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[silverspawn]

A little bit less than a month ago, I discovered Prismata, and started playing that a lot. Since then, I've rapidly lost interest in dominion, and by now I honestly don't want to play it anymore. The problem is that I'm hyper competitive, and take tournaments very seriously. That was fine while I was in good shape, but now playing league matches is a nuisance, and playing in the world cup is truly horrible, because other people depend on me and I know that I'm doing much worse than I would have a month ago.

So, I'm out of the league. I'd probably demote anyway, and no-one benefits if I grind through the games against the rest of my group. As for the world cup... I don't know. Staying means probably losing almost every upcoming match, bad results for the german group, and a lot of frustration on my part; leaving means, well, leaving as a team leader, which sucks. I think it'd be best for everyone if RTT takes my position and assemble joins the main team. I could stay, but I would perform poorly, no matter how much I try.

Either way, I'm very sorry for this. I didn't see any of it coming.

[liopoil]

That's a real shame Hope you can exit the tournaments without shaking too much up.  I could feel this starting to happen to me too actually and have played prismata less since... because I don't want to lose interest in dominion.

[Mic Qsenoch]

I hope the people who drop out in the middle of a season like this for no other reason than they lost a couple matches are not allowed back in the league at any point. It's completely ridiculous.

[pacovf]

Oh boy, and here I am, all out of popcorn.

[SCSN]

This is cowardice in its purest and most despicable form.

If you're really as "competitive" as you rationalize yourself to be (being competitive isn't the same as really hating to lose), and you even have the slightest sense of honor, you'd repack yourself and give it your best to be an example to your team.

The first to jump ship in the face of adversity isn't a captain, it's a rat.

And please spare me the inevitable nonsense about how rude and inconsiderate I am, or of how hard this decision has been for you to make. I've captained a soccer team of aggressive 15-16yos and have had to endure occasions where I received literally hundreds of expletives directed at me personally over the course of 10 minutes. Giving up is always the easiest option in the world, and it always only serves to sooth your own ego.

[-Stef-]

I hope the people who drop out in the middle of a season like this for no other reason than they lost a couple matches are not allowed back in the league at any point. It's completely ridiculous.

I do understand your sentiment here and I'm not happy with it either. I started worrying after his rather unsportsmanlike comments in our league match, then started really worrying after seeing his turn 3 resignation against you. Now I'm convinced silverspawn has a long long road to go learning to deal with his own perfectionism / sore losing.

I would like to be pissed at him, but I can't. I've been there myself and I know that although his current actions really hurt his surroundings (the league), he will still be mostly hurting himself. No need to add anything to that. The only thing I can do is try to minimize the damage inflicted on others. So yes silverspawn will be banned from the league. Bans are not indefinite, but it would require a lot more then just signing up again for him to return.

In the meanwhile, @Silverspawn: Best of luck and I hope you'll get to the bottom of whatever it is that is troubling you. Switching from Dominion to Prismata won't solve it though. Neither will quitting competitive play altogether.

Wishing him luck might sound strange to some. I don't blame others for being pissed at Silverspawn. In fact, it's probably healthy to let him know how much he's off track right now by just yelling at him. I just can't do it myself.

[Mic Qsenoch]

I am not mad at silverspawn, I just prefer to not have people who are willing to do this in the league. He should do whatever the heck he feels like doing. I just want his ability to be a nuisance in the future restricted.

Which is to say, I'm perfectly satisfied with Stef's response.

[silverspawn]

This is cowardice in its purest and most despicable form.

If you're really as "competitive" as you rationalize yourself to be (being competitive isn't the same as really hating to lose), and you even have the slightest sense of honor, you'd repack yourself and give it your best to be an example to your team.

The first to jump ship in the face of adversity isn't a captain, it's a rat.

And please spare me the inevitable nonsense about how rude and inconsiderate I am, or of how hard this decision has been for you to make. I've captained a soccer team of aggressive 15-16yos and have had to endure occasions where I received literally hundreds of expletives directed at me personally over the course of 10 minutes. Giving up is always the easiest option in the world, and it always only serves to sooth your own ego.

