Arena Season 4 - let's start!

[dschingis27]

Am I able to earn new trophies each season for getting to each level? If so, will I retain my trophies from last season as well, or will they disappear?

You retain all trophies from last season and you can earn new ones. However, the way this is displayed on profile pages and so on might change at some point in the future, since the whole achivement system is still 'under development'.

@All: If you want to check for the fixed new season's game settings, click on the cogwheel next to the game icon in Arena lobby.

[Alphalegionaire]

i'm new to arena play but it sounds interesting to me. Just wanted to confirm... should someone change the date on the header to reflect 2021 not 2020?

[blueyes69]

Why can one not set number of players in Arena mode? In previous Arena Seasons St.Petersburg or Stone Age, e.g. were 2 player games and played fast. Now, a 4 player game is mandatory. Way too long and not my preferred number of players. And yes, I could play a normal 2p game, but I like the Arena Mode. But with these settings, it becomes useless for me.

[Ranior]

Why can one not set number of players in Arena mode? In previous Arena Seasons St.Petersburg or Stone Age, e.g. were 2 player games and played fast. Now, a 4 player game is mandatory. Way too long and not my preferred number of players. And yes, I could play a normal 2p game, but I like the Arena Mode. But with these settings, it becomes useless for me.

For some games, the player count rotates or varies between seasons. For St Petersburg, the recommended player count is usually the default they use and that is 4p for that game, it was a mistake that it was ever at 2p. Stone Age alternates seasons.

I'm sorry to hear they aren't to your preferred settings, but for some of us we really do prefer those games at 4p. Balancing the competing desires of the community isn't easy and we can't all win. Perhaps future seasons of both will continue to be 2p at times. Until then sounds like you do need to play simple mode.

[MichelleP]

The graphic says 2020, not 2021. I'm sure I'm not alone in not wanting to start 2020 over again.

[MikeIsHere]

I don't know if this is a new scoring mechanism but I did want to bring it up, I think the amount of arena points should be based on the players overall skill level and not their arena rank

Example

1stMikeIsHereMikeIsHere
+10 -> 256

2ndFirst MyrsFirst Myrs
-11 -> 259

Here is an example where I played someone with a better Backgammon ranking than I, at the start of the game,
But because I am diamond league and he was gold league I only received 1 pt for winning this game I was only 47% chance to win in the first place.

[RicardoRix]

Cannot for the life of me start an Arena game of Not Alone. I am trying only 4 moves per day.

Occasionally, I see the table fill with a few players only later for it to become empty again for a day or 2. This cycle repeats, and I've not started a game yet.

The pairing / matchmaking system obviously matches people instantly with the default settings that most people don't change of 1 move per day.

So how exactly is it possible to consistently start a game in Arena which is NOT the default 1 move per day???

[frogstar_A]

I don't know if this is a new scoring mechanism but I did want to bring it up, I think the amount of arena points should be based on the players overall skill level and not their arena rank

Example

1stMikeIsHereMikeIsHere
+10 -> 256

2ndFirst MyrsFirst Myrs
-11 -> 259

Here is an example where I played someone with a better Backgammon ranking than I, at the start of the game,
But because I am diamond league and he was gold league I only received 1 pt for winning this game I was only 47% chance to win in the first place.

I disagree - the whole point of Arena (instead of ELO ratings) is that it is a standalone 3 month competition: you rise or fall just based upon the tournament and not based upon people's long term standing. This isn't new, and has always been the case in Arena. Therefore, even someone with a high ELO rating has to start again from a lower league each Arena season and work their way back up. That's part of it.

[RicardoRix]

So here we have the same 2 people at 3 different tables.

4 moves per day.
3 moves per day.
1 move per day.

The next likely person comes along, is also a 1 mover per day - the default, and that table gets filled leaving me all alone in the 4 moves per day table.

[ufm]

I disagree - the whole point of Arena (instead of ELO ratings) is that it is a standalone 3 month competition: you rise or fall just based upon the tournament and not based upon people's long term standing. This isn't new, and has always been the case in Arena. Therefore, even someone with a high ELO rating has to start again from a lower league each Arena season and work their way back up. That's part of it.

Strong players can be seeded according to ELO or previous Arena results, like pro sports or other seasonal tournaments/leagues.