Competitive Cribbage - Spring 2024
The Winter 2024 season of competitive cribbage has finished, and once again it went far above my expectations! This is starting to sound repetitive, but yet again there were more players in the Winter 2024 competitive season than we have seen in a long time. In fact, there were more players than we have ever seen before, and more matches played than ever before! I know that the competition was intense at every level. We will be keeping the changes made last season in place at least until further improvements are made in other related areas that we are actively working towards. Spring 2024 will match the format of Winter 2024 - no changes.
Winter 2024 Wrap Up
The Winter 2024 season brought a fresh wave of participants, with numerous new faces adding to the mix. However, amidst the influx of newcomers, there were also many familiar names who returned to showcase their skills, as evidenced by the final Top 50 standings. I extend my heartfelt appreciation to each and every individual who contributed to the season's success. Your active involvement is the cornerstone of our cribbage community, shaping its vibrancy and diversity, whether you made it to the Top 50 or not. I appreciate each of you for being a part of this wonderful journey. Thank you for making the Winter 2024 season memorable and enjoyable for all!
In 1st place for Winter 2024, we have "lbolt58", who is up from just 3rd place last season. 2nd place is someone we have seen before too, "nob4one", who is up from 12th last season. 3rd place goes to "iPeg", who was 10th last season, but certainly someone we have seen in the top positions often. "Mrpadre" will get our honorable mention this season, coming in at 10th and up from 27th last season. They held on to that position for a while here at the end of the season, and I know it took some solid effort to do that, with so much strong competition this season.
Other interesting positions to note include "VGKnights", who has now finished 5th for the second season in a row. "hillchem" moved up 5 positions from 17th to 12th, and "scout3" went up from 33rd last season to finish 14th!
I hope that you all enjoyed the competition. Congratulations to you all for your putting your skills to the test!
As usual, we have the special commendation given to those who secured a place within the Top 50. In recognition of your accomplishments, you've earned an in-game "board peg" symbolizing your achievement. The highest-ranking player receives the prestigious "crown" board peg, while all others in the Top 50 receive a distinctive "star" board peg. These pegs are prominently displayed during online multiplayer matches and serve as a permanent badge of distinction. If you see an opponent with one of these pegs, know that they've earned it through their performance in competitive play, securing a spot among the top contenders.
Remember: Complete Your 10 matches per week! See the FAQ for details.
Here was the final Top 50 for Winter 2024:
| 1 | lbolt58 | 26 | VT281 |
| 2 | nob4one | 27 | Legonaut |
| 3 | iPeg | 28 | Neary74 |
| 4 | Dhrun | 29 | BahaShark |
| 5 | VGKnights | 30 | dcpastore |
| 6 | TC2 | 31 | cribfan44 |
| 7 | yank29 | 32 | SMP0001 |
| 8 | enaud58 | 33 | Gasman67 |
| 9 | cutajack | 34 | xxx300xxx |
| 10 | Mrpadre | 35 | dixietix |
| 11 | bigshane0 | 36 | cyrusg |
| 12 | hillchem | 37 | TLC1966 |
| 13 | rompin | 38 | Cribbfest |
| 14 | scout3 | 39 | mountains |
| 15 | rattle15 | 40 | Alaska47 |
| 16 | Jon33414 | 41 | cribber91 |
| 17 | boyzzzer | 42 | yvanobc12 |
| 18 | 0ffpiste | 43 | fpster |
| 19 | whersh | 44 | Ace314159 |
| 20 | cbx1000z | 45 | pegmstr77 |
| 21 | nvsru911 | 46 | flashmatt |
| 22 | Br1Guy | 47 | BrutusSt |
| 23 | 4KA | 48 | jfunk44 |
| 24 | drg151 | 49 | linurbug9 |
| 25 | Domerzag | 50 | seachica |
For Spring did you fix the issue with getting 4+ notifications saying your opponent exceeded the time limit and not getting kicked? Two seasons ago you said it would be addressed for last season and it wasn't fixed.
ReplyDeleteThe timer system will need to be rewritten and some core elements changed to try and improve the timer shown on both devices during a game, while at that time we may also change how the timer is more fundamentally set up in the game mechanics itself. My apologies if it was stated or implied that it would be done by this season. It is still on the list, but I don't have a firm date as to when I will have that done. For now, know that the game servers are tracking each player closely and will enforce the turn time limits with consideration given to device and internet lag as well.
DeleteI just played two qualifying matches and my opponents quit right before losing. It's still showing I haven't completed any matches. Am I not getting credit for their forfeits?
ReplyDeleteJust as past seasons, the win from forfeit is still given. The only difference is that it doesn't count as a placement match, to avoid a potential way to try and cheat the system.
DeleteYour wins by disconnect will show up once you have completed your 5 qualifying matches.
DeleteSo if I'm losing a placement match I can quit and deny my opponent a positive placement in their rating?
ReplyDeleteNo, your CR is still adjusted just like any other match, and the person who quits is given a full loss and penalty, while having that loss count as a placement match. The ONLY thing it doesn't count towards is to increment the placement match counter.
