Board Game Arena

I've noticed a significant rise in plays where someone who has the "new player, never played this game" tag joins a real-time game, plays more or less competently (or even, occasionally, incompetently) and then logs off when the game gets near completion. The most recent of these (linked below) was someone who talked about his inexperience with the game at the start of the match, then showed as offline and stopped responding when we were at 99% done.

This isn't new to the site, I'm sure, but it seems like there's been more of this in the last week or two. Obviously my experience (and perception of this experience) isn't necessarily what's happening site-wide, so I wanted to hear from others. It's very disappointing to have a victory be soured by a significant reduction in win experience/ELO because someone bounced just before the game finished.

Are others also experiencing this? Is it only a problem for longer games (Terraforming Mars, Ark Nova)? Or is it just bad luck on my part?

Game in question: *

*Moderation Edit: please do not use the Forums to call out specific tables or players by name, this is what the Moderation Reports are for. The Forums should remain a general discussion.

Nekojin wrote: ↑09 May 2024, 13:07 ... a significant reduction in win experience/ELO because someone bounced just before the game finished.

That doesn't happen. If a game is at 99% completion it will be 99% Elo. The only issue would be if they time out in a multiplayer game so the other players draw.

Not seen this any more than it ever it has been.

RobertBr wrote: ↑09 May 2024, 14:06

Nekojin wrote: ↑09 May 2024, 13:07 ... a significant reduction in win experience/ELO because someone bounced just before the game finished.

That doesn't happen. If a game is at 99% completion it will be 99% Elo. The only issue would be if they time out in a multiplayer game so the other players draw.

Not seen this any more than it ever it has been.

Op literally posted the game in question in which it does happen.

Nekojin wrote: ↑09 May 2024, 13:07

It is more frequent depending on the game and your settings. This is more common with lower elo players and you can filter them out of your games. I wouldn't join games with players with low karma either.

You can vote for this bug so that devs can hopefully do something about this in the future.
https://boardgamearena.com/bug?id=121841

In the linked game the account in question was created in 2020, and has over 200 games played. Whatever the reason might have a been, it's not someone creating a disposable account just to abandon a game. (Playing through the entire game just to not finish it is a lot of effort for trolling.)

ChiefPointThief wrote: ↑09 May 2024, 15:15
Op literally posted the game in question in which it does happen.

No it didn't. As the game itself notes "The other players won this game and get 100% of normal ELO points (because 100% of this game was played before the incident)". The OPs claim of a significant reduction in Elo did not happen - this is just the standard a player over time causing a draw, the full Elo for that draw was awarded. The OP was conflating two different things, one real, one not.

RobertBr wrote: ↑09 May 2024, 17:23

ChiefPointThief wrote: ↑09 May 2024, 15:15
Op literally posted the game in question in which it does happen.

No it didn't. As the game itself notes "The other players won this game and get 100% of normal ELO points (because 100% of this game was played before the incident)". The OPs claim of a significant reduction in Elo did not happen - this is just the standard a player over time causing a draw, the full Elo for that draw was awarded. The OP was conflating two different things, one real, one not.

I'm aware of what the false text at the top of the game says but did you actually look at the calculation? Bga erases the calculation after a week so hurry!