Game Critique: To Recognize SALT

To Recognize SALT

I enjoy fighting games, and I can say this with absolute certainty: No one likes to lose. It's not something people want to have happened to them. This is particularly noticeable in the Fighting Game Community when you have players in high-skill, high-stakes situations where money/pride/recognition is on the line. No longer are you playing for the sake of playing; you must now put in the effort to succeed or be left in the trash heap of history, like so many players before. Therein lies a problem, the loss; or rather, the reaction TO the loss. Enter, SALT. A phenomenon that players experience when their expectations are destroyed and are unable to cope with the outcome that took place. This problem isn't exclusive to the Fighting Game Community, but it's certainly prevalent here. This Game Critique WILL NOT solve the problem of salt itself. Rather, it addresses key factors that happen when experiencing salt and how it proceeds over time. 

The Breakdown of SALT: and what it is

To recognize a problem, you must see symptoms of the said problem. To simplify the issue, to a degree, I've broken it down to four stages based on the word 'salt' itself: Setback, Antagonism, Loss, and finally Tragedy.

Setback

The one thing that every player does not wish to recognize is that with defeat, comes setback. All of the effort that got them to where they are, only to lose. It's not a settling feeling, nor a calming one. No one wants to see their time and talent wasted; but in fighting games, there is one winner and one loser. And if you are the loser, you are set back.

Antagonism

Shortly after the realization of setback, comes antagonism: the process of being vicious about the loss. This backlash causes players to become antagonistic and bitter towards others like they are the victim and must lash out as such. This prevents them from seeing the bigger picture as well as ways to improve because they cannot escape victimhood caused by their perceived belief that they should not have lost. This then causes a new concern...

Loss

This is not the same as the loss the players suffer. This Loss is referring to incidents such as rationale, composure, and ultimately, the loss of self-control. Here you see fits of rage, outburst, and potential harm to those around them. To put this into perspective, it's like a powderkeg on the verge of exploding and a match is already lit atop the one opening of the powderkeg and just fell in. There is bound to be some form of property damage, or worse, attacking the player that beat the other player experiencing salt at the moment.

Tragedy

The consequences not considered when experiencing a loss. This can refer to the personal, such as lacking the motivation to return to tournaments; leading to isolating one's self from the public and locking one's self inward. The tragedy that occurs can also be collateral, meaning a nearby property or people could be damaged or harmed respectively; this leads to further problems...

The Problems OUTSIDE these Four

There are additional factors that take place during salt. Some of these factors include (yet not limited to) the environment where that salt-like experience takes place.

The "Should Have" Syndrome

This is not only something that happens by the players themselves but also those that observe as well (despite not being directly involved). The simple response of 'should have done this' or 'should not have done that' can be damning to a player that just recently lost or compartmentalizes their battle; picking it apart as to claim this is how to win, by not doing these things or doing these things at the appropriate time. Commentary can be beneficial, but in a salty instance, it's as beneficial as pointing a gun to the loser's head and pulling the trigger. How could that individual NOT get salty?

Fighting Games Are Not About Fun

This is a topic in and of itself; to offer a shorthand version, the objective of playing a fighting game is to win. There is nothing else...or rather, all else is superfluous, unnecessary. In fact, the game clearly states who 'wins' or who 'loses' or is 'defeated.' There's no such thing as a participation trophy for playing when victory is the only goal the game has in mind.

The Risks

It takes a fair amount of risk to go into a competitive fighting game and expecting to win; you're not the only one with that mentality. The risk of venturing into competitive tournaments, paying tournaments fees, accommodations for rooming/board, food, gas, equipment. It all adds up financially. Then there's the risk away from work; meaning money comes up short if the tournament is on a weekday or on a day you are SUPPOSED to work. Following that, there is a risk of embarrassment to family and friends should you lose not only the tournament but your temper along with it. All the emotional stability in existence may not be enough to contain a salty response.

The more prevalent risk is the revulsion of the Fighting Game Community itself. While the issue of inclusivity is to be addressed, simply accepting and creating salt moments will do more harm to the genre and community as a whole. Also, feeding into the salty reactions as part of the culture further worsens the situation and continues to shed a negative light on the community as being unruly and unhinged. This does not benefit anyone in the slightest.

The Traps

There are many traps to salt, but intentional, and unintentional...first the intentional one of 'showboating.' Even in the event that you are fully capable of 'winning it all (which is also a trap),' don't showboat. Doing that means you trap yourself into potential failure, or at the very least, should you show signs of losing, you are talked about having to get serious because you wasted time showing off. Another intentional trap is 'popping off.' Remember that you're not playing fighting games to brag, nor to insert dominance over the opponent. If you pop off too much, you lose concentration on winning the tournament; setting yourself up for failure again. Now, the unintentional trap of thinking you can 'win it all' is equally unwise to do. This causes an unsubstantiated sense of entitlement; one that always backfires.

So What Do We Going to Do About It?

One solution that I have...for better or worse...is to never consider fighting games fun and ONLY go into tournaments under the same manner you are going to work for a 'commissioned' business; the commission being the prize money. Treat participants as co-workers that you seldom associate, or even bother to speak with. Keep your conversations down to location (where is the tournament being staged?) and type of tournament (what are the rules we are playing under?). The latter should have been provided ahead of time, but it is possible that changes could occur. Finally, should you lose, why not simply leave the tournament? There's no reason to stay and further risk bringing harm to yourself or others or any property in the area. Also, it would not benefit you to stay after the defeat as you are not facing any new opponents. However, if you have made reservations at a hotel for the duration, at the very least, remain there and seek other forms of entertainment...unless you can get the remainder of your stay refunded (which is unlikely) as well as make earlier travel arrangements.

Another solution that I have is for the community-at-large...acknowledge that salty should not be tolerated, but also respect the fact that losing is not fun. We all wish to have our moment in the sun, but not all of us will ever have it. To trample on those that are not well-versed in handling loss yet do not stir trouble is worse than those that 'showboat' or 'pop off' only to lose. The damage is irreversible to the former; ruining the chance for them to use this moment as a means of improvement.

There is no Clear Cut Conclusion

As stated from the beginning, there is no absolute method of reducing or stopping salt from happening, but we can understand the nature of it. Setback, Antagonism, Loss, and Tragedy are common outliers to salty moments. The risks and traps from such moments are only present after the player that lost ultimately losses themselves and the ways we can address this problem as a community is a small means of comfort. What it boils down to is this, what's at stake when a player loses in a fighting game? Depending on the answer, this could be a means of betterment or the destruction of this community and genre as a whole.