DeleteThe current leader is 15-1. Doesn't seem they could have hit the minimum games for any week since this tournament started. Is my math off?
ReplyDeleteThey just recently started and if they don't continue playing matches, the penalty will cause them to fall in ranking relatively quick.
DeleteIn the future, can you post detailed stats for the top 50 during a season (e.g. current w/l streak, past 10 matches, etc.)? I understand that this cannot appear in the app, but perhaps on this blog page? Maybe it can be updated each week? Thanks for continuing to improve this great app!
ReplyDeletePossibly. I don't generally allocate a huge amount of time to the blog posts, as I would rather work on fixing bugs and adding things people are asking for, but I'll see if I can spice things up a bit more for next season.
DeleteAs well / instead of a top 50 update it would be interesting to widen it further...eg the most improved in the week, people scoring 29..ie shine a light on those beyond the top 50...
DeleteAs always..keep up the good work, it's a great app...
In Competitive Matchmaking what's the SP number under our player avatar?
ReplyDeleteHi, it sounds like you have the latest Beta version, and there is a glitch showing the "SP" there. That is intended for the new Scrimmage Points in the Daily Cribbage Scrimmage challenges, and so it has no meaning there in the competitive side of things. It will be removed from there in the next Beta update.
DeleteThanks, it would be great to display our own CR in that space instead since there's room for it
DeleteThanks for the suggestion! I'll see if I can make that happen for this release.
DeleteJust played back to back Competitive Matchmaking games, 800+ and 1000+ difference in in CR. That shouldn't happen, especially when in previous seasons it's been said this issue has been addressed.
ReplyDeleteThe CR is only part of the picture, as that is an output from several underlying factors, and those examples are within the limits put in place.
DeleteSo what are these limits when match-ups like that occur? It seems they only occur the longer you wait for a match to be found.
DeleteThe limits are enforced primarily at the underlying ranking factors and not a hard limit on CR. That will tend to work out to a max CR difference "limit" of about 1100, but there are several factors that usually make it closer than that. Yes, the system does still try and find the best possible match first.
DeleteHow a 4280 CR gets matched up with a 3200 makes no sense
ReplyDeleteSomething isn't right with the warning system for player delay. First game my opponent received 2 warnings with 2 remaining. Second game they get another warning and it says there were 3 remaining.
ReplyDeleteThis is normal, and has worked this way for many years. 4 warnings per game. The play timeouts reset for each game, even if it is a game in a series/match. The same rule applies to your warnings as well.
DeleteOh, I thought it was 4 warnings per match. So you can get up to 12 warnings in a match for stalling?
DeleteIt would be technically possible to get 12 warnings in a 3 game match. However, there are some other limits that might kick in there around a maximum wait time that the game server will enforce independent of those warnings, along with maximum reconnect counters, and other factors. Basically, if the server sees what looks like intentional abuse, it may time out as well. That is much more rare (the detection of that and forced time out), but it does happen.
DeleteThe hand grade ratings are great, very helpful. In the future would it be possible to see opponents hands, grades and discard choices? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi, when playing you should see the Hand Grade for your opponent as well. I'm guessing you mean on the game summary, showing all of your opponent's hands and discard choices, which isn't there today. We do have some limited space there, so I'm not sure we will have room for that, but I'll see what we can come up with and add this to the list of things to consider in the future.
DeleteYes, I was referring to the game summary. It would be interesting to see opponents decisions/ strategies. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI like the game stats addition. Has it been considered to use this data for determining game points? For example when playing a match where my average hand is 9.5 and the opponents is 6 it doesn't take much skill to win that match. Should less points be awarded in that case? Or vice versa? I always feel like I played better or made the more skilled decisions when I win with what the stats show as worse cards.
ReplyDeleteWe have considered different ways of determining how a win could be scaled based on several factors. The trick with average hand data is that it is after the discard, and not before - so it is skill dependant and not just how "good" the cards were. Similarly, particularly at the end of game, one may choose a lower scoring hand to play defense or keep cards that are better for pegging. Ultimately, I think we will stick with our current system for now, but not rule out making changes in the future.
DeleteLove all the hard work you’ve put in on the upgrades. For your “list” of possible things to do in the future, could you consider some tweaks/ additions to the game summary hand grades and pegging? Specifically, the addition of player and opponent current scores and who was dealer BEFORE the discard and start of play would be good info. Discard choices are based partially on board position. For the hand grade summary, it would be helpful to see what your score was and who was dealer before you made that discard. Similarly, pegging strategy is based on your score, hand count, and board position after the cut. Hand grades and pegging summaries could be put into better context if one could see player & opponent score, board position and dealer when reviewing hand grades and pegging. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you are enjoying the updates! Believe it or not, these suggestions are already "on the list". To be clear, it's a long list, and prioritizing what happens next is hard, but I really appreciate the feedback as it helps me understand what people are interested in seeing done next!
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