Personally i think the change should be on the amount of games played. Start from 2.0 for first win, then 1.75 and it would carry on down untill 0. It would also stop people leathering the "crap" players 23 - *something*

But currently its getting to the point where i dont enjoy playing this game anymore, win 3 games to lose all you've done in one... stupid...

Edited at 17:57 Sun 19/02/06 (GMT)

That's a fair point mavado (the rest of this post is about your point rather than about a user in particular).

Once a player has reached a ranking that represents their ability (to the best estimate of any ranking system), why would they want to play on? They wont be able to improve their ranking at this point.

What they must push on for, I guess, is to work on improving their game, however, peaks and troughs of a player's career are to be expected.

With rankings systems in other sports (eg football, tennis, golf) players rankings are generated according to games played in leagues or tournaments. The rankings change is just a side effect.

The point is that playing ranked games for just ranking adjustment can achieve little gain, especially when you stop gaining points.

The best way of looking at it is for them to analyze their games, are they too aggressive, lose white ball too often (like me!), poor safety escapes etc. Then they could address the problem and play more games to see if ranking improves.

2.0 1st win 1.75 for a 2nd win...thats 8 games.

Dunno bout you m8 but i like playin 1st to 10's at least.

when you go up say 19-0 your more likely to lose concentration too, i've won 20 odd in a row then lost 3 in a row to the same player.

If there was no rating increase for after the 8th game players would never get to the point where they lose to weaker players...something that might make them enjoy the game more if they beat the better players.

+ you'll get people playing one game, leaving the game, then joining the same game again. +2 every time. Also would that take into account the current rating of the players?

Just thought this needed a mention...there are currently 7 players on 850.0

OK, this issue has now been addressed. You might notice a slight increase in ranking points gained or lost.

We'll be able to see in about a week if the top 50 rankings have improved enough to knock the 850 pointers off the table.

the point still remains though that was brought up early in this debate, if you win 20-3 say...you can still end up being the one who comes out with the worse rank. That is a massive flaw in the rankings systme and cant be adjusted 'slightly' in my opinion. Maybe if a player continually beat you there points they take off you could increase? not just for a flukey one off win. every time they win the deduction to your rank is increased?

The fact that you can win overall in matches and yet lose points is deliberate and the basis of the ranking system.

Your example was a little bit extreme. Let's reduce it to a smaller scale, say a 6-2 win by an average professional over an average intermediate.

The professional was expected to win 7-1, which means he did worse than expected, and the intermediate did better. Hence the professional loses a little bit of ranking, and the intermediate gains a bit.

Note most popular sporting ranking systems use similar methods such as these to rate teams and players.

The flaw in the ranking system discussed here was that there were too few players rated over 850.

Can really notice the difference! i drop by 4 a frame when i lose!

When you lose 4 points, what rank are the players taking them?

lost 3.3 for losing to a 817.

4.24 for losing to a 730'er

3.9 to a 760'er

I'm not on about novices!

I understand that, but if you are playing against somebody with a 140-150 difference in ranking (730 vs 875) then you should expect to take a drop.

I think if you are willing to take the points, you should also be willing to lose them. If not then you could stick to playing only 850+, this way you put yourself up against people with a similar ability, and you won't get so upset when you lose!

Edited at 16:55 Tue 14/03/06 (GMT)

lol i'm not upset abotu losing it, i if i lost a frame its my own fault or they played well to win it, it sjust i only used to lose about 2/3 at a time.

Also when the majority of players on the site are adept its hard not to play them.

On funkysnooker the ranking change is 4 times higher than funkypool.

Top players may lose 15-20 points, but they're not too worried because they'll gain the points back in the same time.

Squeezy, I think given time your ranking (and most high ranked players) will be higher with this increase.

It's ok for me as my ranking is an accurate representation of my ability!

*Looks other way*

Hey guys, it looks like the new ranking system is working!!!

squeezy 907.3
topshot 904.7
middles_boro 904.4

That's 3 Virtuosos at once, The entry score for the Top 50 is now 837, only 13 points away from the sitters at 850!!

Yeah, it's working alright!!

It is indeed, seeya there soon!!