The Spring 2023 Season of Competitive Cribbage is Live!
The very busy Winter 2023 season of competitive cribbage has now closed. All of the stats and top finishers are locked and recorded. Winter 2023 was one of the most (almost nearly the top) active seasons so far! It had more players than we have had in quite a long time, and a lot more matches played than ever before! That says a lot, considering the seasons are a little shorter now than they were when we first started. I know some of you still had times where finding a match was harder than ideal, and other times where you were matched with someone with a lower CR that you may have felt shouldn't have been matched. I understand that frustration, and I'm working on some ideas to help address that better in the future. Our journey to the best system may never reach a final destination, but it will be a work of constant improvement. The best solution to both of these for right now will be to encourage your friends to participate too. The more people who play more often, the faster matches can be found and the closer those matches will be.
Although the weather outside where I am right now isn't exactly "spring like" just yet, I hope it will be soon! I have been very busy getting app updates and features developed lately, so this Spring 2023 season keeps the format consistent with no significant changes.
Winter 2023 was an exciting season that also welcomed several new players. The Top 50 has quite a few new players. I still love seeing new players come in and make a run for it (as one definitely did this season)! Thank you to all for participating and bringing your friends! Thank you also to everyone who participated at every level, even if you didn't make the final Top 50.
In 1st place for Winter 2023, we have "iPeg" up from 5th last season, and definitely a regular top finisher. Honestly, that is pretty impressive. Someday we will need to have iPeg share all of their secrets with the world. 2nd place is someone entirely new to the Top 50, and relatively new to Cribbage Pro as well, "rookie22". I suppose the username says it all. In 3rd we have "nob4one", who we have seen around these parts before as well. Other interesting movements in the Top 50 included "dcpastore", who made a valiant run for 2nd or 3rd, but got bumped back to finish 5th. "Domerzag" moved up 27 placed to finish in 11th place, and "rattle15" finished in 12th up 24! It was super fun for me to watch the battle for positions towards the end of this season, and in particular the 2nd, 3rd and 4th positions in the last few days. I hope you all enjoyed it as well! There are, of course, many others who made some significant gains, and many familiar names on the list as well, so a hearty Congratulations to you all!!
Everyone who finished the season in the Top 50 ("Recent" list), has been awarded both a special in-game "board peg" as well as Cribbage Pro Gold that can be used in the Cribbage Pro Contests system and then redeemed for cash (awards must be used at least once in a Contest to be cashed out to USDC, see the full terms and conditions for details). The Gold awards do expire, so use them or lose them! If you are awarded Gold, and are not sure what it is good for (or how to access the Contests system), read through the links above or email us any time if you have questions. On iOS you will need the "Cribbage Pro Contests" version of the app, and on Android and Windows you need to install the game using the Amazon Appstore. It is super easy to do, so don't let that app install process get in the way of some good cribbage fun! The Cribbage Pro Gold awards are as follows (not cumulative):
- 4 Gold for Top 50
- 7 Gold for Top 25
- 10 Gold for Top 10
- 20 Gold for 3rd Place
- 30 Gold for 2nd Place
- 50 Gold for 1st Place
The top finisher is awarded the "crown" board peg, and all others in the Top 50 are awarded a "star" board peg. These pegs are shown to everyone when playing in online multiplayer games, and they are permanent, so if you see your opponent has one of them you can know that they have earned it by finishing in the Top 50 in competitive play.
Remember: Complete 10 matches per week! See the FAQ for details.
Here was the final Top 50 for Winter 2023:
| 1 | iPeg | 26 | tassie08 |
| 2 | rookie22 | 27 | dkatz1877 |
| 3 | nob4one | 28 | Dpac |
| 4 | Dhrun | 29 | lbolt58 |
| 5 | dcpastore | 30 | pegmstr77 |
| 6 | yvanobc12 | 31 | SharksFin |
| 7 | balment | 32 | MTBiggs |
| 8 | scoot1234 | 33 | 4KA |
| 9 | WhyADuck | 34 | cbx1000z |
| 10 | Gssj21 | 35 | kansas666 |
| 11 | Domerzag | 36 | UberPooch |
| 12 | rattle15 | 37 | Chipchamp |
| 13 | BigD4Life | 38 | gmric5 |
| 14 | TC2 | 39 | scottniq |
| 15 | Paludeja | 40 | deeney0 |
| 16 | cyrusg | 41 | pscohen |
| 17 | Mrpadre | 42 | warrior14 |
| 18 | yank29 | 43 | Chelsea64 |
| 19 | dph | 44 | reefmad |
| 20 | fbc2k23 | 45 | rpmcd |
| 21 | gotupeggd | 46 | 5150dog |
| 22 | Doksboy | 47 | monniermb |
| 23 | TrumpetJ | 48 | Duane1952 |
| 24 | Shavesy82 | 49 | aela |
| 25 | nvsru911 | 50 | Mharold |
Hi folks...just playing my 5 qualifying games and had three really enjoyable games...winning 2 and losing 1.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the last 2 games I've played to complete the 5...one equal and the other winning easily my opponents opponents just disconnected.... understand this can happen from time to time but frustrating nonetheless with limited playing time. Thanks.
