Over the last week or two of massive forum and blog chatter, we've seen what I think is the worst trait we (as a community / site) exhibit. No; it's not chain eating until we have our own gravitational pull (that's shadow, what you meant one of his _other_ traits? ;)), I mean the holier than thou fun police we tend to become.

I've dropped out of Blackbox. Without being judgemental or kicking off thread 5567568 of everyone proving they have a massive e-phallus but the next guy is an evil cheeseball who should be (at best) killed or (at worst) banned, it wasn't for me anymore. I moved to Ranked.

The greatest gift Ranked gives us is choice. The choice to play whatever games we like, the choice of aiming for whatever we like, from Majors to Evolution teams to whatever you can think of. Of course, some people abuse choice, and historically, we've had a go as the fun police at people that do. Someone once said to me that you could look at the last 20 games of any coach on site; and if you went in with the viewpoint of trying to pick fault, you easily could. That's what we do as the fun police, decide that guy isn't playing as whiter than white as we do. Aren't we brilliant?

My philosophy is simple. I have a very limited time with which to play open online BB. When I look for a game, I look for a match between two teams that's interesting (I don't think minmax is interesting, hence my jump), that's varied compared to what I've played recently, and most importantly, that's there to play.

Ranked is not what it was in terms of volume. Very often, there is one game available, or one other coach available to play, at least. Sometimes, when I'm offered a game by that coach, I ask myself what the fun police would have me do. Would they stop me playing the only game I'll get all day because of some arbitrary number none of us agree is reasonable? Would they have me only play a game when the top 5% of the site are looking, or give up massive handicaps when they aren't? If you'd told me when I was new I needed huge leg ups in order to compete, I would have called you a patronising git and ignored you. Now, all I want is that strategic test of skill I play the game for. The days in the Box when I had to test skill and also test almost insurmountable odds thanks to CR weren't fun. Lord knows that's the only reason I'm here in the first place, fun. Don't police me!

So I want games. I'd rather play or not. But over the last month or so, getting the game has been the challenge.

During the recent loud chatter, there was the easy fallback amongst some of us that Ranked is full of pickers. Now, I don't really mind too much (although, I do admit it needled a little since that's where I am these days) about that, but it did make me wonder how one can pick these days. How many times do you see a jam packed gamefinder with glistening cherries that 'those guys' who I shan't mention would dive upon? Because I'm never on at those times. I think when we see good coaches play not so good coach these days, it's just easiest for some of us to fall back into the fun police standby; that game wasn't selected by an algorithm, picked game. It's lazy. I can sure as hell tell you that if I have a choice of playing a game in an evening with someone who's lost a few more games than me or not playing, I'll play. Wouldn't you?

But there is hope for the anti fun police. Look at Fishbowl. Here we have a new system where, to get a game, you must press that green tick. You don't hassle someone via IRC. Both coaches (effectively) need to make the challenge, so both coaches must want to play the game, must think it fair. In a very low percentage of games, of course you have the chance that a new coach doesn't know what he's doing. But, surely in 98% of cases plus, everyone is happy, and the fun police must go elsewhere to be judgemental.

I don't doubt that some people will still abuse choice. My gut instinct is that there will be the odd 'picker' with 20 hours a day free to sit with his team ticking over a thousand boxes until he gets the cherry he wants, and that some coaches will still only Elfball. But I do think 'picking' as we know it will be much reduced. I'd go as far as to say that if we didn't remember picking from the old days, it wouldn't get brought up.

But, anyway. The next time you're going to play the fun police on minmaxing, on picking, on matchmaking that others enjoy, whatever, just have a word with yourself. You could waste hours of your life getting stuck into the forum about it, or you could just accept that some people are always going to be a bit dodgy sometimes, and it's very likely that the one eyed man could find plenty of fault with you too.

Have a go on Fishbowl. Picking was so last year.