[Dark_Chrysalis]

Also as a heads-up to people, I was thinking of starting/running a MK7 Ladder so we have some kind of competitive thing. Kind of a way to keep interest going and to increase our online activities. Now, there's 2 ways I could go about this.

One is just a general gaming ladder. If you dont know what this is, its basically a "Top 10" of sorts in which people are rated as if on the rungs of a ladder. You try and start out at the bottom of the ladder and work your way up. You can challenge anyone directly above you (If you're not on the ladder, that's 10th or whatever the bottom is) and occasionally the person above that too if you so desire. Winner takes the higher spot on the ladder, with the loser taking the other spot. You can only challenge someone once in a certain amount of time, and usually someone on the ladder cannot deny a challenge unless they've adequately defended their spot (say, if you successfully defend the spot thrice in a day, you dont have to accept another challenge for the rest of the day etc.)

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The other option involves an actual rating system. I basically made a few formulas very similar to the Elo rating system used for pretty much everything competitive (namely Chess). If you've played online with Mario Kart Wii, its basically the VR on that, but with different standards. Everyone would start out at what would be considered a middling rating (I chose 150) and depending on who you face, what their VRs are, and what place you got, your VR and theirs would change accordingly. I've already started on an Excel spreadsheet that would keep track of the VRs and would also calculate changes in VRs from races.

Basically, it calculates for each player what your chances of placing ahead of them are, and gives points based on whether you place ahead of them or not. In a larger game, you're rewarded for better placement with more points where as you're penalized more for losing. Also, the higher the difference between 2 players, the less the rating changes. If a 250 ranked player defeats a 150 ranked player, for example, it would only change the ratings by .4 points

All that would be required of you guys is to record your matches and PM them to me or post them on my AIM, and I can do the rest. I'd change my 1st post in this thread to accommodate the chart, or we could just do another thread entirely. Either way, its actually not a strain on me once I get the equations typed out. All I would do is put in the racers, their placement, it would give me all their changes and I'd swap them out. I'd be able to update it at least once a day.
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So, anyone else game for these 2 options?