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Penalty after BGA Crash?!
Posted: 15 December 2020, 22:13
by Joe Duck
I received 46 point "lost and abandoned game" penalty after BGA crashed a few days ago . The note even stated no penalty will be applied since it was not users fault, but it was.
Am I the ONLY person where this happened ?!
Re: Penalty after BGA Crash?!
Posted: 15 December 2020, 22:21
by Jest Phulin
Historically, whenever there has been a server error, all penalties due to this have been removed. However, that removal is a manual process, and may take a bit to be done. I'd give it a week or so before nicely asking for a BGA admin to look into your specific situation.
Re: Penalty after BGA Crash?!
Posted: 24 December 2020, 18:20
by Ze Monstah
It happened to me today, here:
https://boardgamearena.com/table?table=133672877
No quit registered on profile page or karma lost, but i lost 33 ELO in Tokaido...
I have no idea what happened.
I don't think it is ok to wait 1 week, because by the time the ELO is given back (if ever), if you play more of the games in which you unfairly lost ELO, the ELO you lose/win in the new games, would be different than with the ELO you had if you weren't charged with that loss, during the crash.
So I now have 344 in Tokaido, and I had 377 before the game during the crash was registered.
If I play now with 344, the ELO I gain/lose would be different than with 377.

Re: Penalty after BGA Crash?!
Posted: 24 December 2020, 19:39
by Ze Monstah
Also, I talked to 2 Admins, after system restored and saw the game registered.
During the waiting time in the crash-game, while I was seriously out of time (but unable to move because of the crash), a player quit, and we all did after that.
After the system restored, game was registered with 1 loser (me) and 3 winners.
I was made loser, I guess because the system crashed during my turn.
I didn't play any more Tokaido games after, I talked to 2 admins in private, explaining the situation, but they simply don't want to give back the 33 ELO, with no reasonable motive (IMO).
I thank them, though, for listening, and wish them happy holidays.
Re: Penalty after BGA Crash?!
Posted: 24 December 2020, 20:37
by Jest Phulin
Ze Monstah wrote: ↑24 December 2020, 18:20
No quit registered on profile page or karma lost, but i lost 33 ELO in Tokaido...

<snip>
If I play now with 344, the ELO I gain/lose would be different than with 377.
ELO calculations affect several players, not just a single player. They are harder to adjust. Consider the ripple effect for completing games after the incident, but before adjustments are made. The decision has been made to not adjust them.
Then, too, having a 344 vs a 377 ELO actually can be seen as a benefit. You are still ranked as a Strong player, but will lose less on a loss and gain more on a win now.
Re: Penalty after BGA Crash?!
Posted: 24 December 2020, 20:56
by Ze Monstah
Yeah... I can't think of anything rather unfair the site can (un)intentionally do to someone, without you trying to make it look like Disneyland.
I don't get why you are trying to make an unfair thing look acceptable.
So again... I was inflicted an unfair 33 ELO loss, cause of a crash the system had (so their fault, not mine).
I did not play any other Tokaido (or any other) game after! So that was my last game.
So no ripple effect or anything else you are talking about in the reply above.
I cannot see any realistic reason to not be given the 33 elo back, and go back to 377! None.
It would make no difference to anyone, just undo a wrong thing.
I accept this, even if I disagree, just wanted to show the unfairness.
And I don't want to fight or create any more tension between me and the site, especially since it is a special time of the year, and i promised myself to keep away from any possible conflicts with BGA, but I don't think I should take something unfair, without commenting on it.
Joyeux Noël.
Re: Penalty after BGA Crash?!
Posted: 24 December 2020, 21:04
by Tisaac
Ze Monstah wrote: ↑24 December 2020, 20:56
So no ripple effect or anything else you are talking about in the reply above.
How do.you know that ? In principle, the sums of ELO should stat constant at the end of a game (except when K factor interfer) so there are definitively grippe effect. But the admins could probably explain that better than I do.
It's their fault for sure, but dont understimate the complexity of the.whole ranking system
Re: Penalty after BGA Crash?!
Posted: 24 December 2020, 21:07
by Ze Monstah
Pfff... so... again... That game in which i was unfairly taken 33 ELO, is the last game registered in my game history... So before that last game registered, i was 377. The unfair game registered, i got 344 (377-33).
https://boardgamearena.com/player?section=lastresults
What is unclear here? I didn't play any other game on the site, after, so if I was given the 33 ELO back, it would be like i didn't play that game in the first place.
*And the 2 players who got 23 and 25 ELO, can keep them, especially since at least 1 of them played another Tokaido game after. I only wanted to try to get my 33 back, with no influence on others, cause again... It was my last game played.
*I do understand as reasons for not reverting would be that other players who experienced this situation before, without being given ELO back, would feel bad if BGA made an exception for me, and that BGA simply finds it too much work to get into this restoring thing, and prefer to simply say "sorry, nothing we can do". So I will accept this unfair thingy (hopefully not happening again) and wish people Merry Christmas.
Re: Penalty after BGA Crash?!
Posted: 24 December 2020, 22:49
by Tisaac
Have you read my answer ?
The sum of ELO is constant at the end of game. If BGA admins grant you elo, they have to remove them from other players that gains during this game.
I dont say it's good or bad, fair or unfair, just that it might not be as simple as you make it sounds. (But maybe I am wrong and this is easy to do without too much collateral dammages)
Re: Penalty after BGA Crash?!
Posted: 24 December 2020, 23:27
by Jest Phulin
Ze Monstah wrote: ↑24 December 2020, 21:07
What is unclear here? I didn't play any other game on the site, after, so if I was given the 33 ELO back, it would be like i didn't play that game in the first place.
*And the 2 players who got 23 and 25 ELO, can keep them, especially since at least 1 of them played another Tokaido game after. I only wanted to try to get my 33 back, with no influence on others, cause again... It was my last game played.
The Elo rating system is designed to be a constant-sum system. If one person gains points, another loses points. So if you were to gain your ELO back, then the players who gained during that game would have to lose their ELO, which you state they should keep. And, even though you might not have played any more games, they could have; so the ripple effect is a possibility.
Yes, you incurred a loss due to actions beyond your control. But what did you really lose? You are still ranked Strong, so you aren't excluded from any tables based on ranking. You are not one of the top X players (X < 25), so there's no loss of trophy. You lost the amount of a mostly meaningless number that can be gained back in one game.
Additionally, you keep talking about fairness, yet want a special exemption for your case. Changing the rules for one person is pretty much the definition of not being fair.