Re: "Quantity" and "Contest" Ratings

From: simon_hibbs2 <simon.hibbs_at_...>
Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2003 13:27:41 -0000

> From playing it looks like 20 points is about a multiplication of
between 4 and 6, not 16 or so that doubling every 5 point would indicate - and that's with an extended contest played out over a large number of exchanges.
>
> With a simple contest going from 14 to 19 against a default
resistance is only about ~1/6 more likely to suceed - again based on experience, not theory!

I concur. If you have an ability of 5W, you've only got about a 55% chance of winning outright against a guy qith only 15. The main difference is that if you do win, you are much more likely to get a better quality of result than the other guy is. Thus in an extended contest you have a much bigger advantage than in a simple contest.

In practice I've never found any of this to be a problem, so long as you understand the system.

Simon Hibbs