Friday 20 January 2012

OPINION: The myth of a high Gametracker ranking

I see many clans these days aim for a high Gametracker ranking for their server. You go on forums and other social media and see members discussing the server ranks on GT and how their respective clan is in a high place, which means they are one of the best clans.  Unfortunately, this is just a myth.

Let me give you an example.  Shadow of Heroes, SoH, has been in the top 3 of the Gametracker rankings for a long time.  Does this mean they are one of the best clans in the game?  Not necessarily - clan success is based on a mix of on how many wars a clan can win and how good the reputation of the clan is.  In this example, SoH has a very good reputation, despite the fact that it has one of the most despised players in the game, Windu, as it's leader. However, if you organised a war between 3rd placed SoH and, say, 9th placed FAB, who would win?  It's pretty likely FAB would - this is despite the fact that they are lower down in the rankings compared to SoH.

Gametracker rankings have to be taken for what they really are - an indication of how popular a server is, not how great a clan is.  Of course, the two are linked; if you have a clan full of friendly members who play fairly, then your servers will be filled 24/7.  But it never guarantees a successful clan, especially when it comes to facing your opposition clans in a war.

Ranks can also be misleading.  Only a few days back I was playing on the SoH war server.  Raptor, the WebAdmin urged all the players to go onto the main server (the one ranked 3rd).  His aim was fairly obvious - he wants to maintain a good rank for that server. So much so, that he ended up kicking all the members off the war server who didn't leave straightaway after his request.  This is the extent to which people go to ensure their server ranks don't drop - but it all means incredibly little in the greater context.

~Observer