How to get over anxiety for losing while playing ranked?

[FakeSympathy]

So I made it to level 10. I consider myself to be a decent healer, mining Jeff (he's safe to play, sue me) and Mantis.

This is the first pvp game I've ever played in a very long time. Most of my online buddies are already at plat/diamond because they always get together to play. Time doesn't allow me to join them too often.

I can of course try to climb on my own, but I just can't bring myself to press "comepetive" and hit the play button; I am flooded back with all the negative emotions on why i stopped pvp games in the first place. And it's not just the toxicity, as that's given in any competitive environment.

As the title suggests, I start having a bad time when I go on a losing streak. One to two losses in a row? I can handle, and reflect on what I can do better. But around 3-4 times in a row is when I enter a real bad mood. I start getting angry and everyone in the lobby, I get angry at myself, and all ideas of comebacks are lost to me and I began to throw. Even when my team wins, I don't feel any sense of happiness; just bitterness and exhaustion, and quite frankly, a waste of time. I mean who is supposed to be happy with a 1/4 or 1/5 win?

This has been a case for every pvp games I've played.

The best solution was to find people to play with, but because everyone I know is already way ahead of me I don't think they can queue up with me. Even if they can, there's also the matter of finding time to play with them. They are just gonna rank up on their own again, and I will be left behind. And I can't exactly ask them to wait for me.

The other solution would be to keep playing casual mode, but then I don't think nobody really wants to play objective here. Everyone seems to prioritize getting kills over moving payload or defending the point. Experimenting with different characters is totally fine, but I feel it should be about learning to play objectively better, not getting kills.

I am at a loss here. I love the game, but I am stuck between risking anxiety attacks vs playing without much purpose

[Ruke (Soreasan)]

One of the things i learned from Wow tanking where i had to plan out routes just to get people going

:OMG WE OVERPULLED, U SUCK"
"OMG I FAILED A MECHANIC, U SUCK"
"OMG YOU DIED AND WE LOST, U SUCK"
"OMG I DIED AND WE LOST, U SUCK"

"OMG I DIED AND YOU TIMED THE KEY, you ELITIST PRICK! U SUCK!"

Is that most people screaming into coms often have anger issues. You aren't going to meet them again, some advice has merits and some advice is just some ragehead spitting into a mic.

You can turn off mics if you want or ignore chat. The game is fun but the game has a lot of people who don't care about bans with free accounts and cod lobbies imho.

[ninjaguyDan]

Do something that will relax you and mellow you out first. Anxiety is predominantly caused by overthinking and having unreasonable expectations. So if you can do something that will make you think less and not care about those expectations, it should help overcome that anxiety. And the only thing that will actually eliminate anxiety for losing, is to get over that anxiety by losing so much you no longer care if you lose or not.

Oh, I also agree with the poster above. In lower ranks, absolutely none of your teammates are trying to communicate in a useful manner. Just turn off chat. Once you get to a rank that you can play with your friends, then it's worth turning back on.

["courage"]

don't play ranked

[LaxeY]

just mute them all while on the prep phase and play without a care in the world, especially on the lower ranks

[Grief Factory Employee]

Get counseling from a psychologist. Your issues lie deep within, they just manifest in videogames.
You shouldn't care or get affected by this stuff.

[Ironside]

1) Don’t play ranked. It’s not something normal people do imho.
2) Press mute on everyone talking in the matches.
3) Enjoy it for what it is while it lasts. A silly game.

[AvidExpert]

Forget about the points and just focus on improving, trust me you'll get better this way.

Lose the tilt, ignore text chat, focus on what you can do.

As support you can carry to Gm easily :)

[WAFFLES? DON'T U MEAN CARROTS!!]

Originally posted by FakeSympathy:

How to get over anxiety for losing while playing ranked?

Play a different mode called "Practice Vs. Ai".

AI are better than humans.

[Kitt 🌟 Stargazer]

Play with friends and not Randoms if you aren't already. Much easier to have an enjoyable fun experience, even when you lose, when you do it with people that you can rely on and banter with while playing.

If you don't have friends that do play, it's not difficult to make new friends and you don't even have to put a lot of effort into it! Make a topic on Marvel Rival Boards, Discords, ect. or talk to people ingame and ask. Give a little bit of information as to things like general location ( to reduce lag ), characters you prefer and what not to make it easier to see if you'll work well together before hand.

I'd recommend going for more then six as well, this way if someone can't make it, you can pull someone else to your team!

[Kyo Tanaka]

I was in the same boat. Believe it or not, the solution is to just suck it up and dive in anyway. This goes for all things anxiety related. Tanking in an MMO, volunteering as shotcaller, generally anything social-related.

If you are still lacking confidence, keep playing in quick play with the character you want to be good with. Most people in high ranks have a lot of experience in hero shooter styled games with TF2, Overwatch, what have you. Experience is the one thing you need most of to be competitive, and you can only get it by actually competing.

[Dervish]

You have to stop caring about every win/lose and just play because you enjoy playing

If you're not having fun, don't force yourself to keep playing. Have a break or just play QP where its a lot easier to "not care"

[Hajile]

A lot of my experience has been from playing overwatch and Rivals inherited how i cope as well.

Originally posted by FakeSympathy:

The other solution would be to keep playing casual mode, but then I don't think nobody really wants to play objective here. Everyone seems to prioritize getting kills over moving payload or defending the point. Experimenting with different characters is totally fine, but I feel it should be about learning to play objectively better, not getting kills.

This is fine. It's good training. I actually learned to tank this way and it's good practice in the long run.

Basically, i've been tanking with inconsistent comps and unreliable healers for so long i eventually learned how to play a main tank in a 1-4-1 with a Zenyatta.

It also taught me something else. Apathy.

https://i.imgur.com/V0ycRGj.jpeg

I no longer cared about winning, i just take pride if i've executed a combo perfectly and minimize my openings. All that mattered was becoming the perfect tank.

And then Blizzard nerfed the tanks into the ground and by the end, they were no longer recognizable as tanks. FU blizzard.

Anyway, you just brute force it by just piling on the hours and you'll get better eventually. Leave ego at the door and just grind.

[Sunshine]

Play bots 3*, get confident, play comp, return to step 1, repeat.

Edit: It seems like a meme / troll, but I have the same issue, this does help but it also tempers my expectations because 3* bots are a miserable experience if there is no teamwork / synergy.

[Floopyh]

It's just a game and the stakes are virtual points

[Sunshine]

Originally posted by Floopyh:

It's just a game and the stakes are virtual points :resmile:

True, but to divulge into separate topics of late, NetEase are gunning for a major in psychology.