Spotlight

newbieA (1781) / StonyDrew (1733) ®

"undead turtled vs orcs" ~newbieA




[21/10] newbieA is the master of the universe at position 1!
[19/10] StonyDrew is now at the top of the mountain as number 1!
[09/10] newbieA says this is a temporary thing and claims the 2nd place.
[09/10] vvd says there's only a few left to beat and enters the Top 5.
[02/10] newbieA says there's only a few left to beat and enters the Top 5.

News

improved rating system coming

As some of you may have noticed the phenomenon known as "bottom feeding" - highly skilled players getting points from highly unskilled - seems to be a potential problem.

In the long run the current way the ladder works would solve most of these cases. Our problem is however that we can't afford a such a "long term" perspective as it's way too long than maybe most of you will stick around: We need a more flexible system when you're a new player, and a more hardcore when you're a veteran on the ladder.

In addition we have a problem if players start getting the impression that you can become a top ranking player on the ladder without ever playing/beating other top ranking players, simply because it doesn't make any sense: To be at the top you'd be expected and have to play the top players or at least get the majority of your points from players around your own skill class.

In real life usage Elo, the rating system we and many others use, was made for competitions where you did not always (or never) got to select your opponents. Thus, bottom feeding couldn't be real problem, as it can in here since we all choose our opponents ourself. Naturally some skilled players will fall for the temptations to bottom feed. That is however not the way we envisioned the ladder. We want to see as exciting games as possible, and as stimulating play as possible. That is not the case where one player rapes another, for either player, not from an intellectual point of view anyhow.

Here are the great news >>

We will, in a not very distant future, change the way the rating works, to encourage players to start playing with other players that are within a certain range of their own rating.

This is an example only, as the figures may change: A 1700 player winning over a 1500 player would get 0 points because she has 200 elo points more than the opponent. At the same time, her opponent would still get plenty of points if he would win over her.

The idea is to use a few different modifiers like the above to encourage play within your own elo ranges (as an example +-200 etc), and at the same time solve the problem with players picking easy targets.

When the changes come it will all be announced and explain in greater detail by chains, our beloved wizard dealing with this.

We will also change the way the K-values work, making it more fun for the newcomers and more respectable for the veterans.

Meanwhile, keep playing as usual. When the time comes we'll convert all your ratings in an equal manner so that they all are fair and work with the updated system, so there's nothing to worry or think about.

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