Hi, yes, that can be frustrating. Know that the opponent that disconnected is giving a full loss with a penalty, and that all counts against their CR.
DeleteI never have a problem if my opponent chooses to resign the game because of the score imbalance, they need to leave, etc. because I still get the win. I'd like to see a button for a player in Competitive Matchmaking to resign a game and another to resign the match vs. just having them quit the match altogether.
DeleteHowever, that's different than those who deliberately stall by waiting until the timer drops to 1 second every time they play a match.
If there's one enhancement I'd like to see it's the ability to forfeit a game... There's nothing worse for both players than one player being 40 behind but both having to play onto the end of the game....
ReplyDeleteYeah, this is a kind of "ethical" question in the game of cribbage. You can exit a game, and take the loss, but there are consequences like the 5 minute wait before playing again. When you leave a game like that, it in some ways takes things away from the winner, so it is often frowned upon. I don't have a good solution that seems to work for everyone.
DeleteI would also love to see a resign game option and it's been a frequent request by other players. I don't understand the ethical nature here. If a player resigns a game the other player wins and the score should be 121 for the winner and the point value for the player who forfeits. What exactly is "taken away" from the winner because the outcome is that player wins.
DeleteIf a player selects the Resign button during a game then they resign the game. However I'm referring to resigning a game, not a match. If you resign during game one then the second game begins If you resign and your opponent is already leading by a game or the match is tied then the match ends as well. However, if the player stalls out or forfeits due to connectivity issues or poor sportsmanship then they should receive a 5-minute penalty and a loss.
Certainly not everyone will see this issue in the same way. But the issue has multiple factors at play than just who won the match. For instance, if you move the score to 121 for the winner in a resign situation, you lose the accuracy of the points spread between the two players, which helps us know how accurate the skill ranking is. Another issue is the matter of recording a skunk stat or not (not a problem in games where no skunk is ever recorded, of course). In classic multiplayer, that point spread is also an important factor in determining the XP awarded for the game. Similarly, a pure "resign" option opens up a potential path to try and "game the system" in various ways. The last thing that bothers a lot of people is that giving up is just generally frowned upon, particularly in a game where huge hands and surprise fortunate luck can happen.
DeleteSo, it is a complex thing, and right now I can't say I have found a compromise that I see working sufficiently. I'll spend some more time brainstorming on this, and see what I can come up with. One thing I want to never compromise is the integrity of the game, and if a feature could cause a compromise of the game in that sense, I just won't do it.
My suggestions are only based on the Competitive Matchmaking game. How is a game currently recorded when a player quits? Does the winning player receive a skunk if one was in play at the time of the quitting? If the player voluntarily resigns a game and/or match, then treat it the same as if they quit but don't penalize them with a 5-minute timeout, extra CR points deducted, etc.
DeleteSkunks are not given unless a game is fully completed and it was a skunk. Thanks for the suggestions!
DeleteIf skunks aren't given unless it's a completed game then I can see some players quitting before a skunk/double skunk just so it's not on their record or granted to their opponent.
DeleteStill frustrated by the large CR difference between players just because you choose to keep searching for a match. Last night I was matched up against a player 1,000 points lower than me. The only reason that happens is because I chose to let the game keep searching. If you wait a shorter amount of time, e.g. 5-10 seconds before restarting a match then this doesn't happen. No one wants to play a match with that large of a gap because if the player with the higher CR wins they receive hardly any points but take a bigger hit if they lose.
ReplyDeleteI'd much rather prefer there be a stated maximum gap, e.g. 400 points. If searching after a specified amount of time (e.g. 2 minutes) doesn't provide a match then either display a message stating a competitive match couldn't be found or don't display a message and let the search continue until one is found or the player ends the search.
I appreciate your frustration there. I may adjust some of this in the future, but I can't say for sure if that means a tighter limit, or simply removing the timing done with the limit today, or something else entirely. As mentioned in this blog post, my ideal solution is just to get more people playing more often.
DeleteThere are a few ways that the multiplayer competitive system could be adjusted, but, in my opinion, the most sure way that players can improve their results is to be less focused on changing the format and more focused on improving their own cribbage skills. The best players are consistently at the top. We all play within the same structure.
