Yeah, i think that would make sense. Or maybe that should be relative to the amount games one has on their history. Like, include the question mark from the start until user has played 10-15 ranked games, for players who have <100 ranked add the question mark 6 months after their last ranked game, and with >100 ranked games it could apprear after 12 months.
EGF does something similar with their “EGF Rated” thing, but their times are relative to the players ranks ( 6 months for ddk’s, 12 months for sdk’s, 2 years for dans or pros)
The question mark wouldnt even need to have any effect on anything, it could just be a visual indicator for other users that someones rank may be out-of-date and potentially incorrect.
It’d be worse if this were happening in ranked games. When I first started Go, my rank preoccupied me a lot and I was stressed / put in a bad mood when I ended playing ranked games with someone I later realized was a sandbagger (there were quite a few on KGS where I played at the time).
Now, not so much. If someone is much stronger, I consider it a teaching game, and review it to try to understand what went wrong.
I agree, a feature to flag these folks would be nice (even something as simple like the “komi change warning” I’ve seen).
However, in the meantime, considering this does bother you, I hope you take the time to look at past game records before playing someone.
How hard is it to understand that if you are playing unranked games, then you are choosing to play opponents who play unranked games, so their rank may not be current?
It seems obvious
If you want a well-matched game this is exactly what “ranked” is for. It’s the whole purpose of it.
“I want to play without being ranked but I insist that my opponent is correctly ranked” makes no sense…
Please don’t name and shame players by linking to their profile on a public forum. I’ve removed your link.
For the rest, my stance is what @GreenAsJade says above. If you want opponents whose rank reflects accurately the games they play, then play against opponents whose games affect their rank, instead of those whose games affect nothing.
Well, the point is than people are purposely exploiting unranked to bully weaker player / get easy win. As there is no enforcement taken whatsoever again them.
Seriously, someone who get over 100 game win streak in unranked is not doing that for “teaching game” or because he is “anxious to play ranked”, they are doing it becasue it’s like stealing lunch money from a kid. Most likely cheating with AI as well. And they get freepass from doing so.
And not everyone notice this is a unranked game to begin with the way the interface is done, neither as not everyone take the time to go trough the history of every single opposant before accepting a challenge.
those are different goals:
-playing ranked vs same power opponent
-playing unranked vs same power opponent
-playing unranked vs random power opponent
when you play ranked its like playing with money: you lose something valuable if lose, you feel the stress
when you play unranked vs high dan its stressful too
some kyu people wish to play fully relaxed
that’s why “hide ranks” feature in settings exist, but if its Ke Jie level against you, you will understand anyway even with hidden rank
so some people wish ability to limit max level of opponent even if its unranked game
it makes sense, such ability just not implemented.
currently unranked games on OGS is just chaos
possible solutions:
a) do not allow to play unranked if your rank is not accurate or outdated
b) hide ranks of EVERYONE in unranked, make it really rank free zone on purpose
c) ???
If folks play an unranked game against someone that’s much stronger, when they realize they will lose why don’t they just give up? No need to prolong it.
This sounds like the common situation on servers like Tygem and Fox where you’re clearly winning the game (for example you captured a large group maintaining external influence in sente), but the opponent refuses to give up until the very end.
If you estimate territory and think it’s close, then it’s probably not a sandbagger.
If you clearly know you’re going to lose, there’s no shame in resigning. It’s much more honorable then hoping for the opponent to blunder.
You don’t lose anything for losing. You gain something. Learning one thing from each game is enough to slowly get better.
Why try to make this about mentality? Playing someone much stronger than you thought isn’t usually a fun experience. This is why sandbagging is generally disallowed.
Sure, you can call it a “lesson” with a positive mindset, but I think it’s disingenuous to say that someone have a mentality issue if it bothers them.
But you guys ignored that people have feelings. When I clicked on someone 8k’s game, I didn’t expect a humiliation, a teasing, a tiger playing with mouse and I AM THE MOUSE. How do you feel? How does that feel!?
Yes, eventually I realize the game is unranked but I entered the game by looking at the rank first. And who wants to come here to get played, and humiliated.
Mods said you ask we deliver. But there is nothing they can do about this situation. I saw some early suggestions like putting a question mark next to 8k. That’s sensible. Or if a player does not play ranked for maybe a month, show that question mark.
