Short answer: Because it gets abused the fuck out of it

Long answer:...I didn't play back when we did WFO on all tournament games and they stopped doing that by the time I joined because, well, see Short answer.

Well I presume it has something to do with the fact that the games take longer. Plus just because there is a swap out doesn't mean the strategic balance is not upset. The new player likely does not have the same objectives as the old player. At least if it is a league game or tournament with scoring occurring over multiple rounds.

I agree with Valis2501's short answer.

Well 2 out of 3 of my league games have been directly affected - and this last one is just fucking ridiculous.

Also abuse can be dealt with via policy adjustments e.g. automatic removal if required by same user 3 times or something in one match - better than a complete collapse as in my current league game.

The simple answer is about what Valis gave. WFO used to be an option and it was abused so badly that we had to remove it. We have tried it in multiple tournaments and it has been abused in every single one. There is no record once the turn ends of the game being abused in the database, so proving abuse is almost impossible.

The solution we are pursuing instead is Reliability Ratings, and eventually, a set of game options to go with them which will punish people who NMR constantly. This will also allow you to set up games that keep out the players who cannot be bothered to play the game properly.

I do apologize for your negative experience. Can you shoot an email to [email protected] briefly highlighting the games impacted?

Thanks,
WebDip Admin

The only question is whether or not tournaments should be decided by skill or by who could be bothered to place their orders. Too hard basket relegation is somewhat surprising.

Can't you just to WFO's and apply penalties for abuse? Tournament point deduction, removal, whatever. Seems marginally more appealing then NMR's, i know i'd be annoying if my competition got an unfair advantage in a game due to something as silly as an nmr.

Village - it would be abused by people literally taking days for each turn to go through. And sometimes rndlu people will be going AWOL for weeks at a time. The depth of our tournament pool has not yet recovered to a point where we can kick out everyone who abuses WFO.

If only we had a large pool of good tournament players.
IF ONLY
A POOL OF PLAYERS WHO DON'T DROP OUT OF TOURNAMENTS
GOD WHAT A DREAM.
that would just be the best.

I'm still lobbying for a WFO option (available in all games) that CD's the player and pauses the game a set time after the deadline. Between the deadline and then, orders for other players would be locked, and press would be limited to global. When a new player joins, the game unpauses itself and adjusts the deadline. If you pair it with a rating system that doesn't penalize players for taking over bad positions and then advertise open positions (the way we're advertising live games now), it should go a long way towards solving our NMR/CD problem site-wide.

(This is not the official position of the moderators -- yet. I'm working on that part, but at the moment, it is merely my position).

limiting ability to send press during WFO activation is already in the pipeline, can't speak for the other stuff.

WFO, with the exception of hunting for a replacement in 01, is an abomination; Pause is there to cope with absences. WFO can lead to many more dropouts than it will stop. Otherwise, Ender's Game (cf peterwiggin above) is probably the best compromise, especially the non-penalisations of stand-in players

Nmrs and cds ruin games under the current system. Bounced does essentially the system I describe, albeit not automated, and as a result games never have nmrs, and they never stay paused waiting for a replacement for very long. Once in a while you get a game where all but one or two of the original players get replaced, possibly multiple times, but that's still better than nmrs.

I get that the abusing of WFO needs to get looked at, but allowing tournament games to get soured isn't the solution. Many of these tournaments take many games and many many months to finish, so its insufferable to think a match was lost (especially later in the stages) due to something as silly as an NMR seems irrational. I hate these games getting dragged on longer then they need to as much as anybody but not nearly as much as the outcome being determined by something besides playing the best game.

PW's suggestion sounds like a step in a good direction. It's not perfect since playing with players who have nothing really at stake tends to introduce some pretty eccentric play, but it's something.

but NMRs and CDs are in the rulebook, and thus part of the game /s

http://webdiplomacy.net/board.php?gameID=158186

This is the game in question.

I PMd one mod who said ask someone else it email the mod address; so I PMd another mod and emailed the mods- and of course nothing happened. No pause - game wrecked.

Thanks guys. I'm done with that game - do what you will.

I think PWs suggestion is awesome.

I think Wusti refusing to enter orders in protest is ridiculous.

I think Valis saying NMRs are in the rulebook is idiodic. Just because something was written in the rulebook in he past doesnt mean one shouldnt seek a solution to the problem...especially since we are now in the 21st century.

(Pssst, dyager, "/s" is short for "/sarcasm")

Ah! Never seen that before.
I thought that was an odd thing for someone of your caliber to say.

As I said in game, I started playing tournaments to see if I could get some higher quality matches, and each tournament has had NMRs changing the state of the game (except oddly the current 10 man tournament play which has been remarkably NMR free which you would expect the highest NMR rate in given the higher player numbers).

The latest was simply the straw that broke the camels back, and given that I saw the match (given its non-anon League) as already effectively over, but wouldve played on had a replacement been found following my Mod PMs and Mod mail, but nothing worked to get action and have it paused.

As the only real protest I can make - I made it. Grandstanding and high-horsing from you Dyager when you have been the beneficiary smacks of pure opportunism.

I'd be happy as a pig in shit with PW's solution.

I am Russia...you are England and the CD was France.
You could have and should have been the beneficiary.

I will admit that I am the beneficiary of you and Krellin going on strike and refusing to enter orders too. But if you expect me to cancel the game cuz your throwi g a fit...then you are mistaken.

My short answer to this is that I have played enough games with NMR that I expect them to happen and plan accordingly...

I get online close to the deadline and change my moves if needed. Sometimes the NMR help others and sometimes they help me in the end it likely evens out. I see it as part of the game. My issue with them in tournaments is that the mods/organizers seem to want both higher quality games and to have the tournaments end on time. I see this as mutually exclusive especially with the use of WFO and the manipulation that occurs. I think the current 2 NMRs and you are out (for the leagues) is a good stance to take but I personally don't see the need for WFO with the exception of Spring 1901 moves. Just my opinion stepping down from my soap box now.