Monday, 18 October 2021
Resigning in Words with Friends Context
Okay, I play Words with Friends on my iPhone with strangers. I am genuinely happy to get thrashed and have someone score against me, and I’ve lost by over 300+ points a couple of times. Unsurprisingly, the person took a screenshot and showed everyone. Winning and losing is part of gameplay; I don’t consider resigning. Hey, I don’t even like swapping my letters to try and get better ones.
It constantly amazes me with the number of people who give up when I’m playing a stranger on Words with Friends 2 (WWF2). You see, in my early days of playing, I opted for the “Game of the Day” or the option to play “Someone with Similar Skill”. I thoroughly enjoy playing these games, regardless of whether I’m winning or losing.
Initially, when we finished playing, and I lost, of course, I was crestfallen (which the other player didn’t see). Naturally, I congratulated them on a game well-played and asked whether we could rematch. “Sure”, was the reply. Great! Throw the stick again, boss. 🎾
The Change
During the game, the player revealed he was a “he”. Let’s call him Anton. Anton was thrilled with his 300+ victory and thanked me for allowing him to have it. Of course, my response to that was, how could I do otherwise? Never say die, right?
Anton then told me that many players simply resigned when he’d gotten in front by 200+ points. Dumbfounded, I asked, “why”? Anton guessed it was because he was winning. Okay, I can kind of see that.
Then Anton asked me why I hadn’t resigned. I replied, “just because I’m losing doesn’t mean I want to deprive you of your rightful victory. Besides, I could come back”. (That last sentence was me deluding myself – in that game, at least. I still had two tiles to play 🙄).
The whole thing left me flabbergasted. Today, someone resigned on me because I was substantially ahead. It’s true; I don’t know why the resignation occurred; it just seemed that 150-200 points that to some might seem insurmountable. Darn, it was early in the game and a triple J with a triple word, and you’ve got 90+ points immediately.
By the way, there have been a couple of people who resigned because I hadn’t chatted to them. They’ve all been males. Initially, I used to text, and it was limited to a “good” score, or if I got a great scoring word, I’d be like “sorry”. Then the “dating” chats began; sadly, I no longer chat. This form of quitting didn’t sadden me.
Losing
Of course, if you decided to play a game with a random stranger, you’re going to have the possibility of losing and potentially losing “big-time”. The algorithms to match players with abilities aren’t infallible. Thank goodness!
Understandably, it’s hard to lose when you get your butt is handed to you on a silver platter several times, but that too is part of the thrill of playing. Coming back from defeat makes the victory satisfying because you tried your hardest.
Maybe I’ve got it all wrong. Nonetheless, I played Anton for ten games before I could win. But with each game, I got closer to a victory. Sadly, Anton didn’t get time to play more often due to work, and after I had a couple of wins, he no longer played WWF.
Funnily, I thought it might have been me winning. Naturally, there could be many reasons for Anton not playing, but the timing was unlucky for us.
Today's Cards
The Cards - Resigning in Words with Friends Analysis
Carryover Cards
No cards carried over from yesterday.
Cross
New Vision in the Distant Past is about opening up to new adventures and new experiences. Alas, opening up to connect, in Words with Friends, outside of myself to the world, confident that I could handle, winning or losing and losing I can do.
Recently, I’ve begun appreciating losing more and more; it’s my best mode of learning – all I have to do is weather the welling of emotional disappointment. The weathering has become more manageable, and I am now indifferent to wins or losses. Don’t get me wrong; I still try very hard to win; however, my ego isn’t in the game’s outcome anymore.
Instead, I embrace my Existence and the joy I get from experience. It sounds cliché, but there’s a reason it has become so. A phrase can be as original as the day of its inception if you mean it, and it’s not an off-the-cuff remark.
Following today’s resignation against me, I held together my emotional disappointment, Suppression (Influence) and exercised Patience (Now). Before the opponent’s resignation, I was ready to play another strategically placed word and felt that I might win. That was the Goal of Ripeness, anyway.
Future Energy holds Guilt. Guilt at playing too hard, I should curb my enthusiasm for placing good words when the opponent leaves a spot open and, as luck would have it, I have great tiles. Sadly, I shouldn’t have to do that just to get a game.
Base
And even though I suppressed my emotional frustration at the resignation, I’m getting better with that too. It’s all about Feelings of Maturity and seeing the experience for what it is; just someone who is where I was. So, hugs.
Other’s Views is that they see me Flowering and becoming comfortable in my skin, and embracing the feminine.
In agreement is the card in the inner Hopes & Fears position, Moment to Moment. I’m hoping to live life stepping from Moment to Moment but fear that I’m more pretending rather than genuine. This pretending notion comes from the lack of continuity of experience, that I can’t maintain the feeling for any sustained length of time. Alas, that’s the point, isn’t it?
Finally, it’s Rebirth in the Outcome position. Rebirth is about “a time of growth and change” (Osho, p. 136), part of the continual self-evolution experience. Now that I’ve conquered (cough) losing, where to next?
References
- Osho, Osho Zen Tarot – The Transcendental Game of Zen, St Martin’s Press, ISBN 0-312-11733-7
- Tarot Layouts per month
