help - Page 26

On May 16 2013 03:25 AnomalySC2 wrote:


Competitive multiplayer games are the most addictive by far.

On May 16 2013 04:22 Mjolnir wrote:

I can relate to the OP. I don't know what the answer is.

In my daily life I'm calm, well-educated, and have a decent head on my shoulders. I should know better than to let a game affect me... but for some reason SC2 does. I am a competitive person. I have compteted in MMA, Jiu-Jitsu, played university level football and other sports, and there has never been a hit, a tackle, a lost game, trash talk, or even a punch in the face that has ever, ever made me as angry as SC2 can. Ever.

My take on it, from my experience, is that the anger comes from a feeling of powerlessness.

You simply cannot stop the opponent from doing as they will to you. It feels shitty. When you think you're doing well and the game starts sliding away, you just can't stop them from imposing their will on you. That's a shitty feeling if you're a control freak or type-A personality. Someone is preventing you from obtaining a goal - that's aggravating.

Add to that the fact that sometimes it feels unfair - hell, sometimes it is unfair (this game is not perfectly balanced), and sometimes the enemy is a dick. The SC2 community, outside of TL, is generally full of assholes. Even at higher leagues I still get messages like "gg scrub" and "gtfo, loser, you suck." Which only compounds the feelings of anger.

I don't know the solution aside from stop playing or do everything you can to get your frame of mind such that you think "A loss is a lesson" or "just because I lose at SC2 it doesn't mean I suck at life."

At the end of the day, it's just a fucking video game. I know it's easier said than done (I feel your rage, honestly) but it's just a game.

P.S. buy a heavy bag. Seriously.

EDIT: grammar.

On May 16 2013 04:45 dUTtrOACh wrote:


I'm sure people are much more realistic about their physical limitations than their mental ones. I believe that it is much easier to dismiss a loss in a team sport, as well, since you're able to spread the 'blame' out a little.

You might have never gotten pissed off at teammates in football who don't give 100% when you feel like you're giving 150%, but I have.
You may have never been enraged by a punch to the face, but it would sure as hell set me off 100x more than losing to a no-scout 6pool on a 4player map.

I'm not sure what "type" of personality I am, but I'd like to think that I have a fiercely competitive nature and I'm quick to anger. It's just realizing where you're going mentally before you get there and pulling yourself out of it before you punch a wall over some stupid shit. I've been playing SC2 since release and have only ever ignored 2 people out of innumerable shit-talkers. It's actually fun to laugh at all the offensive shit people say when they win / lose and not even justify it with a response. Don't feed the trolls and you'll find they annoy you less.

On May 16 2013 05:02 Mjolnir wrote:


I don't know, I'm as hard on myself in physical sports as I am in any other area of life, and I'd say I have higher expectations of myself in terms of physical prowess than I do with regard to how well I play a game like SC2. Some of the sports I played competitively, there's no one else to blame but myself, so I don't think it's a matter of being able to blame others.

Different strokes, I suppose. Everyone is different. Where a punch in the face might make you angry, it just makes me clinical. Where a loss in a close game where your enemy is spamming tier one on 2 bases and you're desperately trying to hold it with tier 3 and 4 bases might not make you angry at all, it makes me want to reach through the screen and strangle someone

Who knows why it is; but I still suggest the OP buy a heavy bag

On May 16 2013 05:29 EAGER-beaver wrote:
Guns don't kill people, starcraft losing streaks kill people!

Holy shit though, it's just a game, how do you flip out over it? If your anger is that bad, how did you get through life? Did you just avoid all team sports/games growing up?

On May 16 2013 04:22 Mjolnir wrote:

I can relate to the OP. I don't know what the answer is.

In my daily life I'm calm, well-educated, and have a decent head on my shoulders. I should know better than to let a game affect me... but for some reason SC2 does. I am a competitive person. I have compteted in MMA, Jiu-Jitsu, played university level football and other sports, and there has never been a hit, a tackle, a lost game, trash talk, or even a punch in the face that has ever, ever made me as angry as SC2 can. Ever.

My take on it, from my experience, is that the anger comes from a feeling of powerlessness.

You simply cannot stop the opponent from doing as they will to you. It feels shitty. When you think you're doing well and the game starts sliding away, you just can't stop them from imposing their will on you. That's a shitty feeling if you're a control freak or type-A personality. Someone is preventing you from obtaining a goal - that's aggravating.

Add to that the fact that sometimes it feels unfair - hell, sometimes it is unfair (this game is not perfectly balanced), and sometimes the enemy is a dick. The SC2 community, outside of TL, is generally full of assholes. Even at higher leagues I still get messages like "gg scrub" and "gtfo, loser, you suck." Which only compounds the feelings of anger.

I don't know the solution aside from stop playing or do everything you can to get your frame of mind such that you think "A loss is a lesson" or "just because I lose at SC2 it doesn't mean I suck at life."

At the end of the day, it's just a fucking video game. I know it's easier said than done (I feel your rage, honestly) but it's just a game.

P.S. buy a heavy bag. Seriously.

EDIT: grammar.

