Yeah, it’s sounding like the Construct player has some confusion about how the rules work:
You don’t have to change your Beliefs if you lose
You don’t have to be HAPPY about the DoW results. (“Man, I can’t believe you’re doing this.”)
What’s he gain for his troubles, even if he loses? Maybe some compromise, and if nothing else, some tests towards getting social skills and Will test for sure. Hell, maybe arguing with your CREATOR is worth logging a Steel test as well.
So, clear that up with him.
The other possibility is sometimes you meet players who basically turtle up when facing any sort of conflict - which is not good play for Burning Wheel.
I usually see this come out of players who’ve had bad histories of GMs railroading over them, or hitting them with “gotcha!” play where characters die senselessly, but basically, Burning Wheel is fundamentally a game where you are going to go through the grinder for your Beliefs. Anyone who isn’t interested in that will not find BW a fun game.
If you explain the listed points to him, and he’s still afraid of losing, but unable or unwilling to articulate why, you’re probably dealing with this kind of player. If you can’t trust the people you’re playing with, or the rules you’re playing with, you should go play with people and games where you can.
Or the Sorcerer is asking for too much. And that’s easily fixed by discussing stakes beforehand.
I don’t think we can pass judgement on the player, except that it seems he may not have realized what he was creating when he took no dueling skills. I think a construct with no social skills struggling under the control of his domineering creator is hot. I would rock that dude! I’d be looking to get into lots of DoWs, knowing I was going to get schooled. But, I would know what I was in for when I created him. It doesn’t look like this player understood what his choices meant.
No social/dueling skills and no weapon skills make for an amazing play experience – my best, personally. That’s a poor excuse not to try something. It’s also how you boost stats.
Playing it safe and clear makes for sluggish advancement and boredom over time. Saying fuggit and going for something nutty (entering a DoW with an archbishop with no social skills, for instance) is awesome-wicked and full of progression promise.
Regardless, the players ought to have all discussed what a Duel of Wits would have meant for them, specifically, in that very particular instance. Table chatter would have resolved this issue, I think.