How about introducing a feature that will give the user to select if he wants the round for him to be rated or not, while registering for the contest?
Many times candidates want to participate in a contest, but the fear of losing their rating holds them back from participating (at least from their main account). So I believe such a feature will have a positive impact in the sporting spirit of the candidates.
Isn't that what virtual participation is for
There's a difference in participating live, and giving a virtual contest , where the solutions to problems are easily available, and the motivation to solve problems is not as high as during a live contest.
Pretty sure the main motivation for a contest is the fear of losing rating.
How about making editorials and solutions unviewable during virtual participation instread?
If you really wanted to cheat during a virtual contest, you could just read the editorial before starting. You already see people coming in and solving every problem in five minutes with prewritten solutions.
Also, if you give up / solve all problems during a virtual contest, it would be really annoying to have to wait until the contest is over to read the editorial and discussion on the round.
I didn't think of that before, thanks.
I agree with you buddy.
A better solution can be restricting the user in competing in a rated round within five days of account creation.
I registered my account five mins before the contest. Just because I wanted to participate in a fucking contest. Your suggestion would only decrease people's enthusiasm. Moreover, it would lead to people creating several alts at a time so they always have a new one.
Many of the alt accounts top the standing page which are created minutes before the contest. Only in rare scenario a new user will come and start competing in a contest.
I guess, in long run, this will increase the platform quality. Obviously, there doesn't exist a full proof solution.
Yes, because they can. I'm saying that if people couldn't create a brand new alt before the contest, what would stop them from creating 5 alts the same day so they have enough alts for the next few months. It doesn't take much effort to do so. Temporary emails are free and coming up with a handle isn't hard either.
Can you back this claim up with some numbers?
They might not remember the account credentials after 5 days xD
Remembering credentials isn't easy indeed, but you can always rely on your browser storing this data.
Agreed. For example, I wanted to participate in round 669, but knew that at some point during the competition I would have to leave. If I could participate unrated, I would have participated until I left, but I couldn't, so I didn't :|
This is a nice idea. Atleast people who create new account to avoid rating change (which is one of the main reasons for alt accounts), will be enjoying the contests from their existing account.
Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure you can still view and submit to problems in a live contest even if you aren't registered. This is basically what you are suggesting (unless I'm misunderstanding something).
You can view problems but you cannot submit your solutions if you have not registered.
Oh, ok. In that case perhaps an easy solution would be to allow unregistered participants to submit.
Then hacking won't work. Maybe something like dynamic rooms will solve that or either allow access to all solutions like Educational Rounds(not allowed to copy paste ofcourse like Educational).
Not sure if I'm about to expose more of my lack of knowledge about CF contests, but I don't think many solutions get hacked in contests with the regular Codeforces format. As far as I can tell most hacks are attempted after the contest.
There are certainly some hacks that are attempted, but in my opinion that portion of users is practically negligible compared to the wider range of participants, both rated and unrated.
I wonder whether it will decrease popularity of the rated version
And why are you using an alt account to post this?