2015 League General Discussion Thread

#1 and #2 sound great.

As for #3, man, I dunno Gamer.  You’re cute and all, but I might be too vanilla for that just yet…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VHTjGHsDHs

Introducing……

MASTER tier, tier M

5.50 and above
4 completed games required - you don’t get the coveted “M” only winning one game against a tier 1

8 points for defeating one (which only other M’s will probably be able to accomplish  :evil:) and 4 points if a Master deigns you worthy of playing and losing to him

@Gamerman01:

And #3……

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VHTjGHsDHs

funny…meaning it brought a smile to my face…I like the idea. No protesting here.

Rising tide lifts all boats…
I do like to have comparable PPGs from year to year, and this compromises that a bit, but not much.  Adding tier E was a bigger effect that way…

One thing I would like to raise, and perhaps I am mistaken and it’s a non issue , is that I have noticed that many/some people are now seeking games w/only high tier players. I imagine, and perhaps I should do some research before bringing this up but I believe that a higher tier player who plays a lower tier, even if winning the game can lower their ranking….I know, I know, it’s only a game  :roll:, I for one never ask to play this tier or that and have difficulty saying no to a lower tiers that ask for a game. Also, personally I think we do ourselves a disservice when we (higher level players) don’t play lower tier players. I know I have learned much in the games I have played w/Tier E opponents.

With that said is there some magical formula you can create gamer which allows for the higher level players to engage the lower tiers and not having it negatively effect their standings, I know, I know it’s only a game  :wink:, if they win?? Or perhaps every tier player needs to complete a game with a lower tier etc.

thanks for considering.

Yeah, systems like that do exist, see elo for example. Someone was doing an elo ranking for the league this year, but I don’t know if anything came of it.

However, even if we had such a system, I wouldn’t expect a lot of players to want to play people more than a couple of tiers below them, just because evenly-matched games tend to be more fun.

I should note that this is mainly because of time constraints, if you’re like me and only have time for ~10 games a year, you have to make them count. If I had all the time in the world, I would play anyone, rankings aren’t the reason to play :)

I wonder how much of a bid might be useful as a balancing feature.  Something like, you can get more points for beating someone if you give them a much higher bid than average?  So a Tier 1, who gets challenged by a brand new player (so Tier 3 to start), might give them the usual bid, but then it’s auto bumped by 40 or something?

I don’t know how workable such a system might be.

Thanks for re-opening that big can of worms, JWW  :lol:

I am playing a new guy right now and it’s one of the funnest games of the year for me.  Best case scenario I get 3 or 4 points and it lowers my average a lot, but I don’t care.  If I didn’t want it to kill my PPG, then I would play him in the play boardgames section.  You don’t have to play all your games here.

A lot of us have different objectives, I know.  A lot of guys just want to get in the playoffs.  Realistically, the champion every year is going to be someone like me who doesn’t really stress about his PPG.  The top 8 get in.  If you’re good enough to be champion, you’re good enough to finish in the top 8 without obsessing about PPG.

You have to be a few tiers above a guy to have a win against him lower your PPG.  It’s not a competitive game.  Yes it’s penalized by the system.  Do we really need a system where you always go up for a win, no matter how bad your opponent is?  My one opinion is we don’t.

As far as people wanting to play people in the higher tiers because they think it’s better for their PPG either way -
Isn’t that a good thing?

The current system penalizes people who go for really easy wins.  I think that’s good.

@Gamerman01:

As far as people wanting to play people in the higher tiers because they think it’s better for their PPG either way -
Isn’t that a good thing?

The current system penalizes people who go for really easy wins.  I think that’s good.

I still think people should not be penalized but rather being ±0 with those games.

Well, that’s a penalty too, because you get nothing for all that time

If you want to play someone that much worse than you and don’t want a penalty, play them in the play boardgames section.

It’s also desirable to keep the system simple.  You should be able to easily recalculate your own PPG and know how it is calculated.  You should be able to easily calculate what your PPG would be if you played someone and would win/lose.  Right now these objectives are achieved.

A low to mid tier 1 has to play a tier 4 to lose any PPG with a win.
A high tier 1 to a low tier E has to play a tier 3 to lose any PPG with a win
A high tier E or tier M would have to play a tier 2 to lose any PPG with a win.

That’s about TWO AND A HALF tiers below you.  When such games are played, the better player virtually NEVER loses.  They are not competitive games.  I don’t think any change is necessary.

@Gamerman01:

They are not competitive games.  I don’t think any change is necessary.

And anticipating the protest that weak players won’t ever get to play strong players -
Not always.  People like JWW and I play weak players sometimes in league even knowing it will lower our PPG.  We’re here to have fun.
Second response - go play in the Play Boardgames section.  Players like JWW and I would be willing to do that when we’re not to busy.
So the protest that weak players can’t play strong players simply isn’t true.  I rarely turn down a challenge.  If you’re a tier 2, 3, or 4, I will gladly kill you and enjoy every minute of it.

2015 - it was Elite
2016 - now we have Master
2017 - Grand Master
2018 - Super Human Master
2019 - Elite Super Human Master
2020 - God
….

btw, with the God tier, there can only be ONE player who achieves it, and if someone beats him, they are allowed to enter a spiritual championship called “heaven,” and the win is actually considered impossible so it gets recorded as a draw (because God is omnipotent duh). but if a person loses to him, he will be cast into hell, which means he will become Damned tier and his PPG will be reset to -666.

@axis-dominion:

2015 - it was Elite
2016 - now we have Master
2017 - Grand Master
2018 - Super Human Master
2019 - Elite Super Human Master
2020 - God
….

That’s probably where all this is headed, yes.
But for now, we just have MASTER  :-D

After Master level, we’re sure to get Master BlackBelt Dan 1,2,3…all the way to Grandmaster tier.  :lol:

The league gets better every year….

Whether or not this is a collective feeling of us scum of the Earth, but we’d like to experience the raping from an Expert or Grandmaster B or Grandpa D or whatever rank you 1% come up with next.  There are those out there willing to take us peons on, and I applaud them.
In no way should they be penalized for it.  I’m not asking for a 40 bid (although after just having London Nuked, it’s not a bad idea….), but as I mentioned in this thread about a year or two ago, we should be given a chance to get our S&#T packed.

Proposal
A win by a level 1 or higher (ie. Expert, Master, Grandmaster B), can’t affect your PPG, but can be added to your win total.  I don’t know if you want to call it the charity column.  However, in the unlikely event you fcuk up and you lose, then you are TOTALLY held accountable to losing
to someone on welfare.  I don’t want charity points for losing.  I think, for anyone to get a point for losing (and this is my personal belief on ANY game), you should only get the points after say, Round 10.  Why should anyone get a point for losing in RD 3 or 4 because of a catostrophic collapse of defense.  That’s not skill.  Hell, I lose like that half the time!  So if you are going to get points for losing, make it after RD 10…hell, if you feel froggy enough, if someone can take it to say RD 25, fcuk it, give them 1 pt less than the win…how many games do you see go that far?  Probably not many, but maybe some people would be inclined to see if they could last that long?

#Tier4LivesMatter