Maybe my post wasn't clear. I only decided to leave the league (because that's a clear decision), i didn't decide to leave the cup. I just explained why I think it would be best, but if people think it's absolutely bad sportsmanship, I can stay and play the remaining games. Really, it was meant to let others decide, because I wasn't sure how big of a problem people thought this was. Maybe you find that cowardly too, but that's what I wanted to do. And no, you're not being overly rude, you just stated your opinion.

I hope the people who drop out in the middle of a season like this for no other reason than they lost a couple matches are not allowed back in the league at any point. It's completely ridiculous.

man, I don't want to leave because I lost games against you. I want to leave because I will underperform if I don't. The games just have showed me that I'm incapable of playing well, the result isn't the point.

Look, just forget my interest completely. If you think it's better for the rest of my team if I stay, then I'll stay.

I clearly made a poor job explaining my position.

[RTT]

I dont mind you quitting the cup. I want to play with a motivated team and have everyone play the best he can. I dont mind if someone looses but i watched the stream yesterday and was very sad about you playing sort of BM on any board and resigning pretty fast even if on one board (the ambassador one) the loose wasnt even sure.

I mean i played a game vs adam where i opened 5/2 on familiar board and opened Potion/- then gettin 2P on turn three and still winning the game. Sometimes games can be turned around.

I can take the Captain position again like last Year if the rest of the team is ok with it.

[Qvist]

That's sad and disappointing news. I mean you can do whatever you want but I rather hope it's not because you lost high against Mic Q twice. Such things happen and you might play better soon. But if you lost interest in playing Dominion in general, it's better if you leave the World Cup and let Assemble Meme take your position because if you're not motivated you're not playing well automatically. Ask yourself what the real reasons are and decide then.

[Psyduck]

If you're really as "competitive" as you rationalize yourself to be (being competitive isn't the same as really hating to lose), and you even have the slightest sense of honor, you'd repack yourself and give it your best to be an example to your team.

This is my point of view as well.
Silverspawn, you really should pull your socks up. At least this is what I would do in such a situation. I don't believe that you lose your skill by playing a different game for some weeks. If you are concentrated, motivated and focused during your games, you will still play well. If you don't, it's because you didn't put yourself into a "competitive" mood. And that's your deliberate decision. Instead, you blame it on the circumstances.

I'm honestly disappointed.

[Awaclus]

I don't believe that you lose your skill by playing a different game for some weeks.

This. I haven't really played MtG for like two years except for some random games and online tournaments maybe every two or three months, and whenever I play in a tourney, I don't really do any worse than I used to when I was active. The main difference between that and playing Prismata instead of Dominion is that whenever I happen to feel like playing MtG, I'm super motivated.

[theright555J]

I can relate to the frustration that silverspawn describes. Maybe it's just the vast number of combinations in Dominion, or the reality that the community as a whole is getting much better at the game, or simply variance, but the rate of decline in winrate, ISO level, and Goko pro rating can be striking at times. This makes it challenging to accurately gauge how you are doing at times, and then on top of that during a losing streak I tend to just play worse which exacerbates the mess.

You're a very good player silverspawn, I hope you have fun with whatever games you choose to play.

[silverspawn]

If you're really as "competitive" as you rationalize yourself to be (being competitive isn't the same as really hating to lose), and you even have the slightest sense of honor, you'd repack yourself and give it your best to be an example to your team.

This is my point of view as well.
Silverspawn, you really should pull your socks up. At least this is what I would do in such a situation. I don't believe that you lose your skill by playing a different game for some weeks. If you are concentrated, motivated and focused during your games, you will still play well. If you don't, it's because you didn't put yourself into a "competitive" mood. And that's your deliberate decision. Instead, you blame it on the circumstances.

I'm honestly disappointed.

I don't believe that you lose your skill by playing a different game for some weeks.

