[MUD-Dev] A Question on PvP and PK

[szii at sziisoft.com]

From: "Matt Mihaly" <the_logos at achaea.com>
> On Thu, 1 Aug 2002, Sean Kelly wrote:
>> On Fri, 26 Jul 2002, Matt Mihaly wrote:
  
>>> In Go and Chess and other games like that, you usually aren't
>>> playing against other masters, but when you play CS or PK in
>>> many games, you end up stuck against people with FAR more
>>> experience than you. If you had to play a Master every time you
>>> started playing chess, I bet it'd become
>>> unentertaining. Challenge is good. Feeling as if you are screwed
>>> from the start is not fun.
  
>> Actually, Go has a ranking and handicap system that allows even a
>> novice player to challenge a master and keep things fairly even.
>> I imagine something similar could be done for RTS games to keep
>> things even as well.

> Yeah, I know, but it's not the same to me at least. Knowing that
> I'm being treated like a retarded stepchild just to have a chance
> of competing against someone else isn't at all fun. It's even less
> fun than being beaten over and over with even resources, because
> winning just feels cheap and empty, and losing is even worse. =)

See, now this is what bugs me (personal thing.)  People are too
focused on "I have to have a chance of winning" to even play.  Why
do you have to win?  Why is losing to a superior player "bad?"

Be humble.  No matter how "uber" or "1337" you are there's always
someone better so get used to getting thrashed.

A good chunk of my "chess" memories from jr. high are getting WAXED
by a 2400+ ranked Grandmaster.  He would give me his queen and both
rooks and still work me over.

You know what?  I learned a hell of a lot from him on how to use
other pieces and the extreme value of positioning.

IMHO, American society is far too focused on "fairness, equality,
and the ability of X to compare to y."  It may sound harsh, but
hell.  No way I can compare to, say, anyone on the Linux Kernel team
for programming skill.  I don't think that I could even "compare" to
most of you for game design.  I'd like to get better in both, so I
lurk, and learn, and read.  While the golden chalice of "everyone is
equal" is nice, it's simply not true.  Those who have invested the
time, energy, effort, willpower and training to better themselves
should not be held back by those that have not...unless they choose
to.

If I ever get the chance to play tennis against Agassi I'm going to
get my ass kicked.  But you know what?  I'm going to learn a hell of
a lot even from losing...and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it.

As the saying goes, "Winning isn't everything."  (and it's not the
only thing, either. =) Take your odds, learn from the game and be
thankfull you have the opportunity to play against someone that much
superior.  You could learn a lot more than you may realize.

-Mike/Szii




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