Request for scoring option: all non-winners are equal

[mickalot]

Has it been discussed before having a scoring system where the winner gets 1st place, but all other players tie for second?

This would presumably discourage people from "playing for second place" and letting the leader run away with the game.

If it was a game-playing option, I would enable it.

[ajvish]

great idea!

[el cosimo]

Worst idea ever.. then people that are only 2 points and when others got maybe 9 get equal.. sorry but this is ridiculous to set that equal.

Yeah but then will give more people game up.. then is there no competition left and get game really boring if 1 player get many luck at start. Why you should keep playing if it doesn’t matter to end 2nd or 4th..

[Stroom]

Catan is a game where ONLY winning matters. Getting more points for 2nd or 3rd place does not matter. The game is a run to 10 points. If you do not get there, you lose. So, all players who do not win, lose to the leader. With elo calculation it means that different players will lose different amount of points based on the elo difference. No-one who does not win should gain any elo.

Edit: I do not think elo should even exist for a game like Catan anyway. Just play the game and do not think about an arbitrary score like this.

[silentProtest]

Has it been discussed before having a scoring system where the winner gets 1st place, but all other players tie for second?

This would presumably discourage people from "playing for second place" and letting the leader run away with the game.

If it was a game-playing option, I would enable it.

perfectly agree with that!!
I could also argue more why that should be the default, besides that it being "rules as written", if someone has any doubt.

Furthermore this should be the arena option.

[Mathew5000]

Has it been discussed before having a scoring system where the winner gets 1st place, but all other players tie for second? This would presumably discourage people from "playing for second place" and letting the leader run away with the game.

Catan is a game where ONLY winning matters. Getting more points for 2nd or 3rd place does not matter. The game is a run to 10 points. If you do not get there, you lose.

Anybody who agrees, please vote for this suggestion:

https://boardgamearena.com/bug?id=66732

[MrBeardy]

Worst idea ever.. then people that are only 2 points and when others got maybe 9 get equal.. sorry but this is ridiculous to set that equal.

Yeah but then will give more people game up.. then is there no competition left and get game really boring if 1 player get many luck at start. Why you should keep playing if it doesn’t matter to end 2nd or 4th..

this^. While Catan is only about winning the ELO weighting does keep people in the game rather than bailing. I've played enough on the old playcatan etc that I've seen the alternative and it's not pretty. If people didn't quit they'd start doing BS trades to try and power 2nd place to win out of spite. The current system is the lesser of two evils, and frankly it gives me something to play for when I get a crippled start and know I can't win. I've been quite pleased with my 2nd places where I've come back from nothing. If people know they are worse off for coming last they will play better to avoid it and that makes it a better game all round.

[Stroom]

If people didn't quit they'd start doing BS trades to try and power 2nd place to win out of spite. The current system is the lesser of two evils, and frankly it gives me something to play for when I get a crippled start and know I can't win. I've been quite pleased with my 2nd places where I've come back from nothing. If people know they are worse off for coming last they will play better to avoid it and that makes it a better game all round.

And if someone is at second place seeing that he can't win, he'd just trade cards to 1st place and make him win faster. Players who care about elo are going to ruin games either way. It's about board game ethics. You can't force people to play the way you want only because of some pointless metric.

[MrBeardy]

if ELO is pointless then what's the issue with the current system?

[Stroom]

It enforces playing for 2nd place while you should ONLY play for the win. If a player is willing to ruin the game if he can't win then he will definitely also ruin the game to get the 2nd place. To me, it seems like it would enforce better sportsmanship if all players play for the win only, not for 1st loser or 2nd loser placements.