Am I 'That Guy'?

Good evening all,

So I just read an interesting post on Eric J's blog: http://www.ericjgames.com/2013/08/that-guy-ruins-games/ talking about a trope in gaming called being 'that guy'.

This got me thinking, how do you know if you are 'that guy'?

Does worrying about being 'that guy' mean you automatically aren't one? Or does it fall under the remit of "if you're worried you might be, you probably are"?

**********

Let me tell you a little bit of personal history here, something that most of you probably already know about me:

I suck at table top games.

I always have.

When I first properly got into tabletop I lost every single game I played, literally every single game. Never won one.

Because of this I was forced to learn to enjoy losing, to turn losing into a game, and try to achieve more than I did the game before, or achieve 2 out of 3 objectives, essentially complete personal objectives, and so become a winner in that respect.

**********

There are lots of reasons for this, the main part is how I problem solve, I see hundreds of different possibilities all at the same time but have no efficient way of working out which is the best possibility to use, because of this I get possibility paralysis, I see so many choices that I can't decide on so I don't do anything.

The equivalent of taking pass actions for 'x' number of turns.

So how do I deal with this? I don't think about possibilities, I instead just roll the dice and see what happens, and let almost random actions play out.

I must admit, this is fun for me, and when I play relaxed games, usually where the aim is just to rumble in the centre of the board, roll some d6s and flip some cards, I have a great time and me and the opponent can't use this game as a stimulus for the 'real' activity for the night, kicking back, and being social.

*********

But what happens when I play someone competitive? This is interesting, the game becomes really I enjoyable for me. A none-pleasurable experience.

I actually dislike playing competitive games against competitive people, and when I hear people from any game talking about the great combos they can use to smash the opponent into the ground, I can't help but think "what a dick", regardless on if they are being a dick or not.

Let me give you an example:
This time last year i was in a tourney for Malifaux, I had Chompy out and was attacking a Convict Gunslinger.

I had managed to generate enough Onslaught attacks to nearly kill the Convict, and my current attack was a straight damage flip. I had the option of cheating the flip down, leaving my opponent on 1 Wd, healing Chompy for 1Wd and 1 more Melee attack left available, and a 13 still in my hand, I was guaranteed (pretty much) to kill him, and in doing so I could heal 2 wounds rather than 1 for killing him outright.

I thought long and hard about it, and them decided just to kill him outright. Why? Because I knew that if the tables were turned and someone did that to me, I'd have thought "what a dick!"

I have since mentioned this to many other players who I regularly play against who I enjoy playing against, and almost universally they agree that I was wrong, that the tactic to gain +1 Wd by prolonging the suffering of the opponent was the right thing to do and I potentially robbed the opponent of a more competitive game.

And this leads onto the next point, by avoiding competitive play, but seeking out new players, am I being 'that guy' to them who will eventually ruin their game?

That seems like a good place to leave it, so on that note, stay safe and I'll see you Cryptside!

- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley