Tilting

Leaning into the Tilt

Here’s the situation: it’s 0-0 in your turn 8 and you received. You have had a blinder of a first half and completely outplayed your opponent. He’s got five guys in the KO box, unlucky, chump! It’s been a textbook 8-turn drive, but he has got lucky and managed to tag your ball carrier. You are not worried though, as it is only a 2+ dodge and you have a re-roll. Easy.

The next thing is inevitable. 1, re-roll 1. Your player dies. The Apothecary kills him again. The ball goes off the pitch and, after some cinematic scatter and fan assistance, ends up three squares away from your own endzone. In the hands of a Troll you’d completely forgotten about. Big ol’ Oggoth Chunkcrust then, completely unassisted, waddles in to put you 1-0 down in your opponent’s last turn of the half. All his KOs come back too, obviously. “Oooh, that was lucky”, says the guy you have now got to spend another hour looking at. That’s Blood Bowl, baby!

Hey Siri, show me a tantrum (Note: this is actually me, dear reader)

My background is largely based working and studying in counselling and psychotherapy. It has allowed me to get a reasonable understanding of why we do the things we do, as well as exploring some of my own habits and processes. We all have a reason that we enjoy playing Blood Bowl (or anything, for that matter) and for me, it is the mental processing of the ebbs and flows of a game. Part of the reason I started running Coffee Cup (a 24-hour, 11-game tournament) in 2018 was because I wanted to see how everyone (including myself) behaved as the day went on and headwires got more tangled. If you are mentally exhausted at the end of a three-game tournament, imagine how you will feel at 4am in the middle of game 8! Thankfully, everyone has behaved impeccably at Coffee Cup so far – apart from the occasional snooze, mid-game.

I believe Blood Bowl is one of Games Workshop’s swingiest games; if I roll a one playing Warhammer 40,000, a Space Marine might die, but I am probably still in the game. The same outcome in Blood Bowl can cost me a match. The turnover mechanic can see your greatest plans crushed before they have even begun. Those with a healthy outlook on life know things will sometimes fail and are able to adjust accordingly. Those who struggle to make sense of the nonsense are at risk of spiralling. This is often referred to as ‘Tilting’ or ‘being on tilt’.

Three-thousand-four-hundred-and-six-years of hurt, and counting…

What is tilting?

When we begin to tilt, our attitude swings to such an extent that it will influence subsequent decisions, almost exclusively in a negative manner, which leads to an increase in undesired outcomes. The threshold for what triggers a tilt can vary wildly between players, this can be based on many factors including life experience, attitudes, mental health, resilience, frame of mind and even (particularly in Blood Bowl) level of inebriation or hangover severity! For some it is consecutive bad results, or a particularly bad game (which come about after a collection of circumstances). Those with a shorter fuse might tilt as a result of a single misplaced model, or a dice roll within a match that may seem insignificant to others. Tilting impedes your prospects of playing the game to the best of your ability, on any given day.

Why do we tilt?

We have all been at a tournament and paused mid-game, distracted by a loud expletive from across the room. Or had a dice cup whistle past our head. I’ve never seen someone actually flip a table, but I’m sure it has happened, somewhere. Put simply, a tilt occurs because of the significance we attribute to the event itself. In Blood Bowl, if we consider what happened as ‘personally against me’ (e.g. the dice not rolling what they ‘should’, statistically) and consider it to be beyond our control, then a tilt is likely to occur.

The reason we all have such a wide spectrum of what will or will not cause us to tilt is because one person may give an event a significant meaning that leads to tilting (“double skulls always comes up when I need a pow!”), while someone else might have a more balanced perspective (“I rolled double skulls then, but I remember you rolled that three times in the first half. Stupid Nuffle”).

The significance we give an event is crucial. It is the reason that the worst response to someone who is tilting is “don’t worry, it’s just a game”. At that specific point in time, for that specific person, it is not. The approach you have to the game will create the significance you attribute to all areas of that game. Do you have habits that appear when things start going wrong? Can the people you play with regularly spot when you are about to have a wobble? Maybe a mantra that you curse at yourself under your breath? Mine is “it’s just toy soldiers”. There’s a stream somewhere on YouTube of me playing against Nurgle in a tournament at Firestorm Games where you can hear me say it every time I fail a Foul Appearance roll. Obviously, whenever I get to that point, it very much is not just toy soldiers. The game has abandoned me, the world hates me, the RNG is broken and life is not fair anymore.

