The joy of losing in games. It's actually quite good to lose.
him, that's fun as hell for me.
However, when playing other boardgames I don't mind losing, it's fun to win but it's more important to me to really understand the inner workings of the game. I have the feeling that by not choosing the optimal play or the safe way I can make mistakes that'll help me learn more about the game or find new strategies that haven't been found because nobody bothered to look outside the box.
Sometimes I play with people that criticize my decisions but I don't mind, because I'm learning. I guess it comes from the work that I do, I get to test new computer systems and install them for the company I work for, so I have the responsibility to know just how much stress the system will handle, what are it's bugs, it's common issues, etc, I have to know it by heart; that way I'll become the expert on it.
And that's the mindset I bring to the gaming table, I don't aim to be the best the first time or the first plays even but I will try to get to know the game as well as I can so in the future I can rip it apart and win.
Another side to the joy of losing is with adventure games; I don't mind losing on them as long as I've had a terrific time with the game. Sure I can always run away from that challenge that seemed to high for my, I can evade that red dragon but I am not a pussy, I am not playing in some strange land to seek comfort, I am playing to bring back tales of epic proportions.
Sometimes you win the fight, others you loose but I'll always look fondly back to those memories, thinking of how I stood against the dragon or the mighty Ancient one, how I tried to seal all the gates and got lost in some bizarre dimension. I play so that there will be songs for my deeds and when I get to talk to my friends I don't tell them I played another game but that I stood against such powerful monster and how I faced him.
Either way you have to remember: loosing will always teach you more than winning and when you finally win, it tastes all that much better.
Or even better, forget everything I said because you're playing to have fun and nothing else matters.