Doman Mahjong rank points listed in game rules are a complete lie

[Inzoum]

So, I’m 7th Kyu and constantly getting matched with much much better players ranking 1st to 3rd Dan.

According to both the in-game NPC and the website, the game rules state that for Novice matches, I should earn/lose the following ranking points depending on how I place:
1st place: +30
2nd place: +15
3rd place: No change
4th place: 2nd Kyu or higher: -10 points. The higher your rank, the more points are lost when finishing 4th.

I’m assuming this means I shouldn’t lose any points for finishing last until I reach 2nd Kyu or higher.

In reality, this is what my score changes look like:
1st place: +12 to +20 points
2nd place: +2 to +5 points
3rd place: -8 to -12 points
4th place: -20 to -28 points

WHAT THE ACTUAL HECK?!

I’ve been playing all day and when I get REALLY LUCKY, after 4-5 consecutive victories, I can rise up to 1560ish, which I can easily lose in two matches

I’ve fallen under 1500 a few times, at which point the slow climb back up makes it pointless to continue, so I reset my ranking to jump back to 1500 and start over hoping for the best.

My understanding is that 3drd place should not be penalising in any way, and 4th place should incur losses starting at 2nd Kyu and increasing as rank goes up, no loses below that.

According to your rules, my score should not ever go down until I reach 2nd kyu.

Also, any ranked scoring system usually takes into account the skill level difference such that a low ranking player will lose less and earn more when matched against a high-ranking player, and higher ranked players will lose more and earn less when playing against low-ranking players.

Why is it that novice players are suffering tremendous losses from the get-go, and victories against high ranking players earn next to nothing.

I just want the damn Orchestrion roll. I AM getting better at the game, but even a 60% win ratio leaves me with a net loss. What gives?

Your game’s busted, yo.

[Inzoum]

I really do love Doman Mahjong. I’ve been playing it all day and I’m very motivated to improve my understanding of the game and strategy. I’ve made a lot of progress in my playing skill and I’m confident I can stand my ground against fairly matched oponents.

My gripe i that when matched against a full table of 1st dan players in a novice match, with a near 100% guarantee these champions will steamroll me, the losses are COLOSSAL and WAY HIGHER than what the rules actually state they should be. This is both unwelcoming to novices and unfair in the sense that you’re not being honest about how steep these losses are and how paltry the gains are.

If the information given by the in-game NPC and rules website is outdated, please correct the rules to reflect the current situation. If on the other hand, the rules are correct, than your game is not behaving as it should and needs a bug fix.

Be honest, man up and make it so that your words and actions correspond. Whatever’s wrong with the scoring system or rules text FIX IT.

[Breakbeat]

Given the details you are providing, you might actually report this as a bug, then - in the Bug Report forums - since the people that fix bugs don't lurk random forums for reports of bugs. They simply get to work, open "Bug Report" and go to town. As one would...?

I agree that the stated rules should match what actually transpires during a match. It's for that reason I make this suggestion. You'll get nothing fixed with your original post.

You also infer or suggest a couple of times that there's nefarious behavior behind these errors:

"...your game is broken, yo." (SE is ignorant?)
"...In-game rules are a complete lie." (SE are liars?)
"...man up and make it so that your words and actions correspond." (SE are not "men"? In a 1955 masculine-dominate way?)

No one is willfully ignorant of a rules bug or Mahjongg bug, no one is lying to you, and no one is any less of "a man" if there's a mistake in the rules, or a bug at play.

Things break, things fail, mistakes are made, rules get updated and/or changed. It doesn't mean anyone is doing anything wrong. You shouldn't really let your frustration with game mechanics (even broken game mechanics) spill over into anger directed personally at other humans.

If you, yourself are infallible, please set me straight.

Good luck.

[Naizakane]

No, the rules are not lying. Your rating and your rank points are different things.

[Chucat]

Someone submitted this as a bug report over three years ago and it got accepted (which implies the OP is correct), but they've done absolutely nothing about fixing it. So...yeah.

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...Place-and-Rank

[GhibliTheSW]

You are talking about "rating points".
SE materials refer to "ranking points".
They are very different things, there are no bugs, and what SE states is accurate.

- A 10th Dan -

[Chucat]

If it's working as intended, then shouldn't it be in the working as intended forum, instead of languishing in the Accepted Bugs forum for the last 3 years?

[UkcsAlias]

I’ve fallen under 1500 a few times, at which point the slow climb back up makes it pointless to continue, so I reset my ranking to jump back to 1500 and start over hoping for the best.

For any ranking system this is actualy a problem. Resetting your rank will mess up a lot including the higher ranks!

Every reset below 1500, means more points get added into the system. These points should normaly end up distributed 'equaly' acros the ranks. But in this case, bad people constantly push themselve back to the middle. Which is generaly where they shouldnt belong.
*note that the distribution acros the players if sorted by skill should form a linear line on a graph

As a result, the middle ratings are always going to be a balance mess. Bad players will be stomped, reset, and stomped again, and after that just permanently leave. As a result, there are no weaker players in the game. And in that case, ELO breaks for those who are excessive towards 1 direction. Later on, since the reputation of the game is that its unfriendly towards bad players, no bad players will even try, so even decent players will just only face the stronger players. But worse is, since the entire system is a mess in ratings. There is no ground for balancing in matches.

But even worse is, that 1500 rating for new players is supposed to be an average. And for balance inactive players must be purged here (so their outdated rating is not going to cause trouble). But as most active players are well above it, it cannot maintain that average and has to punish the weaker players harder to enforce this balance again. This means that as weaker player losses are still punished.

This can be covered by considering the average rating to be above it (like 2000 or 2500). But in most rating systems... that is actualy a bad idea.

Normaly when rewards are tied to an elo rating, players are forced to do a ranking phase, and this result is generaly lasting permanently unless for extended inactivity durations the rating is purged again. This is where seasons take place to grant rewards, as that forces players to update their rating for the new rewards.

[Chucat]

Yeah the main problem is that the main reward people are going to want for mahjong by playing casually (the roll) is something that SHOULD be "Win 5 games" (assuming the ranking reduction ISN'T meant to happen), but realistically becomes "Win 5 games in a row" and if you ever dip below said ranking you're just going to reset it so you have another/easier chance at it, which as you said, just ruins everything.

Like if the titles are just meant to be a bragging rights thing, they could just remove the ranking reset, allow deduction of points at all times and make the roll achievement "Place 1st or 2nd in X games of mahjong (Ranked match)" while leaving the titles for people who really want to play/get good at mahjong.