Players sitting out in Arena to preserve ranking

[Pickles4Xysti]

In many games, Top 10 ranked players stop playing additional games to preserve their ranking. No one should be forced to play on BGA, but choosing to play in Arena recognizes the desire for "competition".

I have proposed a suggestion https://boardgamearena.com/bug?id=24798 that one point be decremented each day from every Arena player, so that a "strong" player sitting out slowly drops in ranking, and all players are encouraged to play in order to gain ranking.

The problem with Strong players refusing to play is an issue in real-world, and has been addressed in a few ways (such as requiring a minimum number of games to be played to completion per 'period'). BGA needs some mechanism wherein players playing in Arena acknowledge that points are earned through good play, and lost through bad play or not playing.

Please vote for https://boardgamearena.com/bug?id=24798

[sprockitz]

There are a lot of issues with arena and how things are done mostly with the ability to manipulate turn based plus the fact that you lo isn’t change appropriately for most of the games. But forcing people to play to maintain their yellow does not make any sense it’s not a good solution.

[Pickles4Xysti]

I appreciate and respect your opinion, Sprockitz.

However, Mmany games/sports in real-world require continued participation to maintain ranking. Chess, backgammon, bowling, even boxing require at amateur and professional levels to continue playing to maintain ranking/title. An achievement can be one-time, such as bowling a perfect game; but a ladder doesnt work if players have no incentive to play.

In the few games I play on BGA, there are players in the top 10 who have not played since the first few days of the season start. Within the first couple of day of this season, I reached #1 on Oh Hell!. I could have stopped playing and still be in the top 10. There is no justification to allow this aspect of the system to continue. Making this change will at least fix that, and will encourage players to 'honor' the unstated reason of playing in Arena mode, which is to play competitively.

[sprockitz]

This is very different than real world sports...they play on a schedule and have events where they play. here you can play 100 games in a few days and get to a ranking or you could play 2-3 games everyday over the 90 days to get to your ranking. Doing 1 is not any better or worse than the other. you want to punish the people in the first group.

[Cheery Dog]

As someone that ended up attempting to sit out of red7 arena last season after I claimed first place within the final month, and then dropped out of getting a trophy because I tried to then fight back after being overtaken and ended up dropping to 11th and missing out on any rewards afterbeing inside the top 10 almost all of the season. This season I'm currently sitting outside the top 20, and have seen people stop playing as much when they get up there. So I understand both sides.
It is how the arena works, and I don't expect anything different.

The main thing that stops the high people playing is the huge falls that occur if they were to lose a game, so yes it is something when everybody is at 1500 EAS at the start of a new season.

But even reaching elite early doesn't save you, you still need to earn the place.

This "suggestion" came up at the end of last season and will come up again.
The only thing that possibly needs done is the turn-based problem where people can delay games, but there's not really anything that can be done about that either.

[Princedomino]

My 2 cents. Everyone should be free to choose his strategy (few or hundreds of matches) or his field (live or turn-based games). The real problem with Arena is that actually it encourages - not intentionally, of course - to cheat the system (turn-based games purposely not finished when the player is loosing). Or, to say in a different way, it damages real and fair players (fun, competition, sportivity) and facilitates obsessed and addicted to statistics players. And this last thing is not anymore a competition, but a disease. BGA should be not tolerate this non-sense behavior.

[sourisdudesert]

Thanks for your feedback about Arena mode.

There are certainly room for improvements, but the last survey we did about the Arena showed that the vast majority of Arena players are enjoying the system very much (over 80%).

We are going to do other surveys, but as far as we can see now our plan is to make only small adjustments, and to give some other challenges (ie: other than the Arena) to the minority of competitive players who are unsatisfied by the Arena (and it will obviously be something very different than the Arena).

[BarboRosso]

https://boardgamearena.com/bug?id=25682

Read and VOTE here

[Curling]

It's normal. When you want to be first, you have to do better.

Am 1st in backgammon, and now I try to be 1st in other games...

[Curling]

1st but I play all the games till the end. I have only one game that is pending... you can be 1st by being fair !