This. I haven't really played MtG for like two years except for some random games and online tournaments maybe every two or three months, and whenever I play in a tourney, I don't really do any worse than I used to when I was active. The main difference between that and playing Prismata instead of Dominion is that whenever I happen to feel like playing MtG, I'm super motivated.

I don't really know what to say about this, except that the fact that you doubt my sincerity genuinely hurts me.

That's sad and disappointing news. I mean you can do whatever you want but I rather hope it's not because you lost high against Mic Q twice. Such things happen and you might play better soon. But if you lost interest in playing Dominion in general, it's better if you leave the World Cup and let Assemble Meme take your position because if you're not motivated you're not playing well automatically. Ask yourself what the real reasons are and decide then.

I meant what I said: I hate playing the game, I'm incapable of playing it well, I'm willing to stay in the tournament anyway if you want me to, which I take it you don't.

[Awaclus]

I don't really know what to say about this, except that the fact that you doubt my sincerity genuinely hurts me.

I don't doubt that you believe everything you said. However, it sounds like you're mistaking your problem for this:

• you don't want to play Dominion because you're bad at it
• you're bad at Dominion because you haven't been playing it

which would be a difficult problem to solve, but in reality, the problem is this:

• you don't want to play Dominion because you're bad at it
• you're bad at Dominion because you don't want to play it

You can solve this by starting to want to play Dominion.

[theright555J]

I read the kickstarter page for Prismata...I can totally see how a Dominion player would get addicted to that and bored with Dominion. If Dominion is like heroin to a strategy player, Prismata appears to be methamphetamine!

[silverspawn]

Okay, look. I am perfectly aware that the problem is one of mindset, and I've never said anything else. I easily get frustrated, that's just how it is. It used to be like that even when I enjoyed dominion, but good moments totally made up for it.

Now, if I play dominion, it is nothing but frustration. I'm frustrated by terminal collision, I'm frustrated by first player advantage, I'm frustrated by my opponent taking a long time to think, I'm extremely frustrated by comebacks, I'm frustrated by hitting 7$, and so on and so forth.

Frustration causes me to be unable to track stuff properly, which is always the first sign for bad play on my part. If I'm in a good mindset, I will usually know what the VP difference is, how many villages/terminals I have, and some specific things about the game, like how many junk cards I have left. If I lose track of that stuff, I already failed and playing my best game, and it instantly causes me to make hasty decisions. I am powerless against this effect, even if I see it coming.

The reason for this is that I now play another game. And because I play that game so much and like almost every aspect about it, I also think about it constantly. Playing dominion just feels silly and like a distraction and a waste of time, and I even catch myself thinking about aspects of Prismata as though they were part of dominion before I realize what I'm doing.

Obviously, all of these are personal issues and not related to the game itself, which I still respect as being very good, but it doesn't matter. This is not something I can overcome, I did try my best in the last two tournament games that I played, and I made a big effort to stay nice and not let any of my frustration show. It's fine that you ask about this, but I think you could have phrased it as a question rather than as "I think you're wrong about this, here is why", when you really don't know me anywhere near as good as I do. But whatever. At least you weren't being rude about it.

[Teproc]

Wait, is there money on the line ? People need to take it down a notch, namecalling because some guy quits a league ? I understand that's annoying but I'm a little shocked by the virulence of some of the responses (SCN's particularly).

[Awaclus]

It's fine that you ask about this, but I think you could have phrased it as a question rather than as "I think you're wrong about this, here is why", when you really don't know me anywhere near as good as I do. But whatever. At least you weren't being rude about it.

I assumed that you would have just said that you don't want to play Dominion anymore instead of a long explanation like that if you basically just wanted to say that you don't want to play Dominion anymore.

[silverspawn]

I assumed that you would have just said that you don't want to play Dominion anymore instead of a long explanation like that if you basically just wanted to say that you don't want to play Dominion anymore.

Well, it obviously goes beyond not wanting to play it anymore, if that was all I would just do it anyway. I felt like several people in this thread seemed to believe that I could just continue to play if I chose to, so an explanation was in order.

