Paisano's ThinkTanks Webpage

There have been countless attempts to develop some kind of method to measure and rank/rate the abilities of ThinkTank players. Here is yet another feeble attempt.

Ive come up with a 5 level ranking system starting with level 1 (Demo/Noob) going up to level 5 (Hall of Fame). Think of it like positions on a mountain as you climb to the ultimate peak (Hall of Fame level). See the image.

Ive seen some very elaborate formulas (on GGs message forums), where they would actually rank your skills for numerous aspects of the game, such as your ability to use launch pads, jump pads, the terrain, power ups, shooting, etc. Etc. While it was impressive, it truly was overkill and way too much trouble. Also, it wasnt very realistic or representative of a players true skill in the game. Some players might score excellent points technically when it comes to these aspects of the game, but still not be one of the best players because they are missing that something special that it takes to be a winnerone of the elites. Its an intangible, immeasurable talent that cant be measured.

For that reason, I came up with a simple, straight-forward 5 level ranking system.

Why five levels you ask? Good question, I am glad you asked! I played with 10 levels (being AR and allanal retentive), but that made the process way too complex and quite frankly, annoying! It was far too granular for its purposes and it did not accomplish the intention of having a ranking systemto evaluate your growth in the game and compare your ability to others. Period.

I tested a shorter system with only 3 levels, but once again it did not accomplish the job.

It was much too brief and did not clearly separate the different levels of abilities in TT.

Thus, 5 levels seemed to be the perfect amount of levels as you will soon see.

1 Demo/Noob Level

Lets start at the beginning, where we all start, level 1, the Demo/Noob level.

Some of us only stay at this dreadful level very briefly while others seem to stay here forever! In between, on the average, most of us seem to evolve from this level in a matter of a couple of weeks. Level One players dont understand anything about the game, except shooting anything that moves. They cant drive backwards or how to use any of the pads. They usually stick to battlemode and shy away from scrum, unless only against bots and other demos.

2 Fair Level

Once youve shed your skin of level one, you actually become a fair player. You understand the basic rules of the game and learn how to use all of the tools of the trade.

While you still suck when it comes to driving fast, using the terrain, applying strategy, and scoring, you are much better than all demos and noobs. You can always beat them and Bots, but dont do well against higher ranked players.

3 Good Level

This level is where the game gets very enjoyable and loads of fun! Youve evolved from the frustrating first two levels and can finally hang with the big boys/girls. Shoot, you might even win a few games from time to time! However, your success depends a lot more on luck than skill (you NEED great spawns, fortunate bounces during scrambles at the goal in scrum, good arrow pads pointing in the right direction, malfunctioning computer gear for higher level players or major lags to hit them, etc.)

While youve mastered the use of all the tools of TT and understand strategy much better than previous levels, you still make too many mistakes that cost you many goals/tank lives resulting in constant defeat. Still, its always thrilling and the promise of having one of those perfect games makes it worth all the effort! You are right in the middle of the pack hereyou are not at the bottom of the barrel with the demos and noobs, but youre not up there yet with the elites.

4 Excellent Level

Ahthis is the level right near the summit of the mountain! You will have gone as far as you can go without actually reaching the peak of the game and becoming a legend, a Hall of Fame player! You will have moments of extreme brilliance and occasionally dominate and even humiliate most of your competitors. You will actually have moments of perfection and Hall of Fame like performances (when all goes your way with luck and skill). Still, as great as you are, there is something missing from your game that prevents you from being considered a Hall of Famer. Usually, it comes down to consistency.

You will have games where you just dont have it, for whatever reason. You will blame lag, computer gear, your health, what you ate, the map, another player, etc. Etc. In the end, though, you know that you just dont always play up to the level that you can play sometimes. Still, it is a wonderful level to reach! For most players, this is just about as good as it gets!

5 Hall of Fame Level

Well, here it is, folks! This is the ultimate level in TT! Level 5, the Hall of Fame level! These players are the cream of the crop! They are the best of the best! They are almost always on their game and have that certain magic to their game that always has them up at the top of the scoreboard. They seem to do no wrong in any game they play. They never make mental mistakes and probably could fall out of bed and score a goal in scrum! No one knows how to use all of the tools of the game better than Hall of Famers.

