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Do You Think Losing is Fun?

Tulare·5/26/2015, 5:38:09 AM·4 votes·959 views

Every now and again, I'll decline to surrender a match that is going poorly and somebody will pose this question to me. "Do you think losing is fun?" It feels like a trick question to me. Of course I think that losing is fun! Roughly 50% of the games I play are going to be losses. If losing weren't fun, I'd be spending half of my time not having fun. I think that it's the wrong question to ask.

The right question, I think, is, "Do I think that losing is more fun than winning?" The answer to that is, "No." Winning is somewhat more fun than losing. Certainly, games are the most fun when all of the players participate like winning is their objective.

Unfortunately, it seems to me that far too many players think that the only fun games are the ones you win. Questions like the subject of the thread or statements like "This is a waste of my time" are common. No reasonable person storms out of a bowling alley or a card game just because they're losing. For one, it's unsportsmanlike. Furthermore, if you're bowling or playing cards, it's usually because you like doing those things and will play the game out to its conclusion because it's fun, whether you're winning or losing. You enjoy spending time with your friends or just with other people who enjoy your hobby. You enjoy the thrill of competition.

If LoL is a waste of time when you're losing, then it's equally a waste of time when when you're winning. (Exception: people who actually get paid to play and win at LoL.) You're here for entertainment. If you're not having fun approximately 100% of the time that you're playing, you need to find a new hobby. If you're angry to the point of swearing because somebody else on your team continues to have fun even while losing, then you're being unsportsmanlike and disrespectful.

If you have chosen LoL has your hobby, then I challenge you to truly enjoy it.

14 Comments

redniwediS5/26/2015, 6:52:59 AM4 votes

Personally I only find close games fun. Stomps where I win are meh, and stomps where I lose are frustrating. I enjoy a challenge, but a challenge I have a reasonable chance to succeed. Those few games make the time spent trying to find one worth while.

That said there are some games I simply lose the will to continue playing. Usually it's because an opponent is quite obviously more skilled and decides to heavily BM by going on a killing spree instead of focusing objectives. Sure we could come back and win, but the winning/losing isn't what's unfun about that match, and so I will gladly press yes on a surrender vote.

SEKAI5/26/2015, 6:06:24 AM3 votes

It's only not fun when things are going extremes,

Winning too easily isn't fun, getting wiped and defeated within 15 min is also not fun.

Winning and losing are both quite fun by themselves really, as long as things are fair and square, or at least really close to.

I HAMPSTER5/26/2015, 8:55:52 AM3 votes

the only way to not spend half of your time losing is to surrender at every opportunity. if you surrender that's only 20 mins losing. then on your wins you can get 40 minutes winning. that is a way to beat matchmaking.

many people are reluctant to surrender. but there are ways to encourage them. my favorite is to bait them into team fights and then forget to use any skills. the best time to call for a surrender vote is after a lost team fight. dont let it turn into an argument or they will get stubborn and never surrender. if they vote no just wait for your chance to throw the next team fight and try it again. if it still doesn't work then you are dealing with specials. but with this tactic at least you are helping the other team end sooner.

Mandang05/26/2015, 8:30:55 PM3 votes

It's important to note that LoL is a game built around snowballing and that, unlike most such games, you don't have full say in when you can concede.

If someone was losing a game of basketball (for example) and tried to quit under the excuse of 'do you like losing?', I'd tell them exactly what you said. However, when you get behind in LoL, the game changes to make it harder to comeback. This is why you see surrenders commonly in chess, starcraft, boxing - because they're no longer playing the same game as they were when they started (not talking score, talking the game itself).

Now, I know you're not arguing against surrenders & I think you probably knew all that already, but bear with me as I compare to surrendering one more time: everyone who isn't religious about never surrendering will admit that there's a time and place for it. Some games go absolutely horribly, and aren't worth playing out, so the team will vote to surrender that game. In the same way, some games can absolutely become less fun to play, and not just because you hate losing. As a team gets further and further behind, they're less able to perform certain actions and their list of choices gets trimmed down until eventually they're just turtling against super minions. A lot of players (myself included) would argue that this is less fun than playing a new game because you can't do anything at that point.

Also, the other issue that plays into this is that league is a team game, so unlike chess, boxing, (solo) starcraft, each player isn't in control of their team. This means that they can't choose to quit when they want, but it also means sometimes players dislike each other & the game degenerates into mudslinging. Even worse, sometimes teammates will troll simply because they're mad. In these games, I'd also argue it's not worth playing & I have no problem admitting that I don't have fun when that happens. Am I going to rethink my hobby because of that? No way!

tl;dr: It's not the losing that makes the game a waste of time, it's the loss of interesting gameplay as a result of the snowball mechanic inherent to MOBAs. Of course, different players will have different cutoffs where they stop having fun, but that's exactly why you shouldn't issue blanket prescriptions like the one in the OP. Just like you disagree with their idea of fun, they disagree with yours, and I think you'd have a hard time arguing either one of you is right

Maximum Zilean5/26/2015, 6:07:53 AM2 votes

I don't actually mind losing to be honest. Think of losses as "How do I improve over what happened?" There is always SOMETHING in those games that you can improve on.

Only time I get frustrated over losing is when its a complete stomp and they end the game in 15 minutes.

SpecterVonBaren5/26/2015, 6:14:41 AM1 votes

I have had some losing games that were fun, a recent one was when I was Lulu support with a Lucian and our top and mid fed like crazy while our volibear kept running away from fights instead of actually tanking. We didn't do too well either but part of it was that everyone was camping us after getting fed, but we didn't rage, we just started making goofy comments. Like... I made a comment about how we gave a double kill to the enemy Ahri because she was fed from our Malzahar and Lucian said something like "Oh so we're going to play the blame game? Then can I blame you? It's all your fault Lulu" I said, "Yes, you're right, its my fault, I'm sorry, please forgive me for my sins." ".... No... wait... you're no fun. Voli, can I blame you instead." He then recalled. "Baby! Come back! You can blame it all on me!"

Sometimes losing can be fun.

ls lt METAA5/26/2015, 8:12:16 PM1 votes

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