From: lordtranorix [lordtranorix@mail.pojo.com] Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2005 9:24 PM To: jonnyo@pojo.com Subject: FWD: The Idiot's Guide to Dueling Behavior - Leprechaun71588 ---------- Original Message ---------------------------------- From: Pat D Date: Thu, 24 Mar 2005 20:33:50 -0800 (PST) Hi, this is Leprechaun71588, some of you have probably read my tournament reports on here, and I thought that I would give a brief discussion on something that has really been bothering me lately...people who are real jerks who play the game. Does anyone else have a problem with these people? I mostly run into people like this online, but I've seen a few at different tournaments I've been to. So here's my opinion on the whole situation... The Idiot's Guide to Dueling Behavior. First of all, let me define my definition of a Newbie/NooB/n00b/newb... People toss that word around all the time today, but never really take any time to think about what it means. Sure, it could mean someone who is new at the game and is still learning, but is that such a bad thing? Whenever I see someone use the term "Newbie" it is usually aimed at someone else in a negative way. But as you all have heard in various rants on here, how we were all new at one point or another, so why is that so bad? I prefer to use the term "inexperienced" for these kinds of players. If we didn't have any new players joining the game, YuGiOh would come to an end pretty quickly. That's where my definition comes in. Newbie: 1. Any player who will argue against a point against a more highly experienced player, sometimes even after they have been proven wrong multiple times. 2. Any player who is arrogant/cocky and will try to make themselves look better by putting someone else down because they can't do it the right way and win to earn other's respect. Now I'm not saying that I'm a great player, although I am ranked 4th in my state (but that's not too big an accomplishment considering I live in Kansas.... yeah...57 registered players total). I've made plenty of mistakes and argued rulings when I've been wrong. The only thing is, when they prove me wrong, I give you a nice "Thank you for clearing that up for me." You couldn't count the number of times I've proved somebody wrong on rulings just to get an answer like "Fine, whatever, I don't care." or even "It's just a card game, quit getting so mad about it." This brings me up to my next point: it is just a card game. Face it, most of you reading this, including myself, will never win, or even attend nationals. I'm not saying that you should just give up hope completely, what I'm saying is that we shouldn't treat every game like it's the final round at nationals, and winning would get you a new laptop and a free trip to the world championship on top of other great prizes. I've been made fun of by various people online for the types of decks I used. I was playing with a Gren Maju deck back when I got the comment "He sucks, why do you even use a deck like that, you're just a stupid NooB." At the last tournament I was at, I overheard a kid making fun of another players deck (a better player at that), saying "Why do you use that card, it sucks. There are so many better choices" (this refering to him using 7 Completed in a Machine deck), sure he was probably right, but you don't have to be a jerk about it. And on to my final point about dueling manners...Sore losers. Don't get me wrong, they don't necessarily have to lose, they just get really mad when they make a bad move or a stupid mistake. Of course none of us like losing, but as I said earlier about very few people actually getting to nationals. A great quote from Despair.com sums it up, "For every winner, there's dozens of losers. Chances are, you're one of them." Everyone's gotta lose sometimes, it's the only way to learn and improve. Take warning labels for example. Some little kid had to try eating the industrial strength adhesive, otherwise we wouldn't have a nice label to protect the rest of us. If I go to a tournament and win, I usually assume that my deck will continue to do that the next time. Unless I lose, I really don't see a reason to change much around. However, if I do lose, I know something's up and I can figure out what to take out/put in. Today I ran into one such person online. I pulled off a good move, clearing their hand and field, and they drew to begin their turn. After a few minutes, I figured they forgot, so I kindly reminded them to add 1000 for my Snatch Steal. He replied with "I know. Don't start talking to me like I'm retard because I made one stupid move."...yeah, his exact words. Then I said "I was just reminding you," and he replied "Stop talking down to me like you're so much better." All I said was "add 1000"... where did he get that from? Another time when I was at a tournament, my sister got stuck dueling another young girl in the first round. The girl's parents were also playing in the tournament and were standing by to give advice and had obviously built her deck for her. To make a long story short, my sister won, and the girl got up, walked to a corner with her parents, and started crying about it. Well I suppose this is getting pretty long, so I think I'll wrap it up. I've got a lot of similar examples to these that I could give you. The moral of the story is, it's just a game, everyone has to lose many times before they can win a few, it's the only way to get better. And once you do get better, you should still be open to learning and improving. I've seen a lot of people online who instantly call everyone they see a Newbie because they won their local tournament that weekend and that makes them the best player in the world. Also, don't instantly call an inexperienced person a "Newbie." No, but when they turn into an aggressive, cocky, ignorant jerk, then you can call them a Newbie (NooB, n00b, newb, or whatever variation you prefer), it still doesn't make it right, but at least it's true at that point. Sure, I may only run into a person like that in 1 out of every 100 duels, but I sure as hell remember that duel a lot better than any of the other 99. By acting that way, you're only ruining the game for yourself and all the people around you. I hope this article made some kind of impression on everyone on how we act towards others. So next time you're at a tournament, remember what your mom used to say: "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." One more thing I just thought of...at every tournament I've been to 90% of the players break one of the most basic rules...can't guess which one? Go pull out your rulebook and turn to page 4...don't worry, I'll wait...read the second sentence under the section titled "Gameplay"..."Before you start a duel, greet your opponent with a friendly handshake." I know I always forget to do this, but I usually try to remember the after-duel handshake. There's been very few duels where I actually remember receiving a before or after duel handshake. So let's stop breaking the rules people and get with the program. If they thought it was important enough to include that in the rulebook, there must be something to it. So how about we all try doing this for once, and hey, if it doesn't help out your dueling environment....just keep doing it anyways because it's nice and friendly. So if you've got any questions/comments/input it would be greatly appreciated. I would say "no hatemail," but I'm not sure how I could get hatemail from this... Email: Leprechaun71588@yahoo.com Yahoo messenger: Leprechaun71588 AIM: Leprechaun71588