This has spun out of the JR thread of not giving points for certain levels of opponent.
My raw thought is to adjust the scoreboard to have two tiers.
The first which shows their total score, the second to show their score and rank by applying their relative rank. So a 5000 point player with a relative rank of 0.6 would actually only be a Colonel on 3000 points.
Now let's see how this would affect game play.
Say this 5000 (3000) point player takes on a 2000 point player with an RR of 0.8 (so has a ranking of 1600) and beats him. He presently wins 8 points. However, if his relative rank then dropped by 0.001 so that it then read 0.599 his ranking score would be 5008x0.599=3000 so he would, in fact have gained no points towards his promotion. Meanwhile should the 2000 point player see a commensurate rise in his rank to 0.801 his ranking score would then be 1992x0.801=1596 so he would actually only lose 4 points.
Take this a stage further....
This same 5008 point player then takes on a 1000 point player with an RR of 1.0 and beats him. He receives a gross 4 points. However, this will have a greater impact on his RR. Now even if it still just reduces his RR by a further 0.001 then he would now have a ranking total of 5012x0.598=2997. In other words this win was not worth taking.
Using myself as an example:
My score as at writing is 3843
My RR is 0.862
So my relative rank is 3843x0.862=3313 (Brig status)
If I was to take on khushhal, presently no. 250 on the scoreboard, with 2514 points, and beat him, I would earn 13 points.
With this system, there is little likelihood my RR would be affected by more than a single point due to the closeness of our points, so I would, in all likelihood, gain a net 12 points to my RR score. With a present RR of 0.815 khushhal is unlikely to gain by more than a point.
However, if I was to swoop down to say slayer6, presently no. 12502 on the scoreboard, with 988 points and win a game, my points earnt would be 5. However, since his score is so much lower, there is every chance it would affect my RR. If it was affected by the .001 mentioned earlier, my RR would then be 0.861, so my although my 'score' would increase to 3848, my RR score would now be 3848x0.861=3313 it is then obvious that to 'farm' in the newer sense of the word would not be worthwhile in any way to me as my scoreboard rank/points would not change.
Issues surrounding this:
Stopping low ranks 'ambushing' high ranks when it would have the effect of above. I am sure it would not take a great deal of coding to show on the game finder page what the net effect on your score would be if you won any particular game, just as it would not take a lot of coding to block 'ambushing'.
Some benefits:
Scoreboard is adjusted to show a more meritocratic hierarchy of players.
High ranked players are then encouraged to play alongside low rank players in team games to ensure a win situation. Those low rankers would then learn more than they do constantly swimming around the same pool.
High ranked 'lean machine' teams (and I can be accused of running those I fully admit) would not be able to take series of games and points without suffering in the process.
Teams would ebb and flow as low ranks gained in points, because the efficiency of those teams points pick ups steadily diminishes over time.
It would reduce the reward for 'easy kills', to the point that it is not a viable option.
I am sure many will find problems within what I have laid out, but I have long felt that the RR is a truer way of seeing players for what they are. It would also resolve the long term argument about 'farming' in one quick sweep.
However, there is a down side. The argument that senior ranks do not play junior ranks could gain credence. To this I answer simply that as can be seen from my figures, it would still be viable for a rank/score holder such as me to play anyone over 1250 points if I was prepared to risk that level of points, and I would! After all, what is the point of holding such a level if you are not. I am a team player, this is what I enjoy, so there may well be issues regarding this, but I am sure within this community there are enough sound minds to resolve any of those issues.
Thank you for your time in reading this.
