ELO Ranking System - Thoughts

[MeltDown1]

The only thing I can say is if you look at top 100 players, most of them have stopped playing arena. Why ? Because Altered has a part of randomness. What does it mean ? Even if you play well, you will lose a significant amount of games. When you climb to top 100, you win something 3 to 7 elo per win and lose 30-35 per defeat. It means you have to win 5-6 games for 1 defeat. So I totally understand that people stop playing arena and begin smurfs. That’s why it’s not even a top 100, it’s a top 33 with people having several smurfs.

I don’t know a single sport where it is like this.

[AJT-LeGrenierLudique]

Yes I agree I'll stop playing Arena because of that, 2 points for winning and -20 for loosing. Hard to climb up in theses conditions, especially when luck is involved

[ChesseTheWasp]

I can't win a game so im just stuck at 1 elo and can't join arena mode.

[w41k3r13]

I think this website misses the point of a game. There is a degree of randomness that ensures I won't win 200 games in a row, And If I somehow did, I will not face the competition that the top 10 players did, unless I manage the same luck they did. Removing ELO is the obvious solution, I'm positive no one asked for it in the first place, and atleast one person is asking for it to be removed.

[Tisaac]

I think this website misses the point of a game. There is a degree of randomness that ensures I won't win 200 games in a row, And If I somehow did, I will not face the competition that the top 10 players did, unless I manage the same luck they did. Removing ELO is the obvious solution, I'm positive no one asked for it in the first place, and atleast one person is asking for it to be removed.

Not sure to follow you, why would having randomness be an issue for ELO ? Almost all other games on this plateform have randomness and you dont see players asking to remove ELO on all BGA

[Treboras - OIDA]

The "problem" here is pretty simple:

People expect to increase their ELO rating forever. They can't see the moment when their ELO is stabilized and they are at the ELO rating they belong at.

This is the problem. In every ELO system comes a point where you have to seriously work on your skill and knowledge of the games that you can progress further. You have reached your current peak and need to "git gud" to advance.

[TDC ZarpMH]

The "problem" here is pretty simple:

People expect to increase their ELO rating forever. They can't see the moment when their ELO is stabilized and they are at the ELO rating they belong at.

This is the problem. In every ELO system comes a point where you have to seriously work on your skill and knowledge of the games that you can progress further. You have reached your current peak and need to "git gud" to advance.

With that message I immediately realize that you don't play altered arena lol, try to reach the top and lose with a random, or with a smurf

[Gekiju]

Hey everyone,

I’ve never been as invested in a TCG/game as I am with Altered, both as a player and as an active community member. This game has incredible potential, and it’s been amazing to engage with such a passionate community.

However, i'm bit sad that there hasn’t been any response from the developers regarding the concerns around the Arena Elo system. It would be great to hear from them, not just to get answers, but to understand the challenges they face.

The Altered community is ready to help you and improve the competitive experience, and I believe we could work together.

So I listed few issues that players (including me) are facing. Here some quick wins that will make our experience highly better :

Cap Elo Loss Per Match
Issue: Losing costs far more Elo than winning, making it extremely difficult to climb.
Fix: Set a maximum loss cap at 2x the average win gain.
Example: If a win gives +12 Elo, the maximum loss should be -24, not -30 or more.
Benefit: Prevents a single loss from wiping out multiple wins.

Introduce "Win Streak Protection"
Issue: A short losing streak after a long winning streak completely erases progress.
Fix: If a player wins 3+ games in a row, reduce the Elo loss by 30% for the next 2-3 matches.
Benefit: Encourages consistent players while preventing unfair resets.

Use/Add K-Factor For Arena
Issue: Im not 100% sure but I think the current Elo system doesn’t take account the experience of the player, making high-ranked games too punishing.
Fix: I saw, at the end of a game a win probability. You probably based this metric on games played and elo of each player. Maybe use/implement a dynamic K-factor system that adjusts Elo gains and losses based on total games played
Example :
First 100 games High K-factor (40) to allow quick adjustments to a player's real skill level.
After 100 games Medium K-factor (20) to stabilize rankings.
For high-ranked players (Top 5%) Low K-factor (10) to prevent excessive Elo swings from single matches.
Benefit: Ensures fair progression while preventing drastic Elo shifts at high levels.

Adaptive Elo Scaling for High-Rank Players
Issue: At high Elo levels, there are fewer available opponents, forcing matches with huge Elo differences. Losing to a lower-ranked player unfairly punishes top players.
Fix: Introduce Dynamic Elo Scaling for large rank gaps
Example : If few high-ranked opponents are available, reduce the Elo penalty when losing to a much lower-ranked player.
Slightly increase the Elo gain when winning against them to compensate for the difficulty of finding balanced matches.
Benefit: Ensures fairer point distribution at high levels, making top-level play less punishing.

Implement an Inactivity-Based Elo Penalty System
Issue: Some players maintain a high ranking by simply avoiding playing matches, which discourages active competition.
Fix: Introduce a gradual Elo decay for inactivity based on ranking position
Example:
Top 10% of players: Lose X Elo per day/week of inactivity.
Middle-ranked players: Minimal or no decay.
Lower-ranked players: No penalty.
This penalty should only apply after a set period of inactivity (10-14 days) to avoid punishing players who take short breaks.
Benefit: Encourages active participation while preventing high-ranked players from avoiding matches to "protect" their Elo.

Hope this message will encourage people to not only share their concerns but contribute ideas and support to help BGA's developers and the Altered community to improve the game .

Gekiju

[gamezbeme]

I find the ELO ranking system extremely frustrating. I have played so many games where my ELO is much lower than the person who comes in first and I lose by 2 points, beat player 3 who has a low ranking by 70 points, and I'm the only player that gets minus ELO points. Very frustrating.