moth

scoring.md

 1Scoring
 2=======
 3
 4MOTH does not carry any notion of who is winning: we consider this a user
 5interface issue. The server merely provides a timestamped log of point awards.
 6
 7The bundled scoreboard provides one way to interpret the scores: this is the
 8main algorithm we use at Cyber Fire events. We use other views of the scoreboard
 9in other contexts, though! Here are some ideas:
10
11
12Percentage of Each Category
13---------------------
14
15This is implemented in the scoreboard distributed with MOTH, and is how our
16primary score calculation at Cyber Fire.
17
18For each category:
19
20* Divide the team's score in this category by the highest score in this category
21* Add that to the team's overall score
22
23This means the highest theoretical score in any event is the number of open
24categories.
25
26This algorithm means that point values only matter relative to other point
27values within that category. A category with 5 total points is worth the same as
28a category with 5000 total points, and a 2 point puzzle in the first category is
29worth as much as a 2000 point puzzle in the second.
30
31One interesting effect here is that a team solving a previously-unsolved puzzle
32will reduce everybody else's ranking in that category, because it increases the
33divisor for calculating that category's score.
34
35Cyber Fire used to not display overall score: we would only show each team's
36relative ranking per category. We may go back to this at some point!
37
38
39Category Completion
40----------------
41
42Cyber Fire also has a scoreboard called the "class" scoreboard, which lists each
43team, and which puzzles they have completed. This provides instructors with a
44graphical overview of how people are progressing through content. We can provide
45assistance to the general group when we see that a large number of teams are
46stuck on a particular puzzle, and we can provide individual assistance if we see
47that someone isn't keeping up with the class.
48
49
50Monarch Of The Hill
51----------------
52
53You could also implement a "winner takes all" approach: any team with the
54maximum number of points in a category gets 1 point, and all other teams get 0.
55
56
57Time Bonuses
58-----------
59
60If you wanted to provide extra points to whichever team solves a puzzle first,
61this is possible with the log. You could either boost a puzzle's point value or
62decay it; either by timestamp, or by how many teams had solved it prior.
63
64
65Bonkers Scoring
66-------------
67
68Other zany options exist:
69
70* The first team to solve a puzzle with point value divisible by 7 gets double
71  points. 
72* [Tokens](tokens.md) with negative point values could be introduced, allowing
73  teams to manipulate other teams' scores, if they know the team ID.