[ April 10, 2002: Message edited by: [M@D] BlackTyranitar ]

Anyone that doesn't get killed more than 1 or 2 times in a game is probably not contributing enough or is playing against poorly skilled opponents. Or possibly you could manage to keep your tank alive for most of the game, which I have done now and then. But in that case you usually have engineers to repair you, and they often sacrifice their lives to keep your tank healthy. Without them your tank wouldn't last, but they will have higher death rates... who's more important in the rankings?

What about people repairing the base who may only get a couple of kills but die 20 times? Are they not good players?

The game is simply not focused on killing people, but instead on destroying buildings and vehicles. Otherwise, kills would be worth more points and would have more effect on ladder points. Anyone contributing to those goals will likely move up quickly in the rankings, unless they are unlucky enough to get stuck on the losing team more often.

The main flaw I see in the ranking system is that people in large games get a lot more points than people in small games. Someone that barely did anything but was on the winning team in a 64 player game could easily earn twice the ladder points of the MVP in and 8 player game (assuming they're on the winning team of course).

I think I'm ranked about 600 or so right now, although I don't know how often they reset the rankings. It's nearly impossible to play the game well without getting killed. When my vehicle gets destroyed, I usually run up to the nearest enemy target and throw a timed C4 on it before I die. Or if friendly vehicles are nearby, I'll repair them until I die. Getting killed is also a very quick way back to your base if it's under attack or if a beacon is placed.

A rocket launcher sitting in a corner holding the trigger down doesn't take a whole lot of skill. But if that launcher takes out a building or even just keeps firing, it's building a ton of points. Often times I can get a group of artillery or MRLs together and we'll shot at something until it blows up or until the enemy offers enough resistance to push us back. Even if nothing is destroyed, it often pushes our team way into the lead by points and I've been in many games that were won by highest score.

A flame rush requires little skill, but a sucessful one means good organization by the team and they'll get plenty of points for it.

The best factors would be nearly impossible to take into account, such as:

- How many APV/engineer rushes have you prevented.

- Enemy numbers. How many tanks were there and how many did you destroy before you died.

Anyway, enough rambling.. there are tons of things that could be factored in, but I definately don't think kill ratio has anything to do with a good player for this game.

Islands:
I placed a beacon on the warfac with my stealth black hand. Got disarmed. I buy a laser chaingunner and destroy 2 mammoths and a mlrs. I buy technician and repair our refinery and hand that both got into yellow health. Then i saw a hotwire run in the hand. I bought an chem warrior and killed her good. Stealth and beacon, and saw a mammoth and mlrs coming. warned team, and the team attacked. i didnt shoot, and let my teammates die (now you will say bad, but in the end, it was the right decision). A hotwire gets out her mammoth and i steal it. I kill her and 3 others with my tusks and drive to the warfac which i destroyed with tusks. then i drove to the barracks and started shooting at it. i noticed it was being repaired and i placed my beacon. i got back in the mammoth and kept shooting at it. boom, game over, 4700 points for me.