I'd also like to point out that if I just wanted to solve in the easiest way possible for me, there'd be at least a dozen more comfortable ways to go about it, like signing off via pm, staying in the tournament and playing the matches without trying, letting someone else play them for me, leaving the forum without explanation, or really anything else but opening a public thread where I openly explain my situation, leave the final decision to Qvist, and give every single member of the forum the chance to weigh judgement.

[markusin]

Dropping out of the League mid-season is definitely an annoyance to those affected, but I don't think it's rude to drop out of the World Cup.

Dropping of the League mid-season is an inconvenience to either the players the person dropping out played against or to the ones that weren't played against, depending on how dropouts are handled.

In the World Cup though, everyone should be acting in the best interest of the team, mainly by giving the team the best odds of winning. If Silverspawn feels that a substitute can play better than him in his current state, then by all means make the swap. That's what sub's are for isn't it? Feeling like you're weighing down the team is an awful feeling. The opposing teams don't miss out on games because of a substitution. The only real inconvenience comes from how Silverspawn was previously the captain for the team, so the replacement has to take on that responsibility.

[Qvist]

leave the final decision to Qvist

The final decision is yours not mine. Do whatever you like. If you want to drop out, do it. We have replacement. It would be a totally different story if we didn't have any replacement.

[AndrewisFTTW]

The issue isn't your lack of interest in Dominion, nor is it your recent losses or how they happened. This is about you making a commitment to everyone involved in this competition and not fulfilling this commitment. Go ahead and stop playing Dominion, you can do whatever you want with your life. But what you're doing right now is selfish. It's all about you and not about anybody else. Yes, I understand we're talking about board games here but it's more than that. You made a promise to everyone involved and you can't just break that promise whenever you feel like it.

[Joseph2302]

I don't see much of a problem with leaving the World Cup, since there's a clear replacement, and so is probably beneficial to your team. Like someone said, it's a team game, and you're the captain, so can choose to drop yourself, if it's best for the team.

Dominion League is a commitment, the rules clearly state if you think you're not going to play all the games, then don't sign up. Having been in Dominion Leagues where people leave mid-season, it's annoying, and can make the final positions seem unfair if close (for instance, if Mic keeps his 6-0, then is that fair on other people who didn't get the chance to play you, and might have increased their average by doing so). Even if you're playing badly, I think you should see out your match commitment. This isn't really meant to be a direct criticism of you, but more of people leaving the League mid-season in general.

Although I do think that if you're not enjoying Dominion, you should stop playing, I've done it a couple of times and come back, and enjoyed it a lot more when returning.

Best of luck with other things though

[A Drowned Kernel]

As far as the League goes, I personally would have preferred if you (and anyone else who drops out of the league) would have resolved this via PMs with the organizers and the people in your group rather than making a public thread.

[DG]

Since everyone's giving their opinions then ...

If you're really not enjoying playing then don't. Make your apologies, leave, and accept some restrictions if you rejoin. It's a game and Dominion will carry on without you. It's not like there are 10 people standing on a cold football pitch waiting for you to join them.

As for the mental side of things ... well you're only depriving yourself of something you enjoy. Sure, you can get frustrated with yourself for not having the focus required for good play, the expectation you have of yourself, but nothing good can come from turning that frustration into rage. You probably can't control your focus right now but you can control the frustration. While you're frustrated you'll never regain your focus. It's quite natural to lose the focus for a while if you plan to play a game like Dominion over a number of years.

[-Stef-]

As far as the League goes, I personally would have preferred if you (and anyone else who drops out of the league) would have resolved this via PMs with the organizers and the people in your group rather than making a public thread.

I agree with this. I don't like all the negativity in public. I guess the only good thing is that more people will now realize what a mess you leave behind if you leave the league mid-season.

We (as in, Adam, group moderator for A) still need to come up with a decision on how to handle this one. Not only has Silverspawn been throwing games against MicQ (turn 3 resignation, really?), he also was 3-0 ahead in a match against DG. So far I still haven't thought of any solution that feels fair. Bwleugh.

