Live Chess Stats: A Painful Dilemna...

Here's the problem:

Some people are able to use Live Chess currently, and some are not.

Those who can have great ratings/records that they have built up over the last year or so.

Those who can't have losses from disconnects, underperforming ratings, etc.

So do we wipe the slate clean when we launch a more stable live chess? Or do we leave it as is. Either way we do it people will be upset.

The obvious answer is: let each person choose. But ah... not so easy. It is easy to do that with ratings, but not with records. All records (win/loss/draw, best win, highest rating, etc) are all compiled from the games counts of the actual games. So we either remove all of the past games (which clears everything but ratings), or we remove none of them (which doesn't allow us to reset things). And we can't remove some games and not others.

Alas, the dilemna. If we reset all, people who have built up records will be really really angry and might leave the site. If we don't reset, people who have bad stats due to disconnects might be really angry and might leave the site, and those who have already left due to how bad live chess is, will never return.

My current thought is that to maximize happiness we keep ratings, reset RD (so ratings will fluctuate a bit more), and remove all games/stats. Some will be upset, but it's a compromise, and will allow the greatest number of people to rebuild their stats (or come back to the site).

Thoughts?

I agree. Erase all the game results.

People are able to download the PGN files, right? So they can do that before the reset.

What about letting each individual player chose? Or is this a technical hassle?

Either way is fine by me, as I am waiting for you guys to iron everything out before diving into live chess.

LOL...I see my answer is in your text.

Helps if you can read...

well, that's a tough sell, and premium members especially won't like it. I suggest keeping the new version's games in a separate database.

Eric,  I am cool with whatever you do.  Either way is ok.

DianaV

Not a bad idea. Hey you gotta do wat you gotta do. lol. I am behind you 100%!

I am ok with whatever you all decide...i go either way with no compliant:-)

Wipe it clean- ratings, stats, games. Make the pgn of the player's games available for download.

edited to add: It has been a beta, after all. Yes? Let's start fresh with the new Live Chess.

whatever you do is fine by me :)

i agree with whatever you do as long as you get the d/c fixed i can earn points back so do what you have to do to fix this thankyou

Whatever it takes to get a better live chess. If u reached a particular rating once, i'm sure u can reach it again. And i believe that the majority of live players on chess.com,wouldn't mind a rating reboot.This is so bcuz many ratings din't reflect the player due to disconnections,and many people face this fate.so in my view whatever has 2 be done, do it. We want to see a better live chess!

People will probably not get upset if you keep the ratings as they are.

If live chess 2 is fair..the ratings will also be changing over time to make it fair for everyone..no need to delete everything cause that's gonna upset me!

Maximizing the RD is essentially the same as a ratings wipe.

Unbeknownst to most players, a 1200 rating and a 2000 rating with the same performance record (starting from maximum RD) will converge very quickly.

As opposed to a ratings wipe, I believe this method will inflate the ratings distribution. But that doesn't matter, since everything is relative to chess.com alone.

Yes a poll. Make a survey on the chess.com homepage. But yes wipe everything clean. i agree!

Maybe some sort of preseason ranking attached to their live chess for a while would make them feel better.  (if record deleted).  But they must understand, it was always a Beta version and that disclaimer was there... it's ultimately to improve .... chess.com is growing everyday and more people are joining so it's more important to make sure its working...

I say wipe the system, with good notice boforehand. Those with good ratings will get them back (unless they got them off disconnects) And those who had disconnects will prove themselves.

I have lost many games due to disconnects and bad performance of live chess. Buy I'm not kicking because of my record.  Once it it fixed and working well, my record will improve.  You gave everyone a warning that it might happen that way Eric.  I can't fault you or your staff for telling me about the problem and getting me to go to FireFox, which didn't work well either.

So what ever you decide is okay with me. I just want it working well so I do have a chance to finish some games and improve my record.  I know that what ever you do some will get upset and leave, even with your compromise.  They will just be leaving simply the best chess site on the web and will never be happy anywhere else. 

So do what you gotta do and get it working the best you can, make whatever adjustments you have to to make it work better and don't worry about the rest for now.  Just make it the best you can.  That's one mans opinion and thoughts.

knightspawn5

You guys have a very good thing going here, and taking input from the community on a decision like this is shows that your heart is right in the place. I plan on subscribing as soon a nice stable version of live chess is up and running.

Re: the dilemma, The disconnect problems cause legitimacy problems with many of the records.  For a novice, your "best win" is likely the best person you've caught a disconnect-win from. As long as you give paying members time to download their past games before the reset, I think wiping out the records is probably best solution for their long-term veracity.

Just my take. I am going to subscribe either way. You guys are the best game in town, and your active improvement of the site indicates that you plan to keep it that way. Even if some people are disappointed and leave for a while, they will remain chess-heads, and you'll remain the best online chess resource. In other words, they'll be back. I'd say concentrate on long term quality, and avoid lugging around a permanent asterisk from the beta days.

beta means tempory so nothing lasts forever...