why not play the game on olidip?

Just don't worry about GR, and play as if it didn't exist =)

I promise to try and kill you without caring about GR :)

olidip is a good shout.

You'd have to be Ghana to do that Ivo...

Noirin: the whole point of my request is that whilst I have no interest in GRs, it is hard to get games going where the other six players are like minded. The level of interest in GRs has grown and is now influencing the way some people play. That is my experience and I am not much pleased about it. It is not under my control, I cannot ignore it for them.

TGM: Olidip is somewhat light on members and I have a lot of respect for people in here. I actually want to play in here: I want to play good games that match as nearly as possible the spirit of Diplomacy.

Well, you could organise the game on here but play it there.

A no GR option in the site's code wouldn't really make sense, I don't think.

But you could simply not count it in your calculations...

I know from playing pool on yahoo a while back that they have different "rooms" or levels. There is the social level in which games aren't rated and then beginner, advanced, and so on. I've suggested before that we have something similar here. A new player could only play in the social and beginner games. Some amount of playing would eventually open up higher levels. (And CDs would subtract from your level.) But you could always play in a lower level or an unrated social game, just gotta arrange it.

Right now I get round this problem with f-2-f games, obviously, but that restricts me to time and place. The really great thing about a truly active site like this one is the traffic.

I must add that I am not trying to get at you here, I really do dislike some of the fuss and attention that is now paid to what was originally (I believe) an essay in statistics. I have been in games where the effect on GRs has been openly discussed and quoted as the reason for certain decisions and strategy.

A rather extreme case of metagaming even...

If I had to pick up one specific aspect of a change in play that I believe comes with an all-inclusive rating system, it would be the tendency towards conservatism: some players tend towards less risk as they start to worry about the impact of a top game on their rating. This is why I would like to have independent games with experienced players not being rated. Not everyone is like minded with me and, under the current system, there is likely to be one or more in a game that will keep an eye on their rating and hence, perhaps, decline an option that they would play if no lasting effect would accrue from failure.

A very simple way to implement this would be to allow 0 point "social" games. This would make sense within the framework of webdiplomacy and wouldn't be specifically for Ghost Ratings. But Ghost Ratings could filter those out, and should.

Yes Alderian, thanks. That works. I would be happier if only certain games were counted in a rating system. That is how Chess goes too. The problem as I see it here is that every game you play, be it a 5-minute anon gunboat or a Classic WTA against six of Smart Jason's accounts, counts.

"A very simple way to implement this would be to allow 0 point "social" games. This would make sense within the framework of webdiplomacy and wouldn't be specifically for Ghost Ratings. But Ghost Ratings could filter those out, and should."

Indeed, I've often suggested that rather than varied pots, we go for just "rated/ unrated"

Does that mean you would support the idea of games being excluded from the GR system? If so, your support would be rather crucial wouldn't it.

I am soooo tempted to ask for this thread to go sticky.

I would follow the points system's lead if it had unrated games added, and I think it would be beneficial to allow unrated games to be played.

I think games not being ranked is a great idea to be honest- it might encourage more risks and a more fun game, closer to the sprit of the original

(added to a deposit it would work very well)

you could even say that stats, points and GR are all exempt.

Hmmm, very odd... Guess I see the point of people wanting to be freed up to play however they want, but why have statistics (like win, draw, survive, defeat) if people get to hand pick which games count, that is equally odd.

I would think the GR encourages people to play better. Why encourage players to make a crazy stab that has a 5% chance of long-term success in a non-rated game, that will only encourage poor play, won't it? This kind of reminds me of when I first joined the site and had some games with people that tried some silly stabs that ultimately resulted in me walking away with a pretty easy victory. Sure, an easy victory is fun and all, but a hard-fought draw can be much more rewarding.

Isn't PPSC a solid option for a more relaxed/fun game that encourages taking chances a bit more?

i agree with mm. i also dont understand where concern for their rating would cause them to not want to play in certain games. if you have a good gr then it would be beneficial to play against anyone. ive played games where the strength of your opponents factored heavily into your rating in which case its better to play against evenly matched players and not those below your skill level but as i understand it the gr system doesnt account for this.

Why are there two threads on the same topic :)

GR doesn't affect gameplay. It affects the games people join, but the way I understand it, you really can't make diplomacy based off of the GR because your GR isn't raised any based on who's defeated. It's only raised based on how good you do, not how bad your opponents do.

Then again, I could be wrong on that.. But this is my understanding of the way GR works.

The real complaint is that the scoring system affects gameplay, Amon.

I guess someone would have to explain to me how it would influence the way we execute in-game. I think the Ghost Rating system adequately shows us who we should be playing with, without affecting the way we would make decisions while playing with these players.

Completely ignorant question: Where might one acquire one's Ghost Rating?

http://tournaments.webdiplomacy.net

@Amon, the idea is that people will play for the draw more because of the rating system. flashman prefers a win is the target, everything else is a not-win style of play.

Thanks, Ghostmaker. 381st... eh.