Score or Skill Inflation?

[The Neon Peon]

Question for the old timers here: Have people gotten better at the game, or have scores simply inflated?

Well, I know there were times when being major made you conqueror, and the higher ranks were seen as unachievable, and now being colonel does not guarantee being in the top 250.

Is this simply a natural inflation in score, or have people really gotten that much better? or in other words... does it take as much skill to be captain or major, or colonel now as it would have 1 year ago?

[owenshooter]

where you here for the last decrease in points needed for rank? it was great (sarcasm), i woke up a new rank, and was still about 500pts away under the old points system... i felt cheated, and the old timers let me know i hadn't really earned squat... sigh..-0

[sully800]

Natural inflation. It has been happening since day 1 on this site.

Every player who joins adds more points into the system. The large amount of new recruits lose their first 4 games and never return, which adds an average of 80 points into the system. This effect was limited after we stopped taking points from deadbeat new recruits but it still occurs.

Even if every player continued to play, inflation would occur. Adding more people into the system creates a larger base of poor players which propels the best players ever higher. Yes, some new excellent players join the site every day. And yes, the point gaining techniques have been refined and honed over the years which allows ever increasing scores. But without thousands of players no one would be able to get to 5000 points because there wouldn't be enough points in circulation to sustain that kind of score.

[max is gr8]

I say that skill has decreased site-wide, thus sending the genuinely good players into higher scores

[Johnny Rockets]

Let us please note that the event of clickable maps, and sanctioned farming has done more for point inflation and rank worthlessness than ANYTHING else, ever.

It's also decreased traffic and discourages more newbies from sticking around.

Thus your core group of site users has a naturally rising asshole % , as good players and members get fed up and fade away.

Now there is talk of super scripts to make clickable maps look like a cartoon.

Many thanks, Capt. Joseph Hazelwood!
Glad your paying attention to where we are headed...........

Or perhaps Capt' Smith would be more appropriate.

JR

[Downey]

The large amount of new recruits lose their first 4 games and never return, which adds an average of 80 points into the system.

But remember, for every good player that comes in, and stays in, that's -80 or the first 4 games (or thereabout) with many more points since the ones that stay drain points from the pre-existing state of the site.

[Timminz]

This effect was limited after we stopped taking points from deadbeat new recruits

That hasn't been implemented yet. Look at Game 3851927 for evidence.

[sully800]

Well that WOULD limit the effect! I sometimes forget how slowly changes are implemented on this site. It's a shame because I feel like there are many valuable items on the to do list that are actually intended to be added....but time constraints prevent that from happening.

And a great reason for the time problems is the negative people who attack the site: multis, cheaters, copyright issues....they all drain time away from the issues which could benefit the paying members of this site. And its a damn shame.

[MeDeFe]

This effect was limited after we stopped taking points from deadbeat new recruits

That hasn't been implemented yet. Look at Game 3851927 for evidence.

I think it only applies if they never take a turn at all, if they do you get points from them.

[Zemljanin]

So Max and King are actually lowering point inflation! (Since they are taking only 5 points per game from new players)
I never thought that way... So after wicked, we'll get some new special contribution medal holders soon

[Jeff Hardy]

So Max and King are actually lowering point inflation! (Since they are taking only 5 points per game from new players)
I never thought that way... So after wicked, we'll get some new special contribution medal holders soon

manimal should receive a special contribution medal too because he made an account, beat a farmer and then quit the account and made another one only to do the same thing

that killed a lot of inflation

[Zemljanin]

So Max and King are actually lowering point inflation! (Since they are taking only 5 points per game from new players)
I never thought that way... So after wicked, we'll get some new special contribution medal holders soon

manimal should receive a special contribution medal too because he made an account, beat a farmer and then quit the account and made another one only to do the same thing

that killed a lot of inflation

manimal for president!!
I can tell that our medal forge is going to be quite busy in the next period

[Itrade]

Haha, I remember Sully (No C, see? Haha, I finally remembered!) made a topic that turned into super long discussion about inflation and its effects on CC. At one point harsh words were exchanged (Or rather I was flinging them at someone (DiM?) and they pinged harmlessly off his armour or fur or whatever he protects himself with) and I recall us coming to an amicable partial agreement on the subject, but there was still a lot of side discussion to be had.

I remember the discussion ending (or perhaps begining!) with me agreeing that point inflation was happening but then saying that it wasn't having any harmful effect so there was no need to combat it.

Apparently I was wrong, judging by all these new topics about membership numbers dropping and such. Hmm, maybe more new members are looking at the Conqueror and thinking "I'll never reach that, no point even trying" compared to "Well, that's pretty unreachable, but I can still have fun!"

So yeah, looks like I lose that debate almost a year after it started.