alternative, more adversarial title: Everyone is a picker, except me

TL;DR from someone who read a draft and has, unlike me, the gift of synthesis
if my best bet of a fair game is to select an opponent of equal standing or better, then opting for a random game is almost certainly a form of "picking"

On to the show, now.

Periodically, people complain about widespread picking in the current gamefinder-only environment. Or as MerryZ calls it, GameTinder. This is not dating advice but it will sound eerily similar from time to time.

This blog post is not intended as an attack on any individual who has expressed opinions about this perceived trend, but instead as a commentary on the general argument, and a primer on ways to avoid staring at expiring offer after expiring offer for hours and hours on end.

Condemn the sin, not the sinner, all that jazz.

First of all, why are coaches refusing MY offers?

Let's flip that question around and say why am I refusing other coaches' offers of games.

As a way to enforce variety, no matchups already played will be accepted. I've already faced Elven Union with Orcs, so I'm not actively seeking EU with Orcs or accepting offers of that kind. For similar reasons I'd much rather face the less popular team you have, because they're few and far between. There are less picky chaps around that greenlight everything and get a game in seconds.

Another big turnoff for me is seeing some guy with multiples of the same roster on gamefinder. What a boring geezer. Some reach double digits of the same. And let's face it, it's never Goblin. We know, we know, you happen to really like and enjoy that particular flavour of Tier 1 but, in principle, you're really in favour of variety and wish there was more of it. More on that later.

Whatever else? Personal preference. You don't like that guy. You've lost to that guy before. You didn't have a fun match.

Some coaches simulate seasons already by not playing teams with more than 15 matches played. Others maintain a "do not play list", some just keep it private. Am I on your DNP list? Sorry to hear that. Apologies.

The elephant in the room, of course, stemming from that, is caring about your win rate and record. Not that you ever should, it's just numbers. Let's also acknowledge it sounds weird coming from me, a self-proclaimed "bad at it" guy who currently bears the "Legend" label, and worse when people with a more consistent history and presence in the community say it out loud. But it's true and the earlier you embrace it the better for your abilities. People that do not care have more fun and often do better.

But some people do skip offers based on perceived chance of a win. People avoid coaches with Legend or Super Star labels, even though that has no objective value. You can pick your way to legend and sit there basking in the glory of your POINTS while actively avoiding lower rated coaches (like sometimes Malmir is, astonishingly)... Who are lower rated because they play lower tier teams and don't pick as much, but can and will wipe the floor of almost everyone on the site.

PRO TIP: you can tank your CR easily by losing a couple matches against Veteran/Experienced coaches. That will certainly get you more games, therefore more fun (this is, retroactively, the explanation to every CR-tanking loss I've ever had).

One way or the other, maybe everyone is indeed a picker. The more you convince yourself of that, the more you become the worst picker ever, because if "everyone is doing it" is true then the only rational path is doing it to the extreme. Not everyone is motivated by winrate and CR, that's why you sometimes get matches that are way way easier for you than for your opponent. Some enjoy the challenge, some don't know, some just want a match. Therefore the premise (everyone is picking) is patently false.

Gamefinder, or box for that matter, are not the epitome of competition. They're pick up matches at the local store, just online. Whoever comes out on top of the endless "king of the hill" pile-up called Coach Ranking, wins nothing.

You want a fair competition? Don't play Blood Bowl.

You want competition? Join a league, or the knockout tournaments.

Knockout is competitive by definition, as your next opponent is going to be better than the previous ones, in the long run. Rumbles, smacks, minors, and eventually, majors. That's where the worthy opponents are.

Everything else is just pickup games. Key is in the name. And be that game scheduled by agreement or by algorithm, it's still a pickup game, something you do primarily to waste an hour. If somebody doesn't want to waste an hour with you, or, if it's not you, against your team, then you might want to change yourself or your choice of team, try some of that variety.

Or you can keep blaming your potential matches, I'm sure that will win them over eventually.

This post might come off as antagonistic or arrogant or preachy to some, but there's no need to put your gripes in the comment section. If your "solution" is that there should be a way to force people to play you even if they don't want to, I'm afraid the problem you are trying to solve is well within yourself.