How is that Snotling still standing?!

How does the tilt affect my game?

The impacts of playing while on tilt creep into every element of the game. You can overlook really obvious opportunities to progress the ball (or threats), and make wildly inopportune decisions that, unfortunately, will just compound your woes. A coach can lose focus on the game very quickly and risk management goes out the window. Re-rolls vanish and the body count rockets. Continuing to play on tilt can see poor positioning, giving your opponent even more chance to capitalise on your misfortune. Also, very simply, the game ceases to be fun. Which is often the furthest thing from your mind when the black cloud descends.

How does the tilt affect my opponent’s game?

This is something that I’ve become aware of more recently and, for me, is actually more important than your own experience of a game. In its truest form, tilting has traditionally meant the negative effects on your own game, but I believe players also have an obligation to be aware of the effect on the person sat on the other side of the board; tilting is inherently selfish. Because Blood Bowl has such an ingrained social contract, one player’s suffering will inevitably become the other’s, you are working together to have a good time. Think about the most fun game/s you have ever played; regardless of the result, I bet your opponent was also enjoying the game. Blood Bowl is a collusive experience, so your behaviour and attitude will impact your opponent’s experience. Every. Single. Time. Some players might seethe silently; others may become frustrated and start pointing out the other player’s luck (perceived or otherwise) while ignoring their own poor decisions. Whatever the outcome, it benefits no-one and you become ‘that guy’ who people want to avoid when the round draw comes up or, in some cases, who people avoid entire tournaments because of. I believe there is an element of mutual appreciation to be had where both people can bemoan one or more players’ dice in good spirits, but be wary of that getting a point where the message you are broadcasting to your opponent simply becomes “you are only doing well because I am doing badly“, which is not fair.

So you are saying there’s a chance…

What can I do to limit the impact of my tilt?

Be aware of what triggers you, and be honest with yourself and your opponent when you sit down at a table (or a keyboard – online players tilt too, y’know, so GLHF, gratz!). Playing with a balanced perspective is what you are aiming for. If you are having a bad day, own it. Your negative frame of mind is not your opponent’s responsibility. Pause for a moment or two in a turn and just take stock of what has happened and how you are feeling. Would five minutes away from the board help you gain some perspective? Could discussing what could have been done differently with your opponent after the game help improve your play in future games? Once you have the idea of managing your mood a little better on your radar, it often regulates itself. Some players take a break from the game entirely for a while, others postpone games or tournaments to get a better handle on life. Be the opponent that you would want to spend a couple of hours with, and acknowledge good intentions and behaviour at the table.

But wait, I’m the nice guy, he’s the grumpy one!

If you are on the receiving end of someone’s spiral into self-loathing, don’t be afraid to call bad behaviour out, or inform a Tournament Organiser. If someone is unaware of the impact they have on others, they can never progress from where they are at, which is not fair on them. If you see someone struggling and your intentions are good, offer to hit pause for a couple of minutes, or give them a chance to take a wander. There is a thin line between empathy and sympathy though, so err on the side of caution. Always remember, someone else’s negative frame of mind is not your responsibility. If you feel the need to start apologising, consider why. It’s those tiny cubes of plastic that are doing all the damage here, and you won’t hear a ‘please’ or ‘thank you’ from those vindictive little bastards!

In conclusion…

Tilting affects everybody in this game, at some level. How can you win a game in which you are trying to beat your opponent and yourself? Having an awareness of what causes your attention to wander will keep it in check and also improve the playing experience of both coaches. The time is always right to do what is right. If you know someone who seems to play the game out of hate, maybe have a conversation with them about why they play the game. If the fun stops, stop.

And if all else fails, remember – IT’S JUST TOY SOLDIERS*!

*tell that to this guy.

Jip (@JipJipperson), currently coaching in the SAWBBL and herding monkeys at Foul Bowl and Coffee Cup.