How the Australasian 40K Tournament Rankings are calculated
There are two different ranking systems that have been used for the 40K Tournament Rankings. These are GT's scoring system and the Log32 scoring system.
The rankings for 40K for the period 2003 to 2006 were compiled by Geoff Tewierik, and so is referred to as GT's scoring system. This scoring system was also used in 2007 to 2008 alongside the Log32 scoring system, so players could compare how they have performed from year to year.
GT's scoring system ensures that players whose scores in a tournament who were close to each other end up with ranking scores from that tournament that are close to each other. In this system, the mid point score (before scaling for tournament size) has ranged between 35 and 70. However, scores for everyone in the tournament will be inflated if a single player scores very low or can be pushed down if a single player scores very high compared to everyone else.
The Log32 scoring system spreads the ranking scores evenly between first and last. It doesn't differentiate if the difference between places is 0.1 points or 10 points. In this system, the mid point score (before scaling for tournament size) will always be exactly 50. Other players scores will be unaffected if a single player scores very low or very high.
Both systems will also scale the tournament rankings scores by a weighting factor determined by the size of the tournament. Basically, results in large tournaments are worth more and small tournaments are worth less. In GT's system the scaling factor is a number between 50 and 125, where an average size tournament (between 30 and 35 players) is weighted at 100. Events with 40 or more players are worth maximum points under the GT system. In the Log32 system the scaling factor is a number between 72 and 120, where a tournament with 32 players is worth 100. Events with 64 or more players are worth maximum points under the Log32 system.
Both systems will use only your top tournament scores to calculate your final score. Up to and including 2008 your best three results were used for each category. Thus the maximum possible GT score was 375 (3 x 125) and the maximum possible Log32 score wass 360. Since 2009 the top 4 scores have been used for the Australasian rankings (although it is still using only the top 3 scores for the state rankings) so the maximum possible Log32 score is 480.
This site reports the current Warhammer 40K player rankings using the Log32 system. The report of how different Armies fare uses only unweighted Log32 scores.
The key thing to remember about these rankings is that this is a seeding system and is not a measure of capability. It reflects how successful players (and armies) have been, not necessarily how good they are.
Only your best three results count towards your ranking score. Recall that your results for each tournament are weighted by a scaling factor based on the size of a tournament. Under the Log32 system coming 18th at an event with 64 players gets you about the same rankings score as coming 1st at an event with 20 players.
The ATR is based on your results from tournaments you attended in the last 12 months. Once an event is more than 12 months old its contribution to your score is removed.
Other players have been to less events than me and have a higher score. Why?
Only your best 4 results count (or best 3 results for regional rankings). Also recall that a high placing at a small tournament may be worth less points than a lower placing at a bigger tournament.
This system relies on Tournament Organisers or the players to send in the results of events. If a tournament is listed on the tournament calendar on either the Games Workshop or WargamerAU site we do our best to track down the results, but sometimes it's difficult to get hold of them. In some cases, events are held that we don't know about.
If you can get hold of the results for an event that isn't in the system, please send it in and I will add it in if it meets the following criteria:
You can send results to mark@gosfordgamers.net, or send a PM to MarkC on WargamerAU or many other Warhammer forums.
Events that are aimed at less experienced players, ie the Conflict events, are weighted as a tournament with half the number of players. In the Log32 this means that winning a Conflict event is worth 20 points less than winning a normal tournament of the same size.
There are a number of "Masters" events being held, which typically require a podium (ie top 3) finish at another event to be eligible to enter. For weighting purposes, these Masters events are weighted as though there were twice as many players (eg winning is worth about 20 points more in the Log32 system is than a standard event of the same size).
Note that the maximum points available for winning any event (regards of size) is 120 points.