[KingZog3]

I see no problem leaving mid season if you must. I almost did when stuff got really busy and I had lots of trouble organizing and making it on time to my league matches. But you don't need to give a reason. If you just played your match, then said there are personal reasons why you need to leave (vie PM of course) there wouldn't be a problem. Stef and the people who help run the league are really good at finding solutions to make things the most fair. But this just feels like a call for attention (yeah, we're all giving it to you too). There's no need to resign games for no reason, tell everyone you hate playing poorly and make this a big deal.

I still hope you solve the problem with whatever the problem is, and hope that Stef solves this in the most fair way, which I know he will.

[jsh357]

As far as the League goes, I personally would have preferred if you (and anyone else who drops out of the league) would have resolved this via PMs with the organizers and the people in your group rather than making a public thread.

I agree with this. I don't like all the negativity in public. I guess the only good thing is that more people will now realize what a mess you leave behind if you leave the league mid-season.

We (as in, Adam, group moderator for A) still need to come up with a decision on how to handle this one. Not only has Silverspawn been throwing games against MicQ (turn 3 resignation, really?), he also was 3-0 ahead in a match against DG. So far I still haven't thought of any solution that feels fair. Bwleugh.

Just put me in Division A and re-play those matches.  Easy points!

[SCSN]

I see no problem leaving mid season if you must [...] you don't need to give a reason. [...] Stef and the people who help run the league are really good at finding solutions to make things the most fair.

Well, yeah, let's all dump our garbage on the streets if we really must! I mean, Stef is amazing at Dominion, he'll probably do a remarkable cleaning job too!

Iirc you're quite young and still live with your parents? That could sort of explain why you feel like it's fine to do what you want and take it for granted that things will be taken care of regardless, but you'll find that's not exactly how the world works once you move out of your parental house.

The proper response to Stef volunteering his time to organise the League is gratitude, not entitlement.

[KingZog3]

I see no problem leaving mid season if you must [...] you don't need to give a reason. [...] Stef and the people who help run the league are really good at finding solutions to make things the most fair.

Well, yeah, let's all dump our garbage on the streets if we really must! I mean, Stef is amazing at Dominion, he'll probably do a remarkable cleaning job too!

Iirc you're quite young and still live with your parents? That could sort of explain why you feel like it's fine to do what you want and take it for granted that things will be taken care of regardless, but you'll find that's not exactly how the world works once you move out of your parental house.

The proper response to Stef volunteering his time to organise the League is gratitude, not entitlement.

Yes, I'm 21 and still live with a parent (young, but not 14 years old young). Entitlement? No. I don't feel entitled to this league, to this forum, to my education, to money, to technology. It's all because people are generous and want to help and make others happy and improve the world. These people are good people, and I am very grateful that people like Stef and Theory and my parents do the things they do. Sure, Theory didn't have me in mind when me made the forum, but he had people like me, and you, in mind. But don't make this an attack on me or what I think I may or may not be entitled to.

Of course it's better if silverspawn stays in the league till the end of the season. But I'd rather not play against, or in a division, with someone who is just throwing their games just to get the formality out of the way. I'd rather they leave, making the games I play fun, even if it means the scores may be a tiny bit unfair for this season. All I was saying was that Stef does a good job at running the league. That was a compliment, and also my belief that situations like this can be solved without being rude. Especially without being rude to the people who aren't the cause of it. I believe in Stef's amazing patience for the league and the people in it, and I respect and am grateful that he has given his time for everyone else.

