The root of the problem I suspect is the furball game format. Any time you have more than 2 factions, someone always gets ganged up on. Choosing not to shoot is suspicious, and will make people feel like you are working with someone else.
Agreed. If you want that game experience, play Diplomacy or Game of Thrones, not X-Wing.
My group plays furballs all the time, and I can say we've never had any of the issues described here. I think that might be the result of one additional element that we use.
Each player has two ships. (We generally go with 35 points, sometimes 40.) When a ship is destroyed, that player simply starts his other ship the next turn. A player can simply keep rotating his ships as long as he wants to play.
Perhaps that would mitigate the ganging up factor, since even if someone get ganged up on, he will be right back the next turn and just might gang up on you? Its worked pretty well for us for about a year now.
My group plays furballs all the time, and I can say we've never had any of the issues described here. I think that might be the result of one additional element that we use.
Each player has two ships. (We generally go with 35 points, sometimes 40.) When a ship is destroyed, that player simply starts his other ship the next turn. A player can simply keep rotating his ships as long as he wants to play.
Perhaps that would mitigate the ganging up factor, since even if someone get ganged up on, he will be right back the next turn and just might gang up on you? Its worked pretty well for us for about a year now.
Tag-Team Furball has caught on elsewhere? Nice!
That's the variant we were playing, since I'm the guy who developed it.
Guy who went off on me was running Soontir Fel (PTL, Autothruster, Title, Stealth Device, see my Mitigation Thread for my thoughts on the ship), and Guri with some upgrades (I think Autotrhuster and Predator?)
When THOSE are on the table, why put dice into an HLC shuttle which could potentially knock off the Stealth Device? Particularly when I know I can avoid getting shot at by the shuttle... ever.
He wasn't even removed from the game and he freaked out? Either he's being seriously misrepresented or he has issues with sportsmanship.
TBH I don't know what "furball" means, but from skimming, I'm assuming you play a game with several people, each taking 1 ship or something. Anyway... the nature of 3+ person games is that inevitably, someone feels like they are getting teamed up on (or they are, legitimately). This is not a good feeling unless you can relax and enjoy the game.
I don't like playing with my ultra-competitive younger brother because he ******* and moans every time he doesn't roll 3 crits with every roll, or if he rolls blank greens once in awhile. He gets more aggravated as he's losing more, when in reality, he's obviously the less experienced player. It should not be that upsetting. I know when I play and learn tactical/strategy games, I'm probably gonna lose a few until I get the hang of everything. So yes, it's really irritating when you can't sit down and have a friendly match for no good reason.
Lastly, I also made a guy rage-quit last tournament because he just flew impatiently, without any real strategy. He blasted a bunch of TIEs straight across the board and I basically swept him from the side and picked off the weak targets one by one. He then complained about the "lost balance of the game" based on the new faction, and "overpowered new cards" blah blah blah. He didn't even realize that most of the "new faction" ships are OLD ships, plus most of my upgrade cards were old news as well. Some people are just having a bad day, other people are naturally really competitive... that's how it is.
#1 appologise to him for upsetting him
#2 tell him that you don't understand what you did to upset him
#3 tell him that you enjoying playing there and don't want to jeopordise your friendship
#4 tell him you'll work on what you are doing to upset him
#5 let him be right, don't argue
#6 drink tequila together and forget about it
I've been in similar situations on both sides. It's not worth arguing, even if you are right.
The "drink and make up" suggestions are probably going to be more practical than the "that guy sounds crazy, you should get some new friends" posts. Friendship requires compromise, and sportsmanship can vary a lot from person to person. Sometimes you have to adjust your playstyle in friendly games to maintain said friendships. I'll give you an example:
I play most of my friendly games with one person, the guy who introduced me to the game. I used to lose fairly often (because I wasn't very good), and being beaten over and over would get me kinda down. My friend encouraged me, pointed out things I did well, and eventually something clicked for me and I started winning more often. I read the forums, reviewed winning lists, watched the occasional batrep, and now I win most of our games.
My friend can be an obnoxious winner (he likes to explain why you lost), but he's a worse loser. It's always something. He's getting screwed by dice rolls or says he doesn't know how to place asteroids or X ship is overcosted and too good. I understand there's some ego on the line in most games, and from losing a lot of games I know that it can be painful to admit that you played poorly or just that somebody else played better than you. It's sometimes hard to enjoy my victories when we play because when I get on a winning streak there's a palpable feeling of resentment. He actually stopped wanting to play for a while because he wasn't having fun anymore.
Sure, my friend could be a better sport; I don't really care to be lectured when I lose (I know what I did wrong) and I really don't like feeling guilty for winning. But we've also been friends since middle school and he's my favorite person to talk metagame with -- he taught me to play. It's more important that we stay on good terms than it is for me to go 4-0 on a given afternoon. So what do I do? If I get on a wining streak, I throw him a bone.
That isn't to say I'll deliberately throw a game to let him win. I tried that once and it felt pretty gross. However, when I can sense that the fun is starting to stretch thin, the next game I'll try an experimental list, or challenge myself with something that requires more precision to win. Call it a handicap if you like. I'm something like 0-4 playing double Defenders against double Aggressors, but **** if it isn't incredibly close every time. After a losing streak, my friend lights up when he can pull down a win, or even a draw. We can get back to talking about what works, instead of me being quiet while he sulks, so ending a day of playing with a loss or draw preserves the friendship. It also keeps me humble.
If you're playing with friends, try to find a balance of healthy competition and making sure everyone has a good time. When you go out for tournament play, then you can take the gloves off.
Edited by LaserBrain#1 appologise to him for upsetting him
#2 tell him that you don't understand what you did to upset him
#3 tell him that you enjoying playing there and don't want to jeopordise your friendship
#4 tell him you'll work on what you are doing to upset him
#5 let him be right, don't argue
#6 drink tequila together and forget about it
I've been in similar situations on both sides. It's not worth arguing, even if you are right.
#7 tell him you've got his wife/daughter pregnant and it'd be wrong to split up the family and you should be allowed to keep playing for the kids sake.