I have some data, yes it's less than 5 months worth, but it supports this. About once per week I've recorded the rating that correspond to 50th, 80th, 90th and 95th percentile on the "Player Tables". You can see that over the time period the size of this list (non-provisional players active in past 100 days) has grown steadily from 6154 to 7925 (28 percent growth). The rating corresponding to ...[text shortened]... 2005 7672 1290 1472 1584 1698that's a strong argument supporting the "no inflation theory". well done. But it's limited by only going back 5 months. Two years ago it was difficult for me to stay over 1400. Now I'm over 1600. I think I've improved a bit, but not that much.
7/29/2005 7845 1289 1474 1586 1700
8/9/2005 7925 1290 1473 1588 1698
Originally posted by fexkornI'll say it again. Spread has increased, average rating has not.
that's a strong argument supporting the "no inflation theory". well done. But it's limited by only going back 5 months. Two years ago it was difficult for me to stay over 1400. Now I'm over 1600. I think I've improved a bit, but not that much.
Originally posted by fexkornWho says the average ability on the site has remained constant?
Here's my point XanthosNZ...according to RookRAK's chart, the 80th percentile is always around 1475 and the 90th percentile is always around 1590. I don't think my skill level has gone from BELOW the 80th to ABOVE the 90th percentile in the last 2 years. If I'm wrong then good for me!
My rating has remained the same (1562) for about a month now, and in that time my place on the High Ratings table has dropped from 894th to 930th, or roughly 10 places per week. Obviously most of the people whose ratings rise rapidly are strong players who are still reaching their equilibrium.
I wonder how many active players there are now?