"It's Just a Game"

[Zhukov]

Actually, I'm fine with people saying that.

Not everyone is hyper-competitive. If you're getting genuinely pissed off at someone over their performance in a bloody video game then you might want to consider calming down a bit, maybe taking a nap.

If you only want to play with serious business types then join a team. Don't expect randoms to be as hardcore and uptight as you.

 

[DrgoFx]

It is pretty much just a game, but when playing DOTA, the game is designed to be competitive. I haven't seen many DOTA players rage at a noob for being a noob, but rather a noob wanting to stay a noob. Being good at games takes skill and some people take pride in their abilities.

 

[Scarim Coral]

I guess I'm a hypocrite per say.

Yes I used that phrase in real life sport game (back in High school, two of my mates almost ended their friendship over Badminton and another mate was pissed at me for not being serious at tht game) but for computer/ video games I bring my A game to the mission, quest or whatever that require cooperation or teamwork.

I guess it's because in real life sport game I ain't going to get a prize over it (I'm talking about friendly games, not tournaments) while at least I get something like loots or point in online gaming.

 

[Esotera]

It is true, but it's really unhelpful in the context that is given, as you're clearly asking for advice on how to be better at the game, it's not like you're confessing an addiction to it or something. It's really annoying to hear this, especially in games that require a bit more strategy for a player to be good at them.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Classic problem of mixing people playing for hijinks and recreation compared to those playing games as if they were nothing but competitive sport.

And yes, MOBA games are the most extreme representation of this problem.

It's perfectly fine to jack around for kicks, as long as everyone involved knows that and agrees to it. Of course, that very rarely happens. Like, ever.

 

[loc978]

I actually expect that of random people online. If you're competitive and play to win, you should probably find a group of like-minded people and organize some sort of... guild... or something.

Me, I'm not competitive at all, I like to mess around... and I avoid gaming as srs bsns like the plague.

 

[Anthony Wells]

Well most of the time..i play games to have fun..so i can say its just a game when someone is getting worked up..because..it is..in fact..just a game.. do i get angry? Sure when im trying to be serious and play.. but i only get angry when something outside of my control (like invisible walls i had no idea about. or randomly getting caught on scenery) gets me killed...but far as playing to win i think it really is silly to get overly worked up about it...plug in the game to play and wind down...


However...and i say this with the utmost importance of my post: i do take advice given and try to help my team the best way i can. But i will never get pissed off if we lose (though if its because of spawn camping i will...but thats because it sucks the fun out of the game)

 

[bullet_sandw1ch]

i only say that when my friends obnoxious friends [or kids on Xbox LIVE] scream at me for using a weapon/tactic they cant counter.

 

[bullet_sandw1ch]

There is a single scenario were ill accept someone going "its just a game"

If a guy goes into a bar and bumps into a man 2 times his size and fucks up his pool shot and then says "Its just a game" before the pool cue goes up his ass, then ill allow you to say it to me when playing.

Otherwise its the good old "internet courage" at large.
Goes into the large pile of "shit you wouldn't dare say to a guy in person"

this reminds me of my uncle. starts mouthing off to me, when i did nothing while versing him in NHL. in person, dosent say shit to me cause he knows i would break him in half.

 

[Flames66]

Normally i shrug this stuff off but this dude really hacked me off x). I just couldn't fathom why play a game if not to win? i think the basic princple of games is to have a winner and looser although this may well be changing now x)

I seem to have a pretty much opposing position to you as I play games to have fun. I am not trying to say you don't, just in a different way. As long as I am enjoying myself, I don't care if I am winning or losing. Winning can be fun, but is not the only thing I enjoy.

 

[Stu35]

It IS just a game!

If more people realised that, about oh so very many things in life, maybe we wouldn't have football riots.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all about playing to win, but getting angry when something doesn't go your way or somebody does something that you didn't want, is just childish...

And don't get me wrong, I'm as guilty of it as anybody.

 

[HardkorSB]

The phrase above seems to be the get out of jail freecard i am seeing more and more of for people doing badly in most games.

So?

Generally i see this used, in my case when im trying to offer advise in dota 2 on how someone could improve there play. For example trying to convince an Anti-Mage to keep back as hes just gonna get cc'd down. All i got in reply was "LOL Nerd! its only a game don't take it srs"

Kind of irritating as for me personally when i play a game i like to win and i am competetive, especially in games built around competetive play.

Yeah but here's the thing:
They want to play a game in their own way. You're telling other people that they should have fun in the same way you are having fun.
This is what pushed me away from football. I remember wanting to play with other kids when I was one but even during backyard matches, there would be someone screaming at me (or even wanting to fight with me) for not taking it too seriously.
These "serious competitive gamers" are doing the same thing when it comes to games. They're pushing people away fro gaming.

I couldn't really muster a counter argument to his accusation but on reflection rugby is just a game but i will play that with a much higher degree of ferocity than say dota 2 (mainly as loosing your head in dota 2 just breaks you further, the occastional red rage in rugby can be shrugged off).

If you're getting paid to play and win, you should take it seriously. If it's just a game fgor fun, take it easy.

