hyperchessbot
commented
3 years ago My friend @TheYoBots is voicing a lot of legitimate concerns of the bot community.
I'm a little bit more experienced and more familiar with how bots evolved on lichess and in some respects this post wants roll back time, for example posting in forums WAS possible in the past for bots. There must have been a reason to stop this, so I don't think this will be reverted.
In general I have low expectation that bots will be made more visible to human players and also doubt that bot arena tournaments will be allowed, but let's hope for the best.
I feel that bots have very few privileges at lichess.org and that there are many things bots can’t do. Here are a few features I think really needs to be added.
Arena and Swiss Tournaments: It would be really nice if bots can have Arena or Swiss Tournaments among themselves and against Human Beings. I suggest that there should be a feature in “advance search” when someone creates a tournament to allow either only Humans or only BOTS or both Humans and BOTS. Also for the convenience of many who don’t want to include Bots in their Tournament set ‘only Humans’ as default. It would be fun if Bots could have a shield and other trophies in their profile if they win a Tournament. Please do note that as many do not want to play against Bots in tournaments the option can be given to them in advance settings while creating a tournament.
Forum Posting: I really think that Bots should be allowed to post in lichess forums. Sometimes it can be inconvenient for many who have a Bot account to post with their human account hence I feel it is really required. Though some may feel that it is creepy when Bots are posting in forums, but people should realise that it is a human that is posting in the forum, not a Bot. *This is the least necessary and might not even be required to implement.
Easy Pairing: Sometimes it is really hard for a Bot to find another Bot with a similar rating. Sometimes you have to play Bots that are either too strong for your Bot or too weak for your Bot. This has resulted in many Bots having a higher rating than what their actual rating is or a lower rating than what their actual rating is. It would be nice if there is a pairing system. Also if Bot or Humans want they should be able to play against each other. Humans and Bots can get an option which allows them to choose whether they want to play with another Human or another Bot or both(and whoever from the two accept the challenge will play). A lobby system could also be added. Also a Bot should be allowed to make a simul and allow either Humans or Bots or both(applies for Humans too).
Bots Leaderboard: It would be great to create a leaderboard for only Bots(though there may be very few at lichess). This could to know where your own Bot stands among many other Bots at lichess. A leaderboard for Bots in each speed and variant would really be good.
These are a few suggestions for lichess, please do think about it and I hope that at least few(if not all) are accepted. Please do post your comments and tell me if I missed anything or if you have anything to add on.
Thanks 😊