[pbmserv-dev] Series of Cathedral Games

[Thomas Wedekind <thomas.wedekind@koeln.de>]

Randall Bart wrote:

 > On the About Cathedral page it says:
 >  >An even number of games makes for a fair match.
 > 
 > The player who places the Cathedral is at such a severe disadvantage that 
 > Cathedral isn't a game for great players without this rule.  With competent 
 > play, dark will win every game.  The server should allow for series of 
 > games (at least pairs of games) so that the ratings are meaningful.

I have to agree! In the currently implemented form -- many, many
thanks to Richard for bringing this great game to his server -- the
game doesn't make much sense. There are a lot of players who, when
matched, will always win when playing dark, and loose when playing
light. Taking into account how the rating system works, I think it
quite possible to profit from this by timing losses and wins
accordingly.

So, in my opinion too, it would be the best, after issuing the command
`cathedral challenge player1 player2', to actually let the server
spawn two games -- named <board#>a and <board#>b -- as would be the
case after the two commands: `cathedral challenge player1 player2' and
`cathedral challenge player2 player1'. The player with the lesser
total of unbuild pieces from both games wins. That would make
Cathedral on the server much, much more interesting.

Problem: How to proceed in the case of one player resigning one game?
Or, what if one player wins one game but fails to complete the second
one? Any suggestions?


Thomas (userid: wede)