Indeed. My last experience with taking over a CD has put me off for life. I can't see me doing it again without a dedicated CD account or something along those lines.

I've done it for the first time a few weeks ago and it seems to be going well. What happens that makes it a negative?

How do people care about ratings? Doesn't anybody play for fun?

@ Putin

Always. The trouble is that the game I joined to take over a CD then had three others go instantly AWOL and one of the remaining muted me. In that situation there was no fun to be had, and I could not get a vote for a cancel either. Frankly it was an ideal time to resign (what's the point of taking over a CD to make the game better for the others if the others don't want to play?) but you can't do that with your own account without going through the tedious business of explaining it whenever you try and get into a decent game later on.

Hey YJ, how about you stop whining about games we know you aren't going to play anyway and sign up for mafia?

I would certainly be willing to create a second profile just for that purpose. It would have to be mod-approved, though.

I asked if the mods would consider this last year. They deliberated over it for a while and eventually said no. Unless the rest of the team has changed their mind I don't see it happening.

The views of the Mods can change a lot in a year...

I suggested this 2 years ago, and the other mods, including abge, shot me down. It is something I'm willing to consider more.

I suggested this in 1959, and the other mods, including Calhamer, shot me down. It is something I am willing to consider more.

Agreed, YJ

@Putin, because sometimes having points and goals is fun.

Well, apparently I've been the one who's been holding this up all these years. You have my blessing to make accounts to take over CD positions.

I'd be okay with it. Seems like a decent dummy account project.

Please note we're not giving permission, we're saying we'll internally discuss the best way to go about this.

I can see why there'd be issues with it, but I know of other sites that have systems for things like this. I have no idea how easy/hard they would be to make, though.

Seems like the better way to go would be to suppress the score for someone who takes over a position and gets eliminated. No idea what kind of coding that would entail, but it would be a cleaner solution.

But here's another idea for your consideration. Scoring systems in the Diplomacy hobby at large fall into three categories: draw-based, center-based and rank-based. Our site only offers draw-based scoring. How about giving us the option to create games that would use center-based of rank-based scoring?

Center-based? Isn't that what PPSC is?

No. PPSC is draw-based unless someone solos. Only scoring system I've ever seen that changes when someone wins.

Oh, so you want it to be scored on SC's even when there's a draw? I could live with that.

Yes. You (the leadership team) could choose one of several existing center-based systems to use (C-Diplo is popular in Europe, ManorCon in the UK, I'm partial to Sum of Squares), or just go by center count. Then you'd normalize the scores to a value equal to the ante for the game.

Rank-based scoring is similar to center-based in that center counts dictate the scoring, but instead of scoring per center, you score based on your rank. For example, in the Carnage system, first place is worth 7,000 ; second, 6,000; third, 5,000; etc. Each player also gets one point per center, essentially for tie-breaking purposes.

Anyway, the three broad categories of scoring encourage different styles of play and that offers variety.

>>Then you'd normalize the scores to a value equal to the ante for the game.<<

Pot, not ante.

When I first learned to play, my FTF games were scored on a center-based system. I think both systems (that and ours) have merits, but I'm open to other options. At the very least, maybe making it a game creation option would be worth consideration.

I think points ruins the game. People would not prolong dead games if not for points.

I do like the points system. It allows those creating games to filter it according to need. I certainly don't use it as a basis for player talent, but it's a good system to have along with GR.

it gives a limit on the number of games which can be made-avoids spamming
it gives a limit on the number of games which can be played-avoids CD overload
Finally it gives someone a certain prestige that they can be proud of However, if you use that to play yourself off as a god in the forum screw you

What about developing the idea Maniac suggested some weeks ago and use the reliability rating to allow people to play with people who don't quit at the drop of a hat or give up when losing.
I am far from being a good player based on ratings but I have never abandoned a game messing it up for others.

I like the idea. I feel an urge to do my public duty to take over CDs (subject to the caveat that there is an argument that people shouldn't since existing players haven't asked for it) but these are often pretty unpleasant experiences. I would be up for a cd only account