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        Arimaa >> General Discussion >> Why is resigning discouraged?
        
(Message started by: Ail on Mar 5^th, 2014, 4:54am)

Title: Why is resigning discouraged?
Post by Ail on Mar 5^th, 2014, 4:54am

I've read at several places now that resigning in Arimaa, while definately possible is discouraged and people are encouraged to play on to a natural defeat.

I gotta say, that I kinda wonder why that is.
Sure, oftentimes it theoretically is possible to come back somehow.
But usually, when I once thought that a position is lost, it turns out to be just like that.

I feel very little motivation to play on a game that I consider being lost and would kinda feel forced to do it.

I just had a game, where the beginning looked good. I hostaged the enemy camel and was preparing to take over one of my opponents traps.
But not only did he free the hostage, he hostaged my camel and one of my horses on his breakout. And then I blundered the other horse with nothing else really nearby to prevent the capture of the hostaged horse or posing a counterthreat.

In this situation I really feel that continuing would just drag out the inevitable and infact did surrender.

Title: Re: Why is resigning discouraged?
Post by rbarreira on Mar 5^th, 2014, 7:40am

To be honest I don't really care much, except for some cases of obvious trolling (resigning an obviously won game against a human for example).

Other than that, I think the decision whether to resign or not should be totally up to the players.

My personal perspective when it comes to my own games: there are much better things to do in life than prolonging an Arimaa game unnecessarily, such as perhaps starting another game of Arimaa which is fun and productive instead of uninteresting and futile.

Title: Re: Why is resigning discouraged?
Post by Nombril on Mar 5^th, 2014, 11:16am

The most important point is to have fun, so please don't feel bad about resigning. But here are my thoughts about why to think twice about quickly resigning.

If I recall correctly, it stems from Omar's desire to make the game fun for both the players and the spectators. It can be pretty disappointing to make time to watch an event game, and have a player resign when the position is not clearly won by another player. If your normal habit is to quickly resign in casual games, it is hard to change your thinking and keep playing during event games.

I also think that in Arimaa your positional advantage can be more important than your material disadvantage, which makes deciding a "lost" position in the middle of play to be a bit difficult.

Here are some reasons why I keep playing a "lost" position:

1. For a few moves after making a mistake, my evaluation is possibly faulty due to over reacting to the swing in the position.

2. It is good practice to look for what positional advantage can be achieved in a position, and learn to play for a come from behind victory.

3. Sometimes I'm too stubborn for my own good.

If you think there is no way to win, you probably won't find a way to win :P and if you are considering resigning you probably aren't using your time to find a way to win :)

But I do find myself resigning a few games now and then, when things get really bad.

Especially against bots I don't think anyone's feelings are hurt. Against human players you could chat and ask if they mind if you resign.

From a data mining perspective - which is probably pretty far from your mind when playing a loosing game - maybe it is nice to have more completed games than resigned games?

Title: Re: Why is resigning discouraged?
Post by browni3141 on Mar 5^th, 2014, 11:56am

Resigning is always fine, in my opinion, and you shouldn't have to ask your opponent for permission. Just don't overdo it.
Sometimes against bots I keep playing until the end because they fall to a desperation goal attack often enough to make it worthwhile. Against humans, however, I feel more comfortable resigning once my opponent has a large advantage in a fairly stable position.

Title: Re: Why is resigning discouraged?
Post by Ail on Mar 5^th, 2014, 3:40pm

Interestingly enough after the game where I resigned I had another game.

I was even more behind in terms of material but I did not resign for one simple reason: I had counterplay!

I even sacced another rabbit to free up another horse for my goal-attack and in the end it actually worked!

So it wasn't just the material but also the position that caused me to resign that one game. It was overall pretty hopeless.

Also both games were against my phone, so no potential spectators have been harmed. :D

Title: Re: Why is resigning discouraged?
Post by Laurentiu on Aug 19^th, 2014, 11:38pm

I got the impression that resigning was discouraged so as to gather a more complete database of games, covering all situations. I thought this may be helpful with training bots.