One way Ironclad might solve the smurfing problem -- Skill ratings

from Sins Forums

Did smurfing kill the player counts on ICO?  Have you stopped beating your wife yet?  A few people have made this the #1 topic on this forum.  Why not?  It's not as though we have much else to talk about.

Is there a way that players could maintain anonymity yet still have a CD-Key-based player ranking they cannot escape from?  Inescapable games played and win-loss records would make player identities too obvious, so I propose that players have Skill ratings on a 1-10 (more anonymity) or 1-100 (less anonymous but finer distinctions) basis, with new players starting at S-1.  The S-ratings would have to be based on various factors, but it seems like it might be a good way to allow players to change their names and remain anonymous while allowing other players to be able to assess their skill.  Of course, if ICO were really improved, teams could be chosen by pressing a button that would try to average out the skill on each team using some sort of a weightings formula.

multiplayer
4,435 views 8 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top

Dirty, I like it, a lot. But, will THEY do it? Doubtful.

As i said elsewhere, people should stop discussing what ICO can do, and just start doing what WE can do-WE can bring our main accounts and a welcoming attitude.

"Smurfing problem" solved. No more if only ICO this... OR if only ICO that... JUST if only I...

Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top

I have to disagree with you ZOOMERS. This is a DEV issue because no matter what is said in the forums, certain people will always exploit whatever there is to exploit and bad behaviour will continue if there are no consequences.

Star Control: Origins
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top

This solution won't work.  It's similar with what was tried to stop AT-smurfs in Warcraft III, and it actually made the problem worse because people started gaming the system by loss-botting and screwing up perfectly good matches with the intent of skewing their aggregate skill level.

Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top

U dont need any skill ranking, just number of games played on this cd-key.

 

Ups, better not, if i see haw many games i played on all my smurfs i might quit

Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top

Thanks for pointing that out, Darvin.  So there are lamers out there who would try to circumvent even that system.

Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top

How about a points ranking system, each game you win, you get 3 points, and if you lose 1 point. This means that people would like to improve on thier profile, by winning more points to climb the ladder.

Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top

How about a points ranking system, each game you win, you get 3 points, and if you lose 1 point. This means that people would like to improve on thier profile, by winning more points to climb the ladder.
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This is almost plausible.  I say almost because I wonder how it would flesh out because some players with relatively high game counts suck (like me) and won't necessarily reflect comparable skill levels with their player counts due to the older accounts that had a disproportionate number of mini-dumps and such.  It might be preferable if this were started from a line in the sand type date and moving forward kept track of the game counts.

Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top

I think I'd rather have a Skill Rating based on a win-loss ratio and number of games played than merely a points system for the reason Chiken mentioned.