descentchampions.org

FWIW we have rarely had active non-Jeds/Mark pilots above a 24 skill rating, and it almost never lasts for very long.

The circumstances where pilots go above 24 are usually either someone coming back from a long time off and drubbing a mid-silver pilot 20-5 and getting a rating of like 44 (happened to me once; Jeds came looking for me to make sure I got knocked back down) or someone having a series of matches against a pilot who got much better shortly after (Zero's rating right now is 83% due to games with Lee and Code a couple months ago; their improvements have pushed his rating up from about 19 to 25 without him playing any.) I've seen lots of pilots over the years climb to 24+ for 3 or 4 games and then drop back below 20 within their next ten games.

If you're saying the diamond requirements are too steep due to the "dominance" factor but if we had a Platinum challenge for someone meeting part of them maybe we could occasionally have another Platinum pilot... the reality is, practically speaking the 24 skill rating requirement is the easiest one to make, and nobody has managed to climb over 24 and stay there for more than a few games, other than our already-diamond pilots. I'd rather not have pilots climbing into the highest tier because they happened to stomp a silver pilot and then have a few good games against diamond. Pilots who belong in the highest tier should be able to keep it up for more than a weekend.

If we had a pilot who was able to stay over 24 for a long period of time, but couldn't get their dominance rating up because there wasn't enough gold activity, I'd certainly consider loosening that requirement.

/agree with Lothar

That is true. Few have made it above it and none have stayed there except for Mark and myself. Those that have made it there were due to circumstances as described by Lothar.

Anyone that got offered a platinum challenge, imo, would need to have proven that they belong at the skill rating they are at and not be there because of a 'zero'-esque situation.

If you lower the entry skill rating qualifier from 24 to something less then you now also mess up the continuity birdseye spoke to as it relates to getting the Diamond achievement.

So, what does this mean? Does this mean that a 24 skill rating is just too much to ask or does this simply mean that everyone else is where they belong? GOLD, etc

For reference, Mark and I are both currently above 31 for skill rating. It is true, we rarely see anyone else go above that 24 rating and when they have crossed the mark it seems to have been due to extenuating circumstances.

So, what is it that we really want here? GOLD used to be the end all be all of achievement and pilots were very happy to make GOLD. Mark and I seem to be an anomaly and eventually had to be dealt with so that more than 2 ppl would exist in GOLD.

I am all for more 'challenges' happening and am certainly open to entertaining ideas on how to pull this off.

thoughts?

Good points from Lothar. One question he raises though -- is the score issue highlighted something that happens with Gold or Silver promos? If so, how is this dealt with, or is it not?

When Jedi started talking about this, I didn't really expect it to make additional people pop into Platinum asap. What it seemed like was something that generated extra interest/fun/increased skills. One thing to consider is that on the IDL there was a regulate function, on the DCL there are promos, both of these things help a pilot push themselves further. The comments & experiences I got while a LT player helped me push to improve & make it to UT. The promotion challenges on the DCL do something similar; however it seems there isn't quite a function where the aspirational Gold's are helped in their push. If you got a Gold promo but failed, you probably learned a lot, arguably more than just playing 5 matches. The promos formalize a challenge, everyone seems to really 'bring it' for these games. However the gap from Gold to Diamond seems to be one that is big and not as easily climbed. Part of what sounded cool about the Platinum Tier was that, despite it not being likely that anyone would pass, it would create a series of games that I think would help push the aspiring Gold pilot further. It would also be fun

Another totally different idea that could be done is to do this idea in reverse -- keep Diamond the same, but add a Platinum achievement. This would be for pilots who maintained a skill rating of over 24 for say 10 games after reaching it. Mark & Jedi would get a Platinum achievement. This would give the Gold pilots something to shoot for and a sign they're on their way to Diamond.

Just throwing stuff around, feel free to ignore.

I think maintaining a certain skill rating for a certain amount of time to qualify for some sort of recognition could mix things up a little bit. I think you'd have to couple it with allowing people to actually see their skill rating so they know what to strive for.

Anything to encourage more activity is a plus in my book.

I would still like to see official vendettas with awards become an actual thing.

/agree with Jedi, there!