games won't block high ELO players

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rayzor6
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Joined: 18 March 2014, 19:56

games won't block high ELO players

Post by rayzor6 »

I'm loving Marco Polo 2...but I'm barely a 100 ELO and I keep getting put with people with 500 and 600 ELO even though I put in my settings that I don't want to play with anyone 2 or more positions for me.

What is going on? All these people are playing like 15 games of it at the same time. I'm trying to have fun...not be in a tournament of scripted moves with someone who wants to WIN at all costs! :D
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nik592
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Re: games won't block high ELO players

Post by nik592 »

Are you talking about Arena or normal play? The "2 or more positions above" makes me think you're talking about Arena settings, which are based on the league you're in, not ELO. Marco Polo II only has two leagues - Bronze and Elite, so if you're on Elite, there's no way to restrict who you play against for Arena. If you're on Bronze, you need to restrict to people at your level, but that doesn't mean you won't meet people with high ELOs if they happen to still be in Bronze league (though would seem strange for anyone with high ELO to still be in Bronze league at this point in the season).
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Jellby
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Re: games won't block high ELO players

Post by Jellby »

If you don't want to play against high-elo players, filter your games to restrict them to lower-ranked players.

If you just want to "have fun" and not "win", play in friendly mode. No guarantee the other player(s) won't try to "win at all costs", but at least you'll be able to quit without penalty if you're not having fun.
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Meeplelowda
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Re: games won't block high ELO players

Post by Meeplelowda »

Jellby wrote: 24 May 2025, 07:53 If you don't want to play against high-elo players, filter your games to restrict them to lower-ranked players.
You can't do that in Arena as Nik pointed out. And the OP was talking about Arena for the reasons Nik pointed out (the filter the OP used doesn't exist in Simple game mode). You did read Nik's response first, right?
Play Now lobby 4ever! https://boardgamearena.com/lobby
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Shivaware
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Re: games won't block high ELO players

Post by Shivaware »

Meeplelowda wrote: 24 May 2025, 08:52
Jellby wrote: 24 May 2025, 07:53 If you don't want to play against high-elo players, filter your games to restrict them to lower-ranked players.
You can't do that in Arena as Nik pointed out. And the OP was talking about Arena for the reasons Nik pointed out (the filter the OP used doesn't exist in Simple game mode). You did read Nik's response first, right?
If you look at the OP's game history, the games in question were normal ones. It's not clear how the OP was getting into the games, but the arena settings will have no effect on the normal games that you join.
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nik592
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Re: games won't block high ELO players

Post by nik592 »

Shivaware wrote: 24 May 2025, 10:11 It's not clear how the OP was getting into the games, but the arena settings will have no effect on the normal games that you join.
The settings are worded the same whether it's Arena or non-Arena (+1/-1 to my level, etc.). There's been some debate about what this means in non-Arena terms, and also anecdotal reports of it not working. I haven't found compelling evidence of that myself, but as I am premium, I create my own tables manually (via the old lobby/Play Now) and use filters if I want strong players out of the mix. OP is also premium so could be doing the same, alternatively, use the new lobby (game page) and the green door to set the level filters. This might be more reliable than the settings under the cog for auto-created tables. But I don't use it, so can't guarantee anything. I feel like using filters with manually created tables has always worked for me, so that'd be my recommendation.

Also, given you reference a specific game, I'm guessing you did set the settings for that specific game, but just to be clear, if you set it under the cog for another game, those settings don't carry across. You must set the settings you want under the cog for each game separately.
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Jellby
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Re: games won't block high ELO players

Post by Jellby »

Meeplelowda wrote: 24 May 2025, 08:52 the OP was talking about Arena for the reasons Nik pointed out
Then, if the OP is just "trying to have fun", they should not play Arena.
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rayzor6
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Re: games won't block high ELO players

Post by rayzor6 »

I'm not playing Arena...I'm playing regular.

I have my settings at playing just 1 above my level.

I think I will just play in Friendly mode as I'm not trying to mess around with the stupid ELO on this one...I just want to play and enjoy the game.
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Remkar
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Re: games won't block high ELO players

Post by Remkar »

rayzor6 wrote: 24 May 2025, 17:45 I'm not playing Arena...I'm playing regular.

I have my settings at playing just 1 above my level.

I think I will just play in Friendly mode as I'm not trying to mess around with the stupid ELO on this one...I just want to play and enjoy the game.
I don't know what the "above/below your level" means for non-arena, but you're other option is to not join games automatically, but do it manually (I never auto join, I always do manual).

Hand pick games with openings that are lower ELO games.

Or, better yet, create your own game and add an ELO filter so higher ELO players can't even join your games.
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Shivaware
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Re: games won't block high ELO players

Post by Shivaware »

rayzor6 wrote: 24 May 2025, 17:45 I'm not playing Arena...I'm playing regular.

I have my settings at playing just 1 above my level.

I think I will just play in Friendly mode as I'm not trying to mess around with the stupid ELO on this one...I just want to play and enjoy the game.
I just want to understand exactly how you are getting into these games.

It sounds possibly like you are going to the classic "PLAY NOW" lobby at https://boardgamearena.com/lobby

The three menus at the top were set to "SIMPLE GAME", "TURN-BASED", and "AUTOMATIC"

If you click on the gear icon for Marco Polo II, the "Player's level" section has the bottom two levels set to "I never want to play with". You have to click "Show advanced options" to first show that section.

If all the above are the steps that you took, that certainly seems like a bug and it should definitely be reported.
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