# Cry babies who quit online backgammon when they start to lose **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 14, 2012, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cry-babies-who-quit-online-backgammon-when-they-start-to-lose/612792 "2012-02-14T04:53:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cry-babies-who-quit-online-backgammon-when-they-start-to-lose/612792/41 "2012-02-15T22:13:04Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > This reminds me… Long, long, long ago (I’m talking like 10 years ago), I used to play ranked chess on Zone. Now I didn’t mind losing, unless it was to someone with a sub-1300 rank, because it would kill your rank if you were 1800+. If/when I was about to lose to some lowly ranked person, I would disconnect the modem so it would appear as a disconnect, with came with no penalties unless you acquired a few of them, rather than a loss, which would result in losing like a hundred points. > > /randomanecdote How incredibly childish and rude. If you aren’t a good enough player to defend your title from a “lowly ranked person”, then you don’t deserve that title, and you don’t deserve to play with other people. Just play against the computer. I’ve pretty much given up playing online against random opponents, because of people like you. Cripes, you were an incredible jerk just because you didn’t want to lose a few game points. And that “lowly ranked person” might very well have been a wizard player, who just hadn’t been playing online as much as you had. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cry-babies-who-quit-online-backgammon-when-they-start-to-lose/612792/42 "2012-02-15T22:16:20Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > And that “lowly ranked person” might very well have been a wizard player, who just hadn’t been playing online as much as you had. And now likely went from “wow, I just played a really good game to beat a higher-ranked opponent” to “damn, now I have to wait for the disconnect timer to even get my points and don’t even get the acknowledgment of a ‘gg’ - what a dickhead”. As I said, not surprised in the least. Although I will acknowledge the either ballsiness or complete lack of awareness that goes into volunteering that you routinely engaged in the activity being universally pitted - good on ya’ **OMG**. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cry-babies-who-quit-online-backgammon-when-they-start-to-lose/612792/43 "2012-02-16T02:29:57Z")
> [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](#): > > There’s a huge difference between quitting/resigning/conceding when the game is clearly lost versus rage-quitting too early. In chess, though, quitting when beat is the appropriate thing to do, so in that sense there is no rage-quitting; you might be angry, but you’re still doing the right thing. Where giving up is bothersome for your opponents when you’re playing scrabble, it’s playing on that’s obnoxious when playing chess. ---
**Author:** ![Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omg_a_Black_Conservative)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cry-babies-who-quit-online-backgammon-when-they-start-to-lose/612792/44 "2012-02-16T03:12:22Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Damn. If you were rated 1800+, then you really had no business losing to someone ranked under 1300. And it conforms with what I already know about you that you would have dodged taking the hit. > > I never got above the low 1700s myself, and it’s been a couple of decades since I’ve even played the game, but even today I bet you could wake me up out of a sound sleep, put me at a board with a 1300-rated player, start the clock, and I’d still win easily. > > Whatever you were doing to screw up against a player of such a low caliber, you earned it, and you should have owned it. I was, like 15/16. Sue me. But, yes, if you were ranked 1800+ you had no reason losing to someone ranked less than 1300, hence the disconnect. I liked my rank, plus I worked hard to get it. But if you’re wondering how I would lose to someone ranked less than 1300 well, it’s easy. Sometimes I just played a crappy game. Sometimes I played sloppily because I figured I’d win even if I didn’t play my best. Sometimes I played a “speed game”, which I was really bad at. Sometimes I just ran out of time. And sometimes my opponent just played the best games of their life. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cry-babies-who-quit-online-backgammon-when-they-start-to-lose/612792/45 "2012-02-16T03:22:49Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > I was, like 15/16. Sue me. But, yes, if you were ranked 1800+ you had no reason losing to someone ranked less than 1300, hence the disconnect. I liked my rank, plus I worked hard to get it. No you didn’t…you cheated. Oh wait, this is the Pit isn’t it!! In that case: No you didn’t work hard, you’re a cheating bastard, and probably deserved to be down at 1300 in reality. > [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > But if you’re wondering how I would lose to someone ranked less than 1300 well, it’s easy. I’m not wondering at all, I think you’re probably an average, or perhaps slightly above average player who acted like a bitch when they lost. You’re seriously defending this? Balls, man. Balls. