FAQ : About Go and Sandbox games

[KaosBombix]

Elo classment should be cancelled when someone is playing a sandbox game. A player can go up too easily !

We will apply the same policy than for the rest of the website : if someone is doing absurd games against the same set of players using multiple accounts, all accounts will be reseted & removed sooner or later.

I don't say the contrary, but someone can have a really nice elo without multi accounts !
Nobody know that is it posible to win by clicking on + and finish the game, except the people who did it and were victim of that.
But, when there is a new game, the person try, they are beginners and they don't know.
Someone who want to boost his elo will have the possibility to do it by playing only with beginners.
I think that it is posible to be above 1700, today !

[Oso]

I was thinking about it. It's just a sandbox game with open rules, this game shouldn't have ELO.

Maybe could keep the X games played or Most victories trophy, but not rank and ELO trophies.

EDIT: We can't switch to no-elo :v

[sourisdudesert]

We added several warning messages before the game and at the end ofthe game to explain better what is Sandbox and how the final result is working.

We will add more of then to make sure no beginner can be fooled if needed. There is no reason why it cannot work

[Fysh99]

Would it be possible to clearly label Sandbox games in the game list, or segregate them in some way? Otherwise, as more and more Sandbox games are added, the coded games with enforced rules will become lost to the detriment of the site.

To be honest I do have some concerns about trying to play competitively in the Sandbox environment, but it will be interesting to see how this develops.

As an aside, a coded rule version of Go would be an amazing addition to BGA!

[sourisdudesert]

Hello,

Sandbox games have a big "sandbox" ribbon on their game box. But you're right they need a dedicated section.

[squarerootofthree]

I love BGA and have long championed the site as the best place to play games online. But I have serious questions about the new sandbox game options.

Aside from the possibility of intentional abuse of the sandbox system with opponents breaking rules, there is also a huge chance of accidental rule-breaking. Many, many times when I'm playing games that I'm not 100% familiar with, it's nice when I try to do something for the interface to tell me I'm not allowed to. In fact, there are cases where I've played a game many times in person only to realize by playing here that I had some aspect of the rules wrong!!

I do look forward to the prospect of more quality games on the site, but am afraid that I'll likely only be playing new sandbox games with my closest friends on the site whom I can trust to play honestly and for the fun of it. I just don't feel like putting up with someone intentionally (or unintentionally) breaking all sorts of rules in a game.

Please, PLEASE keep your promise to continue releasing regular games (with rules enforcement) on into the future.

[DrKarotte]

I am not convinced, too. But let's see.

Sandbox is surely an interesting addition: for game inventors, or regarding the possibilty to use special house rules.
Or perhaps to "test" if a game is liked to add a rule enforcement later.

But I don't see the advantage of getting so more games. There need to be enough people to play them. Already now there are some games which are almost never played and where it is difficult to find anyone even in turn based mode.

[Een]

Please, PLEASE keep your promise to continue releasing regular games (with rules enforcement) on into the future.

Well, sandbox should make it easier to create a game interface, and allow anyone in the community to do it.
Depending on the game, working on the game interface currently represents between 30% to 50% of the time needed for an adaptation.
If that's easy to do, or if that's done already, there is that much of the work out of the way. To complete a game, a developer can then concentrate on what's left, i.e. adding rules enforcement.
So it's quite possible that sandbox will in fact allow to release more games with rules enforcement. We'll see... it's part of the idea anyway

[Fysh99]

I too was worried about a dilution of quality rule-enforced games here on BGA; I saw Sandbox as a distraction that moved BGA in the wrong direction. But Sandbox games as a partway step to full rule enforcement games makes a lot more sense, as each implementation could potentially be done by different people with different skill sets. Well done, that's creative thinking!

[squarerootofthree]

So it's quite possible that sandbox will in fact allow to release more games with rules enforcement. We'll see... it's part of the idea anyway

Here's hoping! I echo the other comments that I'd like to make sure there's a clear distinction between the sandbox and non-sandbox games as I imagine I personally will play 99% NON-sandbox games during my time here. The sandbox banner and warning upon joining a game are good. But also, it's worth considering whether or not they should be eligible for tourneys and rankings. But, hey, I don't mind sandbox games being a part of the site as long as they don't reduce the number of full games coming in. The more the merrier!

Again, thanks for the continued work on the site. I appreciate all of the time and energy you're putting into trying new things.