700 rating the new 1000 rating!?

[Flynn]

Guys, I've just come back recently and every time I come back I am used to getting my ass kicked. I have played since Jan 2013 when I returned to SupCom after playing it on GPG. Every time I take a break of 6 months or more it is normally a baptism of fire and this time no different. Although it seems that the average player has cumulatively become more skillful to the point where it is noticeable.
For instance, now a 700 1v1 rating is quite formidable and equivalent to about a 1000 1v1 rating back in 2015. Is it me or am I going crazy!? I am 30 years of age now, when I first played SupCom I was 17, when I made my come back in 2013 I was 23, now I am 30, so perhaps my age is catching up with me! See you all in the nursing home, soon!

[FunkOff]

I can tell you that 1200s now play about the level of 2500s back before FAF.

[FtXCommando]

No, there definitely shouldn’t be much deflation in the relation between skill and trueskill. FAF’s trueskill distribution falls skews left quite significantly compared to the expected distribution of trueskill. If anything there should be inflation in the relation between skill and trueskill as new players add more “new rating” into the trueskill system than they are actually worth. This tends to cause some sort of natural increase even if you assume a plateau in skill for players.

This, of course, doesn’t really apply to before FAF and possibly doesn’t even apply as an axiom to before some of the major trueskill reworks around 2015 or whenever it happened.

[FunkOff]

Trueskill measures skill relative to the average. The average has simply gone way, way up since 5 or more years ago. The average FAF player today is simply incredibly good.

[Bennis-]

Ftx types nobody understands

[E8400-CV]

If you now play in a room without ventilation you might play worse due to oxygen depletion. I certainly know that is the case for me.

[randall172]

yes, trueskill inherently measures "relative" skill levels, due to supcom in general being a game leaning towards the end of its lifespan there isn't that much of an influx of new players.

this means that while the relative skill levels remain roughly the same, the actual skill level represented at the respective true skill levels are increasing.

bad players are more likely to quit than players who are good, without an influx of new (bad) players inevitably the mean skill level will increase.

[Bennis-]

Randall types everybody is amaze

[FtXCommando]

yes, trueskill inherently measures "relative" skill levels, due to supcom in general being a game leaning towards the end of its lifespan there isn't that much of an influx of new players.

this means that while the relative skill levels remain roughly the same, the actual skill level represented at the respective true skill levels are increasing.

bad players are more likely to quit than players who are good, without an influx of new (bad) players inevitably the mean skill level will increase.

Data on players per month:
Player being defined as a person that plays at least a single game during said month using the client's services.

year month unique_players
2020 4 17899
2020 3 18895
2020 2 16959
2020 1 16879
2019 12 16215
2019 11 14333
2019 10 13385
2019 9 12990
2019 8 14452
2019 7 13292
2019 6 12341
2019 5 11276
2019 4 11712
2019 3 11845
2019 2 10486
2019 1 13338
2018 12 12633
2018 11 11954
2018 10 11836
2018 9 11774
2018 8 13120
2018 7 13561
2018 6 13463
2018 5 13462
2018 4 13072
2018 3 12644
2018 2 11978
2018 1 12124
2017 12 11506
2017 11 10713
2017 10 11373
2017 9 10901
2017 8 11337
2017 7 11363
2017 6 11695
2017 5 11537
2017 4 11173
2017 3 10919
2017 2 10782
2017 1 10777
2016 12 10756
2016 11 10238
2016 10 12054
2016 9 10660
2016 8 10380
2016 7 10330
2016 6 9657
2016 5 9819
2016 4 10530
2016 3 11155
2016 2 9756
2016 1 10700
2015 12 9939
2015 11 8829
2015 10 8308
2015 9 8110
2015 8 8713
2015 7 8977
2015 6 9172
2015 5 9402
2015 4 9201
2015 3 9615
2015 2 9098
2015 1 8622
2014 12 7820
2014 11 7820
2014 10 8040
2014 9 7744
2014 8 8413
2014 7 8378
2014 6 8436
2014 5 9139
2014 4 8513
2014 3 9847
2014 2 8444
2014 1 8790
2013 12 8596
2013 11 8437
2013 10 9049
2013 9 7344
2013 8 7814
2013 7 7877
2013 6 7883
2013 5 7765
2013 4 7694
2013 3 6778
2013 2 6006
2013 1 5698
2012 12 4284
2012 11 3848
2012 10 3644
2012 9 3917
2012 8 4307
2012 7 3425
2012 6 3087
2012 5 2944
2012 4 2821
2012 3 2158
2012 2 509

Also new players are almost always "worth" more than they deserve to be in our implementation of trueskill. This means they tend to offload more points to other people which creates the butterfly effect that leads to a general rating increase. This is why there is a general relativistic inflation in skill level compared to trueskill level on FAF. As FAF gains more and more new players, it would more than likely lead to the "average" going from the current 1100 value to the expected 1500 value it should be.

[Myxir]

imagine having those numbers as a plot or something

Spoiler: show