Guild Wars 2

Hello, I’m wondering if anyone has noticed that a lot of players who are currently not playing are still in the top 100 spots etc. My question to arenanet is does your leaderboards system have a Decay function? If yes; how often/strong is the decay? If no, can you please let us know why you didn’t go with this feature?

Here’s the issue: A month or so ago we had much less competition in the tournaments so attaining a higher MMR was easier. Now with the slow, but steady return of old players and new players the competition is much higher so attaining a high MMR is a bit harder.

If a player received a high MMR from last month, it would seem natural that if they do not play for a few weeks they would decay until their MMR is lower.

Just wondering if this has been thought of. Sorry for any reposts if someone has already asked.

I have “decayed” by 2 places since last night.. so there will be a decay from players over taking in the rankings.. other than that i know nothing on decay coding in there..

an answer would be nice..

a question.. would the community want a decay code or just have it as it is and have active players gradually take over..

that way there is no penalty for taking a break from the game or it being an emergency.

or do you feel that if the rank was attained easily then should it decay for more competition?

firebreathz.7692:

I have “decayed” by 2 places since last night.. so there will be a decay from players over taking in the rankings.. other than that i know nothing on decay coding in there..

an answer would be nice..

a question.. would the community want a decay code or just have it as it is and have active players gradually take over..

that way there is no penalty for taking a break from the game or it being an emergency.

or do you feel that if the rank was attained easily then should it decay for more competition?

This isn’t decay. This is players over-taking your current rank pushing you down. What decay is, is automatically reducing your MMR based on inactivity after a certain period.

Here’s an example. Last month let’s say theoretically there was 100 active players in tournaments. My MMR was very high because of the low competition. Two months later 10,000 active players are playing, but my MMR is still high because I have chosen not to play any tournaments. The competition is much much higher now, and if I were to compete against 10,000 active players my mmr would never be that high, yet it still is because I haven’t decayed over time so in the grand picture of rankings I will stay with-in the top ranks.

That’s an example of how a non-decay system would work.

An example of how a decay system would work: Let’s say after the two weeks of no tournament play the system will reduce my MMR by a few ticks every day until I play again. Once I play again, if I lose or win the MMR will sort itself out.

What does that do? It keeps the best players that are active at the top of the rankings in relation to the current competition with-in the community.

As far as i remember it was stated that there is a part of the gliko-2 algorithm that take this decay into consideration.

if you reread what i wrote i knew that
“a question.. would the community want a decay code or just have it as it is and have active players gradually take over..”

and i also worded it like this “decayed” with quotes to kinda say it wasn’t decaying but i guess you missed that..

my question was does the community want that decay coding or leave it and have active players just take over inactive ones..

cuge.5398:

As far as i remember it was stated that there is a part of the gliko-2 algorithm that take this decay into consideration.

Actually the only part of the Glicko-2 system I can see that has some form of decay is that the volitility increases when inactive meaning you can get to a higher/lower rank faster. I can’t actually find something in the original numerical system that actively removes rank. Seeing how this is a chess rating system I wouldnt be suprised if there was no decay unless ANET specifically added it in.

I don’t think its needed. Good Players and New Good Players and Teams will naturally increase their ratings. The line is always moving until the next reset. If you don’t play you will continually drop in rating. If you do play and don’t consistently win you will move all over the place.

I would personally prefer a decay system in place to encourage people to play to stay on top. Otherwise you have people that would get high up and just quit to maintain that. Make it so that it only affects people above the baseline. LoL used to use a decay system in their elo ratings.

Reverse decay systems are pretty cool too, but I don’t think that would work here. SC2 is an example of this.

Theplayboy.6417:

I don’t think its needed. Good Players and New Good Players and Teams will naturally increase their ratings. The line is always moving until the next reset. If you don’t play you will continually drop in rating. If you do play and don’t consistently win you will move all over the place.

Thats not really how it works. One person’s rating gain is another’s loss. When you are at the top you have much more to lose then you have to gain.

Against anyone, the top rank player would lose more total rating points from a loss than they would gain from a win. However if that top player quit, they really wouldn’t be going anywhere from that position. They might drop some spots, but nothing substantial.

Nettle.9025:

I would personally prefer a decay system in place to encourage people to play to stay on top. Otherwise you have people that would get high up and just quit to maintain that. Make it so that it only affects people above the baseline. LoL used to use a decay system in their elo ratings.

Reverse decay systems are pretty cool too, but I don’t think that would work here. SC2 is an example of this.

Theplayboy.6417:

I don’t think its needed. Good Players and New Good Players and Teams will naturally increase their ratings. The line is always moving until the next reset. If you don’t play you will continually drop in rating. If you do play and don’t consistently win you will move all over the place.

Thats not really how it works. One person’s rating gain is another’s loss. When you are at the top you have much more to lose then you have to gain.

Against anyone, the top rank player would lose more total rating points from a loss than they would gain from a win. However if that top player quit, they really wouldn’t be going anywhere from that position. They might drop some spots, but nothing substantial.

Incorrect sir. It is not a 1 to 1 ratio. The line is certainly always moving. It’s just like the GvG Rating in Guild Wars 1. Players and teams that consistently win will consistently increase their rating. I have an example of the line moving already. One of the people I frequently play with was in the 70’s when the boards were released. He has not played any sPvP and his rank has been steadily decreasing. He’s not even in the top 100 in a matter of days.

The top rating is not a static line. It moves. There is no need to punish people because they don’t play as frequently as some….

Yup I noticed this too, some people like Zoose I haven’t seen there games and wins improve yet hes still on it with crazy low amount of games.

Decay is relative to others. So if your rating is 1500 you stay at that rating. However, others probably just out rating you so it appears you are falling. That is happening to me. I have not tourney in 10 days and I am decaying with respect to rest of top 100 and have fallen out of it by 30 spots.