(Don’t take this seriously, this is all a joke)
I thought about something. Chess players have Caïssa, goddess of chess. We, go players, have nothing like that. Best we have is “hand of god” but it’s not very personal or interesting, it doesn’t do anything really.
Now, since introduction of Glicko, ranks changes became very tricky to predict - your rank goes up or down with such weird deltas. Plus the system as a whole is harder to understand. Most players don’t understand how it works, some know general principles, and maybe a very small minority if at all can check whether the system works as intended or not. Category ranks are a whole another story altogether.
So I propose to create our fantasy god - god (or goddess) of ranks. It would explain a lot. “Why did my rank rose by only X points?” - “Maybe you were arrogant in your play and the god of ranks is punishing you for that”, stuff like that. And honestly, the way the chat explains rating changes to beginners can be often summarized as “don’t worry about it, it’s magic” anyway. So I think creating our own mythology, starting with the god(dess) of ranks and a temple honoring them, is a needed move. Later we can expand our pantheon.
So, what we need to do:
- Think of a name that would stick.
- Determine their gender.
- Symbols and hats.
- Outline high priests - people who are able to interpret rank changes.
- Determine schedule and content of sacrifices.
- Develop a strategy to spread this.
But the name is first. Glicko sounds stupid.
Wanted to take this off my chest.