Awesome! Thanks for sharing that picture.

I do have to ask though, what made you want to be a competitive player, even if it was only for some short time? I know you were a casual for a lot of your time on MKW- when did that change?
Well this post wasn't supposed to be a passive aggressive stab at the competitive community. I think you're just taking this thread as an extension of the conversation we had in the Skype chat earlier... this thread topic just is convenient and I happened to create it tonight- I could've made it any other night. Believe me, I understand why competitive people like being competitive. And I'm not trying to question anyone. This is just simply a discussion to see if anyone has been in or is in the competitive community, and why/why not. But I do have to comment on some of the stuff you said (even though I'm getting a little off-topic here.
Eh, I'd say that it's arguable that there are people without egos there (and I mean everywhere, not just in the competitive Mario Kart Wii community). Regardless, there's a difference between just having an ego, and then being a prima dona/having a HUGE overinflated ego... which is what most competitive players seem to have.
Right, but what you need to realize is that "thrill" you get by playing competitive is what casual players get by playing in a casual manner. It may get boring fast for
you, but for casual racers, that is
the thing for them. It just boggles my mind that competitive players are always here to defend why they like playing in a competitive manner, but they cannot begin to comprehend that people enjoy playing in a casual manner and don't need to be competitive in any way to have fun. I think wars get boring super fast, and I think they are an absolute prick in my ass to set up. But I'm not going to sit here and say that casual is the only way to go and god forbid anyone actually be a competitive player. Casual play isn't an inferior style of play just because it isn't your style of play... and I think that's how it's often viewed. I've been a casual player for years. I don't need wars or leagues or FFAs or any of that to make me excited to play Mario Kart Wii, and again- that's something I don't think competitive players understand. I think that casual players understand both modes of playing and why people do what they do, but competitive players only seem to understand why people are competitive and not casual; and are constantly trying to bring casuals over to be more competitive (when they don't understand that a competitive player's idea of "fun" certainly doesn't match up with what a casual player thinks of fun).
If you WW alone, sure, that could be more boring. I personally wouldn't have a problem with that, but I could see how that could get slightly boring for someone. But luckily in 4DR, we usually all WW together, so it's nothing that I really have to experience all that often.
I do think that your thoughts are valid and you certainly have a good reason for playing the way you do.