You RESIGN?!! I Don’t Understand…

In a moment of extreme weakness I joined Words With Friends.  I was fully aware of how addictive it could become for a self-employed game-addict such as myself, but it was late and I was itching for a word game.  Let’s just say that one thing lead to another and any day now I’m going to need to find a group to help battle my Scramble With Friends addiction.  But I don’t want to talk about how addictive these games are – instead I want to address the “Resign” button that these games include.  

The first Words with Friends games I played I won because the other player “resigned.” The score was 335 to 236 and 13 tiles remained, so I celebrated my victory and looked for another random player.  The second time, the same thing happened only this time there were more than three times as many tiles left and immediately after they resigned they requested to play me again!  I was speechless!  I’ve never been a great Scrabble player and I really struggle with the end of the game because I never bothered to study the long list of crazy 2 and 3 letter words that, when placed correctly on a Scrabble board, may earn a savvy opponent 20+ points to my single-digit moves.  But here, I’ve chalked up two victories in games with loads of tiles left! 

Call me old school but I was taught that you play a game to the end.  You don’t just give up part way in because you feel that you got off on the wrong foot.  Sure, I know that there are games that have a “slaughter rule” providing a quick end for the losing player or team, and I’m okay with that.  If I’m getting squashed in bags or ping-pong, please put me out of my misery.   In those games there is a minimum amount of game you must play before you can gracefully accept defeat but I also understand conceding when there are only a handful of Scrabble tiles left and it’s obvious that there is no hope of a comeback.  But what are we saying by allowing players to quit after 2-3 bad turns or whenever else they want?  Is it okay to call a “do-over”?

Maybe we’ve been playing games on our phones and computers for so long, hitting the reset button when we get tiles we don’t like, that we’ve forgotten that there’s someone playing against us out there in the ether.  In this digital age we can easily hide behind our avatars ignoring those lessons of being good winners and losers that we learned in pre-school.  So I ask, is the respect we showed to our opponents in the past coming to an end because of digital gaming?  Are we all out for the win when it comes to playing board games turned apps online?  Well, not me.  And while I’ve yet to complete a Words with Friends game without my opponent resigning, I am playing a real life friend who promises she’ll play to the end.

 

Comments

[Erskine Thompson]

Kim - For what it's worth, I'll happily take you on at Words With Friends or Scramble With Friends (which has quickly become my new favorite also). And I promise, I don't EVER resign a game. Like you, I feel cheated out of a victory when the opponent just resigns. That's like winning a baseball game because the other team left while losing in the 6th inning.

[Kim Vandenbroucke]

Leaving the game in the 6th inning --I think that's a GREAT analogy regarding how I feel about "resigning." It definitely has that "poor sportsmanship" feel to it.

[Colleen McCarthy-Evans]

Okay, for another perspective, so many players in these online word games (I play FB Scrabble) just abandon the game for hours or days on end, and if I am losing and have no hope of getting anything going (i.e. I KNOW what letters are left and what is possible score-wise) I end the game by forfeiting, because, the agony might be drawn out for 'the days' as my 21 year old son might say. I will often in the chat say 'good game, got nothing to work with' but I've played about 500 of these games in the past few years, and it's just not worth sticking it out to the bitter end, which might be agony for days, if I'm 100 points behind with no prospects...that being said, I did not forfeit on you in any game, Ms. Vandenbrouke, and would never forfeit on a friend. Hope this allows some perspective...your random players who've played a lot of games, know the odds and are only minimizing a long and torturous defeat they know is inevitable. On another subject, don't EVEN get me started on the cheat sites....;-)

[Kim Vandenbroucke]

That is an interesting perspective Colleen, thanks for sharing!

Like I said in the article above I'm okay with the resignation if it's towards the end of the game and there's no hope (and I love that you send a note saying good game!) BUT I do wonder about the people who start off on the wrong foot and resign after only a couple turns. There is a catch up factor in these word games and just because you start off a little slow isn't a sure-fire indictor that you're going to lose. I understand that it's frustrating to drag out a losing game for a couple days but it's impossible for everyone to win! Still, maybe it's just my competitive nature that gives me joy in a great comeback (even if I get close and still lose!)

[Terrie Anderson]

I just posted your column to all my opponents on Words with Friends. Fortunately, I know them all and none of them quit.

[Kim Vandenbroucke]

Thanks for sharing Terrie!

[Colleen McCarthy-Evans]

One more pitch for forgiving those of us who forfeit/resign in Games with Strangers....
You could also think of it like you're in a poker game, and one player just 'knows when to hold 'em, knows when to fold 'em...knows when to walk away, knows when to run...' in the immortal words of Kenny Rogers...
And on another note, it's sorta like one of those marathon Monopoly games when your brother, sister or cousin had Boardwalk, Park Place and all the utilities and railroads, and the game lasted a week...
Now I'm sure I've 'beaten the horse to death', in the immortal words of Peggy Brown.
Time to sleep....zzzz
;-)

[Mary Kay Russell]

Great post Kim - I can feel the frustration in your words!

[Kim Vandenbroucke]

Oh no Colleen -- now I have that Kenny Rogers song in my head!!! LOL!

And that's why I don't play Monopoly. :)

[Colleen McCarthy-Evans]

;-)