 

[Jaloopa]

I just couldn't fathom why play a game if not to win?

To enjoy yourself. For some people that's tightly connected to winning, but others enjoy other parts of the experience.

I have to wonder how many people saying they're only giving helpful advice actually come across as massively condescending. If I'm playing something I'm not good at and feeling overwhelmed, the last thing I want when I can see I played a part in us losing is someone saying "what you should have done is kill that guy before he killed you" or whatever in a tone suggesting he thinks he's better than me rather than just better at the game than me.

I'm not really qualified to go on about it though. I've never played DOTA/LoL etc., and tend to avoid pretty much all competitive online play. Part of my dislike is because of people who take it too seriously though. When it comes down to it, it is just a game

 

[frizzlebyte]

"It's just a game" is an excuse I hear too often when I ask people to perform next time better because our defeat was in many parts their fault. Instead of just taking the advice (I always give advice how they can get better) they block with stupid shit like "It's just a game".

Please tell me you don't actually tell them that the defeat was their fault, but offer to give them this advice in a pleasant tone, rather than just...telling them straight up.

If not, no wonder they don't appreciate your "advice"...

 

[templar1138a]

In the case of MMOs, if a team member throws that at me when they're being an idiot and I'm playing a Tank/Healer, I warn them not to piss me off because they're going to have a hard time finding a replacement. If they continue to be a little shit, I say "Have fun finding someone else" and quit the group. Because they aren't worth it.

This leads me to my next point: I often have to tell myself it's just a game. Games are about having fun, so I try to keep track of when I'm having fun. I don't stick with just one game, instead going with the one I feel the most inclined to play with the least thought. And when a game starts to feel like an obligation (as MMOs tend to), I stop playing them because I don't want a game to feel like a job. If someone in the MMO group is being a little shit, I leave it and try to get a new group later.

And when I get angry at how the final boss is repeatedly killing me, I stop myself and take a breather until I've stopped thinking about the game and doing so doesn't make me resentful.

 

[Someone Depressing]

When people say, "It's only a game", when complaining about people hating games for irrational reasons, I think that, if games are going to progess as art, they have to deal with the shit without people babishly defending them with that phrase.

But, when someone tells me to not take games seriously, usually in competition or co-op, I tell them that, if it "only a game", that they're making quite a big deal about me taking it too seriously. I once told this person in a multi-player match this, after I started getting a bit frustrated over being sniped the kabillionth time by the same 2-people (honestly, who wouldn't get frustrated about that). I wasn't cussing or yelling into my headphone or anything - I didn't even have a headset. I just typed in chat, "I keep getting killed by the damn snipers", or something along those lines, and some guy, probably in high-school, said, "Ha! Dude, it's only a game, stop getting worked up about it!". I said that I play competetively (which is why it's called a competetive match), and it's just a habit. He didn't respond, at all, and left the lobby after saying, "Dude, you take things way too seriously", and left, which was weird, because he was there long before I had joined - he had played a couple of matches, and ending abruptly like that led me to beleive that he didn't want to start an argument, which wouldn't happen. Who was taking games too seriously, then?

Really, the semi-existant morale of the story is that, no matter what, we as humans will always take things seriously, or act competetively. So, I don't like it when someone says it, really. It just sort of annoys me.

 

[DoomyMcDoom]

The phrase above seems to be the get out of jail freecard i am seeing more and more of for people doing badly in most games.

Generally i see this used, in my case when im trying to offer advise in dota 2 on how someone could improve there play. For example trying to convince an Anti-Mage to keep back as hes just gonna get cc'd down. All i got in reply was "LOL Nerd! its only a game don't take it srs"

Kind of irritating as for me personally when i play a game i like to win and i am competetive, especially in games built around competetive play.

I couldn't really muster a counter argument to his accusation but on reflection rugby is just a game but i will play that with a much higher degree of ferocity than say dota 2 (mainly as loosing your head in dota 2 just breaks you further, the occastional red rage in rugby can be shrugged off).

So whats your guys opinions/experience on this word being batted around and used to try and belittle you?

-captcha deep thought (probably not but who knows)

I will agree that it is a bad response by idiots who don't want to improve their game.
However I've used it and variations of it, to get irritatingly irate people to stop slagging on someone constantly for not being good enough when they're obviously trying to get better, because it IS in fact JUST A GAME, not a reason to blow your top at someone who's not perfect all the time, like when someone in world of tanks decided that I must have been the reason we lost, when I was in the smallest weakest thing in the battle with a gun that couldn't harm anyone, at that point the rest of the team asside from like 3 people had gone "lonewolf" and gotten themselves killed... I didn't care about whether we won or lost, sometimes the matchmaking system in that game royally fucks you, and it's a loss before it even starts.

Just putting it out there, even though some people replying with "It's just a game" are whining because they don't want to bother trying to play better, sometimes it's perfectly valid point, I'm not going to let a loss every now and again due to someone not playing perfectly enough, raise my bloodpressure, and stress me out, because really, what bearing does the outcome of a non professional level match in a game have on my life? I'll tell you the answer, NONE.