Cactus Game Design Message Boards

perhaps and ive entertained the thought i just wanna prove im good enough to hang with the big boys without stupid cookie cutter decks

That is a great goal, but is it a means or an end?  If it is the end, then you will end up frustrated and disappointed every time you don't succeed, and when you do, it may still be bittersweet.  If it is a means (to bring glory to God, to enjoy your relationships with others, to enjoy the game for fun, etc), you can succeed whether or not the goal is met. 

The question is, who do you want to be?  Have you gotten the most satisfaction, experienced the most joy and friendship, felt the most alive when you beat everyone else with whatever deck you are using?  Not everyone who competes becomes the best at their sport (think of all the baseball players in high school/college that don't make it to the big leagues).  But there is a big difference between the athletes who didn't make it to the top and are bitter about and push away the people they love as they spend more and more hours trying to get better and the athletes who didn't make it to the top who then focus on making others better and blessing the lives of those less fortunate.  I'm not saying you fall into either camp of the analogy...  Just saying, it's worth thinking about.

For what it's worth, I enjoyed the couple of games I played with you a handful of months ago.  When I start playing RTS again in the future, I hope you are still here so we can play, and that you are experiencing this game as God designed it to be experienced by you.

Marti wins the thread...and without a cookie cutter post. 

If it makes you feel any better, I only got like 2 responses to by baby announcement thread. 

In case I missed that thread....Congratulations

yeah ok well this thread as been quite helpful im having more fun having sold my soul now anyway veiled reference to what im playing for people that know me personally haha anyway i appreciate all the support and care def not what i thought was gonna happen lol.

just read thru this again and the opinions do help but im still struggling ive built like 4 decks now and id still only ever trust 1 maybe 2 in a tourney is that wierd?

No, its not weird, it's FUN!  You'll know you have truly reached Redemption Nirvana when you bring a deck that has no chance of winning, but does bizarre things, to a tournament, just to see the reactions of your peers.  Priceless

I did that at Nationals this year...it's incredibly fun.

just read thru this again and the opinions do help but im still struggling ive built like 4 decks now and id still only ever trust 1 maybe 2 in a tourney is that wierd?

Not at all. I typically build 30-50 decks a year. When it comes time for high level tournaments there are only about 3-5 of those decks I'd consider playing.

Most top players build a ton of decks. Using every archetype yourself better enables you to counter them with your main deck.

Matt

       I totally agree with everything Capt Kirk said.  Your value to God and us is based on who you are not how you perform.  Incidentally the last time we played in NY  I remember you winning that tournament.  

yeah i won that local i guess i just tend to forget the small victories cause im so focused on the bigger prize if this makes any sense.

I think you should be really happy with any success that God has blessed you with.  I have won a ton of Regional, State, District, and Local tournaments over the years, but I have never won Nats in anything (top finish of 4th place in T1-2p this summer).  So should I be thankful for God's blessing me with good draws and good matchups all those times that I won, or should I be depressed because I've never won nats?

im just kinda scared and afriad people are gonna judge me for my mistakes.

Do people judge me because I've never won nats, or because I make mistakes sometimes, like forgetting that the attacking hero prevented my blocking character's SA (yeah I'm thinking of that game with you SomeKittens)?  Yes of course they judge me.  They judge me to be a less scary opponent than Gabe, and they don't assume that I'll play a flawless game every time.

But do they judge me as a person based on my wins and losses?  Of course not.  I think people's perception of me is probably based way more on how I present myself in conversations on this forum.  And the people who actually know me well probably judge me based mostly on the time that we have spent together.  And in the grand scheme of things, it really doesn't matter what anyone thinks of me, because my self-worth comes purely from the fact that the God of the universe created me and considers me worth dying for.  It doesn't get any better than that.

The small victories are the best. I used to play a lot of RTS and played Gabe a lot. Needless to say he beat me a LOT, probably like a 70-30 split. But I beat him with a Panic Demon deck. No matter how bad I do, I will always remember that game.  (Although now that I think about it I think I SHOULD have won because I had an ec in Kingdoms of this World I forget about... can't remember though, Gabe probably will.  )

That's what it's all about. Discarding a sog because they have no evil cards in hand with Pontius Pilate is better than winning a tournament. Learn to look for victories WITHIN your game. If you capture Joseph with Possessing Demon, it doesn't matter if you still win, your opponent's Joseph just got captured by Possessing Demon! Look for these cool things in every game, not about how the ls end up at the end.

I screw up.  A LOT.  One life lesson that God has yet to teach me is that it's ok.  I blew my chances at a placing at Nats this year, and it still haunts me. I don't know what to say....

I don't really feel special about it.  It's certainly an achievement.  Hopefully I can do it again