Random samusco. Asshole? Or GENIUS?!

So many of you are going to realize I shit talk a lot on showdown. But just think of it as pro wrestling theatrics. I like to start rivalries and get someone to not like me as an opponent, because it makes the steaks higher if he wins and puts me to shame. I shit talk so that the next time I play a person, there's even MORE of my pride as a trainer on the line. It makes matches exciting. But its not personal really. I understand its rude... but my rival (who I shall not name because he's an asshole) and I hate each-other as players, and so we are always trying to 1up each-other and thus have motivation to push ourselves more and improve as trainers. I just want others to feel the same thing I guess.
So sorry if I call you garbage or say "NICE LUCK WIN FUCKING SCRUB"
and I probably will at some point if you play me

 

I also just like doing it... I can be a selfish asshole sometimes and where better to be an asshole than pokemon showdown where it doesn't really matter?

 

well... firstly, I'd like you to remember that there's another person on the other side of the screen, who you're being an asshole to. And they might not know not to take it personally. I guess this behaviour is excusible if you let your opponent know beforehand that anything you say is totally not personal and just for theatrics but I really wouldn't recommend it and it's not the sort of environment we want to have on PP. We like making friends here

 

Wtf is this thread? And why is it in the subforum "Tiers"? Hello?

 

I've moved it to chat

 

yeah that's a terrible attitude to bring to anything. I dunno about you guys, but i genuinely am triggered by "theatrics" like this, when you start mouthing off turn after turn. If I want to be jabbered at over the internet , I have better ways to do it than via playing pokemon of all things. You might think you're raising the stakes. but really all you're doing then is being a nuisance honestly

 

Yeah if you want high stakes then you play in our RBY season not only are there forum medals on the line but there's also a cash prize for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd now THAT is much higher stakes...

 

Hm, this is an interesting topic. I mean I've realised that I actually do something similar during games, but for different reasons - not necessarily to raise the stakes or pride or anything, more because I'm pretty high-strung in general and mons (videogames in general really) has always been my outlet, so every few moves I say things to try and rattle / bluff / just talk to my opponents, mostly for fun and always meant in good fun (like one thing that makes mons and sports similar to me is at the end of the game you say gg, shake hands, and part on good terms, because otherwise you're a jerk. I mean there are replays where I'm seen mouthing off a bit but I'm usually on decent terms with my opps and usually after the game we have a pretty chill talk about it (and I usually concede that I deserved to lose rip)).

Talking during games is fine, so long as you make sure it's acknowledged by the opponent as just gametime humor / stress whatever, doing it to 'lift the stakes' and create rivalries is just bs (more suitable for big smogon tours where there's actually real acclaim whatever at stake than the ladder). Also I try and avoid saying anything super rude like "NICE LUCK WIN FUCKING SCRUB" (there have been a couple of times when hax has frustrated me but I usually apologise or at least try and destress the situation in a few seconds, cause again this is an outlet for me to vent without really hurting anyone - if you're doing this to try and hurt or rile up someone then you shouldn't be playing, you should join a gang or something).

tl;dr - it's ok to joke around and whine a little at hax during games, maybe try and prod your opp a little. However abuse shit talking trying to make rivalries etc constitutes a line that shouldn't be crossed (at most toed), and if you cross it regularly then find a different game.

 

yeah there's like a line, between friendly jabs, and being a genuine ass. which is what the OP seems to indicate, unless I'm much mistaken.

 

Hmm... I will think upon these words....

 

Hahaha come at me bro! It normally makes me smile when I see the opponent get lippy; for one it's instant bad karma, it's like somebody on the server just throws the hax switch to lunar setting lol. Secondly it gives away a lot about their game; if a player starts calling me names for no reason it tells me they're running out of plays and getting frustrated, and getting hot headed in this game is great way to get sloppy and lose. Hell if i'm feeling really evil I just play mind games back and really provoke them into making bad decisions! I understand everyone has their own driving factors and methods of motivation but I kinda look at it like this: The guy you're playing against might be a first time player on the Sim, they're probably a little overwhelmed with the abundance of experienced players and may or may not come back based on their first experience. Obviously if the guy is trying to just find his feet the last thing he needs to be called an asslicker by an established, higher ranked player. I would rather try and encourage players on to the scene and make it feel welcoming to them, because at the end of the day lets be honest; more players works better for all of us, do you really want to be fighting the same 3 players all year?

 

Hmmm... I've decided I'd prefer to be the asshole troll rather than take the high ground in Showdown. Of course, this speaks nothing of my behavior on poke'mon perfect
I actually rather like being the bad guy in this game, everybody wants me to lose and hates me and its great, haha.

 

Actually fuck it, I'm turning over a new leaf. No more trolling for me FROM THIS DAY FORWARD!!! (maybe)

 

Well y'know; speak to people you know however you like I don't think anybody's going to judge you for that, it's how I talk to my mates. The point is just be mindful that some people are probably a little more sensitive than you and we're not in the business of scaring players off. Also if you're doing well some guys will just as likely roll over on you and forward your comments to admin just to take you out of the game.

 

I'd like to also make a case in point about the fact that what you say on the internet affects other people, and also to note that if you suggest anything along the lines of suggesting self-harm / suicide to anyone as an insult in battle or elsewhere I can and will infract you and edit or delete any related posting on the forum. I was acquainted with 2 people on Smogon who attempted suicide since I was on the forums; one who I don't really know the full details of too well or know too personally, so I'll talk about the other. My friend Monte Cristo was the sort of person that the community came down pretty hard on (and from what I gather it was probably to some extent a similar story elsewhere on the internet, but I only really know about how the Pokémon community treated him). He attempted suicide (Skyping live to a friend of his as he tried it, with a video uploaded to but not published on Youtube) and thank god he was not successful, but he was hospitalised.

Part of wanting to make this a pleasant community and to prevent horrible treatment of eachother like that is because of my own experiences (such as about my friend, or about how others have treated me), and also out of general empathy and a deep understanding of the fact that what you say on screen affects people. I don't think what you were saying was overstepping the mark necessarily but I wanted to say this just as a story that tells you more about how I see this community and all of its potentional.

 

Oh you misunderstand. I just do harmless shit talk about the GAME. I never EVER EVER make it personal and tell someone to kill themselves or really any subject that doesn't relate directly to their performance in the game. I've been a troll for a long time, but I've NEVER sunk that low.
Jeez Disaster Area, I'm not a monster, wtf man

 

You'd be amazed how many people are happy to say 'kys' even to their friends

And there's plenty of horrible trolling all over the internet (from twitter to 4chan...) that is horrific and unacceptable, so when someone claims to be a troll of some kind to some extent most people will think of that sort of trolling.

 

Yes, I suppose that is the more pure definition for troll...