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SO FRUSTRATED With Chef Duel Scoring!
dcesq06
Registered Users 29 Posts
Yes, this is another chef duel complaint thread!
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE rework the duel scoring system! I am so tired of losing 20 or more points to a player who is ranked 1 level lower than me, but only getting 4 or 5 points for beating someone who is ranked 1 level higher than I am. It makes absolutely no sense - especially considering, as has been discussed here, most of the contests are forfeits (which means that I have to accumulate 6 or 7 victories by forfeit to make up for losing to someone who is basically the same level as me). There is absolutely no incentive for dueling against someone who is either ranked at or below my level. I'm better off only dueling against people who I KNOW I can beat and then forfeiting those duels against players who I may not beat.
And, while I'm ranting on duels, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE reimburse us for boosts that go to waste when an opponent forfeits a match. It's absolutely not fair that I get essentially punished for using boosts, when my opponent opts to give up by forfeiting. The end result is that I get +3 points in exchange for using 1, 2 or 3 boosts.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE rework the duel scoring system! I am so tired of losing 20 or more points to a player who is ranked 1 level lower than me, but only getting 4 or 5 points for beating someone who is ranked 1 level higher than I am. It makes absolutely no sense - especially considering, as has been discussed here, most of the contests are forfeits (which means that I have to accumulate 6 or 7 victories by forfeit to make up for losing to someone who is basically the same level as me). There is absolutely no incentive for dueling against someone who is either ranked at or below my level. I'm better off only dueling against people who I KNOW I can beat and then forfeiting those duels against players who I may not beat.
And, while I'm ranting on duels, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE reimburse us for boosts that go to waste when an opponent forfeits a match. It's absolutely not fair that I get essentially punished for using boosts, when my opponent opts to give up by forfeiting. The end result is that I get +3 points in exchange for using 1, 2 or 3 boosts.
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The refund on boosts should happen. Unlike the crazy unfair scoring some people pay for boosts. I don't pay for boosts but it is work to constantly check every hour to get boosts prepped. Anyone who pays fir boosts should complain when someone forfeits, either the boosts should come back or the gold.
In my experience games are usually only forfeited when the other party is fairly sure they would lose, which means that your stats are probably much better even without a boost. So why use (and risk) them in this case anyway?
Yes, there is an inherent risk in deciding whether to use boosts; however, the scoring framework encourages forfeits as well as creates an environment that stifles competitive matches.
For instance, I would be much more willing to take a risk and not use boosts when dueling against someone who is a couple of levels below me (which would then naturally increase the competitiveness of the match and present a higher probability of an upset) if a loss didn't result in me losing 20 points (or a win only netting me 2 or 3 points). However, because the penalty for a loss so outweighs the reward for a win (or for a forfeit), I use boosts to ensure that I win the matches I play against lesser competition. So the framework makes it so that a better player almost has to use boosts (to avoid loss and a big drop in points), while the lesser player has every incentive to forfeit against the better player. This isn't fair and it also hurts competition (which is the purpose of a "duel").
We need a better scoring system; better matching against players of similar level; and more of a penalty for those who forfeit.
Would love for DashGuruBrian to chime in and either explain the developer's rationale for the issues or assure us that the next update will address some of these issues. I know he is reading this. 😀
Win 5 more duels if lucky! All the forfeits means it can take ages to regain a significant loss...
For example, I just lost by 2 points, both of us swing cooks with high scores. Normally, that would be considered a good battle. I lost 18 points -- and even that would be fine if the overall scoring metrics were made logical. Unfortunately, even the non-forfeited duels against less-experienced players, where one may score 800-1000 points higher than their opponent, also net pathetic gains. Of my 64 completed duels this past week, only a handful of the 55 wins earned any big gains and, of course the 9 losses hurt badly, plus at -least- 25 opponents forfeited. I ended 8 points from Sous Chef rank because only 3 ppl deigned to actually duel less than 24 hours before reset.
I know I'm not typing anything original here. We've all experienced similar frustrations, whatever our levels and goals. And we all agree the scoring "system" is whack!
Obviously, to improve and succeed, one must duel more; get better, faster, stronger. But that is something players CAN do. The irrational scoring system is beyond players' control which diminishes incentive to duel.
I'm not so sure that pairing everyone solely with similarly skilled/upgraded opponents is the best solution. It would solve the problem but would then segregate us into leagues of particular players. Ditto the notion of being able to limit the venues in which one is willing to duel. I think it helps people (of all levels) to battle a variety of opponents and situations, not just the similar or equal or comfortable -- if not "helps", at least the variety keeps things interesting! I believe the randomness isn't a negative but a positive aspect of dueling -- provided scoring is changed.
A few ideas:
- Number of points won/lost per duel could correlate with each individual's rank. Meaning gain/loss ratios for higher vs lower player duels would be appropriately balanced for each participant.
- Point spread could be factored into overall gain/loss ratios.
- Forfeits should have greater penalties. However, because not everyone plays daily, perhaps any large penalties should only occur if the person forfeiting logs in during the 24 hrs a duel challenge is active. If a player doesn't log in, 3 pt win/loss seems fair enough. But, for people who elect not to complete certain duel challenges in order to minimize personal damage, I'd like to see a larger risk than the loss which might occur. I guess forfeiting IS a strategy, strictly speaking, but definitely not in the spirit of dueling. Because I'm frustrated atm, I'm thinking a forfeiting player should lose an amount of points equal to entire score the challenger earned -- but some percentage of that is probably more reasonable and would still discourage willful forfeits. Also, the forlorn challenger should get a benefit in addition to points (it could be small, I suspect penalties would likely drastically cut down on forfeits, but something for having participated and left hanging -- maybe one gold bar).
- There could be an opt-out toggle for people to trigger when they wish to be excluded from the duel pool. Wanting to stop when one reaches one's weekly target or if a person is on holiday or ill (or otherwise just not that into duel) is fair so long as that choice doesn't mean randomized challengers are penalized for making an effort to engage.
Does anyone else have some specific suggestions for improving the scoring system?
Finally, dueling is optional! You do trigger a venue going into your duel circulation but no one is forced to enter the dueling area. If players wish to experience the dueling competition in this game, they should actually duel (I know, it's a crazy concept
OMG, this is SO long. I'm sorry! *blush
/rant
- SuFe718