BHG has released the "ratings page" on their website (thanks Thao) as Big Huge Ratings. In the Heaven Forum there's a discussion about whether this is a good thing, should they reset, and should they have decay.

Ratings shouldn't reset. Skill doesn't "reset" and ratings should reflect skill. I applaud BHG for sticking to their guns on this. However, skill does decay if you are inactive for a long time. So a measure of rating decay for long inactive players might be in order. I would not use what was sugested in this thread about a rapid loss that tapers off. That doesn't mirror real skill decay either. It should be gradual and there should be a max decay threshold.

On the other hand, if BHG redesigned the rating formula, then showing old ratings that were established under the old formula is highly misleading and they should take action to rectify that situation.

Another easy fix is to have the default display page be one that only shows "ACTIVE" players -- players who have played in the last 4-6 weeks. This way you have 2 pages: ACTIVE ratings, and ALL-TIME ratings.

DISCLOSURE: To support some of the discussion, I managed a 2027 rating last night playing 5 games against average opposition. Only 2 games (against Ollive) were competitive.
posted by Tim at 7:32 AM