Yes Alex, I was able to complete my round by myself once everyone else left. The other fellow was still chatting with me while he waited to load. After about 5 minutes he gave up and disconnected. I then was immediately able to pick up where I left off.
Truth be told though, I believe this is the first time I've lost other people in the group because of someone disconnecting early.
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In response to tibbets, I like the idea of having your average be reset once you progress tiers. Like you said, it forces you to the bottom rung of the ladder and you get to work your way up. I think players would get an even further sense of accomplishment from that as opposed to being planted into the middle of a tier based on a scoring average they attained at the previous tier and dropping ranks quickly because they are getting accustomed to new yardages, clubs and so forth.
Although I agree with your point that multiplayer interrupts flow, I'm against the idea of eliminating ranked multiplayer only because that is not the solution to the problem. The issue here is a player disconnecting in order to avoid posting a bad score that will up his/her average. Whether that disconnect happens in single-player or multiplayer is irrelevant. I do understand that, for whatever reason, sometimes people just have to go or the system disconnects them. You can still finish the round later. However, if you find that 25% of a player's rounds (arbitray number) are quit early and forfeited, then the system is clearly not being used as intended.
When WGT chose to use scoring average as a ranking, I'm assuming they intended it to be similar to a golf handicap. That is evident in the system they chose to score the averages. They probably chose scoring averages for more precision simply because they're
carried out to 2 decimal places whereas a real golf handicap is always
a whole number. It's not exactly the same as handicapping, but it is very similiar. Handicaps and scoring averages are both intended to be a reflection of how you're playing right now, not an aggregate average of your lifetime scores. Because of that, the sheer number of rounds played is irrelevant as well.
In real life, the handicapping system requires players to enter their scores into the computer that is in the pro shop after every round. It's the only way to keep the handicap true and accurate to the player's ability right now. The real life equivalent to disconnecting early (and not finishing) is walking off the 18th green at your country club and getting right into your car and leaving instead of entering that poorly played 12-over-par 84 into your posted 4 handicap like you should. In the end, these players are only cheating themselves.
Golf has always been a game of honor and although in real life there is no way to make sure everyone enters their scores, in this realm of digital golf there is and that should be taken advantage of. Sometimes the intangibles are just as important as the tangibles. Honor and integrity should most certainly be at the forefront of anything billed as "The most realistic golf game ever."
Phew, I am long winded today. :o