[LazarusLong42]

Originally posted by geoschmo:
Ok Eric, I am assuming this could all be done automatically? Cause otherwise this seems incredibally complicated to me.

Also, how does it work for new players joining the ranking system later on. What ranking do they start with?

Geoschmo

Yeah, it could be done automatically. It wouldn't be too much work, except for the Last case (>2 players and >1 winner). Though I'm thinking that case may be set up in too complex a fashion and should be treated as a draw.

New players, to start, would start with 1000 as their rating. Later on, new players would start at the average rating of all active players. Whomever wishes to run the service would have to define how long after the Last played game a player becomes "inactive". This doesn't counter the inflation Zanthis speaks of, but it keeps the average points per player stable, thus making things fair for new incoming players.

I suspect that even +/-5% inflation in this sort of point system would take a good couple of years to show up, simply because of the speed (or lack thereof) of most SE4 games. Excluding, of course, some of the games in the Uni Cup Tourney, the shortest of which Lasted under a week. I would recommend not artificially deflating the system unless the inflation truly got out of hand.

Only one other matter would need to be settled: Say player A and player B start a game today. Two weeks from now, A and C start a game. The first game ends a month later, and two months later the second game ends.

What is A's starting rating for the second game?? I recommend it be considered the same as his starting rating for the first game, since at the time the second game started, the first game was not yet settled.

(This is not generally a problem in these systems because they're used with games, like Chess or Starcraft, that are finished within 15 minutes to 3 hours, rather than 3 months).

Eric