You obviously are ok with being rude, and mildly insulting. Also you're ok with making a quick judgement of me, how I act and how mature or immature I am based on very little. The situation is less than ideal for the league and for the people involved with it. But that doesn't mean we should let our personal feelings about silverspawns behaviour be the deciding factor of what happens. If I had a serious personal matter that made me unable to play in the rest of a season, say I don't know, I just lost my arms, I expect people to take me out and I don't need an explanation. I PM the organizers, and just say I am really sorry for not being able to finish my games but a personal issue is seriously interfering with my life and I simply can not play the league. Unforeseen circumstances happen. This is a good community and I expect honesty from everyone here. Silverspawn should have done the same thing. What his issue is is not your business nor mine nor anyone's but Silverspawn's (he should not have posted it). But that doesn't mean he should be forced to play the league simply because it's a little unfair to you, or because it makes your pass time a little less enjoyable. He should be allowed to leave if he really needs to, and you should be mature enough to cope with the situation. And I believe you are mature enough. People left when I was in the league. I didn't get upset. You are capable of doing that too, everyone here is.

Now, silverspawn did purposely resign games. This is what is probably the most irritating part to the other players. Had he simply left for personal reason I doubt there would be so much of a fuss. But it's the unsportsmanlike nature (well, your definition of unsportsmanlike) that is making you so annoyed. And well, it sucks. But telling me that I think it's ok to dump my garbage on Stef, or telling silverspawn he's a coward isn't going to solve the problem. It'll make it worse. Keep your negative comments to yourself or find a way to say them without being insulting. Unless you just want everyone to get mad at each other. Because maybe that's how you solve problems. I know from my experience (my short, young, entitlement filled experience) that name calling and being pissed at someone who is unreasonable doesn't solve the situation. Finding an alternative way to the best solution works. Stef will find a way to fix this. You, calling silverspawn a coward, will not solve this. It'll make it worse.

Also I apologize because at the end I got close to name calling, which I just said is bad. This thread should be locked, I shouldn't have posted my opinion in the first place, and neither should anyone have really. It should have been a matter between silverspawn and the league organizers. If silverspawn wants to discuss his life's issues, he can make a thread in RSP part of the forum and we can all be angry with each other's opinions there.

[SCSN]

I understand that's annoying but I'm a little shocked by the virulence of some of the responses (SCN's particularly).

I actually agree that my post was overly virulent. I had just finished reading a Financial Times columnist calling those Parisian cartoonists "stupid" for drawing provocative pictures, something that awakened more anger in me than I've felt in the last few years combined. I pushed it aside because I had to finish the preparation of Jerni's lesson, during which I came across silverspawn's post which just made the whole thing blow up. Had I encountered the thread now I'd have just upvoted Mic's post and not wasted any more time on the whole thing.

With that being said, I do stand behind the sentiment I expressed and think that focussing on the tone of a response rather than the actual events is a silly diversion--a statement directed as much to myself as it is to you, seeing that what got me worked up in the first place is some idiot's opinion about an event

[SCSN]

...

tl;dr

[KingZog3]

...

tl;dr

Mmmm thanks.

[AdamH]

Wow. This thread needs to be locked. Immediately.

[silverspawn]

Well, so, it looks like writing long posts isn't helpful, so I'll just leave some final thoughts.

Ela has dropped out mid season after finishing only 3 games like a week ago, no-one complained, and that was the only standard I had, so I was sure that dropping out of the leauge would be no problem.

As far as the world cup goes, I was trying to be selfless, my guess was that leaving was better for the rest of the cup, but I wasn't sure, so I was trying to explain the situation and leave the choice to others. I decided to do it public in stead of via pm because I was trying to be honest about it. Maybe that's naive, but that's what happened. If I had known how much negative response the thread would cause, I wouldn't have done it. It was clearly the wrong choice in retrospect.

Everything else was me responding to what I felt were personal attacks.

[SCSN]

...

tl;dr

Mmmm thanks.

EDIT: Actually, it's not ok to make a judgement on me and then not care about my response. You don't get the right to be rude and then not get to hear what I have to say, even if it does take 5 minutes to read.

