I'd be butthurt too, SD hasn't even been here a year.

Hey, it did take over four times as many games, right? Maybe there should be some sort of limit to number of games played per year or some sort of points per game played standings, this all just doesn't feel right...

Nice topic MM, and for Split, congrats too, this will mark the end of a very long period I guess.

I remember it took me just under one year, and within a day or two of a full year, to first gain the points lead, so I've had it for over three years... Yeah, life won't make sense when I lose it, for any of us I assume... Makes a guy wonder how it all could have gone so wrong...

This is why I prefer Ghostrating and win percentages to evaluate players. Additionally, 11 resigns is not conducive to a top player on the site. Nor is getting docked points by the moderators for ignoring site rules.

I think he is a very good gunboat player, but there is a bit of a communication breakdown. I think part of that is a language issue and part of it is his personality or approach to the game. He has the proclivity to find aggression or criticism from others, even when it comes to factual information.
I was explaining the difference between banning a player for cheating and punitive measures for following rules and he thought I was being mean to him specifically and that we allow cheaters to go about as they please.

On a related note, I find it amusing that many people want quick and decisive actions when they THINK there is something fishy going on, but they themselves want decisions to be made carefully and appropriately when it comes to them. These folks also tend to be outspoken and act as if they speak for the whole community. Our mod policy on this is fairly straightforward: we have tools to determine how likely it is that people are cheating and we also analyze moves within games to determine likelihood of meta/multigaming. We don't move quickly to ban people or to cancel games unless we think it is beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is cheating going on. We rather have a few more offenders about than to persecute innocents. We will probably catch them sooner or later. We also want you to email us so that we have a record of you think happened and multiple mods can look into a case if it is ambiguous.

Splitdiplomat is a giant tool. End of story.

Can't argue with his GB skills though.

Hell, if I had that much time for live games I am sure I'd be up there too. The simple fact of the matter is I just love to play the game. People who play more games raise faster in GR if they win...

SplitDiplomat was a huge asshole to me after a recent game, cursing me out repeatedly in private messages because I had the gall to test out breaking a stalemate line when I was at 17 SCs. I don't buy that it's just the language barrier... he's just a jerk for no reason.

When forum actions can result in docked points by mods, then points have no real meaning, if they ever did in the past.

Sandgoose while your argument is true at face value, I think it's basically meaningless.

With 48 games under your belt you can't make a "low sample size" argument for why he's up on you. You've had enough wins and losses to establish your position on the ladder

GR is very good at yielding an accurate rating regardless of how many games you play once you've reached that "natural rating" where you really belong (which only god knows). After that point, it doesn't matter how many games you play, since your new rating is based on most recent result and old rating only.

In fact, if I remember the math right, SD has a steeper slope than you do, because he's more heavily penalized for a loss. If he wins 51/100 and you win 5/10 (all else being equal) then you'll actually gain on him in GR, despite his "superior play."

Basically, instead of "People who play more games raise faster in GR if they win," you could have said, "people who win a higher percentage of games raise faster in GR," The two statements would be equal in meaning, but the former implies that games player per unit time is a factor, when it isn't.

SplitDiplomat is leader in points in playdiplomacy for some time now. Maybe he is going for double crown :)

A hollow title. Nobody respects gunboat except those who play it.

Gunboat is to Diplomacy as Spades is to Bridge.

Hey, don't disrespect Spades like that!!

"Nobody respects gunboat except those who play it."

This is a huge boost, grow up.

I just looked through Yellowjacket's profile to find some good material to slander him with. However, I found nsome much more interesting stuff.

This is fun.

Not another one of these gunboat vs full press bullshit. Here is my response with update:

Hi, my name is FullPress>>>Gunboat. I am currently writing a symphony about the Congo, but my true hobby is to post threads that are self-referencing and for live games, go live live games go. My parents, Mujus and the Holy Spirit of Daily Drivel, do not approve of who I am because I try to change the world for the better and because I am liberal and educated (hence my 4.5 GPA and my symphony), but they love it when I drink unpretentious wine especially after I DDoS a new player on the site, who's bullshoi is he new. My friends and I like to get together on Fridays and have an org... organizational meet to play pacifist gunboat and to discuss the new pictures that PE has posted of us (OMG is that metagaming???) taking shots while making threads about other threads including this one. Inevitably, one of us always gets so drunk that he would NMR or CD and post a cheating accusation about how gunboat is not real diplomacy.
If you have not realized it yet, I have been taking shots continuously due to my peak ghost-rating, and so if this does not make sense, feel free to create a google circle and throw epithets around.

