Nothing is more annoying than a sore loser (or winner for that matter). Ever since getting back into the hobby, I have heard some of the most amazing reasons as to why my opponent lost the game. Sometimes it is the "dice gods" or "bad luck." However, the king of the castle has to be the "I would have done this" gamer who creates an elaborate tactical debrief to explicitly show you how he would have won at the final hour . You know the type......I know you do.
I think, without boasting too much, that I have NEVER been a sore winner or loser (maybe once or twice when I completely tabled Siceralc). However, I can't say the same for my experience in tournaments. For an unknown reason, some tournament players consider it a near criminal offence to lose a game. Here is the situation that I'm talking about:
It's turn 4 or 5. You have maybe enough time to play through the end of turn 4, maybe 5 if you push it. However, your opponent knows he is in a bad position. Maybe, if you have really caught a bad one, he might even accuse you of "time wasting." You finish the player turns and that's it. Game over. You win. Oh wait......did you know that you actually lost? What you, as the winning player, don't understand is that if you had just had another few turns to play out, your opponent would have "obviously" won.
What follows is an endless rant about what would have happened after a few more turns. Your army becomes immediately static while his becomes invincible and fast moving. It's a situation that I have been in many times. I've learned to just ignore it and move onto the next game, but, it overshadows that particular players sportsmanship legacy and, for that, I feel slightly empathetic. It's just amazing to see how many players are willing to trek down this path. It's really not necessary at all. If anything, it is best to talk about the game in an objective manner. I don't believe for a second that there is a single player out there who has played a game without making a single mistake. We are all human.....aren't we?
The point here is that no matter how, or why, you lose a game, there is no real reason as to belittle your opponent. If you ran out of time then that's just the way it went. Take it on the chin....shake hands and get down to the pub.
I've had my fair share of these experiences, so enough from me, and onto you guys. What have you seen? Or how you deal with it?
Cheers.