Two things:

1. silverspawn dropping out clearly isn't just between him and the organisation, it directly affects the current Division A and indirectly everyone else because how it's handled will set a precedent for the future. Naturally people who care a lot about the integrity of the league will have a strong opinion about it. Forums happen to be there to express such opinions

2. Don't take things so personal. Reread my post to which you responded until you realise I was responding to a particular sentiment, not to you as a human being. Perhaps I should have left out the second paragraph, but the question mark at the end of the first sentence clearly implies that the whole thing was conditional on that question being answered affirmitavely. Turns out I was wrong, sorry!

[KingZog3]

You were responding to a sentiment I seemed to express. The way you phrased to it was directed at me. But I believe you that you weren't trying to attack me. It's all good.

[AdamH]

1. silverspawn dropping out clearly isn't just between him and the organisation, it directly affects the current Division A and indirectly everyone else because how it's handled will set a precedent for the future. Naturally people who care a lot about the integrity of the league will have a strong opinion about it. Forums happen to be there to express such opinions

As the person ultimately responsible for making the decision here, I'd rather people not publicly state and talk about their opinions over what I should do. I'm going to do what I think is best in this particular situation, and the implication that other similar situations may be handled the same way in the future, and that I'm going to be able to come up with something that's perfect for this situation (news flash: that's not possible) is something that can only undermine my authority as a moderator.

The more this gets talked about, the less comfortable I am in my position, so I disagree. After seeing the way this turned out, I'm inclined to say that it's a good idea for people who want to leave the league in the middle of the season to do so privately.

[SCSN]

1. silverspawn dropping out clearly isn't just between him and the organisation, it directly affects the current Division A and indirectly everyone else because how it's handled will set a precedent for the future. Naturally people who care a lot about the integrity of the league will have a strong opinion about it. Forums happen to be there to express such opinions

As the person ultimately responsible for making the decision here, I'd rather people not publicly state and talk about their opinions over what I should do. I'm going to do what I think is best in this particular situation, and the implication that other similar situations may be handled the same way in the future, and that I'm going to be able to come up with something that's perfect for this situation (news flash: that's not possible) is something that can only undermine my authority as a moderator.

The more this gets talked about, the less comfortable I am in my position, so I disagree. After seeing the way this turned out, I'm inclined to say that it's a good idea for people who want to leave the league in the middle of the season to do so privately.

I understand this and certainly don't envy you. Unfortunately, the discomfort you experience just comes with having public responsibility. I imagine that a judge appointed to a very controversial case getting nationwide attention also feels added pressure from the coverage, but that doesn't mean it's a bad thing that people talk about it.

Knowing what "normal people" in the league actually think and taking that into account can only lead to a better decision (that is, one that most people can live with), so I really wouldn't like to see this sort of stuff go private.

I don't think you have to worry much about your authority. People understand the difficulty of your position and will almost certainly be quite forgiving of many imperfections as long as the solution seems somewhat fair. Personally I'd much rather live in a democracy with laws I disagree with than in a dictatorship that has its laws arranged exactly as I want them to.

[theory]

No one can force silverspawn to play.  Maybe he just needs a break -- maybe the issue will resolve itself if he takes a mental break.  Maybe he won't.  But the answer is certainly not more invective.  That doesn't help anything.

I won't lock this thread yet but please remember to keep things courteous and civil.  I've sent out a few PMs and would prefer not to send out any more.

[Monsieur X]

Wow. This thread needs to be locked. Immediately.

I agree. Can we stop that. When i see there are 40 messages to speak about silverspawn resignation (and i write the number 41...) and 10 about World cup results it seems a bit strange...
Why one player of a tournament should focus more attention that the tournament itself???

1/ We stop the thread
2/ In world cup, silverspawn you speak with you team (not in a thread) . If you resign you pm Qvist.
3/ In dominion league, if you resign, you pm Adam and Stef.
And that's all.

[liopoil]

Threads should only be locked when the discussion has gotten completely out of hand. People are still being (relatively) civil, so I think it should be left open. Whether the thread should have been made in the first place or whether it should have gotten so much attention is another discussion entirely.

[AdamH]

When I made that post, things were escalating rapidly and I was worried they were going to get out of hand. I'm glad to see that didn't happen. +1s have been given appropriately to reflect this 

I have an itchy trigger finger, what can I say?

