AlexKF wrote:A player who doesn't care about the results shouldn't be playing in a war against another team... the whole point of a war is to be competitive (even if there is a friendly atmosphere) and to win. Otherwise you can just go in any server with your friends and have a race around, don't you think?
That's often the motivation of newcomers to the league. When they start to have their asses kicked by the strongest teams, they downsize a little bit their ambitions.
My approach of competition was moslty to try to improve and to see if i could be a decent player against some solid references. I knew from the start that i didn't have amazing capabilities (and it didn't change), but i progressed anyway. I played seriously competitive matches in div 2 as well as no-trained matches in div 8, and i can ensure you that both can be fun, provided that the opponent team is cool.
When you really train hard to win, there is some excitation because you know you improve your level and you can get a fine result, but there is another side of the coin: because you invest lots of energy in the training, you are more frustrated if you lose. Because nobody can win every match, you have to be able to handle this frustration (or you'll have your team running a very bad way). When you invest less, you know the results will not show your full level, but it's often more entertaining and relaxing, which have its importance after a working day.
A fun match whithout a big invest in training has nothing to do with "playing on a normal server". To me, the main difference is to escape the routine and have lots of players you know and you respect gathered in the same event. Join no-train competitions such as the 24 hours of Trackmania, ET fun cups or the Coppers Millions Cup, spectate a last-division ET league match if you don't get it.
Another big interest (which is the biggest for me nowadays) was to build a team and to challenge all the obstacles that can threaten the success of the team, in both competitive and fun way. To develop a good frame of mind, which implies fair play, and that a deserved win or a brave lost has more value than a cheated win.
But i wouldn't be more interested if money, prizes or coppers was given to the winners. I prefer the "amateur" kind of gaming and i feel playing for real earnings could harm the fair-play. Maybe it's an outdated thinking but it's mine and i think it deserves to be defended.
Last but not least, i prefer the word "match" or "meeting" than war. The goal isn't to kill an ennemy.
