🌿ELO System Updates

[Patrick of the Isles]

Should we expect a feedback from BGA at some point or is this hopeless?

After this much time has passed with no reply, it seems likely that one of two things are the case:

1. BGA staff is concentrating all efforts on fixing broader website issues and so is not paying attention to this issue for the time being. One may notice that the site has intermittently malfunctioned to one degree or another a few times in recent months. So if the staff's key focus right now is improving the site reliability then that's very understandable and a good thing.

OR

2. BGA staff has considered these fifty pages of feedback from some of their most frequent users but feels that the changes ought to remain despite the negative impact. That would be more disappointing to many of us than the first option, but is of course a possibility.

Either way, ironically to some degree, we are in this pickle because the site is so good. What I mean is that if there were many great online board gaming websites then when a situation like this arises where we feel staff is not listening to the way their actions are harming our experience, we could go to a different site and "vote with our feet" as we would with any other product or service. However there is no other site nearly as good as BGA in real-time matchmaking, reputation filtering, or amount of Top 200 games available. So they have a bit of a monopoly on the market, and as with other monopolies like our electricity providers or rural Internet service providers, we have nothing much to do but complain and hope someone cares.

[h_illes]

After this much time has passed, it seems likely that one of two things are the case:

I have two issues with this situation. First, whichever is the case, why is there no response? If they work on bigger issues, they could just let us know. Or, if they decided that the changes remain, they could just tell us so. Even if they haven't decided on anything yet, they could just tell that. But they don't.

My other issue is, they made a change that makes some users unhappy and nobody happy. Maybe they think that just a small portion of users will actually leave the site due to the changes, but why even lose those guys when instead they could keep them by something as simple as reverting the changes? Even as a business decision, this is just poor.

[KenFin1]

Well this is not a net change for the positive so far as I can see it. ELO reduction is a joke IMO.

Next Station Arena I just got paired with the same player 4 times in a row. I can't control that. I am double their ELO. I get three comfortable wins on the bounce, each with reducing ELO gain. The last game they get a lucky draw and scrape a win, I lose more ELO in that one fluke than I get in the previous three wins, plus my arena score tanks for this one loss vs my 3 wins against them. Were ELO reduction not in place I would have at least broken even, but no. I have to be penalised for getting a bad draw/them getting a lucky draw.

This is the foolery of the arena system. One loss should not hit you more than 3 previous wins. Not in ELO and not in Arena points. This new system doesn't fix it. Nor does it let me say "I've played this player 3 times already, someone else now please." To repeatedly put me with the same player (turnbased btw, nothing to do with being online at the same time) is pointless with this reduction system. Play enough times in games involving an element of chance and someone is bound to scrape a win now and then, even if not as good a player. What can I do? My only option it seems is to red thumb the player, which i don't like doing, but I want a new opponent please BGA, and I want an ELO system that isn't negative weighted to unavoidably reduce ELO over time where freak losses outdo any gains. Please can we just have the old system back. It wasn't perfect but we all knew where we stood.

[TricksyFox]

We used to be able to see our ELO for co-op games on the game acceptance screen, but now we can't even see that.

[teallite]

We used to be able to see our ELO for co-op games on the game acceptance screen, but now we can't even see that.

Really? So, admins are not only silent, they keep making additional changes?

[h_illes]

I would like to thank you all for your feedback on this subject.

I continue to regularly read your messages.
It goes without saying that any regression that occurs may need to be examined and dealt with.

*

*moderator edit: post removed for defamation

[LesserJester]

We used to be able to see our ELO for co-op games on the game acceptance screen, but now we can't even see that.

Does this still affect Hardback despite it being competitive?

[GeoPaladin]

I would like to thank you all for your feedback on this subject.

I continue to regularly read your messages.
It goes without saying that any regression that occurs may need to be examined and dealt with.

*

*moderator edit: post removed for defamation

One can only hope the admins are paying as much attention as the moderators.

[miklomike]

Still keeping up with the thread, still saddened that nothing has been done.

I enjoy playing in real life yes, and real life doesn't have elo. But having something to work towards makes me spend more time on the site than I would if there was no elo. For other sites I use for specific games, I play a lot less because it's just one game and done. You think bga would know this and WANT to increase usage time.

I have also not played any coop games since they have started hiding the elo.

Please do something about this.

[Lumin_S]

I would like to thank you all for your feedback on this subject.

I continue to regularly read your messages.
It goes without saying that any regression that occurs may need to be examined and dealt with.

*

*moderator edit: post removed for defamation

One can only hope the admins are paying as much attention as the moderators.

100%. While I guess that post went too far, I very much appreciate h_illes's continued attempts to ask for a reversion of these ELO System changes which are very much a net negative to the community.