Going on tilt and why it's more natural than you think

[Asuka Langley]

Going on tilt is something that every gamer has experienced at one point in their life, whether it be depressingly handed down in single player games or more naturally in multiplayer games. However, we always assume that we're going on tilt because the game's fucking up when in reality we're just not playing to our best degree or, have been unknowingly bumped up to an MMR division that is way too high in comparison to the ones we've normally been playing.

 

 

CS:GO Streamer Summit fucks up in the worst way during pro plays

 

What is "Tilt"? - Well, it's a term used to describe a drop in successful gameplay the two most recognizable versions of tilt are loss streaks in games such as League of Legends, DotA 2, SMITE, Starcraft 2, ect. or death streaks in games such as CS:GO (as you can see above), CoD, Battlefield and again the games involved with loss streaks. Basically, imagine you're on the middle of a mountain, this is your normal gaming skill level, you can either climb higher into a better skill level/have a luck streak or you can plummet down straight to the bottom and impale yourself on some icicles. Yeah, the latter's tilt.

 

How exactly does "Tilt" effect us? - The number one symptom of tilting is rage. Now I'm sure I don't have to explain rage to anyone reading this because god knows that you'd have to be a saint to never rage at a game ever but, rage is also a key cause of tilt. How, you may ask and the answer is quite simple; While you're screaming at your game and getting beyond pissy with whatever BS you think you're going through, you're in fact probably missing enemies or key objects on your screen that are passing by and will bite you in the ass later on in the game. Of course, you'll eventually calm down but only after a quick rage quit or two from your games and a quick cuppa.

 

 

"Draft Mode allows each team to ban 3 champions"

 

How devs help you come off of tilt - Well. There's several ways developers have hidden ways for you to come off of your tilting moments, however different games have different methods and it's not always that easy to see them. Take League of Legends for example, Draft Mode allows each team to ban 3 champions so if you get to choose a ban with the new system then you could deal with that champion you'd normally have trouble playing against. Modern Warfare 2 and 3 had "Death streak" bonuses to help you stop your K/D from plummeting in one game, including Last Stand which was basically a self res, Copycat to steal a class you felt was better than yours and even Martyrdom to blow the fucking shit out of the last guy to knife you. However death streaks seem to have become more irrelevant with the appearance of score streaks, allowing players to do any action they wish to grab powerful bonuses to pull them off of tilt, Black Ops 3 being the best in the score streak area due to their "Specialist Weapons/Abilites" which carry on through deaths and allow players to fight back with unbelievable force, being boosted by any addition of score to the players total.

 

 

"...we've counted 7 named medals, 8 with the enemy running a wall"

 

The illusion of coming off of tilt - It shouldn't be surprising to hear that you're probably on tilt more than you realize and it's not your fault for not noticing because developers try to make it very hard for you to realize you're on tilt. Take CoD for an example again, if you're on a death streak and then you get a kill that's a Comeback medal, you get it on the person who last killed you that's a Revenge medal, if they just killed someone then that's also an Avenger medal, if they're about to kill a friend it's a Savior medal, if you're low health it's a Survivor medal, if you get a Head Shot (surprise) it's a Head Shot medal, you get it mid air that's a Jump Shot medal if you kill them while they're running a wall... You get the idea, we've counted 7 named medals, 8 with the enemy running a wall, you're bound to get a shit ton of medals for situational combat and in CoD the situation is always changing which means you'll barely notice your descent into tilt and probably won't notice at all until you've been through a couple of games with the same results - a reason to constantly change lobby after games if it's not going too well by end game results. However, the fact you're getting so many medals from kills also sets up the illusion that you're not in tilt, when you easily could be... It's a system that keeps the player playing until they come to their senses and it's super effective on the newer generations of gamers who aren't aware of how the system is meant to work.

