Can we revisit Red Thumb in Arena? Some ideas for improvement

[Jontia]

I would be supportive of getting rid of red thumbs in the arena if two issues were changed:

If the rules were changed to forbid kicking players out of games that have lost internet connection or the BGA webpage crashing.

BGA website crashing, could and should be detectable. But there's no way to tell someone's lost their internet rather than just shut the browser or laptop.

[FrankJones]

I would be supportive of getting rid of red thumbs in the arena if two issues were changed:

If the rules were changed to forbid kicking players out of games that have lost internet connection or the BGA webpage crashing.

BGA website crashing, could and should be detectable. But there's no way to tell someone's lost their internet rather than just shut the browser or laptop.

Either way - if a connectivity issue occurs on a player's end, oh well. It happens, and ideally, players have a backup device (phone, tablet, laptop) that has connectivity.

If my home internet goes out, I can use my phone. Or my tablet if I want a bigger screen (by hotspotting it to my phone). The internet connectivity usually returns within 3 minutes after power cyclin the device.

I figure most people have a cell phone, and it's pretty rare for a cell phone to completely lose connectivity.

Anyway, what is unfortunate is that when BGA is having site-wide server issues, they haven't figured out a way to freeze the timers in games in progress. (Perhaps BECAUSE of the site-wide issues )

They are able to sometimes post banner notifications at the top of the page alerting people to the issue and suggesting that new game creation be halted, but that doesn't help whoever is unfortunate to have the clock be on them when the issue occurs. Some of the penalties may get rescinded later, but it takes time and effort and still results in an abandoned game.

[yodamus]

The way arena is setup now is a farce, total joke. Why i will never join one. The real competition is in tourneys. Join tourneys. No avoiding better players. Real winners. Not red thumb everybody winners. Come over to the tournament side of bga. Until they ever fix arena red thumb issue

[Retired Actuary]

As for the topic at hand:

I have a much easier solution: Red thumbs should simply be disregarded in the Arena.

It's absurd that someone could be at the top of the Arena ladder and then just red-thumb the players in positions 2-20 (or 2-whatever).

What's funny about this is that I've become a frequent RTer in Arena, but apparently for a different reason - I'm so tired of being paired with people 300-400 points below me who take 12+ minutes to play that I've started RTing them.

If someone fixes that problem, I'll gladly support no RTs in Arena. Otherwise, nope.

[FrankJones]

That's a good point. It's almost impossible to have any automated system differentiate legitimate Red thumbs from someone exploiting the RT system to lock in an arena spot by avoiding all the top 20 players.

[Ceaseless]

As for the topic at hand:

I have a much easier solution: Red thumbs should simply be disregarded in the Arena.

It's absurd that someone could be at the top of the Arena ladder and then just red-thumb the players in positions 2-20 (or 2-whatever).

What's funny about this is that I've become a frequent RTer in Arena, but apparently for a different reason - I'm so tired of being paired with people 300-400 points below me who take 12+ minutes to play that I've started RTing them.

If someone fixes that problem, I'll gladly support no RTs in Arena. Otherwise, nope.

There should be a rating filter in Arena.

That's a good point. It's almost impossible to have any automated system differentiate legitimate Red thumbs from someone exploiting the RT system to lock in an arena spot by avoiding all the top 20 players.

I think filters for things like rating would be good, though after that I don't really see enough of a perk for the so-called "legitimate" red thumb as far as Arena goes.

[BananaHarambe]

It would be amusing if a top player would create a smurf account that plays really poorly against everyone except the rating manipulation player, tanks their AES <1100 and stays at 100 Elo and then try hards against the #1 player.

Sad thing is you would likely get blocked after only 1 win against them. -40 AES and -20 Elo would take 10+ games to counteract

[Ceaseless]

It would be amusing if a top player would create a smurf account that plays really poorly against everyone except the rating manipulation player, tanks their AES <1100 and stays at 100 Elo and then try hards against the #1 player.

Sad thing is you would likely get blocked after only 1 win against them. -40 AES and -20 Elo would take 10+ games to counteract

Even more severe against non-Arena dodgers, more like 20+ games. I've seen a case of one complaining about the luck factor of a game (had some luck, but not too severe). Ends up being really annoying for them when they slip up vs a random player and drop a bunch when they're gaining such pitiful amounts for their wins. Don't think there was any intentional set-up in that situation, but it would be hilarious to see that happen to those sorts of players.

[Jellby]

It would be amusing if a top player would create a smurf account that plays really poorly against everyone except the rating manipulation player, tanks their AES <1100 and stays at 100 Elo and then try hards against the #1 player.

If detected, the player with the smurf account would be punished for playing ranked games with a second account. And this is clearly with the intent of manipulating the rankings, even if there is no cheating proper during the game.