Why is 'Tryhard' an insult?

General Discussion
1

This is a competitive “shooter”. Doesn’t that mean everyone should be trying to win to some degree, regardless of the mode (at least for official queues)?

Why is “tryhard” a go-to insult for people who are losing a game? I’ve seen it used whether or not the other side is using meta picks or not. Do people really expect players to just run around spamming the Hello voiceline while using troll picks outside of comp mode? What’s the expectation from people who use this as an insult? Surely if the same “tryhard” players then did what I typed out a moment ago they’d be reported for throwing, so what kind of inbetween is expected here?

I know it’s just mad people being mad, but it just never made sense to me.

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2

Lol when you try too hard you get flamed for it. When you dont try you get reported. When you play the game for fun you get yelled at. Feelsbadman.

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It’s not. Trolls and throwers just try to make it seem so.

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4

Depends

If you’re running full meta in quickplay vs 5 dps its kinda in bad spirit

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5

People tryharding in quickplay is incredibly frustrating.

Anywhere else, who cares?

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As has been touched upon, I think it’s more that whatever way you play the game you can bet there’s been a nonsensical insult designed for it. :slight_smile:

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Its general use was when you have friends over, everyone is playing Halo or Mario Kart on the couch and having a fun time!

Except you have that one friend over who is determined to win every match they’re in and if they don’t, they result to insults and overall poor sportsmanship?

They would be a “Try-Hard”.

Overall it is supposed to imply someone is acting arrogant, but the issue is, a lot of arrogant people use it and its intent has become pretty blurred.

At this point, its anything someone can say to try to insult someone else.

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In a balanced match I love when everyone tryhards. When I go against GM/T500 Widows tryharding in quickplay, I get mildly salty.

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9

Trying hard is good and expected in a competitive game.

If someone calls you a tryhard, they are perceiving you* to be overinvesting in the game to the point of being counterproductive.

i.e., a Lucio who is valiantly stalling out a point while his team respawns is trying hard. A shot-caller who is a self-appointed team coach who is trying to micromanage everybody’s hero choice, positioning, focus fire, and then chewing them out when they screw up, is being a tryhard.

Or, again: Someone who cares about winning can just be trying hard. Someone who gets tilted into a scarlet rage because they lost and it’s “ALL THEIR TEAM’S FAULT” is being a tryhard.

One more example: Someone who jumps into a QP game, tries to make a wise hero choice and coordinate with their team is trying hard. Someone who begins berating everyone else that they need to just go play Arcade and QP really should be for serious people practicing comp is being a tryhard.

*Note: the issue of “perception” is key there. Because some troll who is throwing their game for teh lulz could call someone else a tryhard because that person baseline cares about winning. Tryhard is not an objective term and people use it as a fuzzy, meaningless insult from time to time.

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10

“tryhards” are not made fun of for trying, but trying so hard they get super salty and yell at everyone for not playing up their level.

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11

That’s the problem with qp, though.

I don’t mind having “tryhard” games where both teams are playing reasonable team comps with supports and tanks, but games where I can either be the only tank or the only support because our Brigitte is a a flanker vs a team of 6 players who are playing the same role as they do in comp with a valid tank combo and zen/mercy are horrible.

But qp does not define what you should and should not do, so both are entirely valid playstyles, it’s just not fun when they collide.

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12

And see, that would make sense.

Issue is I almost exclusively see it from someone on one team speaking to the other team, so they wouldn’t know this is the case.

I can get behind this, but it’s the same kinda thing, I mostly see it used against the winning team (even if no one talked in chat) rather than one’s own team.

Right and this is basically what I got when I googled.
. . . So I guess these posts:

Pretty much cover its use at this point then, eh?

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13

I don´t know why is it an insult, I mean it shows the one who says it acknowled that you are working hard.

Same like calling a player who is afk that he/she is afk :face_with_hand_over_mouth:

Or saying that a nerd is a nerd

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if your in qp trying hard then just go to competitive but if you’re in competitive then it’s a compliment

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See this is the type of rationale I do not understand though.

Even in quick play, the goal is to win. You get more experience for winning, and winning is typically more enjoyable for everyone on that team in general.

So long as they’re not taking it to an extreme level of vitriol in chat in an effort to ensure that win, I fail to see why anyone would think this way.

The reason I favor Quick Play over Comp is that people tend to get less upset over the outcome of the game or so-so hero pick. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to and don’t try to win.

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16

Guess the use of “Try-hard” is different here than where I’ve known it before.

Back where I came from, “Try-hard” is something you say to the guy who’s constantly killing the friendly neighborhood sandwich dispenser.

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I only ever see it in chat from someone who’s died (usually many times). Benefits: It passes responsibility for your deaths to another player. It is a variation on the classic “I wasn’t even trying” response to losing. It is seen, incorrectly, as a less childish version of “wow, he’s hacking,” or “[something something about your mom.]”

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18

yeah but its quick play, you should be able to experience new charcters and try out new strats without having to play against a hanzo main or junkrat main and just get destroyed

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Because trying to learn a new character in qp against a tryhard on their main that plays perfectly is stupid. Tryhard is an insult because the person tryharding doesn’t have to be trying so hard in qp.

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20

Ah, just realized your name.

No. Quick Play is not “practice” mode. It’s totally fine for people to use it as practice for comp or new heroes or what have you, but there should be zero expectation for others to avoid the heroes they already enjoy and play well with.

So you feel people shouldn’t be allowed to play their main heroes in quick play? That’s ridiculous. Expect it from “SmurfThrower” but not from a random normal player.

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