I wanted to get everyone's opinions on pro's or virt players playing low rankings (let's say below 720 to clarify except any fake newbies of course) in any format of the game. We all know there are some very good 600-700 players who choose to keep their rank low! Please this is not a witch hunt - I just want to see what people think:
In killer you generally don't choose your opponents but in any other format you can click yes or no at game commencement. If a low ranking chooses to play a high ranked pro or virt player is the pro or virt player wrong to accept the challenge. Your thoughts.....
Al

No, as the lower rank you player the more points you risk if you lose, has always been this way, say you are 900 play another 900 in 9 ball for example you would lose about 3.5 should you lose. If you play a 640 and lose you would lose about 7.5 points, so the lower you play the more risky you are being. If you win against a player of the same rank you would get about 0.8 so would need a few games to win any serious rank.

I however set up a 90 second game (as I am usually doing other things while on here) and I will play anyone who enters the room be it a fake noob a 580 rank or a 930 rank, I believe playing anyone and everyone is the only way of people accusing you of playing the lowest ranks in order to gain rank easily and stay at the top.

Interesting - al has been very careful with who he plays in the past - I could only play him in a friendly for instance - odd indeed.

I subscribe to playing allcomers ( except some like al who usually doesn't).

Edited at 14:20 Thu 02/09/10 (BST)

Edited at 14:24 Thu 02/09/10 (BST)

I personally try to find higher ranking opponents to play but that is because my rank is so low from resetting every other day, however i would play lower ranks however i never ever play newbies unless its in a tourny.

I dont think it's right to always play lower ranks but it's not against the rules so play who you want to play and if people moan let them, there are always going to be critics, just ignore them.

I mean look at onua he has got his rank from doing it, he can beat the best on here but he is usually 90% certain to beat a lower rank so he does that, i dont think his rank would be as high however if he played the top players but thats just not always possible to do.

Why reset everyday?

n/a

Edited at 14:59 Thu 02/09/10 (BST)

Any player should feel free to play anyone they darn well please, regardless of rank. And this has been confirmed from Dave and Nick many, many times.

There is a technical problem here tho, and which you apparently experienced first hand not long ago:

The way "rank farming" is determined.

Not allowed to go into detail or specific numbers here, but as anyone can easily deduct from simple, common sense, the way rank farming is basically detected is from people playing a certain opponent a LOT, and winning a LOT of the time. That combo = rank farming = reset.

Now, if you play a single, or a few, very low rank players a lot (which you are of course very welcome to), you can quite easily look very much like a rank farmer without this ever actually being the case.

It is perfectly possible for a top rate player like yourself to beat a 600-ranked player 100 of 100 times. But if you do, there is no change in hell you will not be reset for it - correctly or not - and I'm sure no one, even Dave, will try to dispute that fact.

So in the end of the day, playing who you want isn't unconditionally a good idea.

I believe this is the main problem, It is not that some players play newbies or lesser opponents all the time and win it is that they play the same opponent over and over and win 99.9% of the time and in that regard they should be disciplined.

And they are. Problem is that someone playing a given opponent 100 times and winning 99 of them isn't necessarily cheating.

Second problem is that there is no way for staff or anyone else to reliably tell the difference between one category from the other.

Interesting comments so far - not so long ago I lost a str8 game to a 650 player - I lost 10 pts and got loads of grief (albeit in a fun sense) - when I beat the same player I won 0.3 pts.

I would therefore have to beat same player 30 times to recoup points lost. Would this be 'rank farming' as earlier described if I then played 30 games against this player......?

Al

well you cant do it in one session because they class it as cheating if you go over the 16-0 limit, if your opponent has won at least one then i think that goes out of window but not 100% sure.

Well, therein lies the problem. You would need to win against that player at a rate of 30:1, and regardless of rank that ratio vs. any opponent will definitely raise some eyebrows.

In all fairness, staff is very much aware of the fact that a top player vs. a terrible one is perfectly able to produce extreme win ratios without necessarily being wrong - but in the end of the day, when an extremely good rate turns into an offense is all down to gut feeling and little else.

In the end of the day tho, if you are fond of keeping your rank, a good advise would be to make sure not to play any given low ranked opponent too much. At least not if you are winning

Just to clarify I was not reset for 'rank farming' but for playing vastly inferior opponents often. I didnt want to mention this here but it seems that a certain 'label' has been identified above. Anyway am enjoying the challenge of being a n00b again now, although sad that I lost my tourny results.

Al

My best guess is they somehow translated your actions into rank farming - despite the message definitely suggesting something else entirely.

My grudge with incorrect resets is that it hurts everyone else who wants to play you..... while you had your correct rank I could break even - now it only hurts lol

Odd, I've never heard of this before. Can't see any evidence of it now either.

To clarify - the rules are very clear, as they have been for many years, there have been no new reasons invented recently that can lead to people having their rank reset, despite the fantasies some seem desperate to portray as truth.

I don't want to have to cap this thread or remove it, but if people can't discuss the topic sensibly we willl have no choice.

Personally, I have always been against being able to choose rank in any way, and would much prefer if rank weren't displayed until both players had commited to a game.

However, over the years, that has been proved to be a minority view at best

However, whether by choice or not, everyone should play everyone, the system is designed that way, and for very good reason.

Edited at 09:22 Fri 03/09/10 (BST)

Ah Spinner,

The joy of freedom of speech - nothing controversial or offensive in this thread. But you may cap it?

Oh dear.

It would only be capped if we went off-topic and started talking about individual players or circumstances.

Spinner was just reminding us to stay on topic or it may be capped

I personally think that a top ranked player is not a great player until they can beat the best quite well. And top ranked players who don't do this ain't great in my eyes. But that's a debate for another day.

All you need to think when beating someone like 20 games in a row is that what you would think the results would look like from an outsiders view? If you saw someones results showing that would you think they are cheating? If the answer is yes then stop. More times than not it won't be cheating but it's best to be careful so nothing can arise from the situation. It's not ideal at all but the best you can do.

Exactly, at the end of the day, like almost everything, its just a simple case of common sense.



No freedom of speech here, just terms of service

It is interesting that this thread has gone slightly off track from the initial Q however it should be noted that I regularly played very high ranked players particularly in 9b, UK, 8 US, and str8 and it has to be said I fared pretty well (modesty never a strong suit). I have never said I am best player on here (destiny, eemad, onua, dublindude are pretty good!) but I am consistent unless in bad mood as last night!!! It is the consistency across all formats of the game that gave me a 900plus overall ranking.

I also fully accept I play low ranks alot - they are much more friendly, I like the chat and banter, and they don't storm off in a strop if they lose! I tend to regard killer as play anyone who joins table (unless they have been abusive to me in the past - there are a few on here!).

Something that has been overlooked is that in str8 if you miss a shot you are always likely to get another chance whereas it is often costly in other formats. Hence getting and maintaining a rank above 900 is somewhat easier in str8. I was trying to get to 1000 in str8 but eventually lost a game after 3 months unbeaten (feb - may) - against any ranks this was not luck. I also won 13 out of 20 str8 tournies that I entered during this period and was either losing finalist or out in semi with only 1 or 2 earlier knockouts - again this was not a fluke and rather bizarrely most finals were against high ranked pros.

And any low ranked player who doesn't want a game please just select NO
Al