FAQ

Posted on January 29, 2013
  1. I know that my team is better than this other team, who played one tournament, that’s ahead of me.
    Ratings are based solely on games played.  While there might be subjective evidence to infer that a team is worse than yours, there may just not be enough actual game data to support such an inference.

  2. My team won a Circuit Event, but we’re not as high as we think we should be.
    As ratings are compiled, ratings will go up and go down.  After winning the Circuit Event, your team likely got a huge boost in rating; however, your performance since then may have brought that rating to a lower level.  This rating is not an average of performance.  You are rewarded for your performance when you have such a performance.  Subsequent games reduce the effect of past performances gradually.

  3. What if we change our team name (but have the majority of the same players)? Does that reset my score?
    Changing your team name for a subsequent tournament with the roster stipulation above would result in the new team being classified as an “Availables Team” in your next Circuit Event.  Your Circuit Event seed would be calculated from the composition of your players.  While this may increase or decrease your rating, this new team name would be eligible to collect Circuit Cup points.  Circuit Cup points cannot be retroactively combined between team names.
  4. Can a team decline my ranking?
    No.
  5. Can I see the full list of teams ranked?
    Yes, the complete list will be posted to the Kickball365 Forum soon after the Top 25 is posted on the main Kickball365 Blog.
  6. If I never attend a Circuit Event and only attend the Circuit Cup Championship and never register does that have any effect on my score?
    Registration has nothing to do with your rating.  As an open team, your provisional rating will stay in the K365 database for a period of 13 months after Circuit Cup.  If you play in another event in that time, your rating will move from provisional to established.  If you do not, then your team will be declared inactive for rating purposes.
  7. My team is going to merge with another team.  What happens to the ratings?
    K365 Management will contact both captains to determine which franchise banner will continue.  From a Circuit perspective, the franchise that stays will keep their rating and continue to gain credit towards their rating and Circuit Cup standing.  The other team will still exist, for record keeping, but will be removed from the ratings and be declared inactive after 13 months of inactivity.
  8. What were the changes made from the 23 Jan 2013 version to the current one?
    * The effect of the R-Factor has been reduced.  The maximum contribution of Run Differential to the R-Factor was reduced from 3.125 to 2.5.  This change was to reduce the effect a single blowout win or loss could have on a team’s performance in a tournament.

    * Redesign of the K-Factor.  The K-Factor had, as one component, a Tournament Modifier that was a function of the average rating of the participating teams for that tournament.  Feedback indicated that a win against a team at one tournament should be the same as if one played that same team at another tournament.  There should be no difference.  Teams will feel the effect of stronger tournament fields through expected results (We) of closer to 0.5.  These Wes increase the potential for ratings change that should accompany games of teams with similar ratings scores, as it should be, and not dictated by where a tournament is played.Further, the other component of the K-Factor was the size of the tournament with the thinking that a larger tournament was more difficult to win.  With all tournaments providing between 7 and 8 games, depending on the size of the elimination bracket, the difference between a 12-team tournament and a 31-team tournament is noise.  While the effect of the first aspect of the K-Factor provided a high level of sensitivity to subsequent ratings, the effect of the second aspect of the K-Factor was quite severe.  As such, the K-Factor was given a base constant value – in this case, 20.

    * The changes in K-Factor.   Based on feedback, there were two other concerns with the K-Factor: the potential for losing all rating points gained with an elimination round loss, due to a higher K-Factor and lack of bonus for elimination bracket advancement.  To address the first point, the losing team’s K-Factor in elimination will stay the same as the base value.  To address the second point, escalation modifiers are applied to elimination round winners – 1.1 for Round of 16 winners, 1.2 for quarterfinal winners, 1.5 for semifinal winners, and 2.0 for final winners.  These allow for more reward-less risk with teams that advance.  This is designed to significantly reduce the chance that a team can move undefeated to the semifinals, lose, and have a net negative tournament rating effect.