BETA: Arena mode (Season 0 - BETA)

[RicardoRix]

The arena mode will be the new version of the ranking system, overtaking the current leader board, and so will be eroded over time via relegation. I believe this is BGA's solution to all these concerns about the current player rankings which is based on ELO.

ELO will still remain your true ability of the game regardless of how frequently you play.
The analogy to tennis rankings and the like is not accurate because tennis players are actively playing all the time, whereas BGA players should be able to come and go as they please but their skill level at a game is likely to remain the same. ELO is their to represent that.

[Pistolero]

I'm sorry but ELO doesn't represent your skill at a game. Take 7wonders for example. You can see that certain top players are reaching top 10 places by only playing versus very weak opponents. This way they climb continously with small victories and gain small ELO. And when they are faced with greater players, they lose much more often. Of course in that case, the Arena mode will be one solution and I'm looking forward to it. But you still cannot say ELO represents your skill. It doesn't. It's just a very gross approximation. Skill is only expressed when you're facing difficulties, not when you repeat easy tasks continuously.

[RicardoRix]

Well it's the best 'number' crunching method to calculate something like this across all games.
If you have a better formula, then let's hear it...

Even if you can beat lower ranked players consistently, it still shows some skill. If and when they lose then they'll lose a large amount of ELO points, and that's the balance the ELO formula gives you.

In your 7 wonders cursory analysis, you take a very small set of people, in 1 game with a small set of results to try and make a point.
I watched some people run 100m in 10 seconds, so does that mean we all can?

You can't abandon something just because it doesn't work 100%, especially when there isn't a better alternative.

The main point: Arena mode is here to keep you happy, maybe if it's superior and really well liked then ELO rankings and the current leaderboards will disappear from view.

[Pistolero]

Yeah I'm not saying to abandon ELO, im just saying we can only say this is roughly linked to skill. It does its job for a lot of situations, and for most of all players. But it does not do its job to measure correctly highly "supposedly" skilled players amongst themselves.
About your saying that you should lose more points when losing versus weak players, I'm really not sure about this. I've seen 450 Elo players lose like 20 points when they lose to 200 points players. And lose only like 16 points versus 400 points players. So, those 4 points you lose "more" are so much compensated by all the victoires you'll get easily.
I don't propose a formula because I think the flaw is precisely this "searching for a formula". In all competitions, there is no formula. There is a tournament and a winner. And multiple tournaments across the year, and multiple winners, and respect comes from that.
It seems that your arena mode will match that and for this I appreciate the effort

[sourisdudesert]

UPDATE: Arena mode Season zero will start on Monday 13th January 2020

The FAQ has been updated.

[nmego]

Its about time

[RicardoRix]

You cannot choose your opponents: a matchmaking algorithm is choosing your opponents for you.

Not sure if I've missed something, but what is the frequency of matches? and what are the time frames?
Is it like joining a season long swiss tournament?

I assume that all arena games are outside the scope of the normal lobby and tournament games.

Will the Season-0 beta be just for a few selection of games, or all games?

[sprockitz]

Glad to see a date announced! Wish I had more free time to play.

[Daavids]

UPDATE: Arena mode Season zero will start on Monday 13th January 2020

The FAQ has been updated.

Yoohoo!

[sprockitz]

You cannot choose your opponents: a matchmaking algorithm is choosing your opponents for you.

Not sure if I've missed something, but what is the frequency of matches? and what are the time frames?
Is it like joining a season long swiss tournament?

I assume that all arena games are outside the scope of the normal lobby and tournament games.

Will the Season-0 beta be just for a few selection of games, or all games?

You can play as much as you like, so not like a swiss tournament...you just can’t directly chose opponents...though for less popular games likely any players wanting to play at same time will end up in the same game.

It sounds like normal lobby will be split into arena and simple..with config options to play either way
Sounds like all games is the plan