Suggestion: Only compute Elo for remaining players versus the quitter. Do not count ties for elo between remaining players.
Right now, when someone leaves and times out of a game that the non-abandoning players all get a win over the player who abandoned. They also are given ties (for Elo purposes) with each other. This causes problems for the player with higher Elo, because a tie is an Elo loss, so they get punished for someone else quitting. In fact, they can even get negative points as points gained from the person who quit can often be less than points lost via ties with the remaining players.
Here is an example: http://en.boardgamearena.com/#!table?table=17996141
-3 points for the highest rated player, and their ratings weren't even that different. Ratings of 200-300 less and a person could lose 30-40 points because someone else quits!
Right now, when someone leaves and times out of a game that the non-abandoning players all get a win over the player who abandoned. They also are given ties (for Elo purposes) with each other. This causes problems for the player with higher Elo, because a tie is an Elo loss, so they get punished for someone else quitting. In fact, they can even get negative points as points gained from the person who quit can often be less than points lost via ties with the remaining players.
Here is an example: http://en.boardgamearena.com/#!table?table=17996141
-3 points for the highest rated player, and their ratings weren't even that different. Ratings of 200-300 less and a person could lose 30-40 points because someone else quits!