@Toucan-son-of-sam
@AldoRaine
I think the two main priorities if an adjustment were made are that it needs to be simple and non-disruptive. I expect there’s not a lot of appetite for a sweeping overhaul or adding complexity. Ideally it would be a non-event to players who don’t want any change.
So far, the best proposal I can come up with would be an optional add-on to the current system allowing both players to score as a tier 1 player if the game is played with a standardized handicap. Below is a draft.
Framework:
- The tier 2/3 player would receive a standardized IPC handicap at the beginning of the game to be added as a modifier to the usual bid the players choose
- The win/loss points awarded to both players would be for a tier 1 vs tier 1 match
- The tier 1-M player receives the opportunity to maintain their rank with a sufficiently high win rate
- The handicap amount could be different for each match-up (6 combinations in total)
Benefits:
- Can be ignored if players choose to stick with the existing system
- Pretty simple to understand and hopefully wouldn’t change the existing scoring spreadsheet significantly
- Creates an option if higher tier players want to play lower tier players without guaranteed loss of rank
- IPC handicap could help bridge some of the skill gap and hopefully make games between different tiers more compelling
Drawbacks:
- Deciding the standardized handicaps could be controversial. Perhaps this could be done through a vote?
- Might create some complexity for @gamerman01 (I believe he does all the scoring) considering that points awarded change retroactively when a person changes tiers.
Here’s an example Handicap Chart using a hypothetical 5 IPCs for each level of tier difference. Whether that would be enough to make the game closer to competitive is debatable.
Example IPC Handicap Chart

For example, if a tier E and tier 2 player set up a match, the decided bid would be modified by +10 in favor of the tier 2 player as a handicap. However, both players would score for a tier 1 vs tier 1 match because the handicap puts the lower tier player on closer footing.