Rhetoric of a Rage Quit III: Try-Hard vs. Rage Quitter

For gamers, a "rage quit" is recognizable due to two primary distinguishing factors. First, an emotional response toward a video game's assessment of the player, often expressed as anger or depression. Second, a refusal to continue playing the game, which may or may not be a permanent decision. Ideally, video game developers hope gamers do not experience a rage quit and abandon their game, much like how colleges do not desire their students to quit or drop classes as discussed in my previous posts. However, another player-student classification is possible and results from players who experience "rage" while playing games, but choose not to quit: Try-Hards.

A "try-hard" gamer is someone who responds to a game's positive feedback loop, emotionally whenever a game assesses him or her, and identifies with his or her avatar. The difference between a "try-hard" and a "rage quitter" is that a "try-hard" never gives up and constantly tries solving whatever problem he or she is facing at the moment. An equivalent student counterpart is one who possesses a strong love of learning and actively seeks acquiring new knowledge. A more realistic student counterpart is one who is struggling and constantly attempts developing new personal strategies to overcome their problems in a composition classroom. For example, a "try-hard" student reads as many assigned readings as possible and actively engages with those texts through taking notes, which helps them participate through asking questions in class. A "try-hard" student might experience discouragement in assessment, but unlike a "rage quitter," a "try-hard" willingly seeks assistance with improvement through office appointments with an instructor or appointments with a tutor in a writing center.

The different responses toward writing assessment from a "try-hard" and a "rage-quitter" student result from whether or not students identify stronger with a positive feedback loop or an assessment as a trigger. The desired feedback loop validates how much time and effort a student invests into playing a game, writing a paper, or completing a project because it gives a student a sense of accomplishment. The assessment is also capable of similar results, but that outcome depends on whether or not the assessment matches with that student's imagined outcome. As writing teachers, then, we must find ways to convert "rage quitters" into "try-hards" or recruit more "try-hards" into our composition classrooms.