User blog comment:Mineko Charat Lucky/Don't Play to Win, Ever/@comment-137.226.66.4-20130111075310/@comment-65.60.247.250-20130111082824

Not in the scenario that this guy is talking about.

If you're losing your lane (which we'll define as being behind your opponent in gold and or levels due to ganks/deaths) it is without any reasonable doubt far better to play defensively and farm than it is to be aggressive against an opponent with superior power and lose again and again.

You wonder why people complain about top lane "snowball" mechanics? The aforementioned situation is why; when someone starts to win, they keep winning harder if you keep going one on one against them.

So generally, and especially in response to this commenter, you are dead wrong about aggressive play being superior to defensive play. Even when you're not losing, it's not always prudent to keep pressing unless you have very specific circumstances.