About "Trying to win"

[fulf]

Is it bad to try to win in a game like OJ? Does it turn you off from the game when someone's doing this in a lobby?
I don't take the game competitively or seriously, or play exclusively to win; I play for fun, but for me, part of the fun is trying to win. But I really can't help but feel like that sort of ruins other peoples' fun with the game. Right now my overall online win rate is almost 33%, and it's getting higher; I don't say that to try and boast, though, because that's not what OJ is to me at all.
Opinions?- Do you try to win? Does it annoy you when people try to win? I think I'm pretty laidback while playing OJ, but even among friends it seems like they get frustrated with some of the stuff I pull off sometimes. It sorta makes me feel bad.

[PhleBuster]

I always play to win (unless I have some more obscure objective).

[ZZZZZ]

keep playin for win. Its no fun for all if you do sh*t only to be a "kind" one ^^. Ignore the win if you are close to get a achievment that you want :D

[Emeraldfox]

I try to win, but not to the point where I get mad if something goes wrong or look up what to put in a deck.

OJ and chill, my dudes.

[Cartography Dee]

You can't take OJ seriously, it's an rng dice board game. Personally, It's a lot less fun when people don't play to win (unless you're doing a gimmicky game with friends). It's not fun winning a game because some player is mindlessly attacking everyone else (lol starbreaker), or on the flip side, not attacking first place right when they're about to win.

EDIT: Comment below sums it up pretty well.

[F IAaP n]

I've experienced the most pleasant games when everyone was doing their best to win, yet no one would take offence at others' behavior and bad luck. This is where explosive actions, turns of tables and amazing events occur – it's really fun! Just as long as everyone is a good sport, that is.

[benadryl]

i think guilt plays a big part, i feel bad when i play star breaker and i have to kill people since i feel guilty about ruining their fun

but, in the end people will get over it and realize that its all rng and people do what they gotta do so, play however you want but playing for the win isnt a bad thing

[flygonite]

Honestly, StarB helped me STOP feeling guilty about fighting people since she has no other choice. I'll try to avoid being a bully, but if it's tactically sound all the faces are getting punched. It's part of the game!

OJ is the most fun when everyone's fighting tooth and nail to stop whoever is closest to winning, so long as no one's taking things too seriously. Don't let anyone fault you for trying your best!

[Martin]

There's nothing wrong about playing to win. People need to understand that you should assume everyone you're going against is playing to win.

I build my deck and make decisions precisely because I want to up my chances of winning. It may not be guaranteed due to dice rolling, but every bit helps.

[[FAUCᴇT] Psychopath]

Play to win. Weigh options based on how critical of a moment it may be. There is no being nice or being mean, it's a board game. Only sorts of plays that don't get a free pass is willingly allowing someone else to succeed when you otherwise have a realistic opportunity to stop them, in which case you're ruining the fun of the other 2 players for no reason than to feel moral superiority and "nice." Some of the most tense moments in the game stem from a desperate dive to stop the lead player (even if it's at the expense of their second-place position), to deny the potential for a big upset is doing a disservice to the lobby.

[Solidus]

Pretty much everything everybody has said. If people played to lose, I'd rather play against the AI.

[poopyoldhag]

People who don't even try to battle players who are about to win then costs us the whole game are absolutely disgraceful.

[Iridium]

I try to win, but I don't whine so much that it makes the lobby actively worse if I get a string of bad luck. I've seen that before and it's just terrible.

[Corrodias]

Originally posted by NaimS (Noob & Spammer):

I've experienced the most pleasant games when everyone was doing their best to win, yet no one would take offence at others' behavior and bad luck. This is where explosive actions, turns of tables and amazing events occur – it's really fun! Just as long as everyone is a good sport, that is.

This is well-put. I enjoy a challenging game of OJ with clever plays and horrifying twists of RNG.

OJ encourages a kind of play where you're doing your best but gracefully accept when things don't work out. If you take it too seriously and get too competitive, you'll be upset by the random events. They act as a control on the level of competitive spirit. But when everyone's working together, against each other, to have fun, it can be a blast, and good sportsmanship is the only way to keep it sustainable.

I think a lot of PvP gaming culture obscures the fact that this is even an option. If you're looking at "gaming" from the outside, it may seem that throwing screaming fits is the natural way to play against each other. Most PvP games are mechanically designed for you to be terrible to each other, and "pwning noobs" is a respected sport. Sometimes there is an added layer of external mechanics with which the developer tries to enforce good sportsmanship, like banning players who leave games or act like ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ in the chat. I'm not sure what motivates designers to put these in the game. Are they trying to attract more players? Does that work? Are they trying to avoid bad press for having a poisonous playerbase?

People are naturally sadists, and we get off on upsetting others. It enhances our enjoyment of games like that. I can't really blame them for doing so. It's just how people tick.

But OJ just doesn't work that way. Most people who maintain such a competitive attitude can't stand to play the game for long, and as a natural consequence, we're left with a community of players who are mostly pretty nice to each other and enjoy the game for what it is.

It's more like playing a board game with family, something I think few people have ever really experienced. Surely, throwing a fit or insulting the other players would swiftly result in some form of punishment or exclusion. They're in it to have a good time with their family, not to make each other feel bad. But if you're not trying to win, it's a little condescending to those who are trying. The game provides the structure for the fun. If you disregard that structure, why have the game involved at all?

There's nothing wrong with trying to win. That's what keeps things interesting. But you also don't have to be super competitive. Accepting that the dice don't always roll our way and encouraging each other to do our best is what keeps us all having a good time.

[Norton 360 for Gamers]

Nothing wrong with trying to win.

When someone's playing with me I prefer if they hit me (and hopefully the other players as well!) with everything they got. That's what usualy leads to the most exciting games. Not saying the game should be taken super serious but I believe it's more fun if everybody involved is trying at least a little. Certainly more interesting than games where everyone refuses to fight each other, no matter how beneficial it'd be for them. Those are just boring.

[Strams]

I play to have fun and win, but I am not super competitive. If anything, when I am close to either getting an achievement or winning, I'll take the achievo.

100% OJ is not a game that you should take seriously like it is some pro gaming league, since the game is 95% rng, 5% skill.

We should all just have fun.