ESDAO

Each player in ESDAO has a rating generated by the system as a way to represent their relative skill level.

When you first join ESADO you are assigned an initial rating of 1200, considered the average. As you play games against others your rating will be updated to reflect how you fared. A good rule of thumb is that if you beat players your rating increases and conversely if you lose it decreases.

The amount of the change is based on the other player's rating relative to your own. If you beat a player with a much higher rating then yours will increase substantially, but if you lose to them it won't go down much. If your ratings are very close then the amount of change will be very little. The system is based on the widely used ELO rating system.

You win games of ESDAO by having the most built industry when a game finishes. The players tab in the map sidebar changes to being the game's leaderboard with everyone being ranked and their vital statistics shown. For the purposes of updating your rating, you beat everyone ranked lower and lose to those ranked higher. Each player's rating change is shown along with their new rating.

Any alliances formed have no direct effect on how your rating is changed. Not only is ESDAO about owning hexes, building them up and battling others for their resources, but it's also about diplomacy. If you are a player who manages to forge an alliance with other players allowing you to do well in a game then you reap those rewards.

Your rating is immediately updated when a game finishes, and any positional change will be visible on the ESDAO Leaderboard. This ranks all players by their rating and allows you to drill into the games that make up their rating.

Everyone has a separate rating for the various types of ESDAO starting positions. This is because they are different types of games, especially the newly introduced 'ship placement' starting method as it initially involves a good degree of luck in the beginning compared to the traditional single starting hex.

Finally, until you have played 5 games you are classed as a new player with this reflected on the ESDAO Leaderboard. This is because early on your rating probably doesn't accurately reflect your skill level and can change wildly until it approaches your actual skill level. Any regular players who play against you won't have their rating changed as they could be unfairly adversely affected.