You have completely misunderstood me & the point I have tried to make about the rating system. You are now going off down other avenues that are not related to the rating system query. So lets leave it there. End of discussion about it.

Lets talk instead about making friends playing games & having fun!?

TwoThouSevHun: It's a waste of time if your goal is to achieve a rating several hundred points higher than anyone else. If you goal is to meet people and have fun playing games with them, and to test your abilities against theirs, then I would say the change in the ratings system is irrelevant.

alanback:

I had nothing to 'go over' so therefore, there is nothing to 'get over'. I just stated a point that has led to a discussion thats all and you do agree with my initial statement by saying 'If the system had been correct from the beginning...'

Also 2-3 years to let the system run the way it has is hardly a 'begining' either. I'd say its been a waste of time, but on the bright side there was absolutely nothing to 'go over'! ;)

TwoThouSevHun: Why not just play your games as normal?Surely a player of your stature will soon rise to the top.

TwoThouSevHun: If the system had been correct from the beginning, you would never have had a lead of several hundred points. Period. In other words, that lead was due to a flaw in the system and not to your abilities. Get over it!

Ok Pedro I understand :)

But I kind of disagree with this one statement of yours on a personal note. You said 'All you had to do was play opponents within 400 BKR points and you always gained 8 points if you won'

Take a good look at my Spiderline4 game playing history over the past 3 years. The vast majority of my games were against the very best players, ie: Badman, PJA & Slayer just to name a few. These were NO easy gained 8 points! I earnt a 200-300 point gap from these players, now Im less than a 100 points ahead of lesser players. Again Im not being disrespectful to these players. Its just that you would all agree with me that if you played say 20 games of chess, line4 or spiderline4 etc against a player that is 300 - 400 points, nevermind 500 -600 points, below you then you would expect to win 18 to 20 out of 20 at least? Surely this is no fun as it is no challenge?

Therefore, only 100 points ahead is NOT a true reflection of the BKR, this is all Im trying to point out :)

Matt: I was say for example over 200 points ahead of my nearest rival and about 500+ points ahead of the next four players below second place. Now Im only 100 points ahead of my top 5 or so players. Therefore, this is NOT a true reflection of the ratings is it?.

I think and believe that under the BKR formula that is used now, the gap of 100 points corresponds to a gap of 200+ points under the previous formula. That means that to be able to "hunt you down", your opponents would have to do the same job, win the same amount of games, both under this and the former one. You have to take into consideration this fact: Before, it was WAY easier to gain BKR points. All you had to do was play opponents within 400 BKR points and you always gained 8 points if you won. Now, it's not that simple. Going up is much more difficult and e.g. for you as the best spider player here, it seems like something almost impossible to get back where you had been with your rating before the BKRs were recalculated.

Yes I understand that EVERYONE has dropped in ratings...I never suggested that this is a personal matter. I am merely suggesting that this site confuses me!

Mirjam: you say this 'The object of ratings: to show who's stronger and how much.'

Listen, I agree with you 100%. I was say for example over 200 points ahead of my nearest rival and about 500+ points ahead of the next four players below second place.....how did I get so far ahead then? miscalculation? I dont think so!

I got so far ahead of my rivals by BEATING my rivals fair & square over 3 years of game play. I am sure many other players on BK in other games have been penalised the same thing.


Now Im only 100 points ahead of my top 5 or so players. Therefore, this is NOT a true reflection of the ratings is it?.

Yes I can build my rating back up, which would take many years, but Im afraid this is not a challenge for me anymore as the nearest competitors, bar 1 or 2 players, just do not give me a match. This is not being disrespectful....its just a 400-600 point difference FACT of my nearest rivals.

Its a dam shame that just about ALL the top 'old school' Spiderline 4 players (dating back since 1998 on IYT) have now left this site BUT most of them STILL continue to play at IYT. Why is this? I know why!

TwoThouSevHun: Also, do not foget EVERYONE, not just you had the ratings calculations done, and most everyone else had very similar drops in the ratings, and I would guess that your position/ranking compared to everyone else is basicly the same.

As an example of myself, before the switch, I had a 2768 ratings in run around the pond and was ranked about 2nd/3rd overall.

After the ratings correction, I had a 2425 ratings in run around the pond, over 300 drop - but I was still 2nd/3rd overall.

The ratings were corrected, and they were corrected for everyone.

TwoThouSevHun: Basically no rating was correct at the time. With the old system it you earned the same points when the rating difference between you and your opponent was any number between -399 and +399.
Now the rating calculation is 100% correct according to the definition given. I checked it.
If the recalculation made a so high difference to your rating, it meant that you had somehow profited a lot of the calculation errors, without knowing it.
Don't forget that your opponents ratings were wrong too. For instance you may remember having won a lot of games against a 2200 opponent while he should in fact have been rated 1900 at that time.
About continuity : of course Fencer could very well have said nothing about the error, and just corrected it without recalculating the ratings. Then the ratings would have slowly evolved towards the correct values. But wasn't it fairer to openly admit the mistake and to correct it completely ? Who really wants an undue rating ?

