Stick-ish figure with arms crossed in frustration as their screen shows 'Qualified!
Title image made by me in Paint!
My brother calls it 'Suffering from Success'. I call it 'I don't want to make it to The Finals'.
I turn on The Finals because it offers a competitive matchup with the random factor of being third or even fourth partied always on the table. The cashbox game mode has 4 teams of 3 players, 2 cash boxes spread out across a map and 2 vaults to secure them in. Sometimes a team will do a double jeopardy and throw both cashboxes into 1 vault causing a flurry of chaos as 3 teams try to take over the 4th teams cashbox.
It's fun when there's all types of bullshit going around with light builds dipping and diving while firing peashooters, medium builds taking a more surefire approach to eliminating foes, and heavies (like me!) trying to catch somebody with heavy weapons.
Recovering my health after a skirmish when an enemy player crests the wall with intent to kill me. Panic ensues
My plan is to play the first 2 rounds and to not make it to the third and final round because then the element of 4 teams gets reduced to 2 teams and it becomes a 3v3. My reason is because the chaos of 4 teams in a match adds that fun chaotic factor that other competitive games lack because they are just one team against another.
That doesn't mean I take a dive in the 2nd round though. I still play to capture the objective and revive teammates but my reluctance to make it to the 3rd round seems to be my downfall because my team (or me) will pull off a miraculous comeback at the last minute and actually make the qualifying threshold and make it to the 3rd round.
Look at the difference between cashouts! No way we win this
"Oooo you win a game and make it to the last round. Big deal!" You might say upon reading this but the truth of the matter is: I don't like playing try-hard competitive games that are small numbered teams because players take things too personal. I've played a lot of competitive games and some players just cannot let go of any slight held against them and will hold on to any defeat or victory for a long time.
I've even had some long term friendships end because they wouldn't let go of an emotion they felt towards my gameplay during a competitive moment (Win or lose).
Me in the middle
Of course, now that we made it to the final match up I now have to integrate myself into the competitive mindset because now there is no chance of chaos from another team. Only intentional plays.
It's a little nerve-racking for me because now I have to shore up my skill level and make something of my playstyle, that is usually based on whimsy movements and is generally considered a farce to deal with.
We win some skirmishes, we lose others, and the objective is to cash out 2 vaults somewhere in between the fighting. The way I play, explosives, relying on the destructible environment, and using the combustible barrels(Poison, fire, explosive) that litter the stage, is sometimes just enough to give my other teammates the edge to frag the enemy while other times it makes me a target and I am the first one to go (Still giving my team the time they need to take out a player!).
I focus on revives and the objective, which works out because I am relying on my other teammates to do the killing.
After a tense bout of me making moves that often confounds the other players, we win or we lose but it feels like it was down to the wire almost every time.
I often joke that I can handle most stressful situations in real life normally but get me in a competitive game where the match is neck and neck and the slightest mistake could spell defeat and my heart rate is pounding, my hands are shaking, and I am a little jittery no matter the result.
If I lose then no big deal. I would've preferred getting knocked out in the 2nd match so I wouldn't have to deal with this.
But
If I win then it's a huge deal because I didn't even want to get into the final matchup and how could I have won considering the enemy players were actually good and I played so silly. This game is dumb and I wish I had never gotten into the final matchup.
I didn't intend to get this far when I queued.
Suffering from success is correct in this regard.
I play The Finals for the chaos and the randomness of four teams on a single map with some teams making their presence known by blowing us up in the first 2 matches
I do not play The Finals for the competitive, sweaty, tryhard 3v3 it becomes after those first 2 matches.
But that is where those 2 matches lead to and thus where I end up. I won't throw a game to keep me within that 2 match threshold and so the team I am on will sometimes advance to the 3rd round and I have to make do with the fact that I have to take the match more seriously.
Is this a silly outlook? Absolutely. But I still play The Finals and more often than not get into that dreaded 3rd round (for my bracket).
Gotta take the bitter with the sweet I guess. Oh well!
Thank you for reading!
Happy Gaming!