[Witherweaver]

I haven't followed 100%, but would a possible replacement help to resolve the issue?  Is there a problem with needing to find someone with the same skill level as Silverspawn?

[HiveMindEmulator]

Since everyone seems to be on this thread, I thought I'd pop in and give my opinion too.

1. Silverspawn quits League.
This is not unprecedented, and there are already established penalties, so it's fine. Probably doesn't need a thread but whatever. Yeah it hasn't happened in division A before, so those people are more upset. They expect a greater level of commitment. Fine; they can complain in the thread. Doesn't really change anything.

2. Silverspawn doesn't want to play in World Cup anymore and wants to know what he should do.
This should have been a separate thread, since actual solution suggestions are just getting washed out by the complaints about quitting that could just live in the other thread. I imagine it shouldn't be hard to get a replacement, and everyone would be happier with the replacement than with Silverspawn, so I don't think this should be a problem. It's disappointing, but whatever. Nothing too serious is at stake.

3. Complaining.
Why not? It's the internet. What else are we supposed to do? Boo quitters. You guys ruin things for everyone.

[pacovf]

Since everyone seems to be on this thread

3. Complaining.
Why not? It's the internet. What else are we supposed to do?

Yeah, like, it is so annoying! The Internet was better when people complained less.

[Davio]

This whole thing got blown way out of proportion way too fast.

I've been bummed out by Dominion before and took a breather for a few months. I realized that it wasn't Dominion bumming me out, but life in general - my work was boring and my boss a pain in the ass.

And it seemed to me SilverSpawn just wanted to do the right thing by leaving. Forcing himself to play wasn't going to solve anything. It would have turned into much more negative experiences. And just saying "man up" is way too easy.

I'm a football/soccer player myself and I'd rather play with 10 guys who really want to be there than have 1 rotten egg who doesn't.

And how hard is it really to fix the league? Can't you just scratch every match he played?
And finding a replacement for the world cup shouldn't be too hard either.

I wish you best of luck, SilverSpawn, dropping out and getting a new perspective on things can certainly help. Dominion is just a silly game we like to play, nothing else.

[Elanchana]

As part of the reason why Silverspawn decided to drop out in the first place, I should probably give my two cents.

So yeah, I dropped out too. I couldn't handle losing in a competitively ranked setting, and I decided to start avoiding the league entirely until I could. I know it's a selfish decision and that I only did it to save face, but no one wants to play with someone who will throw fits if you beat her enough times. And I know I've said this a lot but I'm really grateful to the f.ds community for being supportive of my decisions even though you disagree with them.

Which is why I'm concerned about the backlash happening in this thread. I mean, yes, there are some huge differences. In division E, you can only go up, whereas in division A, you can only go down. I've only been here for a few months, whereas Silverspawn is a long-standing forum member. And it doesn't look like he sent anybody PMs before starting this thread, like I did. (I actually waited for a reply from Stef before making my announcement public.) So I'm not sure what to say here. Agreeing with the negative responses would be hypocritical. After all, I know where Silverspawn is coming from. At the same time, I have to say that this could have been handled better. He doesn't seem to want to improve on anything, for long-term or short-term purposes. You can withdraw if you don't think people will like playing with you, but in doing so you should want to find a way to make people like playing with you. And I'm sure that playing more in general would help the performance issues. The loss of fun is a problem though. I'm leaving the league but I'm still going to play Dominion, because I really do enjoy it. If Silverspawn doesn't enjoy it, I don't know what to do.

Tl;dr: I can see both sides and I can't really offer any help. Drop out if you want, but don't think that that's going to solve all your problems. I certainly know it won't solve all mine.

[Burning Skull]

Where is hvb by the way?

(Sorry for this question being utterly unrelated)

[Joseph2302]

Where is hvb by the way?

(Sorry for this question being utterly unrelated)

Hasn't been online since 17 July 2014 apparently.