Ratings issue

Sorry if this has been raised as I cannot figure out how to search the forums.

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There is a problem that games that never start are still rated. This leads to an inflated rating for people that do play out games, occurring mostly in tournament situations.

Can the ratings be modified to ignore games that don't start?

but that's where all my points come from!

I think it's worth understanding that the 1500-1600 range can include players who aren't good, just active. You've got to be active to be rated well, but it's never going to get you very far. Maybe the real ratings start at 1750.

I'd love to see a system where there's no penalty for losses, just gains...and big ones for "upsets." It might be best if it includes some decay, but I'm not sure it has to.

Speaking as a mathematician, that could work but would be rather awkward to manage. And ranking would be very fluid.

There is a problem with rankings when people just start but do not play games, and it isn't necessary. People can use that to lower their score and thus gain a big advantage when playing in a handicapped tournament, or any handicapped game. If not handicapped, it doesn't make much difference.

any chance of getting rating graphs back (would like to see how 20 months of covid has deflected mine)

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