Never respect thine elders

We all have them. Every single playgroup have a player, or a few players, that play more, are better, and will most likely have a bigger chance of winning the current game then others on the table. In Stockholm we are blessed with quite a few very good players. The majority of the players have been playing forever and the newer ones are doing very good. But still there are games where that player is more likely to win.

And then there are the players who not only have been playing forever, but also have been playing together forever. Based on years and years of earlier experience playing with these people one has a tendency to play slightly different, talking different, and to some extent acting different when one of the others is someone you have been playing with since 1994. I would like to call this a form of respect, or fear or admiration, which might give that player an advantage against the others.

The combination of the above is something that I believe is a big reason that some of the players around the world keep on winning game after game after game.

One example is me, Randal Rudstam. I have been playing for a very long time, not 1994 but still, and I’m a pretty good player. The years I lack with the really old players I make up with the fact that I have been demoing this game to a lot of beginners and teaching them how to play. This gives me a advantage – people are evolving and sees me less and less as an authority figure, but it is still there and I can see it once in a while.

Another example is a man named Erik Torstensson. He a very good friend of mine and a very, very good player – some would say he is the best player having won two of the biggest international turnaments there are. His extensive playing and years of tournament wins gives him a very special position when sitting down at a table of V:tES. He has a lot of respect of the Swedish V:tES community, and that and the fact that he is a immensely good player grants him a lot of gamewins.

In my case I can´t really complain much – one does like to win right? – but I have on several occasions been irritated, not at Erik himself, but at games where Erik has been, in my opinion, handed the win by others that could have gone for the oust or not taken that deal which gave Erik the game. But as with Erik I can see how others that I play with could be less happy with me at a table and a player or two who respects me a little too much.

The lesson of the day is that past experiences and accomplishments, teaching the game to other included, is no reason to assume a player currently is playing at his or her best. This game is a lot about being up to date with meta and slaking, i.e not playing for a while, does lessen your skill.

I try to never assume a player will be better than me or treat him or her any differently just because I know the player has done well in the past.

/Randyman