Split plays a ton of live gunboats.. these are notoriously riddled with NMR's, CD's, and corruption. I almost wish the points went somewhere else, because it isn't earned the same way a longer, full-pressed game works. That will stir up a bunch of people, but, hey, it is how I feel.

I, too, will go on the 'TGR shows a better view of ranking' wagon.

Ghost rating > points. No doubt.

Sorry, Lando, others - maybe "respect" wasn't the right word, and I shouldn't have tried speaking for everybody, just myself. I respect gunboat players the way I respect Curling and Women's Basketball: sure I'm glad you're good at it, and I don't doubt it's challenging, just don't expect me to give a rat's ass - or appreciate any comparison between the quality of GB players and press players. It's a very different game, and I'm happy to see that GR is now beginning to reflect this.

Glad you liked what you've found in my previous posts, Lando. I do so try to entertain :P

SD wins alot of games, I would hardly call him a master at this game. he's not the Karpov of webdip, regardless of what the points say. I would say he's about as good as michiganman maybe as far as actual skill, he does play a shitload though.

LOL, that won't work either as SD is currently ranked 10 on the active list and 19 on the peak rating list. What you want is to only look at wta full-press non-live games because he is not even listed on the latest active list and 1000ish on the all-time list. Fact of the matter is that he devotes a significant amount of time to the game and he is damn good at gunboat games. Just don't talk to him. :)

If you don't want to look at point, don't look at points. If you don't think overall GR is meaningful, we now have distinct categories and you can look at those. I am also asking Alderian to add PPSC to the categories as that was one of the most wanted.

At the end of the day, I think we just need to ignore all the trappings that come with GRs and points and just play.

Zultar, your suck a dick, Man...

It's amusing how so many people on this site can't stop trying to dominate each other when the game is over.
"I'm better than you according to this semi-arbitrary metric!"
"I'm better than you according to this OTHER semi-arbitrary metric!"
"The type of game I play is more indicative of greatness than the type of game that YOU play, loser!"

Too many people with something to prove. Give it a break, we're ALL losers.

Sure, its a very different game. Gunboat happens to be exceptionally harder since people can't give their intentions away through tells nor can they prove their good itnentions through promises. Tactics is at the heart of both games and in gunboat it just happens to be far harder to effectively communciate and predict moves.

Have you ever played curling? If not, then again, don't comment. I played rugby for my University and captained my High School's hockey team but Curling is most definitely a harder sport to be good at. Again, you show some pretty ignorant traits.

I was nto commenting about your posts in the forum. They are not interesting or funny and msotly just rude, abrasive and childish. I was commenting on your games and how you've played them, what variants they were and who you played them with.

I am sure playing PPSC 12-16 hour phase games with the same players each time is hugely rewarding. I am sure it also rightly gives you a position of power over all players who have even considered playing gunboat games.

Awkward is spot-on. Added to his comments, we should consider that a significant number of players enjoy working to a draw with a good ally, and don't always go for a win when they could get one. So their GR and point totals aren't nearly as high as they could be. Does that mean they are poor players? I think not.

If people want to go for high GR, great. Or if they want to get lots of points, fine. Or if they don't give a rat's ass about either, then more power to them. Play the game to have fun, however you define fun, and let others do the same. Folks should stop putting other people down just because they don't have the same personal goals or styles of play. It's just childish.

Haha Zultar, to be honest I just really like the way GR is calculated - I don't see any real flaw in the system, especially when taken to its extreme (on-the-fly GR with any number of filters)

Wow. SplitDiplomat is an asshole as a person, but you guys who are trying to belittle him as a player... you are the scum of the earth. You're super-uber-mega losers.

Yes, I mean you, jmo1121109, Yellowjacket, fortknox and brainbomb.

but in non-Gunboats, how you are as a person directly effects how well you do.

I believe all they are saying is that SplitDiplomat really only does Gunboats, which he is VERY good at, and this is influencing his ranking (please note I might not believe this, just trying to interept what they are saying)