 

Why tilt is mostly natural - We are our own main cause of tilt. It's a fact and honestly it's one a lot of players will never be able to face up and accept. Our level of skill is what controls our output in game and it's also what clashes against other player's skill, if we're not as skilled as the other players or they've more experience with the mode/map that's being played or how to counter you then it's almost definitely a game over unless you can change up your strategy, something you see a lot in the pro eSports scene, especially with MOBAs where you see players pick against their opponents weakness and try to feed off of it for the win. Honestly, it takes true skill to turn around and 100% counter your counter and it's satisfying when you do but it's common for games to give you a way to change up your play style anyways, such as CoD classes and Overwatch's ability to change characters at spawn - similar to TF2 and other games.

 

Let's take Bastion from Overwatch as an example of needing to change up your strategy... A lot of players complained that Bastion was overpowered during the beta with his ability to sit ontop of objectives in wall mode and literally keep any enemies out of their path... however there was a very obvious counter to him in this stage, Reinhart who has a shield you can move with and a charge move that when positioned correctly could actually pin Bastion and 1 hit kill him if you hit a wall. I used this myself to win quite a few encounters with Bastion and even made a player rage quit at one point... Must've been on tilt

 

Why you're NOT always on tilt when you're on tilt - This is a quick footnote so that people realize that Devs sometimes fuck up on creating multiplayer in their games, such as Battlefield 4 which had messed up hitboxes making people who miss hit and vice versa (which iirc got them a lawsuit and wasn't fixed for at least half a year), this is one of the situations where tilt isn't your fault and you should just put down the game and leave it until it's fixed.

 

With my small analogy on tilt over, I'd like to see everyone's biggest tilt moments and pet peeves about multiplayer gaming, especially when it comes to tilting and coming off of it.

[Lord_of_Ra]

Definitely Halo: Combat Evolved. When I started playing MP I was literally a walking piece of trash and almost always ended up on the last spot. How did I get out of it? I went and beat SP in Legendary and gained a lot of new ways to play thanks to that.

 

The result was always ending up on top 3 at least. Top 5 in some real bad afternoons or against the elite of the elite.

 

Great times haha.

[Happy]

Pretty much what happen when i go into "autopilot" in fighting games. I tend to fall into this behaviour where i just throw out what feels right rather than actually thinking about each move i make.

[Dreakon13]

The NHL games, for sure.

 

The unfortunate thing is that hockey is a very "puck luck" oriented sport, meaning despite all the skill and talent and effort you can put into it, the perfect pass can still somehow randomly hurl itself onto the stick of your opponent and their worst placed shot can still wind up in your net.  The question for the games is, does EA have some magical calculation that decides the AI will (un?)realistically predict an unpredictable pass and intercept it... or was it just sheer stupid luck that they got in the way?  Is it a calculation that decides that a perfect pass will go slightly too far right, or was I accidentally holding the stick a tiny bit to the right.  Since you (usually) can't control the goaltending, is it a calculation that makes the other guys goaltender play well?  It must be, right?  Otherwise there wouldn't be a need for backup goaltenders and the ability to swap mid-game... how do you simulate a goaltender having a bad night, if luck isn't built in?

 

In competitive shooters, tilt is purely mental.  Some games are shoddily developed or easily hacked/exploited, but generally speaking, if you shoot someone more than they shoot you, and aim well... you'll probably win.  It's pretty straightforward on paper.  But how do you detect "tilt" in a game where luck is built in?  In a game where you hit someones net with 40 premium shots, and score 0... but they hit your net with 5 shots, and score 1, with a lucky goal that bounced off of three players and trickled in under the goaltender.  And this happens several games in a row.  Am I playing bad, or is the game ****ing with me?

 

That's the real question.  These are the things that break fists and controllers.

Edited May 15, 2016 by Dreakon13

[DaivRules]

Well, I'm glad to say I'm different than all other gamers, evidently. I've never experienced this "tilt" thing except for the real tilt, in pinball, on an actual machine. I've been gaming since 84, so maybe I just haven't been gaming long enough.

 

Seems like this affliction only affects FPS players or those weird other online games that people seem to be playing, based on every single example given above.

 

Since the term is ripped off from something several decades ago, I suggest everyone who experiences tilting do what was suggested decades ago and drink your V8. I hope at least some of you are old enough and American and can figure that one out.