Question Downplaying Oneself

[WiseM0nkey]

I'm guilty of downplaying myself as well...

I really wanna be better and improve, but sometimes i feel like being stuck.

I'm able to aknowledge where i lack adn what i did wrong, but I'm still not entirely able to overcome or improve in those departements.

I get really upset when random ppl who clearly arent better than me beat me up without me being able to get my shit together and start playing better... and when i play people like Crathen, foxy or usedforglue whom expose your weaknesses as a player / character i put myself down most of the time cause i feel helpless...

as long as I'm ok with the way I'm playing it's all good, when i freeze and i dont play the way i want, it sucks....

downplaying myself it's surley something i need to stop doing,

 

[Sutter Pain]

Downplaying is just a option select for when you lose its lame as fuck.

 

[Trauma_and_Pain]

What a strange thread. You see the paradox here, right? Once you acknowledge that you're doing something, it's no longer a habit, it's a choice. You admit that you self-downplay even though you say your gameplay suggests otherwise.

Funny you mention this; I was just considering the idea of being humble as opposed to proud/conceited in the shower earlier today. I decided both are just forms of dishonesty. Being humble is pretending you are lower than you really are.

We already know you're doing it intentionally. Why? Good chance it's due to the romantic cliche of the humble badass. The e.g. martial artist who acts like they're no good and then destroys motherfuckers. If you've seen "Ip Man", you'll have a good idea. So maybe you want to be that guy. It makes great entertainment but it generally does not make you liked in real life, especially since you know you're doing it. And furthermore it's just dishonest and deceitful.

It's difficult to measure exactly how good a person is at fighting games, but given that the "average" player is pretty scrubby/casual, you can basically rest assured that you are well above average if you can even do full combos.

I want to believe I'm a good player but fear developing arrogance.

It's whatever, dude. I think you're sweating a pretty small and abstract concept more than you probably should be. Why do you care so much how good you are? Just play the game and enjoy yourself. Saying you're a pretty good player does not make you arrogant. Or just say that you don't honestly don't know how good you are. It isn't like you're in any way obligated to describe to other people exactly how strong you are.

Not that you should give a shit what other people think to begin with.

TLDR: Is downplaying oneself make you look like a condescending person, and why is it if my intention isn't to be it? Why is such an behavior looked down upon?

Because if you call yourself a bad player and then body somebody, that makes them a terrible player, doesn't it? It's indirectly condescending to your opponents by inductive reasoning:

I am a bad player.
I beat MonkeyLicker69.
This makes me a better player than MonkeyLicker69.
Therefore, MonkeyLicker69 is a very bad player.

But maybe they're not a very bad player. Maybe they're really a very decent player and your attempt at downplaying yourself has the unintended consequence of belittling them.

How do you think the community would take it if SonicFox said he was a terrible player? It would make all the rest of us look like dogshit by extension, if his statement is taken to be true.

 

[Crusty]

Seems kinda like you are suckling your own dick to me. Also might wanna work on that grammer boii

It felt like this was meant to be really deep but some of these lines...

Thread updated for grammar lol

 

[GAV]

I love this thread...

Another spin, when you have lost - where did it go wrong?

I think you would be surprised where it really went wrong. A lot of downplaying happens because players don't understand this. The obvious is I did this when I should have done this, but what about before that? What did you do to make the next choice make or break?

When I watch the best players, they rarely seem to be in make or break situations.

My weakness in MKX is the same weakness it took me years to overcome as a martial artist - and that is acting pre-emptively. I was always ready, but sometimes I would go to early - rather than be patient. That weakness has accompanied me to MKX...

How I overcame it was to extend my readiness and keep my focus longer. For me, inaction was agonizing as a young fighter. Now, I realize that by extending my readiness and focus a little at a time, I eventually reached a point to where I am always ready - but don't feel that old compulsory twitch that would make me go in before it was time. Now, re-learning this skill for application in MKX is my focus.

Also, fix one thing at a time. I talk with these great players that have the vision to become the best, but they get held back by their own vision - because they try to fix everything at once - and end up getting overwhelmed, then frustrated - when their success doesn't meet with their vision.

Focus on one thing at a time...

 

[Second Saint]

I'm a little similar to this. How I gauge my own skill is relative to who I'm comparing myself to though. Objectively, I'm a very good player compared to all people who have played MK X. But within the competitive community, I'm ok at best.

I also am very aware of the dunning-kruger effect, which is where the worse you are at something, the less capable of determining how good you are at it. Because of this, I tend to question my own assessments. I'm always trying to find what the weakness in my gameplan (spacing, oki, and execution being the big three) is, but I don't always know for sure if what I think is my major weakness is the primary problem. Maybe I'm missing something, I really just can't be certain.

 

[roosTakk]

Thread updated for grammar lol

=)

I can relate but I thinks it's because I'm actually just ass

 

[Alien Substance]

While some people will acknowledge that I am indeed good or even godlike, I shun those statements, I push them aside in complete denial. Not because I'm an asshole looking for wins but because I know what my own weaknesses are and I know that I have zero confidence in what I do, I just try to stay humble about it or not talk of it at all. I don't want to be a person who’s driven by their online ego much less a person going out of their way to harass other players with a humble-facade when I really don't have one.

