Nathaniel
25-07-2006 12:43:19
I had good reasons to put the rules as they were. If you could force a player with a worse standing into playing against you, all of these would be possible.
In the following, it's always assumed that A is the best player of the DJB, B is second, C is third etc.
Horror scenario 1: A just forces B (who happens not to be his Clanmate) into three matches, sending him home at 0-3. He repeats the same with C, D and F. In the meantime, his Clanmates E and G can pick off the scrubs and in the end, A defeats E and G, securing his own Clan a triple victory when it should have been 1st, 5th and 7th.
Horror scenario 2: A, B and C make a nonagression pact and gang up on D, E, F etc. in order. This will lead to the places from 4th down almost being reversed - the players near the top all drop at 0-3 while in the meantime the scrubs collect wins.
Horror scenario 3: A has just defeated B, but at the cost of taking two losses of his own. Now C has two free chances to pick off A and ensure his ladder win without risking his own hide.
Horror scenario 4: A, B and C simply ruin it for everyone by all three challenging them in quick succession as soon as they sign up. Everyone is 0-3 and frustrated except for the top 3 players.
Horror scenario 5: B has a bad day and some lag and is 0-2 before he can look. Now A comes around and knocks him out before he can recover.
All of these are unpleasant, unwanted experiences. What is wanted is that most players on the ladder get to play some challenging, close matches against folks near their own skill level. And that is ensured by not allowing players with fewer losses to challenge those with more. A decent player who got knocked into the two-loss bracket early should have a chance to still defeat those who are weaker than him before going out himself. They won't beat anyone better than them anyway - and one misjudgement means they're gone.
BTW: Your best bet as a really good player to get rid of someone in the two-loss bracket ? Play someone who is better than them and win. That will send those folks down and they'll do the elimination work for you once they can (i.e. have two losses).