2015 League General Discussion Thread

[Shin-Ji]

Apparently football is a dicey game?

[variance]

@PGMatt:

The Allies are on the clock, not the Axis

That’s the whole problem right there.  Ironically the intention was for it to be the other way around.

[gamerman01]

@Shin:

Apparently football is a dicey game?

Yes, it is.  If you fumble the ball, it kills you.  It’s the worst thing that can happen to you, and it’s often luck when it happens.  Also, the football is shaped very strange so it bounces unpredictably.

But still, 25-0 at the half…. The #3 team in the nation couldn’t score a point for a half?  That’s bad ranking right there.

[gamerman01]

@variance:

@PGMatt:

The Allies are on the clock, not the Axis

That’s the whole problem right there.  Ironically the intention was for it to be the other way around.

Well, Larry isn’t always the genius that we assume he is.  He over-reacted to the Allied advantage of the early version.  One thing he did was moved the NO’s of the USA out to islands and territories to the east and to the west that the Axis can now harass.  In doing so, he probably should have boosted the homeland NO, but instead he left it the same in total but distributed it out so that you can snipe part of it just taking the Aleutians.

That’s just one example - there are several others.  Giving Germany a major in Berlin and putting a minor in Ukraine without any other balancing factors….  Now Germany can’t really be stopped.  Too much money in the middle east (Make Persia and Iraq worth 1 IPC, maybe make the oil NO’s 1 IPC each)… I could go on

[axis-dominion]

gamer, would you consider a bonus system to reward those players who are more active in the league?

perhaps something like this:

1. 1 bonus point for completing the first 10 games
2. 3 bonus points after completing 20 games
3. 5 after 30
4. 7 after 50

or something like that…

you have to admit, those who play a lot more games are exposing themselves to more chances for errors or dicing, and furthermore, their ranking becomes more sensitive to the kinds of avalanche or cascade effects we’ve been seeing. there are too many good players who are restricting themselves to only a handful of games against other elites, so that their ranking stays nice and safe. and something like 6 out of the 8 who are about to qualify for playoffs (including you) got the bare minimum of 8 games, and one of those who didn’t get the bare minimum got 10 (i.e. only adam really put himself out there with over 3x as many games as the minimum!)

please consider!

[gamerman01]

Cascade effect works both ways.  People rise a tier as often as they fall a tier, and they have equal and opposite effects.

[gamerman01]

Games between top players take a ton of time and energy.  You are having more fun than anyone else.  I think that’s compensation enough.  These chess matches between top players, where every little bad luck swing is excruciating, is as much stress and work as fun.

I think you would have more fun being the #1 seed in the 2nd playoff.  Remember, in any playoff system everyone’s season ends with a loss except one’s…… Don’t make it all about points and rankings and championships - the fun is in the journey

[axis-dominion]

@Gamerman01:

Seriously, you have 1 win over a tier E and you’re trying to tell me that I’m in trouble in the championship game?

you keep mentioning how i have only one win against a tier E. well a closer look at the stats tells us that a win against a tier E is actually quite rare (i’m only considering the E tier players here):

1. bmnielsen: 1 win
2. juan:        1 win
3. zhuk:        2 wins
4. jdow:        2 wins
5. gamer:      1 win
6. adam:        2 wins (but out of 29 wins)
7. ghost:        0 wins
8. alex:          0 wins

there are a few tier 1 players who have scored wins against tier Es.

no one has 3 tier E wins tho, at least not yet.

[gamerman01]

You’ve played over 50 games

[gamerman01]

And you have 5 losses against them

Look, I get it, it hurts your pride that I called you out after all your whining about losing tier E status that you had for awhile.  I did my best to explain, and all I did was give you a lot of material to criticize.

I’m not interested in engaging your endless arguments about how awesome you are - please leave me alone.

[bmnielsen]

Disclaimer: this is not a comment on the content of any of the recent discussions, as I have no interest in taking sides or getting involved.

But am I the only one who is sick of all the bickering that’s been going on here recently?

We’re all here to have fun, guys, let’s try to focus on that a bit more. If you feel like someone is trolling you, engaging them is just throwing fuel onto the fire.

I would hate to see this overwhelmingly-positive community go on a downward spiral, we’ve probably all experienced what internet gaming communities can be at their worst.

[gamerman01]

I know I fed a troll.  He’s been baiting me about as much as he can, and it’s hard to resist.

Adam and Dominion have really been stirring pots lately, and I also do not appreciate it.  I don’t see how it makes sense to irritate the guy who’s making it all happen and has spent hours and hours recording everyone’s scores, and ensuring a league rule set each year that the majority, including himself, really enjoy.

[Shin-Ji]

Gamerman, I know I am not alone in saying I’ve got noting but love for ya baby!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJEbfeG2oAE

Seriously!

[bmnielsen]

Adam and Dominion may have been vocal recently, but on the whole I would say they have initiated discussions with respect. All participants share the blame in where it ends up after that, in my opinion.

@Gamerman01:

I don’t see how it makes sense to irritate the guy who’s making it all happen and has spent hours and hours recording everyone’s scores, and ensuring a league rule set each year that the majority, including himself, really enjoy.

I can understand where you’re coming from, but I don’t think there’s a connection here. As I see it, Dominion is reacting to the things you are saying, not to your position of authority in the league. He certainly didn’t initiate anything with the sole purpose of “irritating the guy who’s making it all happen” - he has legitimate points to discuss.

We all really appreciate how much work you put into maintaining the rankings and moderating the league. Speaking for myself, any comments or suggestions I make about the rules or ranking system are solely in the interest of making them even better; I’m not saying that the current system, or your moderation, is poor. I believe that’s where everyone else is coming from as well, but then I’m an optimistic kind of guy :)

[axis-dominion]

@Gamerman01:

And you have 5 losses against them

Look, I get it, it hurts your pride that I called you out after all your whining about losing tier E status that you had for awhile.  I did my best to explain, and all I did was give you a lot of material to criticize.