On May 16 2013 07:08 Chaggi wrote:
I expect an apology from you Lauriel, you BM me too much

On May 16 2013 03:17 BlinkGosu wrote:
Im literally disgusted that this thread is still here. Mod please Close this. inb4 warning

On May 16 2013 04:22 Mjolnir wrote:

I can relate to the OP. I don't know what the answer is.

In my daily life I'm calm, well-educated, and have a decent head on my shoulders. I should know better than to let a game affect me... but for some reason SC2 does. I am a competitive person. I have compteted in MMA, Jiu-Jitsu, played university level football and other sports, and there has never been a hit, a tackle, a lost game, trash talk, or even a punch in the face that has ever, ever made me as angry as SC2 can. Ever.

My take on it, from my experience, is that the anger comes from a feeling of powerlessness.

You simply cannot stop the opponent from doing as they will to you. It feels shitty. When you think you're doing well and the game starts sliding away, you just can't stop them from imposing their will on you. That's a shitty feeling if you're a control freak or type-A personality. Someone is preventing you from obtaining a goal - that's aggravating.

Add to that the fact that sometimes it feels unfair - hell, sometimes it is unfair (this game is not perfectly balanced), and sometimes the enemy is a dick. The SC2 community, outside of TL, is generally full of assholes. Even at higher leagues I still get messages like "gg scrub" and "gtfo, loser, you suck." Which only compounds the feelings of anger.

I don't know the solution aside from stop playing or do everything you can to get your frame of mind such that you think "A loss is a lesson" or "just because I lose at SC2 it doesn't mean I suck at life."

At the end of the day, it's just a fucking video game. I know it's easier said than done (I feel your rage, honestly) but it's just a game.

P.S. buy a heavy bag. Seriously.

EDIT: grammar.

On May 16 2013 05:23 dUTtrOACh wrote:


The entire discussion of Tier 1 / 2 / 3 is actually much more complicated than you may think. The ideal counter to "Tier 3" units is to abuse their immobility and heavy cost. The easiest way to do this, believe it or not, is cheap, fast units or as you call them "Tier 1".

Oddly enough, despite the cost differences between these units, the supply is what matters. You might think "snarf, I have T3, he has T1, why am I losing?" when really, it's X supply of stimmed 3-3 marines with medivacs vs what you thought was a cute idea to tech switch to 1-0 Carriers.

If you actually think about it, why in the hell would you not also make cheap units with a better economy? By teching up to Tier 3, which is overrated, btw, you piss away your economical advantage and have a smaller and less mobile army. This allows your opponent to be in more places and to have a larger supply than you. In essence, you're not losing to Tier 1 that is overpowered, you're beating yourself by picking the wrong way to handle the situation you're in.

Yes, get mad at yourself; you fucked up, but don't hurt yourself (damaging your hands will make you worse at the game - it turns out hands are pretty important).
Don't bother getting mad at your opponent; rather, be impressed by your opponent's ability to beat your terrible strategy and try to understand why it was terrible.
Don't get mad at David Kim; the game's pretty balanced and fully upgraded Tier 1 might as well be Tier 3 - for the most part, it's better.

EDIT: I won't suggest that the OP by a heavy bag. Rather, he needs to learn more self-discipline. Punching shit is almost the worst thing you can do after losing a game. Feeling like you need to punch or hurt things when you're angry is a sign that you're not as rational as you think. You might take good grades, but that doesn't make you smart or in control of yourself.

On May 16 2013 05:58 FrogOfWar wrote:


I like your explanation, I think there's something to it. I wouldn't want to tell anyone how to deal with it since these things are very personal/individual and what works for me might not work for you, but I have a suggestion.

I think telling yourself it's just a video game, i.e. trivializing it, is only part of the solution, and not a satisfying solution if you want to compete, if you want the feeling that you're in a battle and give it all you got, which is when winning is so damn satisfying.

What I'd suggest ist that you try and shift your focus towards playing well rather than winning. This is where the other guy cannot force his will upon you. You go into the match thinking 'ok, that guy will do whatever he can to beat me, as will I to beat him. That is our job as opponents. I'll try to do my job well. If I lose, at some point I haven't done my job.' Take the opponent as a given. Take it as a given that he will be annoying and will be pestering you and throw shit at you. That's his job. That's the situation you are going into voluntarily to see how you hold up. Let him do what he wants and focus on holding up. Specifically, that means to focus on not getting supply blocked, on scouting, expanding, and so on. Focusing on absolutely wanting to win is dead wrong. (That's what Idra recommended once - see where it got him. Amazing potential but never performing consistently because of bad attitude. I'm serious, and not spiteful. It's tragic.)

For an analogy, imagine you meet a girl you want. If you talk to her constantly thinking how you want to get her into bed, you will most likely suck at conversing with her, and she will see through it. In these situations, you perform when you don't have an agenda, when you're just doing your thing, having fun talking to her, not scheming and planning, just giving it the best you've got, being the best self you can be in the present situation and nowhere else.

On ladder, you can often tell when your opponent absolutely wants to win, is probably on a losing streak and pissed off. This is often what makes them cheese, and they rage even more when it doesn't work. This state of mind and focus should be avoided. The winning player on the other hand often is not the one with the most cunning plan or the most determination to win, but simply the one who didn't get fucking supply blocked as much and had a 15 worker lead. You do what you do. The opponent only has power over you if you give it to him.