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cry-babies-who-quit-online-backgammon-when-they-start-to-lose/612792/46 "2012-02-16T03:26:16Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > But if you’re wondering how I would lose to someone ranked less than 1300 well, it’s easy. Sometimes I just played a crappy game. Sometimes I played sloppily because I figured I’d win even if I didn’t play my best. Sometimes I played a “speed game”, which I was really bad at. Sometimes I just ran out of time. And sometimes my opponent just played the best games of their life. In all of those cases, the lower ranked player deserved to win. Yet you deprived them of an opportunity to do so. Out of, as far as I can tell, selfishness, and with no thought whatsoever that you gained your rank by higher ranked players sticking in with you and accepting a fair loss. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cry-babies-who-quit-online-backgammon-when-they-start-to-lose/612792/47 "2012-02-16T03:35:59Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > I was, like 15/16. Sue me. But, yes, if you were ranked 1800+ you had no reason losing to someone ranked less than 1300, hence the disconnect. I liked my rank, plus I worked hard to get it. > > But if you’re wondering how I would lose to someone ranked less than 1300 well, it’s easy. Sometimes I just played a crappy game. Sometimes I played sloppily because I figured I’d win even if I didn’t play my best. Sometimes I played a “speed game”, which I was really bad at. Sometimes I just ran out of time. And sometimes my opponent just played the best games of their life. I’m an international chess player and retired professional chess teacher. Your attitude is the complete opposite of what chess is about. ---
**Author:** ![Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omg_a_Black_Conservative)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cry-babies-who-quit-online-backgammon-when-they-start-to-lose/612792/48 "2012-02-16T03:44:37Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > No you didn’t…you cheated. > > Oh wait, this is the Pit isn’t it!! In that case: > > No you didn’t work hard, you’re a cheating bastard, and probably deserved to be down at 1300 in reality. Technically, unplugging the modem wasn’t cheating. And I didn’t do it all the time; just against someone rated really low, and not all the time even then. > [@](#): > > I’m not wondering at all, I think you’re probably an average, or perhaps slightly above average player who acted like a bitch when they lost. > > You’re seriously defending this? Balls, man. Balls. I’m not even sure what you’re getting at as I’m not defending anything. This was way back in 2000/2001 or so, and it’s not like I was looking for any validation or whatever. It was just an anecdote relating to the OP. Rage quitting is nothing new and I didn’t invent it. And for what it’s worth, I wasn’t the only one rage quitting. A lot of higher ranked players had hundreds of disconnects on their profiles. No one likes to lose, especially to someone ranked like 500 below you. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cry-babies-who-quit-online-backgammon-when-they-start-to-lose/612792/49 "2012-02-16T03:45:52Z")
In particular I love the concession that sometimes his opponent played the best game of their lives. And his response to that, in their moment of glory, is to disconnect like a little bitch. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cry-babies-who-quit-online-backgammon-when-they-start-to-lose/612792/50 "2012-02-16T03:47:00Z")
Right-- the key difference between a forfeit and a rage-quit is that the winner receives the meta-game credit for the win. No one gives a damn in tournament chess when a loser offers a forfeit-- you’re just saving the other guy some time. But rage-quitting is a meta-game technique to unfairly inflate your rankings above your actual skills, and it’s dickish. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cry-babies-who-quit-online-backgammon-when-they-start-to-lose/612792/51 "2012-02-16T03:47:06Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > Technically, unplugging the modem wasn’t cheating. And I didn’t do it all the time; just against someone rated really low, and not all the time even then. > > I’m not even sure what you’re getting at as I’m not defending anything. This was way back in 2000/2001 or so, and it’s not like I was looking for any validation or whatever. It was just an anecdote relating to the OP. Rage quitting is nothing new and I didn’t invent it. And for what it’s worth, I wasn’t the only one rage quitting. A lot of higher ranked players had hundreds of disconnects on their profiles. No one likes to lose, especially to someone ranked like 500 below you. You’re still talking? Like your position is even defensible? He’s still talking, everybody. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cry-babies-who-quit-online-backgammon-when-they-start-to-lose/612792/52 "2012-02-16T03:54:58Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > In chess, though, quitting when beat is the appropriate thing to do Ah, no. _Ceding the game_ is appropriate. Disconnecting so you don’t take the loss, and your opponent doesn’t get the win is _not_. ---
**Author:** ![Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omg_a_Black_Conservative)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cry-babies-who-quit-online-backgammon-when-they-start-to-lose/612792/53 "2012-02-16T03:59:03Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > In particular I love the concession that sometimes his opponent played the best game of their lives. And his response to that, in their moment of glory, is to disconnect like a little bitch. Was\* I haven’t played chess on Zone or rage quit in years. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cry-babies-who-quit-online-backgammon-when-they-start-to-lose/612792/54 "2012-02-16T04:01:23Z")
It sounds like the scoring system should have started weighting the disconnect penalties according to how many disconnects a player had, perhaps adjusted for their ranking. (According to **OMG** ’s first post here, a penalty did cost more when you had “a few of them”, but apparently not enough to be an effective deterrent against rage-quitting.) If disconnects became progressively more expensive the more players relied on them to avoid taking a loss, rage-quitting would become a less attractive strategy. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cry-babies-who-quit-online-backgammon-when-they-start-to-lose/612792/55 "2012-02-16T05:15:00Z")
