Citizens,
We have made the following small tweak to the new Ranked War ranking system, ahead of larger upcoming changes.
Nota bene: the matchmaking code is unchanged by these changes. These changes affect rank only.
First: we will degrade the rank of factions with very low performance scores. Factions have low performance scores when they perform well below the level we'd expect from the stats of their constituent players. The vast majority of factions will not be affected by this change, or will see a very modest improvement in their rank as a result.
Secondly: we are changing how we calculate the size of Diamond, so that 10% becomes the ceiling on Diamond's size rather than its guaranteed size. Assuming ~1,800 ranked factions, previously we filled Diamond to 180 by taking the highest-rated factions with ≥75 members, digging below the top 180 when necessary. Now, to qualify for Diamond, you must both be one of the top 180 factions (by rating) and have ≥75 members. We will calculate everyone's rank as if we didn't have a member requirement for Diamond, and then dump factions affected by the member requirement into Plat III.
These two changes stack.
18% of factions will have their hidden/true division affected by these combined changes. 9% will gain a division, 6% will lose a division, 2% will lose two divisions, and 1% will lose more divisions. As these affect hidden/true divisions, most factions will not notice the change immediately, or will never know they were affected.
tldr; Diamond is getting a little smaller, Platinum III is getting a little larger, factions who lose all their wars will have their rank penalized.
Post-change rank map, Y = performance (log), X = faction strength (log)
Most winners (green) are near division boundaries, most losers (red) have low performance. X denotes factions affected by Diamond membership size requirement
Division membership count if all factions were at their "true" division, post changes (line = before, fill = after)
Per-division strength ratings, (line = before, fill = after)
Number of factions by divisions changed after changes
These changes have already been rolled out. Factions who have been strongly affected by these changes will either see a one-off rank adjustment during the next matchmaking period, or will see gradual drift over time in alignment with the existing promotion/demotion rules, depending on the specifics of how and why they're affected.