They make full use of every pad, powerup, and fully understand the strengths and weaknesses of every player as well as every square inch of every map! They know where all of the special jumps arewhere every health powerup will emerge before it does and uses the radar scope better than anyone! They also seem to intimidate competitors and force lower level players into making costly mistakes just because of their reputation!

They can make even a level 4 (Excellent) player run smack into a tree or rock just because of their name! Doh!

Summation: So there you have it, folks. Your new TT Ranking system. I know its rather simplistic, but that was my goal. I did not want to make it too elaborate or complex, for that would defeat its purpose. I think we needed a simple formula that could help chart our progress in the game that we love. No matter what level you are, you must remember that its only a game and the whole purpose of playing the game is to have fun!

I enjoy the game as much today as I did when I was a demo! Sometimes more, sometimes less!

Oh, by the way, I consider myself a solid level 3 at this point. I will have some games where I play at level 4 and win big, but most of the time I make too many mistakes that keep me at level 3. Ive been playing some 10 weeks now and I love it!

Sample Rankings : Here are some rankings of current players that I will offer merely as examples. Please do not get offended if you dont agree with my rankings because they are merely my opinion, which is based on a short period of playing time and influenced greatly by everything Ive read/heard from the veterans out there. I could be dead wrong with some of the rankings, so forgive me. I just want to give you an example of how this would work.

P.S. My ultimate goal for developing this ranking system was to assist the TT community come up with a way to create a TT Hall of Fame where the legends of the game would get inducted. We would all have to vote on the inductees, until a special committee of veterans could be established (much like in Baseball) that would ultimately vote on eligible members.

***All lists have been deleted***

Go to the website to see the current lists

Last edited: Tuesday, June 15, 2004 at 5:51:47 PM

Hey, paisono....still waiting....still not on the list...still dusting off the people on your hall of fame list...

@Stink

I just updated the list. Sorry about the delay...You can get inducted into the hallowed Hall once a couple of members nominate you.

Nomination for stink and mess

@ Paisano

I'm still not on any of the list.I play Scrum,Team Scum,CTF,Love Survivor average 35 to 40 every game, even had a couple of 70 and one 87.So please include me in next up date thanks. B)

Nominations for Hall Of Fame, Stinkyfingers,Mess,Moe,T raider and Cheif.

Last edited: Thursday, June 03, 2004 at 7:15:56 PM

I give my nomination for His Royal Stinkness to be inducted to the Hall of Fame

@Wolfy

A pox upon me! Yes, indeed.... You shall make several lists...

@ Paisano

Thanks

Question: How should we handle inductions into the Hall? I don't know if it's best to allow any one member to induct someone. It might quickly turn into a popularity contest where a buddy could easily get his pal into the Hall. However, we could make it so that any player nominated for the Hall could get in if they receive a certain amount of votes. For example, in baseball, a nominee requires at least 75% of the vote in order to get into the Hall. As it is now, we have 27 members in the Scrum Hall of Fame. If we required 50% of the vote from current members, then that would mean that a nominee would need at least 14 votes to get in. What do you think? Should it be left open to ALL players to vote on?

Should a nominee just need a second vote in order to get in? Just wondering... And want to be fair.

@LoneWolf

You're on the Excellent list for scrummers, Hall of Fame for BTM and CTF

@FoFo

Inducted MESS and Stinkfingers.... Since others have also requested the same thing.

@Piasano. Not a slam at all! Sorry it came out that way.

Just had that mountain image in my head from the top of the thread so, "he's reached new heights". You've started a lot of interesting threads, and people respond. Gets discussions going and increases communication. I like that. TG is the only one that comes close. Why wouldn't you be on the list?

Guess I can see why it worries you. Even though it says "just kidding" above the list, my first thought was "am I spamming?"

