One year on as a premium member and I feel such a loser

[magflo71]

I am due to renew my premium membership in a few days but asking why shall I do this to myself? I study and try really hard to strategise my plays on BGA but no matter what I always lose across a number of games: Azul, Patchwork, Jaipur and most famously Forest Shuffle which is just impossible to win and believe me, I research and I try and I vary opponents strength but even an apprentice is sure to beat me! I manage to maintain an average ELO of 250 at Wingspan and reached 300 once or twice (did a little dance) but that's about it. Gaming should be fun, it should make you feel good about yourself. Losing is part of life but even in real life you do not lose all the time. There's a balance. I am no genius but surely I can't be that useless? I play table top games in real life and I would say my winning rate is about 35% not 1% as it is on BGA. I feel I ought to win every now and again. Am I alone in this? This is not a Casino set up, right where the house always wins?!?

[MarkSteere]

If you don't mind abstracts, try Herd. The player base isn't saturated with pubstompers. Even playing badly, your winning rate should be at least 35%.

Are you "alone in this?" No. You have me. My winning rate at Wingspan would be 0%, if I ever played it.

[RazorOz]

Have you tried setting your ELO settings in your search to players of a similar level? As it sounds like your problem is you're getting paired against players with vastly higher ELO, if you play players of a similar level you will win more.

[yodamus]

Hmmm. Almost 1 year of playing 6 games tried. Out of 1200. Try some more games, more luck based games, shorter games. But most of all. Have to get the mindset of this is all fun. Win ,lose, or draw. No money involved here. No stress. Enjoy the 1200 different games.

[FDHenneberg]

I second what RazorOz said. I see that you wrote you’re also losing against apprentices like yourself (and me - we’re in the same boat in that respect) but surely not as often as if you play Forest Shuffle against people with more than 300 Elo? I’d never do that. I often restrict my tables to my own level plus one level higher and one level lower, but if I got frustrated I’d just ditch the higher level when making the next table.

Your Wingspan Elo shows that neither you’re a “loser”, nor something’s wrong about BGA. You might meet better and more competitive players on BGA than most people do in real life, so being just ok on BGA and regularly winning when playing against friends is not too uncommon I guess, especially if you don’t restrict by Elo.

I’d also chime in with those who advise to try more games. There are so many great games on BGA. Plus new ones are coming all the time. Some of the new ones may be mid, but I stopped just looking for games I know or games I’ve heard a lot about, instead I give most a go. Dewan is a new game I like a lot, and it’s also mid weight in terms of rules, like the games you seem to enjoy. Some people are just very good at board games in general, but with a new game, skill differences aren’t that big as in Azul.

You might also take a look at this recent thread: https://boardgamearena.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=47007

Edit: link has been corrected

[magflo71]

Hmmm. Almost 1 year of playing 6 games tried. Out of 1200. Try some more games, more luck based games, shorter games. But most of all. Have to get the mindset of this is all fun. Win ,lose, or draw. No money involved here. No stress. Enjoy the 1200 different games.

Thank you for your reply. I wouldn't be on BGA if I was a Zen Master for whom winning doesn't matter. I have a healthy sense of competition which keeps me involved and wants me to keep improving. However, if this is never validated by a victory every now and again, it does affect my spirit and that's what brought me to reach out. About the suggestion to try the 1200 other games: some people zoom in on some games more than others, that is by far not unusual, just like people are monogamous and some are polyamorous and they are quite different beasts. You could argue that to get really good at something you need to keep it at instead of diversifying. I thought being able to switch between 6 different games in one evening was not bad going actually. I would love to know your gaming pattern and how not winning for days on end across several games makes you feel.

[MarkSteere]

You're playing the most difficult, most popular, most expert player saturated games on BGA. If you don't like losing all the time, don't do that.

[magflo71]

I needed to vent my frustration of losing so much and I read the answers to my post with interest and they will help me make some changes rather than give up on BGA entirely. I learned the word 'pubstomper' for instance. The feeling of despair and having the odds stacked against me are real but a hard cold look at the figures the next day painted not such a horrible story after all:
Forest Shuffle (definitely the most punishing gaming experience, shame, could be a sweet little game)
Games played: 99
Victories: 13
Winning percentage: 13.13%
==
Jaipur:
GP: 20
V: 5
Winning percentage: 25%
==
Wingspan
GP: 791 (I know)
V: 332
Winning percentage: 41.97%
==
Patchwork
GP:23
V: 5
==
Azul
GP:39
V: 9
Winning percentage: 23%

[yodamus]

Hmmm. Almost 1 year of playing 6 games tried. Out of 1200. Try some more games, more luck based games, shorter games. But most of all. Have to get the mindset of this is all fun. Win ,lose, or draw. No money involved here. No stress. Enjoy the 1200 different games.

You could argue that to get really good at something you need to keep it at instead of diversifying. I thought being able to switch between 6 different games in one evening was not bad going actually. I would love to know your gaming pattern and how not winning for days on end across several games makes you feel.

You can still get really good at a game, and diversify. Other games may help you understand the mechanics or see details in the games you play. Gaming pattern. Scatterblast. I play many different games in a day.. for most games I want to reach just 100 elo to be able to enter tournaments of that game, where I can really learn and get better. I try to learn 3 to 5 games a week. By using turn based. Play against other beginners and apprentice until I reach 100 elo. If I really like the game. I keep playing till I feel I have play it enough and move on to other games. But still play those games strictly in tourneys. Not winning for days. Never happens. I play enough short, simple, fairly luck based games in a day. That I will win something. And if by chance. I go 24hrs without a win. I would 100 percent be LMAO. And saying things like. I am braindead today. Splatterfest for me. It would not bother me in the least bit. Plug here. Go try one of Marksteere games. Simple, abstract, and you will win some.

[MarkSteere]

Plug here. Go try one of Markstreere games. Simple, abstract, and you will win some.

Thanks

I don't get many plugs. Much appreciated.