ELO is not balanced

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alecrim
Posts: 8
Joined: 21 July 2017, 07:24

ELO is not balanced

Post by alecrim »

Hi, since there's no topics I'll propose a discussion about this underplayed game.

So, as you might have noticed ELO IS NOT VERY WELL BALANCED IN SECRET MOON. If you dont agree, please read the following tale:

So, player X* was playing his first game ever, asking questions and learning (and enjoying) like I had done not a week before. He actually ended in first place because he was always on the winning team. Now, dont get me wrong. He winned the game fair and square, call it chance or whatever you want. I'm not putting THAT in question. This is actually really nice.

But, then, his ELO shot straight up from a round 0 to around 140! Now, we are not talking about an experienced player who just happened to be playing on BGA for the first time, but someone who was partly learning it as he was playing. In which game have you seen this happen before? I understand that happened because he won a game against 7 other players, each one with an ELO above 100, which makes it more significant and affects the rate by which ELO is calculated. Even so, it actually had to be comparable to winning a one on one game against a strong oponnent and not like he killed all the uchiha clan before graduating from the academy.

Commenting on it later, other players also said that the ELO drops considerably when you loose.

So there you have it. Please, tell me your opinion and any related storys.

*really hope there's no one logged with this name in bga.
Dcodato
Posts: 7
Joined: 21 June 2017, 11:51

Re: ELO is not balanced

Post by Dcodato »

This is how the elo system works in 3+ luck based team games, if you cannot get high elo in your first few games you can hardly boost your rank. For most games, the most important part of getting high elo is to choose opponents, rather than true skills (look at players in the leader board and the number of mistakes they made per game)

The condition you have stated would not happen if 7experienced players are playing with 1beginner. As the beginner will be the only player who make mistake, his team's winning rate will be greatly lowered. Unfortunately most players on this website are not experienced and enjoy making random moves.
Shaq Jenkins
Posts: 156
Joined: 27 November 2013, 04:49

Re: ELO is not balanced

Post by Shaq Jenkins »

ELO is useless in 3+ player games, and it is especially useless for Secret Moon. I've played people with 200+ ELO who made tons of mistakes, and on the flip side, I've also played with Apprentices who actually made the right moves. You cannot predict a player's skill level based on ELO in a cooperative, luck based game like this.

Since I have a high ranking in Secret Moon, if I get anything less than first place, my rating drops significantly. As a result, my rating fluctuates a lot. I go from Top 5 to Average Level very frequently, but again, that's how ELO works. It wasn't designed for games like this. You have absolutely no control over who your teammates are, which means that you also cannot control your ELO. I would suggest that people who care about their ELO should avoid games like Secret Moon. While I agree that it's ridiculous that a beginner can go from 0 to 140 after winning one game, this is yet another example of why ELO is terrible for multiplayer games.

I really wish that more people played this game. I know it's hard to get 8 players, but it's a fun game that needs more consistent players (I actually think it's better than Love Letter).
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