Last edited: Sunday, June 06, 2004 at 6:47:56 PM

@ Paisano

I do not play BTM think you mean Scrum or Survivior,thanks though.I agree need at least 50 - 75% of the players to get Hall Fame status. B)

Last edited: Thursday, June 03, 2004 at 7:44:57 PM

Hey thanks Pai,

And OM and 44...but I am not asking for hall of fame...just recognition. Pai, looks like you've taken on quite an ambitious project here...my two bits: hall of fame should be reserved for special players...those who have been playing great games for a long while (44, hanksta, FP, Tally, huggy, TG Jangy, and so on) and those who have been playing fantastic games for a short while (bolo, Vash, JB, BC, cap. Crunch, and so on). I think you are right: voting is the way to go...as long as it doesn't turn into a popularity contest...

Stinkfist

Ps...cool site....and Spony is definitely a hall of famer...that guy dominates, and has for a long while. Mars should be inducted, even though he dropped off the face of the earth.

What I want to know is, where's the category for a player who bought this game late last june, has been playing for nearly a year, knows perfectly well how to play the game and still...

...can't manage to ever get a decent score.

I'm not a noob or a demo because I've been playing for a year, I mean..

I'm not fair because I still have yet to beat Hum bot in quick play...

And I'm definitely not 'good', let alone 'excellent'.

Then again, I'm not sure a negative rating is in order either. I mean, my game sucks, but I have skill, and I know how to play.

Hmm...

I think I'll go with a 2i. That seems about right.

Asterisk

Last edited: Thursday, June 03, 2004 at 9:14:41 PM

@ paisano

Yes, should require a vote to get in the Hall of Fame....75% sounds more appropriate. Just need to be careful who initial members are, or else may be easier to sway the 75%. In addition, for newcomers who would like to be considered, maybe they should play against some of the "Master's" of the respective categories to make sure. A general consensus of who the "Master's/Elite" could prob be easily reached...my.02.

I second that OM....oddball is a good all around player....i said I would forget a few...

I swear!

Play me and I will destroy you.

Give me a try. I'm on the game as Pokin Smot, uRsoDEAD!, Chop! Chop! (& FU equivalents)

Try me.

Yeah, some rocognition for choppy is in order...(ps. You still diving with the scrum?)

I might delete the lists in my original post and just maintain them on my website (link is below the image of the ranking mountain).

Would make things much easier. Also, thinking about flushing all Hall of fame entries and starting from scratch for each game and letting all of you vote for worthy inductees. I really think we need to separate scrum players by type of scrum game...solo and team scrum. As Bolo acurately stated, there is a world of difference between solo scrum and team scrum! Some scrummers are better at one than the other and must thus be identified as such. I don't know if the same is true with battlemode and team battlemode (I know there is more strategy in team btm, but is the skill requirement as vastly different as it is in team scrum?)

Well I agree with Asterisk on that one too I´m not a great player but I can give most of you a run for your money. Some of my aliases Blackfoot, BrainCramp, Sponge Bob, Half a Brain, Stonehead.

Hear-hear....Jinx has cred.

@Jinx

Son of a... I was gonna put Blackfoot on the level 4 excellent list too!!! Half a brain has always been a pain in my arse too!!!

Should've known!

@ OM, Bolo, thanks for the mention.

I nominate everyone! Lets give ourselves a pat on the back, a big group hug, and get back to the game! Unless it based on hard facts, such as the -z- Rankings list, it ain't worth anything.

Well, true dat. This is mostly stroking ourselves here, but it's all in good fun.

I think I'm fluxing between fair and good...and THAT'S OK!

I am wondering if it is all just a waste of time?

Maybe it is just for fun, huh?

I think it would be great if -z-'s rankings were working correctly here at PTT and we could have the hard numbers for all the game types. Then I could be shooting to knock Horus off the CTF list. XD

Paisano,

Sounds like you have a bitten off quite a bit. It would be nice if there were and empirical way, but I don't know if there is a way of deciding hard and fast. Too much politics, self promo, and aliases to determine who is good, better, best. Last night was playing scrum with a guy named JUSTboughtDGame, and he did well, and said WOOT when he scored, giving himself away as not such a noob after all. Hard to rate that sort of thing...anyways, lets all play our best and recognize each other for each good goal we score, game we win, turf we defend, etc. I think it is nice to have a rating system, but there will always be someone forgotten or left out or angry that they were rated too low... So lets keep the love alive, folks.

