Board Game Arena

No joke I think i lost like 10 games in a row today, dropped from being ranked like 200 to like 1400.

Getting killed by losing to people who have a lower elo than me who get good starting boards while I get stuck with 17, 19, 19, 6 or 1, 2, 2, 5.

This game is some strategy to play the odds but at the end of the day, it’s majority luck. I think there’s too much emphasis on the difference in Elo impacting our ranking. When my elo is 10 points higher and I win a good game, I go up by like 11 points. But when I lost to someone whose elo is only 10 points lower, or someone way lower who has a perfect starting board whereas I have the worst combination, I lose 25 points. It’s tough.

It’s like Blackjack— doesn’t matter if you’re new to the game or have been playing for years… the payout is the same. I feel like that should be the way this game is.

Idk, maybe it’s just me being frustrated lol

thebigfella wrote: ↑27 March 2025, 08:36 This game is some strategy to play the odds but at the end of the day, it’s majority luck.

Yes, so the ranking is mostly luck, and you better ignore it.

I met another problem — If I play with a much more higher-ranking player and start to win, the game makes me to lose. It does not give me suitable figures, still another side wins the game. It is not normal, how to avid this?

landyshka wrote: ↑06 October 2025, 13:06 I met another problem — If I play with a much more higher-ranking player and start to win, the game makes me to lose. It does not give me suitable figures, still another side wins the game. It is not normal, how to avid this?

This will be the Luck factor being discussed above.

I understand what you are saying! This just happened to me...i was at ELO 376 and played a much lower ranked player. I didnt stand a chance of winning when the numbers populated and lost a crazy amount of points which greatly impacted my ELO score. Same thing the next two games.I get that luck/strategy comes into play but those of you who dont get what we're saying havent had this happen to you...yet. It's very frustrating, to say the least.

The frustration is understandable, but you should remember, it's the same for everyone else.

The idea of an elo system like this, is that over enough games played, it averages out to have the rankings roughly represent skill.

The main issue is that it just feels bad seeing your points go down a bunch. But as long as that's the same for all players it's still fair, even if it feels frustrating.