> [@Oly](#): > > In that respect, _repudiation_ is just a ten cent word for cheating. The point is that there are degrees of cheating don’t completely destroy the game. Someone who taps their ball with their foot to nudge it back on the green is certainly breaking the rules, but that’s an entirely different category of transgression than someone who storms off the fairway entirely and leaves the game unfinished. > [@](#): > > Does the game theorist say anything about the huge contradiction here? That is, it is only by honoring the validity of the rules that the cheater or spoil-sport can ever claim victory (and thereby, I suppose, eke out some pathetic crumb of anemic self worth), but then they freely _repudiate_ those same rules to avoid acknowledging defeat. Well, Huizinga has been dead for quite a while. He was hounded into his grave by the Nazis, poor thing. However I suspect he’d stay that both cheats and spoilsports are perverting the play impulse, since they place a greater emphasis on winning than playing, when the only reason that winning exists in the first place is to make playing possible. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cry-babies-who-quit-online-backgammon-when-they-start-to-lose/612792/56 "2012-02-16T08:39:48Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > Was\* > > I haven’t played chess on Zone or rage quit in years. Just as well. Anyone can get an 1800 rating if they play on when they’re winning and take a penalty-free disconnect when they’re losing. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Mauvaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mauvaise/32/11084_2.png) [@Mauvaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mauvaise)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cry-babies-who-quit-online-backgammon-when-they-start-to-lose/612792/57 "2012-02-16T17:47:33Z")
> [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](#): > > Sometimes people challenge you to provide the meaning of an odd word to check if you are cheating. One of my best words for this was\* herries\*. I dunno what it means I replied but Walter Scott wrote a novel called “Rogue Herries” and I took a chance it wasn’t a proper noun. The thing I like (and hate) about WWF is that you get no penalty for throwing multiple shit against the wall and seeing what sticks. If I think I might have a play on a DW or TW with good high scoring tiles, I’ll try all sorts of various letter combos from my tiles hoping they finally form an accepted word. hen it does, a lot of the time I won’t even know it was a word. I don’t consider it cheating because I’m doing all the trial and error work and not using a website to give me the words. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cry-babies-who-quit-online-backgammon-when-they-start-to-lose/612792/58 "2012-02-16T18:37:05Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Ah, no. > > _Ceding the game_ is appropriate. Disconnecting so you don’t take the loss, and your opponent doesn’t get the win is _not_. That’s clearly what I meant. Obviously disconnecting is a dick move. ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cry-babies-who-quit-online-backgammon-when-they-start-to-lose/612792/59 "2012-02-16T19:20:33Z")
> [@Mauvaise](#): > > The thing I like (and hate) about WWF is that you get no penalty for throwing multiple shit against the wall and seeing what sticks. But that’s only because the referee was distracted by an argument in the stands. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2012, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cry-babies-who-quit-online-backgammon-when-they-start-to-lose/612792/60 "2012-02-16T21:35:59Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > Technically, unplugging the modem wasn’t cheating. Technically. Yep, folks, this OMG conservative is getting himself off on a technicality!! Because, by any reasonable standard, this IS cheating: it’s cheating someone out of a win they earned, against (supposedly) much stronger competition. But I guess if you can rack up your Elo points when you win, and disconnect when you’re losing to someone who’ll hurt your rating by that loss, you can get a much higher rating than your actual playing strength justifies. > [@](#): > > And I didn’t do it all the time; just against someone rated really low, and not all the time even then. Well then, it’s all OK! > [@](#): > > And for what it’s worth, I wasn’t the only one rage quitting. A lot of higher ranked players had hundreds of disconnects on their profiles. No one likes to lose, especially to someone ranked like 500 below you. Well, if a lot of people were doing it, then it must’ve been OK! Ah, conservative values in action. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cry-babies-who-quit-online-backgammon-when-they-start-to-lose/612792.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cry-babies-who-quit-online-backgammon-when-they-start-to-lose/612792.md?page=4)