It's quite frustrating that at the end of the game when there are no possible words left, and the score is obviously not going to change, that we keep picking out letters until the end of time…

If I'm in the lead and i resign, i lose, right.

and, does the ultimate score affect my rating? say I lose 150 to 165.5 versus 149 to 164.5….

One reason not to resign is that your opponent might lose on time.

No, your rating in Golem's Word Game (or in any other game here) is NOT based upon the score of that game. If you win a game by one point or one hundred points, your rating will increase by the same amount. The same is true if you lose a game. Your rating will decrease by the same amount if you lose a game by just a few points or by many points.

People have different feelings about resigning. Some, like myself, will do it as soon as the outcome is no longer in doubt. To me, once the winner is known, the game/contest no longer becomes fun. It's no longer challenging, it's boring, etc. Others, of course, feel there is honor in “finishing the game.”

And yes, to answer your other question, if you are in the lead and you resign, you do indeed lose.

I resign when I think there's no way I can win the game,

given reasonable play by the opponent. Unfortunally, there

are always players who won't resign until the last move,

dragging the game for days. It happens here, it happens on

other sides. Although I have to say that in tradional games,

or games based on tradional games people tend to resign early

more than in other games. I don't think that I've played an

Amazon game till the end, and chess usually is decided before

a mate happens. OTOH, soccer and GWG often goes till the last

possible move.