--dd

As I posted in your other thread daisy, 'woot' is not a ThinkTanks thing. It's a term used to mean 'cool' or 'awesome' or 'yeah!', etc for some time now by gamers. So the player in question could have been a newbie. But then again, maybe not.

I read that, thanks, but they were still too good for a noob.

-dd

Noob, noob, what exactly is a noob?

Is it slang for Newbie? Or does it have origins similar to woot

I believe it is short for Newbie, as you guessed.

What do you think of these battlemoders that I forgot to mention?

How would you rank them?

Cobra

:

-

Lowduce

Chad

Aurora

Mistake

Dirty

Dash

Bash

Drsawbones

Lookin4u

Tankman

Steve

NUTS!

Joe

RandyBB

(sxy)kimmy

X (I think Bolo vouched for this one)

Sardog

Leech

Rogue

Leech is definitely nominated by me. I don't really know the others... Oh, and if laxstar isn't in yet then put lax in.

I've only battled, like, three of them, including Leech. Anyway, I always have lag on my laptop so I don't think I'll ever be near being considered.

I only recognize a few of those names myself, namely dash, (sxy)kimmy and ROGUE. All would be in the Excellent category for BM. (sxy)kimmy is an avid CTF'er as well, so she should be out into the excellent CTF category.

LC50 has a great Hall of fame for heavies in Battlemode

Those guys suck

@stink

I hope you were referring to my list of battlemoders, not LC50's Hall of fame heavies!

Even so, I don't believe that ALL of them suck on my list. I believe DrSawbones can hold his own against anyone.

The same for X and Rogue, from what I've been told anyway.

Lol! I was just being glib! Making an gross and erroneous statement for sh*ts and giggles! Sorry!

Paisano X was me a couple weeks ago....i was dodging a team killer....there is another x I saw one time.....

Lol

B

Stinkfingers, I will play w/ ya and surely whip booty w/o diving. Keeping your name on death list :)

Delicious!!!

***Updated my original thread***

I deleted all of my lists.

I will maintain the list on my site from now on.

We are still developing a plan for the official TT Hall of Fame, which will include a list of Level 4 (Excellent) players as well since the nominees will come from this list first. Once inducted, they move into level 5, the Hall of Fame level.

If you're serious about this, you are being too generous. Take popularity out of the equation.

Amen...it aint a beauty contest (see hank, there's some hope for you yet ;) )

I agree guys. After communicating with several of you veterans, I've come to the conclusion that they are right about not basing the Hall of Fame on opinions and a player's popularity. Thus, I will flush ALL members of each Hall of Fame until we--the TT community--come up with an official and fair method of inducting deserving members. I apologize if I ruffled any feathers or hurt anyone's feelings with my "sample" lists. They were never intended to be official or final. That would be preposterous and maniacal! No one individual should have the authority to create such a list, except perhaps for Hanky. Just kidding! Not even the great one should be allowed to do that because he would make it just a three member Hall!

Sheesh!!!

So...the ball...er...scrum...is back in your court, vets! Let's come up with an official way to induct deserving members into the Hall of Fame.

Create a committee of diverse members and require a 75% vote to get in.

I will still keep my site up and the lists for level 4 (excellent) players if only to keep the names of possible future Hall of fame inductees visible.

Thanks for all the input/feedback on this topic!

How about a modding section? XD

@Michael

Yes, of course. In my original post, I did have a list for Hall of Fame modders and listed you as one of them, I believe.

Again, you modders need to create an official Modders Union (MU) so you can then vote in members to the Hall.

I think you can create a Hall of Fame list for actual MAPS as well. For example, a modder might have created a masterpiece just once, so their work gets inducted, but not them. Not yet anyway...they would have to prove it wasn't a fluke and create another exceptional piece of work.

Not a bad idea, ill talk to a few people.

BTW, wasting 20 percent of your scale on noobs and demos is a waste. Refine refine refine.