Is anybody out there??

[Mad Baron]

One suggestion is to have a ''6-month ladder'' as an addition. The all-time ladder is great, and you have to keep that one, but most new players have to dig around the bottom to see their accomplishments. So have a 6-month ladder that shows only those players that report a game during that period. All the same info as the all-time ladder, but have the players ranked according to Win %, so even a new player who plays just a single 1000-point QB but wins it, will see himself at least sharing the top spot on that 6-month ladder. At the end of the 6 months, clear the ladder and begin from scratch again, with only games reported in the new period counting.

I'd suggest January-June and July-December. If this could be done retro-actively without too much muss or fuss, I'd post a ladder now that has anyone reporting in July up to the end of next month.

I noticed my own stats for the last 12 months. I average 2-3 games a month reported. For the previous 6-12 month period I averaged slightly more wins than losses. But the last 3 months I have more than double losses as wins, which confirms what I've been feeling for a while now: burn-out. I figured I needed to take a break or something pretty soon. A 6-month ladder might motivate me to slow down but not stop, and take my time and try to compete for a nice spot, at my own pace, on the new temporary ladder.

The key again is to rank by WIN %. People who play a lot of big point games will always out-score more casual players, and ELO doesn't need to be the front seat of a 6-month ladder either. A 6-month Win % Ladder would be fair and open to newby and veteran alike.

Trying to sharp-shoot my own idea here...and I see some players could just play once and win and thereby remain at the top the whole 6 months (would anyone do that??), leading even someone who played 10 and only lost once. So maybe require at least 2 games posted by the 3-month period to stay on the ladder, and 4 by the 5th month, or something reasonable? And maybe require some minimum game points to be eligible to be on the 6-month ladder, like at least 1000 pt. games? All this just to make sure at least moderately serious players are competeing on the ladder. And the 6 months to each ladder is just to keep it small and attainable to new players joining at any time.

And if people share a % bracket, the one with more games played is listed above the other.

Just an idea to roll around.......;)