🌿ELO System Updates

[hammastahna]

I am still in denial

[Zozoken]

I still care about this, as do many of us. A bad decision doesn't become better with age.

I myself am very close to Acceptance ("BGA just isn't what it could be, but hey - I can still play games here, let's focus on that"). (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_stages_of_grief )

I moved quickly to acceptance. In fact, based on this and other recent decisions, I assume even worse and unpopular decisions are in store for the future, which has made me less dedicated to the site. However, I also trust that the actual volunteer game developers will continue to secure licenses and produce solid implementations. I'll probably continue my subscription until the price point becomes too high for the value or the site becomes unusable.

[Jellby]

→ Cooperative play and non competitive game
For cooperative games such as Hanabi, The Crew, or Just One, competition is already disabled. However, some players were too focused on the ELO, which led to unnecessary competitiveness in an environment which should instead incentivize cooperation.
For such games, we decided to hide the ELO value of each player and only display their current rank, from Beginner to Master.
This rank is based on existing win / loss games from the underlying ELO system. This way, you will not lose your rank with this change. For some games where chapters or scenarios are played, the more successful chapter will get you to the next rank faster, but you will not know how far from the next rank you could be at a given time.
This also applies to games where competition is disabled such as Chess.

Why doesn't this apply to solo games too? Why do solo games have ELO and rankings?

[h_illes]

Acceptance - if it was just one incompetent decision they stick to, it would be one thing. But the extremely poor communication and ignorance is also troubling. That is the worst type of corporate culture that should never be accepted, here or anywhere else.

[h_illes]

I subscribed to 1 year of premium membership last October with the assumption that I can keep enjoying using the site as before. Now this ongoing ELO misery has made my experience much worse for the majority of time since. I feel swindled.

[Shaq Jenkins]

As someone who has been on this site for 11 years, it is time to accept that BGA has gone downhill. This ridiculous ELO situation is just the icing on the downhill cake. From the forum rule that bans people for challenging moderators (sounds like a dictatorship) to the declining membership that makes it nearly impossible to play multiplayer real time games, it's clear that BGA is not what it used to be. We've been complaining about Arena Mode for years and there's been no positive changes made to it, which is why I stopped playing Arena games. The ELO system punishes frequent players which makes no sense - shouldn't BGA want people to use the site and play their favorite games?

Many of my friends cancelled their memberships and stopped using BGA, and I imagine they'll continue to lose loyal customers...

[KenFin1]

I agree.

In addition to the unpopular ELO changes have BGA also changed the XP awards too? 3 months ago I got 1200XP for getting to Elite in Next Station. Today I only got 400XP for the same. Or does the amount of XP vary for some reason during the arena season? And if so, why? Someone attaining elite quickly should get as much, if not more, XP than someone who takes all season to get there.

[Konker]

I understand that this will probably not be listened to, but I'm a Crew player, and having exact ELO displayed used to be very helpful, not in bullying, but in knowing which players to guide or to ask, "So have you played in real life?" "Would you like any tips?" Crew is (by and large) a pretty supportive community, but the experience difference between a player who's on game 9 and one who's on game 99 is really massive.

I frequently see experienced players get upset at some misplay as a knee-jerk reaction until I click through the weaker player's profile to see that it's their 4th ever game. If I then mention this, the other experienced player is generally much calmer. It contextualizes the play.

Now, yes, in a perfect world of fully self-actualized, zen master players, weak play in cooperative games could always be met with, "I forgive you; I understand that you have your reasons and human weaknesses." But that's a little unreasonable to ask of even the most patient of players.

What I'm trying to say, as gently as possible, is that the move to hide exact numbers in ELO had the opposite of the intended effect. I hope that someone with decision-making power hears this and understands it. My comments are no snap judgement; they come from months of direct observation and interaction.

(Reading comments above, this is also probably not the biggest downside of the update. My sympathies to those of you who've been affected by the "same player" problem.)

[The Nuzzer]

I agree.

In addition to the unpopular ELO changes have BGA also changed the XP awards too? 3 months ago I got 1200XP for getting to Elite in Next Station. Today I only got 400XP for the same. Or does the amount of XP vary for some reason during the arena season? And if so, why? Someone attaining elite quickly should get as much, if not more, XP than someone who takes all season to get there.

I think it is based on the popularity of the game. Some games have less players over time so the rewards are less.

[KenFin1]

I agree.

In addition to the unpopular ELO changes have BGA also changed the XP awards too? 3 months ago I got 1200XP for getting to Elite in Next Station. Today I only got 400XP for the same. Or does the amount of XP vary for some reason during the arena season? And if so, why? Someone attaining elite quickly should get as much, if not more, XP than someone who takes all season to get there.

I think it is based on the popularity of the game. Some games have less players over time so the rewards are less.

but this is for the same game