Do you ever throw the fight?

[Evilbunny]

I was recently playing smash brothers brawl with a bunch of people I didn't really know that well, and it became very clear after a few minutes of playing that I was much better than everyone else there. I could have mopped the floor with them, but I didn't. Instead I went easy, didn't take certain openings for attacks, and even let them win a few rounds. Have you ever done this, let other people win for the sake of fun?

 

[Amnestic]

I was recently playing smash brothers brawl with a bunch of people I didn't really know that well, and it became very clear after a few minutes of playing that I was much better than everyone else there. I could have mopped the floor with them, but I didn't. Instead I went easy, didn't take certain openings for attacks, and even let them win a few rounds. Have you ever done this, let other people win for the sake of fun?

I generally do so with most of my friends. I'm a much more 'active' gamer and play my games a lot longer so I generally end up better because of more practise. I've thrown a couple of fighting-game matches in my time. I do get proper opponents every now and again which is nice

 

[Darth Marsden]

Sometimes, when I'm playing with family. That did, however, lead to my utter humiliation at losing two rounds of Bond Scene It on my birthday, so I don't think I'll be doing it again any time soon. In games, I don't tend to hold back, but that's mostly because the people I play against can hold their own.

 

[The Iron Ninja]

One time in a Halo 3 team slayer, half of the other team left, as such we were really beating them.
I began to feel mean, so I changed tactics and began to just run over to the nearest explosive thing and jump up and down on it. The rest of my team followed suit.
We still won, but at least the other team got to have some fun.

 

[Sejs Cube]

Absolutely.

The whole point is to have fun.. fun for you, fun for them, the works. One player effortlessly trouncing the other(s) isn't fun for them and it's rarely any fun for you unless you're the sort that desperately needs validation.

The fun's in the challenge. There's no shame in playing down to let everybody have some spotlight.

 

[Dapper Ninja]

If I'm playing someone that I'm significantly better than, I will usually go easy on them, but I don't ever just let them win. If someone just let me win, I would feel like they looked down on me and the victory would be unrewarding, so I just try to play the game more on the level of those I'm playing with. That way everyone enjoys the game.

 

[SteinFaust]

sometimes i try to be nice to people, but 2 hapless kills into a match they start calling me b!tch and teabag my player's body. ugh the nerve of some people. 'sokay though, things usually get settled 25-2 in my favor, or maybe 15-2 if they get mad and storm out.

 

[Conqueror Kenny]

I have done on Halo, but the fool had the nerve to say he's better than me, and said I was lying when I told him I wasn't trying. So I started up another match ending 25-0 to me. He keeps quiet when he kills me now.

 

[ZOMGie]

I never actually throw a game, but I will give myself some type of handicap when playing with a group of friends who are generally less skilled than me. In Halo 2, for example, I would limit myself to the plasma pistol and grenades. In Smash Brothers, as another example, I'll pick a character I don't like and use no special moves. Finding the handicap that suits the friends you're playing against may take a couple of games, but it can really level the playing field. Giving yourself that self-imposed handicap makes it more challenging; you are less likely to win all the time, and when you do win, it will definitely have been a closer game.

 

[Evilbunny]

Absolutely.

The whole point is to have fun.. fun for you, fun for them, the works. One player effortlessly trouncing the other(s) isn't fun for them and it's rarely any fun for you unless you're the sort that desperately needs validation.

The fun's in the challenge. There's no shame in playing down to let everybody have some spotlight.

I agree, nobody likes being embarrassed, so there's no shame in letting them win a few.

 

[Demir23]

I try to hold back for the sake of fun, but I find that I often will revert to going all out if the other players start trash talking, regardless of how good they are. In terms of SSBB, I was holding back against a friend who had never played before, alternating between all of the characters I didn't usually play with. He won a round and started trash talking, next thing he knows I'm curb stomping him with Princess Peach, winning the match without dying once.

 

[number2301]

I never actually throw a game, but I will give myself some type of handicap when playing with a group of friends who are generally less skilled than me. In Halo 2, for example, I would limit myself to the plasma pistol and grenades. In Smash Brothers, as another example, I'll pick a character I don't like and use no special moves. Finding the handicap that suits the friends you're playing against may take a couple of games, but it can really level the playing field. Giving yourself that self-imposed handicap makes it more challenging; you are less likely to win all the time, and when you do win, it will definitely have been a closer game.

Pretty much that, especially when someone is just starting out playing a Football game, you need the time on the ball to figure it out and if I didn't go easy they'd get bored quickly. So I basically leave them to it for a while, then start to play properly but with poor teams until they start beating me.

 

[Ronwue]

Nope, I hate loosing. I would consider doing this for the sake of my sex life (not that that ever happens) but that's about as far as I would go. I'm very competitive (aka I hate loosing)

 

[M3707ik]

nope.
I have 3 freinds i play HAlo 3 with. None of them had an X-Box 360. I wiped the floor with them. I went so far as to stay in the same place i killed them last and kill them agian so i could t-bag both of their dead bodys.....

But they got better. And that was the point. My freind got a 360 a bit latter and i lent him my copy so he could practice. Now instead of a clean sweep, his average 1v1 is 1kill to 25 deaths.

EDIT- that was the only FPS multiplayer game i had im an RPG/RTS fanatic.

EDIT 2- I havent gotten it back yet.

EDIT 3- I also handicap myself a bit. just to humiliate them mostly. Like playing the whole game t-baging, or pistol wipping them, or playing the whole game assasinating and sniping

 

[Caliostro]

No. Throwing a fight is betraying my friends at their core. They believe they really beat me, they genuinely thought they were better than me at that moment, and in reality I was just lying to them, didn't even dignify them with my effort so they wouldn't think I was that much better than them and would keep playing.

I will, though, not be a douche and, for instances, pick all the best weapons or characters or something. My friends may not play that specific game all damn day like I do, they know I'm better, there's nothing wrong with, in a beat'em up for instances, picking a character I use less often and am less experienced with to make it more even and fair.

I just steadfastly refuse to pretend I did my best and he won fair and square when I was barely playing at all.

 

[the monopoly guy]

No, but I have just given up and sat there in the middle of the map if my team is a complete idtiot.

EDIT: Wait, nevermind. If I'm playing with a friend and I know I'm better I will hold back.

 

[swift tongued]

I've played brawl to entertain guests who I didn't know and that was when I held back. In general, Brawl is wierd because it's a Wii game where being hellas good gives you an advantage. Unlike say, Tenis, where everyone can just wave the Wiimote wildly and still have fun.

 

[fedpayne]

I know people have done it to me in the past...

Doesn't feel swell.

*EDIT* BUT definitely is less fun to be dying all the time. Handicaps are the way to go.

 

[implodingMan]

I have the good fortune of having a a few friends who are good at video games. Halo matches are fairly evenly matched, with different maps causing the main difference in score (if I can get my hands on a covenant carbine I can wipe the floor). Smash Bros Melee 1 on 1 matches are very intense, a complicated series of rolls, dodges and missed attacks.

 

[Gxas]

I'm much better than my one friend at Halo and Gears. When we 1v1, I always try to mess around. I still win every time, I just try to do some things I wouldn't normally be able to do.