DeleteImproving your results is part of Competitive Matchmaking. I'm focused on improving the game play (UI design, matchmaking parameters, settings, etc.) so regardless of your results the experience is positive. If players don't enjoy interacting with the game then the player base drops, we get longer wait times finding a match, and larger gaps between CR. This season I'm noticing it's taking a lot longer time to find a match with a greater disparity in CR. For some reason we're not able to see how many active players are in the current season pool but it seems like it's a lower number.
DeleteI truly appreciate all feedback, and particularly the desire to make things better for everyone. As far as players this season, I'm not in front of that data right now, but the last time I checked it was actually more players this season than at the same time last season.
DeleteWhat is the maximum CR difference between players allowed? I had another match with nearly 1,000 points lower. Doesn't make sense to allow this just because a player choose to keep searching for a match when a reasonable one isn't available.
DeleteThe CR is a calculated value and not the factors directly considered in Matchmaking. Yes, it is possible to be matched at that CR difference, again, because the underlying factors are used in the matching. It isn't perfect, and there may be changes in the future to try and improve it further.
DeleteSo currently the only fix to avoid such a huge gap in CR is to quit/restart a search every 5-10 seconds
DeleteIs there a reason why your opponent's CR is displayed during a match but yours is hidden? It would be nice to see my own as well.
ReplyDeleteYour CR is shown on the matchmaking screen and in the Leaderboard, but we just don't have a place for it on the actual game screen today. There may be some places to add that in the future.
DeleteYep, but I almost never remember my CR during a match so it would be great to view it and see its impact based on the match outcome. Perhaps another option would be to have a match history screen that shows a listing of your matches, your opponent, their CR, your CR, and your resulting CR once the match ended.
DeleteJust screenshot your matching screen before each match and right after you match up. Then you can track the rating difference vs. rating points won or lost.
DeleteI tried like you wouldn't believe to complete my 10 games last week before I went away on Friday afternoon...I was 5 wins out of 8 games...CR of 3950...no games available despite spending easily an hour searching.
ReplyDeleteDisappointed to log in tonight to see my rank at 3200...still can't find a game either...
The penalty applied for not meeting the minimum is done to the confidence factor that produces the CR. As such, it should be relatively easy to recover by playing a few matches. This is one of the drawbacks of a relatively tight matchmaking system, where it can be harder to find a match even when others are there and playing, but not quite a good match. It's a hard balance.
DeleteFinding a match would be good...not one found in twenty minutes of reloading tonight...just didn't have this previously...enjoy playing on this format but if it's just becoming a site for the top 200 to play each other all of the time I don't see the point. I've beaten lots of the top 50 elites and I find some of the comments elitist to be honest. It's a great site and all should be able to play all. Personally I'm a competent player and just want to play for the enjoyment and to improve and learn the infinite subtleties of this great game.
ReplyDeleteHow many times does boltsfan9 need to be reported until he's banned for stalling? I've seen other players report him in previous seasons. He purposely waits for the 10-second timer to get down to 1 second for every move (playing a card, cutting, score review, etc.). Takes about 30 minutes to finish a game with him. I even had the "Play Time Exceeded - Verifying Opponent Status..." message appear 4 times and he was still able to keep playing.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteIn a quick search I'm not seeing another report for that specific username, but if you wish to report a user for any issue, please email support@FullerSystems.com with the details (including match time). I investigate every report, and do ban players for violating any part of the game terms of service.
DeleteAnyone else having an issue with the pegs not accurately reflecting the count. For example, I had at least a pair of 5s in my crib and the rear peg didn't move.
ReplyDeleteIf you think you see a bug of any kind, please take a screenshot and send it to me at support@FullerSystems.com I haven't seen any like what you mentioned here, but will always take a look and investigate it.
DeleteApparently setting the animation speed down to 0 doesn't disable animation, it just makes dealing super slow?
ReplyDeleteYes, the higher the percentage of the speed, the faster. So zero would be the slowest, and 100 is the fastest.
DeleteOkayI , thought 0 meant it turns off the animation. That was S-L-O-W-E-S-T match I've ever played!
DeleteBeen playing for several seasons. Don't want to complain but don't see how skill plays in when I get dealt time and time 2 in hand 2 in cribwhen astreet ahead and opponent gets 20 or 16 or. How many times does opponent get 16, followed by 14 followed by 18 and my hand is 6. How do I make it ti grand Master and repeatedly get beat by players 500 points below me, no skill, just cards stacked. Like competition not stacked deck
ReplyDeleteHi, as has been discussed in detail before, the game is fair and honest in every respect and using a true random shuffle at all times. There is no stacking the deck or anything else like that whatsoever. No exceptions.
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