Start of season idea

[mjolnir416]

I don't know if this has been discussed or if you've thought about it nobo or even if it would be possible to do, but since new season of ladder often brings uneven games with players over and under rated, would it be possible, or worth it, to have players start at different ratings based on how they finished the last season? For example, players who finished <1000 would start at 1000, players 1000-2000 would start 1500, and players >2000 would start at 2000.

I don't see how this would hurt and it would help get players to their true rating, not to mention better games, faster.

[Nikon]

Not a bad idea!

[[Y]]

too late for ball ladder, but not for tbd!

[Disilord]

What would be the point of new seasons?

[mjolnir416]

What's the point of it anyway? This way the terrible players, with at least 1 seasons worth of stats proving they are terrible, start in the hole. Mediocre players start at the same anyway. And the better players get a boost. If any player doesn't deserve their rating, it will change anyway.

I just threw out basic numbers. Someone could come up with better numbers, I don't care. Maybe split the ladder into thirds and give them the average of their third or something if you want to get technical. I figure the >2000 group would probably be the biggest since there is no upper cap, so maybe split it into 4 groups or something, with the 4th being a percentage of the top players.

[VipMattMan]

If the rating system was perfect, it would make sense for the ratings to carry over, or for there to be no new seasons at all, but I think a fair number of people have their questions about the "absolute" validity of the system. Rating resets help neutralize those feelings to some extent.

[Threevenge]

Originally Posted by VipMattMan

If the rating system was perfect, it would make sense for the ratings to carry over, or for there to be no new seasons at all, but I think a fair number of people have their questions about the "absolute" validity of the system. Rating resets help neutralize those feelings to some extent.

Well said. It's not a perfect system and the way to get a general sense of who the better players are is to see if they can consistently rise to the top season after season. I like the challenge of having to start over and see if I can get a few more spots above each season.

[Solqom]

Surely this wouldn't work. Say Person A finishes one season with 1990 and Person B finishes with 2001. A would get knocked down to 1500 whilst B stays at 2000 giving B a 500 point lead. This would mean that in the new season A would have to win an extra 500 points (20 games roughly) to get back to even.

If everyone starts at different levels it just means the top players have a huge advantage. The whole point of everyone starting at the same level is so that everyone naturally filters into their correct rankings. Whilst there may be some badly balanced matches at the beginning it's completely random.

Everyone has to start with the same points otherwise it just wouldn't make sense.

Having 3-4 month season is great imo. Short enough that anyone could win it, and long enough to completely separate the great from the good, the good from the bad, and the bad from the please **** off and uninstall.

[Aki1024]

Back when I posted this idea, I suggested it being on a bell curve, averaging players closer to 1500. Perhaps ((1500*x)+CurrentRank)/(x+1)
At ranks 700 and 3000 with x=2, we see those ranks move to 1233 and 2000 respectively. Also Solq's worry of on the border disadvantage would be fixed. As people get farther and farther ahead then 2300, this solution starts pulling them back farther and farther.

[mjolnir416]

Originally Posted by Solqom

If everyone starts at different levels it just means the top players have a huge advantage. The whole point of everyone starting at the same level is so that everyone naturally filters into their correct rankings. Whilst there may be some badly balanced matches at the beginning it's completely random.

The top players already have an advantage. It's because they're better. Everyone will still "naturally" filter to their rating because they will have to play the games still. The players that dont end up deserving their starting rating will go up or down accordingly. This is just meant to accelerate the process.

It wont keep people from competing, because you are still going to need to win. It's not like its gonna keep you locked into one group or is a free pass to the top.