How do you handle defeat / quell your anger?

[Mantonio]

Part of me feels this should be in the Off Topic section, but it videogame related so what the heck.

I have a real problem with anger. Whenever I play any game I'm quick to get annoyed at every little thing that doesn't happen perfectly. This can become especially bad in multiplayer FPSs, where defeat is almost guaranteed to happen half of the time. And when I lose I find myself so frustrated that my performance suffers. So I do worse, and then I get more frustrated and the cycle continues on and on.

I just... I don't seem to be having fun anymore. So I ask: How do you handle this sort of thing?

 

[Kavonde]

Saints Row 2. Full stop.

 

[TelHybrid]

I usually listen to some music that either gets me fired up (like the instrumental version of Firestarter from Wipeout 2097) or some happy silly music (like Happy Moog) to get rid of any game rage.

Or I go to a different game that I'm guaranteed to be good at even on the worst of days, like one of the tekken games, or 16 bit Sonic.

 

[Meggiepants]

I had that moment today actually. Died 8 times in rapid succession. So I stopped and made some tea, sat down, and thought about what I was doing wrong. Had a few sips, and went back to playing.

Doesn't often happen to me. I rarely ever get frustrated with games, and if I do, the best thing to do is just pause the game and say to myself 'You are playing a game, you are doing it for fun.'

Surprisingly, this almost always works.

And then there is this, which also works well.

 

[nick n stuff]

i have a pretty solid punch bag in my room but i alo find screaming into a pillow really good, and not suggestive at all.

 

[TheGreenManalishi]

I sigh disconsolately, before loading up single player.

 

[anthony87]

I just force it down my throat as hard as I can and let the resulting stress shave a few more years off my lifespan.

 

[elemenetal150]

I think if I put what I want to say I will can suspended on put on probation but basically it is because you have a lack of control over your negative emotions which are probably caused because of your lack of control in other aspects of your life...you just feel safe by releasing them at a video game instead of the people and things you actually want to

 

[SecondmateFlint]

If I get really frustrated I switch to a different game until I get frustrated with that. I suppose I have "video game ADD." I just keep switching until I find an easy game or I give up and do something else.

That's only when I get REALLY frustrated though.

 

[Mortons4ck]

I quit, or wait until the round ends to quit (so as not to rage quit). Then I go running or to the gym to blow off some steam. Exercise is surprisingly Zen.

 

[dkyros]

First, I play with a friend. My friend and I beat god of war II on Titan. Seriously, this is probably going to go on my resume when I graduate college in 2013. But pretty much you get frustrated but by watching your friend play you can pick up on things that work that he is doing at random. You build off each others experience and also have time to vent from the frustration of the game. Also, we seemed to be better against certain enemies which helped a lot.

EDIT: If I'm playing single player, throwing the controller across the room onto my soft bed works and working out for like 15 minutes.

 

[Hiphophippo]

In the extremely rare even a game makes me actually mad I just stop playing. It's supposed to be fun, remember? If it's not, stop.

 

[Daniel Cygnus]

I don't get too mad. I just kind of build up towards being irritable. The best thing I've found is to just stop playing and do something else. Why spend more time doing what's obviously pissing you off?

 

[Generator]

I play something nice and relaxing to regain my cool and remind me why I love video games and why I'm playing such a difficult one: for fun!

A nice choice of an easy little game is Jelly Car for the iPod Touch. It's free and just so adorable that even when you die, you can't help but laugh.

 

[demoman_chaos]

I refuse to play online for said reason. My low tolerance for stupid bullshit does not go well with random matchmaking in which it is almost certain there will be at least 1 ass who ruins it via cheap strategies, lag, cheats/hacks, etc. Those with headsets are normally worse.

 

[thethingthatlurks]

Punching babies does the trick, or setting orphanages on fire if I'm really pissed...

But seriously, why would you get pissed for losing in multiplayer? If your connection dies, you have a reason to be mad, but losing because somebody else was able to click a few buttons faster than you, well, get a sense of humor.

 

[UsefulPlayer 1]

I get the reverse when playing video games. They are relaxing, they help get rid of frustration and anger.

Otherwise I notice music really helps. Singing horribly to love song really helps most of my problems.

 

[Biosophilogical]

I stop for a minute and try something else (like a side-mission, or another game that I enjoy and am good at). But I rarely get game-rage, so I rarely change games.