The ranking system is an ELO style system, with a few tweaks to
accomodate networked play. The main parameters are:
the center of the system is 1500. The average ranking of
all active players should always be close to 1500. One of the
tweaks is that a few bonus points are awarded to every game to
continuously rebalance the system; so if players leave, or stop
playing, the ranks of all the other players are gradually adjusted to
bring the system back into balance.
The most that can be gained or lost in a single game is
approximately 20 points, in a game between players of equal rank.
The stake is less proportional to the difference in rank, up to about
900 points where the higher ranked player can't gain points and the
lower ranked player can't lose points. New players have less
influence on the change in rankings, so it is hard to gain or lose
points by playing beginners.
Cheating: anyone
suspected of playing games against themselves, or against shill
players, or against the villiage idiot, for the purpose of
inflating their rankings will be summarily disciplined. Likewise,
anyone using any program not provided by this site to assist during a
game, or using any tool or device not also used by his opponent, or
.... you get the idea. Play fair. If you want to experiment, play
unranked games.
Generally speaking, the rankings are a very rough guide to how strong a
player is, especially players who haven't played many games. The
rankings depend as much on who you choose to play as on how good you
are.
About Master Rankings
The master ranking system is a parallel ranking system, which uses the
same basic formula as the regular ranking system. The main
difference is that master rankings are based only on serious games
between serious players. Eventually, comparing master rankings
might be a fairly reliable guide to the relative playing strength of
master players.
Ok, so how do I become a master?
The current benchmark is to achieve an honest lobby ranking of 2000
for any game. The management is alerted automatically when a new
candidate qualifies. Your recent games will be reviewed to be
sure you're not using some trick to artificially inflate your
ranking. Master player's names appear in blue ink in the lobby,
and masters can play games in master rooms, which count toward master
ratings.
