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Artifically high handicapps ... quitting on last hole

• FletchWolf 3 Posts

  Sat, May 15 2010 3:27 PM

  This is so tiresome. I really enjoy this game but I am constantly playing people who quit on the last putt to protect their precious 63 average. Come on! This seems to me to be a real problem with this game.

  That said ... love the courses ... especially St. Andrews.

• WGTniv 1,788 Posts

  Sat, May 15 2010 3:33 PM

  Hi Fletch,

  Just FYI one of the planned features on our roadmap is Player Reputation Tracking.  While that won't provide the end-all solution to the quitting issue, it will allow players to see ahead of time the completion rates of their partner's multiplayer games.  That should enable most players to make good decisions about who they decide to tee it up with and should lead to a much lower rate of disconnections.

• TarheelsRule 5,576 Posts

  Sat, May 15 2010 3:55 PM

  Hey niv, regarding the reputation issue.  How will that work if you start a match with 2 or 3 others and they all quit.  Often I am playing in a 4some and all the others quit before we finish #3.  In those cases I quit and start with a new group, if I had wanted to play alone I would have set it up that way.  Is our rep going to be damaged by quitting in that case?   THanks.

• jbenny11 863 Posts

  Sat, May 15 2010 3:59 PM

  play for creds nobody quits

• Doublemochaman 2,009 Posts

  Sat, May 15 2010 4:02 PM

  TarHeels... I'm thinking you wouldn't even get into that match.  Those players would have low Reputations and you'd take a pass.  At least that would be the case about a month into Reputation Tracking.

• Snaike 3,678 Posts

  Sat, May 15 2010 4:02 PM

  Hi FletchWolf...

  While I agree with you on the children trying to protect their artificially low averages, and while I applaud WGT's efforts on trying to do something about it, I am afraid that reputation tracking, no matter how well it's applied, will not stop anyone from quitting.  (It may, as WGTNiv points out, give you a better idea of who will, or will not, quit.)

  If you wish to play with folks who would rather play golf than protect averages, I would point you to the two offsite groups, the Ladders and GolfSeekers, where friends gather to play golf, have a competition or three, make new friends, and have a good time.

  On both sites, quitting any match is frowned upon and those who do usually don't last very long.

  Playing random multi-player games is a great way to meet new people, but you also have a chance to start a game with someone who quits.  So, you take your chances.

  Have a look at the two sites above... you may just find yourself hooked even more.

  Peace.

• WGTniv 1,788 Posts

  Sat, May 15 2010 4:04 PM

  TarHeels,

  I don't know the details of how it will work exactly since it's still under re-development.  You may remember we introduced this feature once before and it was sorely lacking in functionality and kinda missed the point.  I assume there will be a provision to not penalize the player who is unwittingly left by himself, however, I do not know for sure how that will be handled yet.

• FletchWolf 3 Posts

  Sat, May 15 2010 9:34 PM

  Good idea. Your developers need to factor in when others quit and you are left alone. That's gonig to be tough from a development standpoint.

  One thing that will fix this problem, for example, is to say if a player quits after the 4th or 5th hole, the round is still posted on the handicap with bogies for the remainder of the holes. So, you reach a point of no return.

  I had a guy quit today who was just two over par and he quit on a one-foot putt on the 18th hole at St. Andrews. He had a 63 handicap.

  That would mirror how real golf club track handicaps. If a member is found to not be posting rounds, then a penalty score is entered and it factors into the handicap.

  I have, on several occasions, finished a round alone just to finish the round.

  I have a low handicap here, but I've earned it and taken my lumps along the way.

  Anytime I get on with somebody who has under a 65 handicap, I ususally think to myself, "This guy is gonna quit." And I am seldom wrong.

• danohi50 1,020 Posts

  Sat, May 15 2010 10:01 PM

  Personally, I would like to see this feature set up differently. If you start a ranked round, you must finish it or take a reputation beating. If you decide to drop the round that's fine but you will lose some rep points, but you should lose less than the first person whom quits. Sometimes however, especially at my Ventrilo site, we will cancel out a round after we start so we can pick up a late arriving friend.

  "Perhaps the host should simply have a box to check weather dropped rounds are allowed for that game or not. That may be the simplest answer."

• claremoreblue 2,322 Posts

  Sat, May 15 2010 10:40 PM

  Mr JB is correct, MPC;s! :))