JTR - You would only be your "Old self" if you ended up back in the right hand seat wouldnt you?
Otherwise, you actually might have learnt something? Could that be possible?
If "play the game" means turning up willing to learn to fly their aircraft their way, what is wrong with that? Do you honestly think that people are being failed for absolutely no reason, or because they said "checked" and not "check"? Honestly? I have never met a Training Captain who didnt want his candidate to pass when he puts them up for check, or a check captain that wants to fail people regardless of their performance. But I have met people who have failed and had the lamest of excuses for their own poor performances, they can tell you the "only 1 thing" they did wrong on the check, or people who know the books backwards who cant even tie their shoe laces. You wouldnt give them a command either.