I’m not interested in engaging your endless arguments about how awesome you are - please leave me alone.

there’s no whining going on. sure i was upset about the avalanching caused by abandonment problem, but after the community spoke out and you agreed to fix, i was satisfied enough and have left that alone. you’re the one who keeps bringing up the fact that i have only beaten one tier E, and then are using that against me to say i’m in no position to make any comments on the championship game (and you said my comments are laughable). so naturally i reacted by pulling out some facts about how rare it is to even get a game in with one of those super busy elites, let alone score a win on them (and they typically take way too long to complete).

again, there is no connection between my record and the comments i made about how the championship game is going. would’ve been better to have addressed my comments rather than trying to discredit me (ad hominem)

perhaps something like this:

“dominion, you made some valid/interesting points, however, here is why i feel i am winning…”

or, if you didn’t want to entertain a discussion on the game at this time, as perhaps it could reveal some of what you’re planning to your opponent, you could’ve kept it simpler:

“dominion, thanks for sharing your opinion on the game, but i have my reasons for believing that i am well on my way to a win here. that’s all i’d like to say on this at this time, as the game is still in progress…”

[axis-dominion]

i second that. i can’t say enough of how much you’re appreciated gamer. there simply is nothing out there even close to what you’ve put together for this community. so please, any comments we make and arguments we may get into, absolutely take nothing away from our deep respect and appreciation we have for you.

@bmnielsen:

Adam and Dominion may have been vocal recently, but on the whole I would say they have initiated discussions with respect. All participants share the blame in where it ends up after that, in my opinion.

@Gamerman01:

I don’t see how it makes sense to irritate the guy who’s making it all happen and has spent hours and hours recording everyone’s scores, and ensuring a league rule set each year that the majority, including himself, really enjoy.

I can understand where you’re coming from, but I don’t think there’s a connection here. As I see it, Dominion is reacting to the things you are saying, not to your position of authority in the league. He certainly didn’t initiate anything with the sole purpose of “irritating the guy who’s making it all happen” - he has legitimate points to discuss.

We all really appreciate how much work you put into maintaining the rankings and moderating the league. Speaking for myself, any comments or suggestions I make about the rules or ranking system are solely in the interest of making them even better; I’m not saying that the current system, or your moderation, is poor. I believe that’s where everyone else is coming from as well, but then I’m an optimistic kind of guy :)

[axis-dominion]

@Gamerman01:

I know I fed a troll.  He’s been baiting me about as much as he can, and it’s hard to resist.

sorry you feel i am trolling. that’s not my intent honestly. i am an active participant in this community, and when i’m not playing 8-12 games, you will likely hear more from me in these forums  :lol:

i’ve seen you make more than one reference to how you’re clearly winning the championship game, and so i felt the need to drop my opinion on how i’m not quite seeing it that way.

i have to say i am REALLY enjoying this championship game. every area of the board is hotly contested and there is absolutely nothing boring about it. regardless of who winds up winning, it’s a good fight that we are all watching closely and enjoying, and i’m sure many others each have their opinion on how it’s going.

[gamerman01]

I’ll admit, I don’t take constant (non-constructive) criticism very well

I’m just here to play A&A and have fun.  It’s so fun to take over a territory or destroy a bomber on the ground (hardly ever get that chance any more - everyone’s too good).  I really think it’s odd that I find myself at the top all the time - there should be a bunch of guys that I can’t touch, but they’re not here.  I’ll also admit that after creaming people over and over again, and people telling me how great I am, I start to believe it.

But guys like dominion and Boldfresh help keep my feet on the ground.

I’ve been wondering where the talk about the championship game has been, and finally dominion gives me a very entertaining take.  Bold and I have learned that it is extremely difficult to accurately assess a game in progress that you’re not playing yourself.  Out of respect for my opponent, I want to be careful what I say.  But yes, I am in an extremely strong position and you will see Allied capitals falling sooner or later.  I am playing conservatively so that the dice have little chance to beat me.  It’s the championship game, not some game against a tier 2 where you can be aggressive and not worry about the dice because you can recover.  I’ve made several championship moves, not sure how many have been noticed or appreciated.  Again, respect for the opponent.

I honestly just came to the site many years ago to play some fun games, not tense highly competitive ones.  But since I find myself being one of the elite players (no reference to my ranking system) and I am naturally competitive, I find myself playing half my games in the playoffs in the spotlight and where every die roll is tense.  That’s not my preferred game.  I even deliberately dodged the playoffs, I think it was 2 years ago, by not recording an 8th game.

[lexgreat]

you might have, 2 years ago, but definitly not this season. not sure what you want to say with that. and speaking of that, you thoroughly beat me in the 2013 play-offs.

in any case, you can either be competitive, or want to play fun games only. dont tell me you dont enjoy the competition aspect, it surely doesnt look like that :)

dont get me wrong, its good to have better players around than oneself, there is always a goal, then (time allowing). and its also good to have the best in the play-off, so wouldnt want to miss you there. but I dont really see Axis-D or Adam as being a problem here or specifically targeting you. although I admit Axis wont take it lightly if someone will relegate him to 9th. in the end ;)

the league is a very good thing, enjoyable, well run, with things to improve nonetheless (whats not?). all should contribute when gamerman opens the discussion for next season, and nothing should be evaluated in the light of who its coming from. it will be an even better season.

[gamerman01]

9th is decided by the system - there are no judgment calls.  I am just applying the system.

I like a certain level of competition, but at some point it becomes stress and work and I ask myself why I’m not just playing fun games.