Hey, I posted this idea in the multiplayer board, but I really want it to be heard and possibly implemented.
A large part of the community has reached a consensus that stats are absolutely broken. People wait in lobbies longer than actually playing in hopes of getting a balanced game together. New players are shunned and turned down in games because people of different skill levels are trying to avoid landslide matches. Alternatively, the constant stat-whoring ends up discouraging new players from playing and reflects badly on the community, preventing it from growing.
In short, the stats system brings out the worst aspects of Demigod.
Of course, we can't just get rid of it because people still want to play meaningful and close matches. That is why I propose the following model.
The Problem:
Stats shouldn't be relative to how many games won, but to the people won and lost against/with. If someone is a legitimately good player and is teamed up with poor teammates, then it makes no sense for the good player to be punished. This just enforces inaccurate stats and deceiving game-counts, and is also easy for exploiters to abuse.
A Simple Fix:
Base stats on total favor (to show experience and to let good players progress quicker) and rank (dictated by wins relative to the people played with). Not unlike what they do with Halo 3, where there are two ranks for both skill and number of games played.
OR
The New Model:
Use an algorithm based on ranked population and rank number that segments people into categories (Pros, Mids, Novices), and allow for a lobby option to only let a certain category or range of categories in. Imagine how faster it would be to put games together if people didn't judge by rank and could just get a game going with a bunch of people in the same category.
For a viable model that does this, look at the expired SOCOM II. Half of the servers were split so that only higher players could play in high level servers and low in lower leveled servers. The other half of the servers were open to all players. The model above would allow for this kind of ease in finding meaningful / fun games, but offer finer-tuned controls so that games can be put together quicker and more frequently. If the category of game also appeared in the available game list as well, then that would prevent stacked and premade teams from farming wins from weaker players.
With this new approach to stats, I think it will solve the dilemma of Demigod's community shrinking. People are beginning to get turned off by how focussed people are on stats, and no one can really blame them. People don't want unfair games where they feel like they have no chance of winning, but at the same time, they're giving new and returning players bad impressions and turning them away from playing more. We can all agree that everyone wants to play more Demigod, and I think that the ranking system is one of the root problems.
