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Arena points system
Posted: 23 April 2026, 14:03
by Coinflipr
Hi, I'm having a hard time understanding how I'm supposed to go up in ranks in arena when I'm losing 3 "shields" for a loss (versus an opponent which has my same rating) and winning 1 or 2 stars (again, versus an opponent of same rating).
Never been stuck so long in Diamond, so I guess I'm a bit salty, but seriously, do I need 5-6 wins in a row to go up ?
Re: Arena points system
Posted: 23 April 2026, 16:08
by Ceaseless
Coinflipr wrote: ↑23 April 2026, 14:03
Hi, I'm having a hard time understanding how I'm supposed to go up in ranks in arena when I'm losing 3 "shields" for a loss (versus an opponent which has my same rating) and winning 1 or 2 stars (again, versus an opponent of same rating).
Never been stuck so long in Diamond, so I guess I'm a bit salty, but seriously, do I need 5-6 wins in a row to go up ?
I see nothing showing what you are saying is even happening. Let's look at the facts. your last 5 games as of this post.
https://boardgamearena.com/table?table=840972293 +3 vs someone in your league
https://boardgamearena.com/table?table=840958578 +2 vs someone in a lower league
https://boardgamearena.com/table?table=840946662 -3 vs someone in your league
https://boardgamearena.com/table?table=840925556 +1 vs someone in a lower league
https://boardgamearena.com/table?table=840860399 +2 vs someone in a lower league
The system is rigged to make it easier for players to advance, not harder. For instance, players can't even fall out of their league. A player could lose 100 games in a row, then get a small streak and get to the next league. They'll never lose league status, so they could even repeat the process.
Re: Arena points system
Posted: 23 April 2026, 17:08
by Coinflipr
I guess I didn't understand that fact that elo means nothing in arena rating.
Losing the same amount of ranks against a 200 or 700 (assuming they have the same arena rank) is the thing that annoys me.
Re: Arena points system
Posted: 23 April 2026, 17:25
by FrankJones
Coinflipr wrote: ↑23 April 2026, 17:08
I guess I didn't understand that fact that elo means nothing in arena rating.
Losing the same amount of ranks against a 200 or 700 (assuming they have the same arena rank) is the thing that annoys me.
Arena is voluntary. Nobody is making you play.
Yes, Arena point change after a win or loss is determined only by each player's Arena points before the match, not their Elo ratings.
Regular (non-arena) play already ranks players by Elo. What would the purpose of having an Arena that does exactly the same thing?
Re: Arena points system
Posted: 23 April 2026, 18:01
by Ceaseless
Coinflipr wrote: ↑23 April 2026, 17:08
I guess I didn't understand that fact that elo means nothing in arena rating.
Losing the same amount of ranks against a 200 or 700 (assuming they have the same arena rank) is the thing that annoys me.
It shouldn't mean anything. If they were tied together while mismatched one of them would lock down the other unfairly. If a 700 in underrated in Arena they just play games and since they're underrated moving up is easy. So they won't stay at the same Arena rank as the 200 for very long.
Re: Arena points system
Posted: 23 April 2026, 18:07
by Jellby
Coinflipr wrote: ↑23 April 2026, 17:08
Losing the same amount of ranks against a 200 or 700 (assuming they have the same arena rank) is the thing that annoys me.
Elo takes into account your whole game history since the beginning of time. Arena score only counts your Arena games during this season.
If you and your opponent are in the same league, it means you performed similarly in Arena games this season, so far, and that's all that's considered. Whether you won or lost a lot last year doesn't matter. Arena doesn't "know" who's the better player, it only knows your Arena games this season.
[*] Except that you may start in a somewhat higher league this season if you finished high enough in the previous season.
Re: Arena points system
Posted: 23 April 2026, 22:13
by tbhp
Ceaseless wrote: ↑23 April 2026, 18:01
Coinflipr wrote: ↑23 April 2026, 17:08
I guess I didn't understand that fact that elo means nothing in arena rating.
Losing the same amount of ranks against a 200 or 700 (assuming they have the same arena rank) is the thing that annoys me.
It shouldn't mean anything. If they were tied together while mismatched one of them would lock down the other unfairly. If a 700 in underrated in Arena they just play games and since they're underrated moving up is easy. So they won't stay at the same Arena rank as the 200 for very long.
I think their point is that it's annoying to lose lots of points against a top player simply because that player is starting in bronze and the system doesn't know that their current league is not reflective of their actual level.
In the regular Elo system, this is much less likely to happen, because you don't go down to a new starting Elo at the beginning of each season. You may encounter smurfs or people who are just naturally great at a game, but it's more rare.
There's been times where I was starting my arena season in bronze league and I got matched with players who were currently battling for the top spots. It must have been frustrating for those players to lose lots of point against me just because they had the bad luck of being matched with a starting Elo player who is actually above this level. Not exactly the most fair occurrence since this part comes down to luck of the matchmaking.
Re: Arena points system
Posted: 23 April 2026, 22:26
by Ceaseless
tbhp wrote: ↑23 April 2026, 22:13
Ceaseless wrote: ↑23 April 2026, 18:01
Coinflipr wrote: ↑23 April 2026, 17:08
I guess I didn't understand that fact that elo means nothing in arena rating.
Losing the same amount of ranks against a 200 or 700 (assuming they have the same arena rank) is the thing that annoys me.
It shouldn't mean anything. If they were tied together while mismatched one of them would lock down the other unfairly. If a 700 in underrated in Arena they just play games and since they're underrated moving up is easy. So they won't stay at the same Arena rank as the 200 for very long.
I think their point is that it's annoying to lose lots of points against a top player simply because that player is starting in bronze and the system doesn't know that their current league is not reflective of their actual level.
In the regular Elo system, this is much less likely to happen, because you don't go down to a new starting Elo at the beginning of each season. You may encounter smurfs or people who are just naturally great at a game, but it's more rare.
There's been times where I was starting my arena season in bronze league and I got matched with players who were currently battling for the top spots. It must have been frustrating for those players to lose lots of point against me just because they had the bad luck of being matched with a starting Elo player who is actually above this level. Not exactly the most fair occurrence since this part comes down to luck of the matchmaking.
It may be irksome, though it's still necessary.
Re: Arena points system
Posted: 24 April 2026, 20:38
by Jellby
tbhp wrote: ↑23 April 2026, 22:13
There's been times where I was starting my arena season in bronze league and I got matched with players who were currently battling for the top spots. It must have been frustrating for those players to lose lots of point against me just because they had the bad luck of being matched with a starting Elo player who is actually above this level.
... and because they didn't set league filters.
Re: Arena points system
Posted: 09 May 2026, 09:02
by khyyu
How do filters work for arena?
Bga keeps poping players way stronger than my level. I would like to play with people just above but not too much.