<> TwoThouSevHun >try to vieuw the positive side:now you have very much opponents to challenge to prove that you are better;)
And if you are really better you will earn the points back. If you're not stronger, then the drop is fair. The object of ratings: to show who's stronger and how much.

Well Im affraid EVERY time I got a point was the correct score AT THE TIME of winnning it. But now the 'goal posts'' move!?

Listen I aint gonna cry & sulk about my rating dropping over 400 points over night..its just that EVERY point was earnt against the best players on the net...then they get taken away! Winning and drawing matches for points was not playing under 'false pretences' then, so why now?Im sorry but it does not make sense to me.

BuilderQ: And of course "correct" means "according to design", which begs the question whether the design is correct for all games; there is considerable sympathy among backgammon players for the view that the BKR system isn't well designed for backgammon.

And it should be added that there are more paying members than ever, NOT less.

Bry: "The fact is it is now correct." Wasn't that said repeatedly about the old system too? :)

If there is a mod online can you please change Noblehearts link...thanks

M4tt: in theory, what has happened to you should have happened to others who had "incorrect" BKR's, so there are probably others in the same boat as you.

The fact is it is now correct. Why play under flase pretences.

Everyone has the right and the choice to leave and play elsewhere, that will always be the case. The fact remains anyone who does leave will not be leaving to play at a better games site, so if the BKR correction is the reason why you would choose to leave this site, then there's only you that loses out.

M4tt:
I am glad every effort is made to keep BKR correct. Having a rating system is pointless if is not correct. If I am seeking to play someone in my ratings range, I need them to be correct to insure conistency with my opponents ability.

I have heard that the ratings have been 'modified' because of calcultion error? is this correct? If so, then how can me losing over 400 points be a miscalculation when I earnt every single point by winning some extremely tough games over the past 2 - 3 years. All that effort which was not always enjoyable!! Had a sore brain at times! lol!

Anyway, I never complain or slag anything off but I feel that this site (at times) is a complete waste of time....there just does not seem to be any consistency or continuity whatsoever. And people wonder why members do not rejoin then gradually leave. Im afraid I may now become one of them. I just cant be bothered with way it is run.

furbster: oh. interesting. i don't think i've ever used the notepad. that may be a good temporary workaround. thank you. :)

plaintiger: That is strange. The feature of adding notes to your friends list is there, but not on the blocked users list.

I never use the blocked users list, but think a notes for those users would be a good addition also.

While this feature isn't here, why not add them to the notepad with the reasons?

i still think (and will never stop thinking) we need to be able to add notes to our blocked users list so we remember why we've blocked the people we've blocked. after a certain amount of time elapses, most of those names become meaningless strings of characters. i look at my blocked users list now and most of the names on there i read and think, "huh...okay. i must have had a reason..."

Angee:

Andre Faria: hehe pretended lol

harley: Ups, sorry Harley. I pretended to post in the portuguese board... :)

BIG BAD WOLF:

Lets take this conversation to either Computers or General Chat please.

harley's 1st computer:
here

ok ok just kidding

rod03801: apple/atari/ oh yeah, I remember the days. Pong was a fast paced game back then. ;)

lol...cool I had an amiga 2000

I remember Commodore 64 when I was real little!

chattytea: anyone remember the ARPANET,amiga-dos,telnet,the Mark-8,the TRS-80?

DanDanDan: hey dan,does that imply we have to slow down so the americans can keep up?
are we pitching to fast for them?[wink wink] {{ just kidding }}

tonyh: lol your just paranoid...besides,some things are better slow

If you hover your mouse over the picture of the pawn, knight or rook next to a persons name then you'll see what country they're from and some other info.

wellywales: lol welly :)))))))))

chattytea: Yes sorry I saw that later, FENCER WE NEED FLAGS HERE

chattytea: oh yeah...and then some :)

DanDanDan: I am sure you dont need it to slow down .... you are an expert now :) lmao!!!

wellywales: I am in the UK


princess alison: I didnt think you were complaining :) i was not having a dig honest :)

chattytea: Only joking, British sense of humour, we love you to

chattytea: does it slow down cuz we're on or does it slow down so us Yanks can catch up? ;)

chattytea: Who said anything about us complaining about the US, we were joking DOH!!

DanDanDan: Yes I remmeber those days well.... so I really cant say anything now... its great ..

and yes wellywales, when the US wakes up.. it does slow down.. always has! but i love my US friends , so don't complain

wellywales:

Princess Alison:

Rose: remember the days when we had access problems all the time! ;) BK has come a long way! :)

My mother used to tell me I was slower than molasses in January. I didn't even know what molasses was until I saw my dad put the black stuff on bread and gobble it down. yuck

DanDanDan: Can't sleep at night let alone the day

DanDanDan: