Thumbs down for the thumbs down feature!

What do you guys think about the thumbs down feature (to be able to classify your opponent as a "good sport" or "bad sport")?

I personally don't like it! One can play according to the fair play rules and still get thumbs downs for no apparent reason and get into a "poor sport" category. I suspect I did get into this category because I spend more time waiting for opponents than before even though I keep all the fair play rules (I aborted games on rare occasions only - mostly because my laptop froze).

Another thing that I dislike about this feature is, that I cannot see whether I'm in the "good sport" or "bad sport" category. In other words, it's not transparent. Giving a thumbs up or down can be very subjective (and I strongly suspect many players give thumbs down to opponents they lost against or accuse cheating without any grounds).

What makes you think you are in the bad sport group?

Even if you were temporarily because of too many aborts, that classification would go away soon after you stopped aborting. It is not permanent.

Also, most people don't bother to report opponents unless they are really bothered. Do you taunt your opponents? 

Just as I said, I spend more time waiting for opponents. If you're in the category of "poor sport" you can only play against other "bad sports" admittedly.. and again, another issue is, that there is no way to tell whether you're in the "bad sport" category, or not. You just simply can't check it! It's not transparent.

As far as I know, reporting your opponent is another feature. But yeah, I agree players don't report each other often because it's somewhat time consuming.. However, using the thumbs down feature is just one click.

But to answer your question, no I don't "taunt" my opponents. My chat function is disabled and never run the clock down when I know there's no hope to win (like some players do).. Obviously I have no way to back up my claims, and just as you said, I'm probably not even in "bad sport" category.. But the problem is that all we can do is just guessing... There's no way to check if you're in "bad sport" or "good sport" category, or why you ended up in that category in the first place! It's simply not transparent...

stop using the feature ... it'll fade away into the abyss. I wonder what a thumbs up gets' you? Do they cancel out the thumbs down ?   So many thumbs up gotta be worth something !

BTW - to the OP ... you can make an inquiry to staff. They'll inform you if you're on any restricted lists.

Last I heard from a chess.com staff member it isn't used for anything anyway.  But yes, it is a stupid feature.  Poor sports are easily identifiable from other metrics anyway like abandoning games or timing out when they are losing.  There's no such thing as a good sport.

Just grey out the thumbs down until you have a positive thumbs up balance.  That mitigates the cranky player that downvotes everyone they lose to...

Thumbs down can be prone to abuse. Report feature is perfectly fine.

The feature is one tool used to place "bad sports" into a separate rating pool, where they'll only play other bad sports. Be on good behavior and get back into the general pool - according to Staff. So yes, it is used for something.

I agree with you 100%.

Being able to report poor sports is great! You are required to give a reason why you think your opponent wasn't fair and then the moderators can decide if your opponent was really unfair or not.

But the thumbs down feature is prone to abuse. You are not required to give a reason why you gave it so it cannot be checked whether you gave it for the right reasons or not.

Why do I have to spend time with writing to staff about it? Why can I not just see it on my profile for example?

If I'm in an undesirable category then I'd like to know the exact reason for that. Is it because I violated a specific fair play policy? Or is it because I just happened to play with the wrong players who give thumbs downs for stupid/unfair reasons? 

You're completely wasting your time with all this "Why" business. It's the way of the the world. You'd be given an answer and not like it, so what's the point? There are so.... many reasons why such info is NOT placed on profiles - I doubt you've circumvented all the issues.

Generic notices are sent. You want some nob sitting behind a desk to hand type a specific reason for your case ? This ain't Milwaukee.

I started this topic because I think this feature makes this - otherwise great site - worse. 

You say "it's the way of the world". But if something wrong, shouldn't we attempt to change it or at least bring it to attention?

You are right, there could be other reasons why I spend a bit more time waiting for opponents. But you see, that is exactly the problem, we are just groping in the dark, guessing. 

Why is it not transparent, whether you're in the "good sport" or "bad sport" category? And if you're in an undesirable category then why is it not transparent why you ended up there? These are all legitimate questions IMO that are created by this feature. Without thumbs down, all these concerns would disappear.

People like to believe stuff though.  Evidence is very optional!

If it doesn't put you into any category then what's the point of it? You say "I think..." but you don't know either.

The reason I started this topic was because I wanted to know if it's just me who doesn't like this feature or there are others too.. 

Instead of guessing, does anybody know if there's any official information about this feature? Like what are the consequences of getting thumbs down for example?

Thanks for the info!

I aborted one game once. I selected on my app, to play an engine match, but got a human one instead. Really weird since I got matched instantly too. Usually I wait around for an opponent. Perhaps it was a bug in the program.

I think maybe I did seek a human, then cancled that to play an engine, but for some reason the server thought I was still looking for a human opponent.