I want to believe I'm a good player but fear developing arrogance. Everyone is their own worst enemy in that sense.

Try this thought process: Whatever skill you may have, acknowledge it when it is brought up, but don't bring it up yourself and flaunt it.

If you're aware that you fear developing arrogance, then the next step is to know what arrogance is and what it is not.

Spectator: "Man, you're pretty good with Zoner X."
Arrogant player: "I'm the best, you know. There's no one out there who is better than me."

Do you have an attitude like that? If not, then you are not arrogant. Additionally, there's a difference between humbleness and downplaying yourself. "Modesty" is an alternative word for it.


Tremor player wins against opposing player via fundamentals, knowledge of spacing and good reads.
Spectator: "Your Tremor is the opposite of abysmal. You have a lot of skill!"
Tremor player: "Don't say that. I'm freaking bad, dude."

Same situation as above.
Spectator: "ohmigosh, you're da bess Trem-Trem evah!"
Tremor player: "Thank you, but there are others who are better than me. I still have many things to learn and improve on."

Samesies.
Spectator: "You play Tremor quite well."
Tremor player: "Thanks."


Being humble/modest is the good middle-ground. You're not arrogant if you acknowledge that there are better players than you. If you are the best without a doubt, you're not arrogant if you don't flaunt it; if you simply let what skill you have speak for you.

 

[youthinkyoubadyouaintbad]

what? just play the game

 

[Damaja325]

i tend to downplay myself. but i don't downplay myself as a means for making excuses for losing or playing bad/stupid. while other players might think i'm pretty good, i know me and know what my weaknesses are. i know what separates me from the good and the extremely good. most of the time, i get annoyed when i can't make good reads or react to fuzzy-able strings/mix-ups. it's stuff like that that makes me question my validation as a player when several other good players are doing those kinds of things in their sleep.

 

[STB Shujinkydink]

Describing yourself, or worrying about a description of yourself won't help you get better at MKX.

If your goal is to have people call you good, or great, or top..whatever. Than cool. But the ACTUAL top players are the ones that focus on playing.

Focus on what's happening on the screen, why your AA missed, or why you didn't punish that last move. Not why the community thinks you are a certain level or not.


Downplaying or labelling yourself is a waste of time.

 

[ienjoywinning]

Anyone that has Euro MKX add me on PSN, i want to know if i'm really this gud, these dudes i've been facing online quit after getting comboed into brutalities, even if i don't look down onto themselves and keep everything positive, there is always that guy who is salty about losing.

eddywangmk
If you want to find out that you're really gud, lets combine some GGs

I'll add you but be warned , I live in Arabia

 

[Eddy Wang]

I'll add you but be warned , I live in Arabia

As long as we have 2 bars, we will enjoy it.

 

[ienjoywinning]

As long as we have 2 bars, we will enjoy it.

For sure , I already added you so shoot an invite whenever you're on , kinda sucks because I'f you made this a few days ago I would have played you in a good connection because I was in the UK.

 

[Infinite]

downplaying yourself while thinking your godlike isn't humble... it's just being weird. Downplaying yourself is worse than being confident because it's either trying to insult someone you beat or lessen the fact that someone beat you.

 

[big j gleez]

Nah. Being humble is a good thing. More people should be like this. Everyone has things they can improve on.

 

[SithLaird]

To quote Thierry Henry: "it's not arrogance if it's true."

Confidence and a fair assessment of ones abilities is fine, talking like you think you're superior is not, and talking like you are not good but really are and talking about being humble sound disingenuous. Despite whatever your intention is, lying brings negative connotations.

 

[GAV]

It blows my mind to hear some of the disrespectful things players say to one another. I put myself above it, so it doesn't affect me - and I see it as an opportunity to teach and learn from it, so my reaction to it done to me might be surprising, but that's just me. I get befuddled though when players address the best players without respect. These are the ones who have paved the way, so give them their due respect. The greats have paid their dues and deserve to be respected. Disagree with the greats, if you do, but do it respectfully.

Downplaying oneself and up-playing the greats brings a negative side too though...

To shorten the story, a woman developed a style many years ago in China that was based around centerline techniques. Defending the blind-spot was the number one priority in martial arts - and it was known as the center-line. If you strike from hand without any deviation from the center-line, the eye won't perceive the movement beyond the hand appearing to grow larger. Years later, it was what Holly Holms used to KO Ronda Rousey. Its why boxers bounce to keep their eye's level from remaining stagnant even though bouncing can make their movements easier to predict. Few understand why though. Fight theory has evolved with it implemented, but the reason has been mostly forgotten. When the old masters, years ago, would study movement in nature - they would acquire knowledge using this, and other, premises of basic science to decide on what to use and what to discard. This woman, named Yim, created a martial-arts style that revolved around center-line punches and created techniques to deal with the center-line crushes that made using them so dangerous. My point is that as new things are learned, old things get forgotten - as the pendulum swings back and forth - just like the court of public opinion - the masses will learn to think differently. Things progress, but through progression - things get forgotten or overlooked.

So, if you want to learn existing tech - watch, and learn to think like, the greats, but if you want to develop new tech - think like yourself. Just because it hasn't been done, does not mean it cannot be done. Firstly, think of what has been forgotten. Then, think of what may have been overlooked.