I must admit Sebsoft I am with you here !
I mostly play 1v1 though (due to my slow pc) and in non-rated its usually just a walkover !
In rated however you know there is no point playing someone under 1600 (although … yes I have been beaten by a lower players but don’t play them much) and no one does anything stupid !
No one resigns suddenly on a whim.. players battle to the death.. its more fair dinkum !
A great example was a game I played last night against a member of the Swift clan. Both Pho on a large hill map. I hit him hard in late tool and early bronze and was sure I had him.. took out 4 town centres and 50 vills.. won a heap of minor skirmishes.. then I ironed and he picked his time.. was all over me with a big army of CA’s and Sts… My army was spread out hunting for him and by the time it came back the game had evened up.. I got scythes but eventually his superior booming skills (I forget to make new TC’s .. I only made 2 even when I was killing him) won the day. It was great game which in non-rated he would’ve quit at about the 20 minute mark. You just don’t get this sort of game in non-rated !!
There is no pressure in non-rated unless you are playing a friend and pride is at stake !
Without pressure the game loses so much, like oh I forgot to click a new vill.. oh well I’ll probably lose .. so what.. nothing is at stake. When points are up for grabs you feel the pressure and the game is far more exciting !
Now I know a lot of people here don’t like rated but unless you have regular friends to play against (the only thing that can match rated for pressure) it is almost a necessity. When was the last time you lost a game in Q or even found a game in one of the “Expert” non-rated rooms… at the times I play the “Expert” rooms are empty.
For teams it may be different but rated cant be beaten for 1v1’s
Maimin Matties Mayhem always has a challenging game waiting !!