I might have problems

Community Discussion
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For context, im a grad school student 32 y/o booting up some hearthstone in my free time. In past ive reached legend, I try to play for some entertainment on the side.

The issue now is that I’m getting too upset when i find myself getting ‘unlucky’.

I log in with a positive mindset. 20 minutes in I find myself clenching my fists, gritting my teeth, and ranting loudly. If my family/loved ones ask me what’s wrong, I lie so that they aren’t shocked by the silly reason i’m upset.

From my point of view, i lose most coin tosses. Things like when my opponent chain discovers the perfect answer. Or random damage hitting perfectly, or getting only summon outcome that wins etc. These things happening multiple times each game just aggravate the crap out of me.

Also, my set has some good decks but is incomplete. And losing to a player having better cards in their collection makes it a helpless moment. These ‘titan legendaries’ for instance, they win the match the moment they are played. My board is removed, the opponent has 20-20 worth of stats out of thin air and more. Screw those overpowered, legendary cards.

I still have that urge to play hearthstone. I am just as competitive as i was before. Issue is that i just suck, and all my losses are full of anger and disappointment. I do think it’s a me issue. And im wondering if its better for me to abandon the game.

Appreciate your thoughts?

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It sounds like you’re experiencing a common frustration with competitive games: the gap between your expectations and the reality of the game. Here’s a breakdown of your concerns and some potential solutions:

  1. “Unlucky” Situations:
  • Perspective Shift:
    • Chance is Part of the Game: Hearthstone, like many card games, relies heavily on chance. Coin flips, card draws, and random effects are inherent.
    • Focus on Your Play: Instead of dwelling on “unlucky” outcomes, analyze your own decisions. Could you have played differently? Were there alternative lines of play you missed?
    • Accept Imperfection: Even the best players lose games. It’s okay to have bad runs.
  • Mindfulness Techniques:
    • Deep Breaths: When you feel frustration rising, take deep, slow breaths to calm your nerves.
    • Step Away: If you feel yourself getting overly emotional, take a break from the game. Go for a walk, listen to music, or do something else to clear your head.
  1. Collection Disparity:
  • Embrace the Grind: Building a competitive collection takes time and resources.
  • Focus on Budget Decks: There are many strong decks that don’t require expensive legendaries. Explore budget deck lists and focus on refining your gameplay with those.
  • Set Realistic Goals: Don’t compare yourself to players with much larger collections. Focus on improving your own skills and climbing the ranks with the cards you have.
  1. “Titan Legendaries” and Power Creep:
  • Understand the Game’s Design: Power creep is a common phenomenon in card games. Developers introduce new cards that are often more powerful than older ones to keep the game fresh.
  • Adapt Your Strategies: Learn how to play against these powerful cards. Develop counter-strategies or build decks that can compete with them.
  1. Overall Approach:
  • Competitive vs. Casual: Re-evaluate your goals. Are you playing to climb the ladder competitively, or are you playing for casual enjoyment? If it’s the latter, focus on having fun and don’t get too caught up in winning.
  • Find Alternative Outlets: Explore other hobbies and interests to balance your gaming time.
  • Consider a Break: If you find yourself consistently frustrated, taking a break from Hearthstone altogether might be beneficial.
    Important Note: If your anger and frustration are significantly impacting your daily life, consider seeking support from a mental health professional. They can help you develop coping mechanisms for managing stress and anger.
    Remember, Hearthstone is a game. It’s meant to be fun. Don’t let it become a source of constant stress and negativity.
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It’s called tilting, and part of improving your gaming is not having it affect you (I still have the issue myself.

You need some stoicism.

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Obvious ChatGPT text btw, though probably not totally wrong, but I didn’t read it.

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Hi Ken,
Appreciate your thoughts on coping strategies. I honestly think its better for me to find another game rather than struggle here? What do you think?

The issue with thinking of strategies to deal with titan legendaries is that there arent any that stop their impact when they are played. The only solution is to also have titan legendaries. I have only one Zilliax, he cant deal with everything on his own.

For example the warlock titan clears my board without triggering deathrattles and summons an endless army of imps that beats any minions i play afterwards. If i dont have a removal spell for him specifically, the imps get taunt. the titan can be resummoned with 2 mana spell.

Another example. The priest titan can click remove two of my minions no matter what their stats are, again not caring about deathrattles. And it can be resummoned 4 to 6 times.

Yoggsaron will steal my best minion if i have one good one, and clear the board if i have spread my stats.

No amount of genius strategizing will allow you to beat these cards unless you have them too. Which i dont.

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Well thats sadly the game now, you probably would have loved the game when it just came out.But now after so many expansions each introducing more OP stuff to make people buy packs. It just became a clown show. The only time i still have some fun outside of battlegrounds is in wild but only in lower tiers because even there in the higher tiers people run the OP copy paste meta decks.

Titan legendaries indeed are very annoying getting some free OP spells.

It just gets so frustrating constantly having to play against the same copy paste OP decks. and im not joking most decks are pretty much exactly the same.

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Hmm… Maybe you just need to finally grow up? :grinning:

And there I was, grumbling about those big babies in their twenties, running around in dirty white socks and so on… Never mind that, though, to the issue at hand…

Yes, many have observed a lot of such ‘strange’, if not outright suspicious, phenomena (e.g.: Rigging: Win condition drawing - #2 by SparkyElf-2852 and all those seemingly countless further links). Forum ‘paladins’ will keep telling you that the game is not rigged, but that’s not the point. What is, as you have aptly put it yourself, and I should praise you for it, is your reaction to it all.

Whether the game is rigged like a casino or just frustrating — more on that later — the question is: what are you looking for in it, why do you keep playing and repeating the same unpleasant experience? Are you truly having fun or just trapped in that emotional roller-coaster, akin to an addiction of sorts, like some poor guy who keeps losing in a casino, clinging to a false hope that the tables would be turned somehow? PS Come to think of it, there’s also the thrill of anticipation and so on… Some people here would tell you about ‘dopamine hits’, but personally, I’d refrain from such simplistic theories.

As for the game design, in my view — make no mistake, the game is designed to hook you on it and keep you playing, moreover, the cycle of hope, hype and disappointment seems to be pivotal to the game model — it probably is supposed to be frustrating and keep you in that miserable state (see above re ‘roller-coaster’, ‘cycle’ etc), where you’re thinking that you’re having fun and playing the game, while the game is playing you, as I often put it, instead.

I suppose you could ask yourself: is this really your cup of tea? From you post, sounds like it’s not. Of course, you’re your own man, I’m just writing down my thoughts about your situation, as you have requested.

You’ve mentioned the competitive aspect:

Is that what you’re after, what motivates you? Then why not play something more skill-intensive instead, as opposed to HS, which is admittedly very much like a roulette, with a lot of ‘RNG’ and ‘exciting’ :crazy_face: stuff (just like you said, all those crazy swings, sudden generation of game-changers etc) in it?

That’s actually a very reasonable and mature piece of introspection, if you ask me. I think you might have answered your own question partially, but I have elaborated on it above.

Is that a question? :grinning:

No matter, I think we’ve covered that part.

I wish you… maybe not even ‘good luck’, no, but making an informed choice, a decision of your own, and having fun — truly and as a result of it.

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