Backgammon Online

24-Feb-2023
11:18 PST

Some thoughts from our simple minds ... we agree with lilwarrior that the fun of the current format is to be able to play against so many different people at the same time. And of course, the speed of play. However, we seem to get bogged down with slow play. Some unintentional, some not really understanding that this is a "fast" paced tournament.

We can all play the ZE tourneys that take months to finish and the variety of players is limited to small groups of 3 and 4 at a time.

If we continue with the current format, all players, especially new ones, need to understand the importance of playing their BBL games first and fast before the are accepted to enter. Or drop or don't start. Maybe it is up to the players who are familiar with this style to relay that fact each time they face a slower player.
And then there must be quick warnings and quick follow up penalties well before the tournament is more than half finished. (like in the first few days?)

If they are limited to only 25 games, they need to clear their current games before entering the BBL.

The proposal to break the play list into smaller groups can be attractive, but then we lose the opportunity to play that bigger variety of players. And will that guarantee faster play?
The idea of 2 and even 3 point "matches" is interesting and maybe even using the cube.
We would be happy to try any new or changed formats!

However, the current one seems to work smoothly and Leoton has put together a great addition to our play here on ZE. No need to make his work more difficult, maybe just some fine tuning.

24-Feb-2023
14:49 PST

I agree with lilwarrior & laurakim about liking the number & variety of players in the current format. This way I get a chance to play against opponents I would not otherwise meet on the ladders or be able to challenge - especially if I am in a rating slump.

I also think the scoring system is fine as it is, but I have not played enough (only 2 tournaments) to see how yellow & red flags are used to speed up slower players. Still, there needs to be a way to speed up the pace by penalizing the slowest players - yet, also determining which are willful or deserving of a penalty if a technical issue is not involved.

The problem with non-paying players being limited to 25 games, I'd say, is their own. If they cannot meet the basic criteria of a "Blitz" tournament, they shouldn't sign up for it. If they are willing to resign or close enough games to comply, then they are welcome, too.

I also like the idea of "penalizing" the last 2 or 4 players (they play in pairs) by excluding them from the next tournament. It should also be a good incentive to play & finish faster.

Question: If a 4-group format works better, would that mean more tournaments ending & starting sooner?

24-Feb-2023
15:02 PST

I still cannot comprehend why someone won't pay $20 USD per year. That's $1.67 per month.

42 cents a week? People, c'mon. Thus, the 25 game limit is gone.

24-Feb-2023
23:43 PST

This post was deleted by Esprit on 24-Feb-2023, 23:44 PST

24-Feb-2023
23:46 PST

"The rescue of the drowning is the work of the drowning themselves." O.B.
I'm a "limited" player.
And yes, that's my problem.
And yes, I'm worried about whether I'll be able to launch all the games in time.
And yes, I have found a way to deal with it.
And ... I don't feel "welcome" after the last comments.

25-Feb-2023
05:38 PST

I wanted to thank everyone who provided feedback!

A quick reminder first - some of the major founding principles of BBL are inclusiveness and friendly competition. There will never be any discrimination towards non-paying ZE members in our tournaments. There are various reasons why people cannot or do not want to pay the fees and I would like to respect them all. It is not justified to single them out as we often had delays in the tournaments caused by paying members for the reasons that had nothing to do with their paying status!

Several of our BBL veterans are non-paying members and they never caused any problems or delays. While they often struggle to free up the space before the deadline without having a full control of games automatically started from them by ZE (i.e. tournaments), they will always be welcomed in our tournaments.

Like Gem001 noted, the proposed approach will make it easier for them to start all required games in time. Another advantage is in case we get a slower player (regardless of their ZE paying status!), the wait for them to finish their game will be much shorter due to the lesser number of games in the group. We created this as a blitz league and would want to do everything to make the tournaments go fast!

I also wanted to acknowledge other proposed ideas and thank those who offered them. Let’s keep them coming! Since I saw majority of responders in favor or the original proposal, I’d like to go ahead and implement it starting our next tournament. It will be a very simple and incremental change (we are really just shortening the group stage, with everything else staying the same). Let’s try it for a few tournaments, see the results, and reassess. As Blokhin2 noted, we can always go back if it doesn’t work out!

I will update the website by the time of BBL-17 registration on March 12.

Thanks
Leoton

25-Feb-2023
11:03 PST

I am deeply sorry if my comments re: paying was offensive. I meant no harm, and after considering leoton's comments on it, I agree. Everyone has their reasons for making this choice. And I do not want any discrimination between paying and non-paying. I have formed many wonderful friendships over the years with so many players.

Please forgive me.
LW

25-Feb-2023
12:08 PST

Firstly, I'd like to say a thank you to leoton for all their hard work in coordinating this tournament and how much I'm looking forward to playing in this competition. There are so many familiar names from 10 years ago when I last played on a regular basis.

In this format slow play is discouraged but sometimes it can simply be related to everyone playing in different time zones. I'm in Australia these days and New Zealand when visiting home. Two people online at the same time can race through a match but if sleep, work or free times are totally out of sync this can rarely happen. It's also not always both players involved in a slow game at fault but when one player has six games still running when everyone else has only one game maybe there could be an issue.

This may have been discussed before but I found it odd that in the pool matches it is all BG but in the playoffs it's BG, NG and AD. I like both BG and NG but I find AD a much slower game given all checkers start off the board and rolling 1,2 can completely change the game and brings an even greater element of luck into the match than the other formats.

Whatever tweaks happen to the BBL it's an enhancement of what we already get on Zoo and we should all be happy with that.

Cheers Everyone

KK

25-Feb-2023
19:41 PST

After reading about Esprit "not feeling welcome anymore" I began to rethink what I said/suggested previously and felt ashamed of my insensitivity. The comments that followed, by loeton, lilwarrior & KumaraKid, educated me further on other complicating factors for slower & non-membership players.

I realized from personal experience that US $20 in other countries can be comparatively quite expensive. In Mexico, that amount can be 2 days or more at the official minimum wage. Often & in some parts of the country, the minimum "take-home" is even less. Then, of course, time zones & available technology can be other factors.

I agree with the idea of being as all-inclusive as possible in the Blitz tournaments. Because of that concept on ZE in general I've met & formed many fine friendships - Esprit being one of the first. I sincerely apologize for any offense caused by my ideas, and have changed my opinion. Please forgive me, too.

I really hope the changes will speed things along and be even more fun for everyone!

25-Feb-2023
21:02 PST

It's ok. As i told LW - forget
Let's stop commenting this anymore pls... so we don't fall in an even more embarrassing situation.