I have long felt that, when playing Duel, a Tie is as bad as a Loss. The player gets no credit for a tie, but also loses one of his/her 5 daily chances to earn a credit.

I would like to suggest two alternatives.
1. Players in a tied game earns a half-credit each. This half-credit may be held back until the player has two half-credits, when a whole credit is given to the player.
2. The two players in a tie are given a "mulligan" to play another game that day. In other words, the tied game does not count as one of the five daily games.

Lester Niss. Johannesburg, South Africa.

I wouldn't worry about a few ties here or there in a game that requires winning hundreds or thousands of matches just to move from one step to the next. Overall they don't have any effect.

I agree wholeheartedly with the frustration of a tie, especially when it says something like "nobody loses" - since it's the same as a loss! But Direwolf has it in perspective. It happens so rarely in a game that takes thousands and thousands of tries that it's probably not worth the trouble to change it. Clever suggestion though.

Clyde

How is a tie the "same as a loss"? I've never understood that. Simply because there isn't a winner does not mean both players have lost. The opposite is true. If there isn't a winner, by definition there cannot be a loser.

I would object strongly to the idea of a mulligan unless it allowed you somehow to replay a topic you have already played, or it would give non-gold members an advantage over gold members, who can already play all 15 topics. They would get nothing extra, unlike the no-gold player who can have 6 tries for 5 topics.

That being said, I totally agree that it isn't worth worrying about. My current level requires 1000 wins to get to the next one. Even if I got all 15 right in a day (which I actually did, once - it's usually more like 10), that requires over 2 months, so needing one more duel is hardly going to be noticed.

I've never understood it either. But then again, I don't understand a lot of things people complain about on here.

I still think if Terry changes it so a loss would result in -1 credits, then complaints about ties would dry up faster than you can say..ahem.."tie".

I think the game is fine the way it is though.

I am only going to worry about it when I get 14 wins and a draw in the fifteenth game... then, oh boy, I'm going to whine, snivel, and complain and then I'm going to do all three at once and thcream and thcream like Violet Elizabeth, see if I don't, and then you'll be sorry.

We've discussed draws many times before, Lestern - I've got a feeling that Terry isn't going to change things so it's best just to grin and bear it.

I don't mind draws, I don't have a problem with being beaten at any time, and I don't mind quizzes about video games and something called anime (though freely admitting I know diddly-squat about either of them) - but I think that quizzes about which university American footballers attended is just plain ridiculous.

Ha! If that happens, you get a free pass on the complaining.

But my question is does it make me a bad person if I want to see it happen?

Agreed, Creedy, but I just won that one! I selected answer No 1 every time, but really, really quickly.

(Chuckles)

I'm a little surprised at the number of people who say they don't see a tie as the same as a loss. The object of the game is to accumulate points and you have 15 chances each day to add points. If you lose one of the games, your points don't advance. If you tie, your points don't advance.

But again, it's not a big deal and in my view not worth worrying about.

Clyde

In the great scheme of thing, no it does not matter, but it is still very annoying and NOT a win. The opposite of a win is a LOT.

Pure evil!

The opposite of a win is a loss, no doubt. But if two people tie, there is no winner so there can be no loser. It can't get much more clear cut and simple as that. In other words, the dictionary definition of a tie.

I have no particular opinion one way or the other about Duel ties, but all considered, I always found it somewhat ironic (if a bit perplexing) that the challenge text for the "All Tied Up" mini (before you've gotten it yet) reads, in part: "If nobody wins, everybody loses, and that's not in the spirit of dueling."

But this is a third category in between. Not a win..not a loss. I get that the binary scoring system of the duel game makes some people say it is the same as a loss because you score 0 for the game (same as a loss) instead of the 1 for a win. I dont see that as being cheated out of anything though. Points are for a win and you didn't.

I just dont understand the huge amount of angst in general over ties. Not just on this but in games/sports generally speaking...even in games where a tie is better for your team in the standings than a loss. I have heard more than once from both fans and players something along the lines of "I would rather lose than tie" and I just don't get that. Are we that hyper-competitive that we always need the closure of a winner and a loser?

In a playoff game/tournament...sure I get it, yes you do because the structure of advancing play reduces to a single champion and an extra remaining team cannot be accomodated. But in a "regular season" game...or here with a single throwaway duel match: just one of thousands of duel plays any of the cumbersome fixes suggested are more work than it is worth

I for one enjoy the novelty of ties..especially on games where you get an instant result and see the orange text in contrast to the green of a win or the red of a loss.

I knew that already.

I just think a bunny on a rampage would be hilarious. Plus...a chance to use the phrase "hopping mad".

"I just think a bunny on a rampage would be hilarious."

Didn't Monty Python cover that?

Yes, but I'm sure Flopsy would do it with more gravitas and less decapitation.

Run away!

I got one today - a tie. I think I'm being warned by some higher force, so I'll be quiet now.

Was it a bow tie?

Bow ties are cool.

A bow tie? I would argue that a bow tie is the same as a loss...

If a bow tie is the same as a loss, then what's a bolo tie?

Bag One, Lose One?