Car ratings, league vs non-league

redlinederby Monday, 1/27/2014
Site manager

As I'm rebuilding the web site and Fantasy League game, I'm building it so that other Fantasy Leagues can be created (ie, Matchbox, etc.) and also so that in the future people can submit results for their own private tournaments (non-league).

My dilemma right now is how I should handle the ratings each car gets. Right now, cars get a rating based on their Fantasy League performance and it stays in that context. But if things are opened up to more leagues, brands and even personal races, considering those wins/losses is important, I think.

My concern is having a car's rating dependent on what boils down to be unverified race results. Races I hold myself for the League and those done by people that I've deputized as hosts are "official" races and thus ratings are calculated. But if Bob Jones in Denver runs his own personal tournament and submits results, should those be included into the ratings calculations for those cars? (This could extend to other data too, like wins, losses, etc.)

I want to avoid diluting the rating's value as much as possible so right now I'm thinking that only people that are "verified" have their race results included in rating calculations, while everyone else can still post their tournaments and results but the impact on the overall database is limited. On the other hand, I kind of feel like limiting such a thing makes the effort of doing personal races and tracking results somewhat less fun.

I'm at a crossroads of a closed and open system, and I'm not sure which path to take. One could mean more reliable data but less participants. The other means more fun for everyone but questionable data.

Anyone have any thoughts on this? Just looking for some feedback.


Discussion

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Milton-Fox 1/27/14

Brian,

I think we can all offer up suggestions for you, but in the long run it will come down to how much work and effort can you put into the process. The more cars you add the more work for you. As to data I understand you are keeping the same "vehicles" together, but in reality you actually have several different "race cars" running at their different limitations and different tracks. The more similar "vehicles" you add the more different "race cars" you add to the mix.

The only way to differentiate would be to add teams and as above it still comes down to how much work you want to put into it!

Do you mail the current teams around to each of the hosts already?

I for one appreciate all the work you already do!

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redlinederby 1/28/14
Site manager

You touched on my concern, which is the fact that if people can upload and add their own cars (which I do no own) and race them on their own tracks and submit results, I'm not involved with that at all. So the catch isn't how much work I can/want to put into it - the consideration is to open it up and give you all more data input.

I'm not going to verify races or anything, that's just impossible. But I could give "official" approval to people with tracks that would make their race results part of the overall ratings, opposed to someone who is not official. I'm hesitant to create "official" and "unofficial" members but maybe that's the way to go. Plus it might give people something to reach for when building tracks, cars, etc.

I am grouping cars and that won't change. That's not the problem. It's whether or not to extend ratings beyond the Fantasy League game or not. And if so, how do not dilute the value of those ratings.

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Stroller 1/28/14

I think that people can only rate cars that they have and can only rate cars on their track. There are many track configurations out there and no matter how well a car rates on one track is only a possible note of how it will race on other tracks.
For example in running Fords Fords Fords at my track , the first week my car was unbeatable in the New School group. The track was low and slow. Come the second race on a much faster race track and I got knocked out in 2 races very easily by someone I had beaten just as easily the week before. So the ratings only give you a slight guideline at best. That's all I have to say. Just ramblins from an old dude......

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redlinederby 9/19/14
Site manager

Revisiting this one as I'm starting to build up things for the Fantasy League redo.

To summarize the above, should cars have a single "global" rating that includes all tournaments (personal and fantasy), or should the ratings be separate?

Read first post and above for my original concerns and thoughts.

Your thoughts and feedback is appreciated and will help determine what gets built.

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72_Chevy_C10 9/19/14

Hey Brian,

I'm not sure how much extra work it be (seemingly, twice as much), but could each car have an "official rating" (on verified tracks) and also an "unofficial, global rating" (made up of all the collected data)?

I think that it's good to use data that you can control...but, on the down side, that would be the only data that you would be getting. For example, on this site, the Dodge Demon has a great record, but, I have yet to have one that can get out of it's own way :)

Just my two cents!

Chris

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redlinederby 9/19/14
Site manager

That same concept of Global vs League rating has been bouncing around in my head for a long while. I'm leaning that way but wanted to see if anyone had any other good ideas or arguments against it.


  • I like the idea of Global vs League. All data will be available but you will know to take the Global with a grain of salt — FatMike

Just my 2 cents. I have been running Hot Wheels Racing periodically for our small town in PA.  I use my 50ft Blu Track on a wooden base.  My qualification round is from a 16" to 24" Starting Line and measure the cars qualifying run in inches to the nearest 1/4 inch.  This results in longest run car competeing with the second longest qualifying run.  All registered cars are given a qualification run  or two and that how we pair up the racing. The top 3 winner's bracket runs against the top three looser's bracket make for some interesting finals. 


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