Its a 1v1 Ladder, and when it says its my turn for X hours, I take my turn, see what happened, then enter my turn and then wait another 2.5 days.

Normally, you have the give take, where each player essentially puts in two moves at one time.

And yes, I'm winning quite handily in this match to a higher ranked player.

Further, I've played other games with this person while the 1v1 Ladder game just sits there, so its not like he's inactive.

Does this help the rating? Or could he just be busy?

When you lose in the ladder, your rating drops. So if this high ranking player knows he's going to lose this game against you, and he doesn't want his rating to drop, he just loses very slowly.

Alternately, some players like to play slow all the time so that they think through their moves more. It leads to less mistakes and better outcomes. A lot of players slow down when they are losing, for the same reason.

yes for both reasons above

its also not as fun when you are losing. When you have a list of games some people naturally start on the ones that are most fun.

@VaporX:
|> When you lose in the ladder, your rating drops. So if this high ranking player knows he's going to lose this game against you, and he doesn't want his rating to drop, he just loses very slowly.

There's two sides to it: the sooner you bite the bullet and accept the loss, the sooner the loss expires. Unless he's also in a winning game that's going to take a while and he'd like to complete them at the same time, this is just extending the inevitable.

@RvW

|> There's two sides to it: the sooner you bite the bullet and accept the loss, the sooner the loss expires. Unless he's also in a winning game that's going to take a while and he'd like to complete them at the same time, this is just extending the inevitable.

This is true, but if that top player is say rank 2 and gunning for the top spot, or trying to maintain his spot, then he doesn't want his rating to go down.

Even if your income is 3 times higher than theirs, they will evade you with their base income for as long as possible to keep their ranks.

Does it make a difference on a seasonal ladder? What happens at the end of the season? Do the in progress games not ever get finished when it loses?

Since this isn't really the way that games are supposed to be played, then it sorta ruins high rankings for me on Warlight, and would then have to refer to the other forum post about what it really means to be #1.

Knowing how to manipulate how many spots you go up and down the ladder does not make you a better warlight player.

You should read the other discussion about season II matchmaking for a more in depth discussion, but yes, the seasonal ladders are gameable.

Most notably, if you delay your losses and rush your wins, you get matched with higher ranking players and can end up with a much higher rank than you would have otherwise.

Long term this isn't a big deal on the regular ladder, because the scores even out over time. Yes, #1 means less than it would otherwise, but that's not a big deal to everyone. In the seasonal ladders, it changes the final outcome substantially, as there is a limit on total games and things don't even out enough.

Ben, thanks for the direction to the other post. This, and a bit more analysis, shows exactly what my opponent is doing: Gaming the ladder to preserve his ranking.

Evidence: To date, he's 9-2 on completed games. Of the games he won other than by booting, his average time was between 34 min and 1d 11 hrs, with the average near 12 hours. It evened out, with a quick turn followed by a long turn.

The games that he won by booting or was just flat out lost, his average time was 2 days 12 hours, with every single turn taking multiple days.

Additionally, he's got 10 In Progress Games. Of those, he's either Even/Losing in 8, and even/winning in 2. For the losing games, his average is 2 days 12 hours. For the Winning Games, he's at 1 day 11 hrs.

So, his MO is: when easily winning, take turns quickly. When even or losing take 2.5 days per turn. When losing horrendously, draw it out as long as possible.

Its a shame that gaming of the ladder occurs. What I see the ladder for is a chance to play with equally skilled members, and a chance to get in some fun games. Wouldn't it be nice if we all saw it that way?

Bottom line, you play a game to have fun. It's a lot more fun to play a game you're winning than it is to play a game you're losing. People drawing out losses aren't necessarily "playing the system." I draw out losses for two reasons:

1. I don't particularly enjoy taking turns when I'm losing
2. There's a higher chance to come back into the game if I put a great deal of thought into my moves when I'm losing

You and I have a game like that right now Bishes ;) I know all you starts and half of mine are safe

Haha, yes lob, that wasn't a good start :P

Some people go slow so they can think that overs will give up. Turning a lose into a win...