the ipad thing isn't a possibility..I gather it's a sure thing. It's comments on rankings and how they are arrived at, than just ratings that he wants your ideas on, though all comments are welcomed. Should anything be included in coming up with ranking other than speed, and low moves? Any ideas on that?

It seems that some people have the ability to play speedy games because of technology that not everyone has. I feel that the real challenge and equalizer in this game is going for the lowest moves. This would put everyone on a more equal playing field and the rankings would hold more meaning. I think lowest moves should hold more weight than speed in the rankings.

Donna, there are at least three threads on the Forum that deal with ranking (discussions from 2008 when Adam was still around): 1 - "New Ranking System + Awards!" (currently on Page 12); 2 - New scoring system questions and comments" (Page 15); 3 - "How does the scoring and ranking system work?" (Page 16). Fizz, Lavendar, joekayak, Norm, Travis, and several others participated in these discussions or posed questions. They might have some input more in line with what you are looking for.

This request is also not related to Rankings but I will make it anyway. It would be good if there were a way for Yuriy to "mark" a number of threads so that they would be permanently at the TOP - on Page 1 - of the Forum. These threads would be the ones on Rankings above, and also "Solitaire 101", "Solitaire 101 - Fastest Times", and "Solitaire 101 - History", plus "SC Cross Reference". They are scattered all over the place so they are very difficult for new players to find. Those of you out there with programming experience might know if that could be accomplished relatively easily. If not, maybe we could have "Forum #2" which would only be for these reference threads.

Maybe Fizz (and anyone else who has the knowledge and interest) could be our "mediator" with Yuriy -- communicating with him, working through all of the aspects involved with changing the ranking system, and reporting back to us so we know what things they are considering. ~~ Sorry, Fizz, but I do not know anyone else who has the experience you do. You were very active in the discussion with Adam about the then-new ranking system.

I believe that at least twice as much weight should be given to low moves as opposed to low timing. If you finish 10th in low moves and 70th in speed then 2x10=20 plus 70=90 divided by 3= 30 and that would be your relative ranking for the day. Much closer to tracking skill levels of players. Gong very fast (with or without) a cheat program only reminds me of caged gerbils.

This is why I threw things open to everyone's input, Susan, to get all the info from everyone of all skills. We all the play the game and have different expectations. Yuriy actually only asked for my input and I asked if I could put it open to the whole group to make it more fair. After ideas are submitted, I think he plans to make the decisions himself as to what to include in the ranking technique. But perhaps fizz could better translate Yuriy's thoughts on the technique to us. That is up to he and Yuriy.

If you read over "New Ranking System + Awards", the discussion involved a number of different aspects (current games played as well as older games, for example) and how they figure into the rankings. Many players may not even be aware of that information and would not know to raise those issues now. Will certain things like that be left in place or is Yuriy looking to overhaul the entire ranking system? Many of us kept saying we would like low moves to be given more weight than speed. But you asked: "Should anything be included in coming up with ranking other than speed, and low moves?" I do not think everyone is informed enough about how the rankings are arrived at to be more specific. That is why I thought that Fizz would be able to help Yuriy by offering insights based on his knowledge of the game and the current ranking system.

I agree I thought fizz or Bruce would have been a better choice, but perhaps he is just used to communicating with me. All I know is what he told me. I am not even sure how much input we are allowed, but he wanted suggestions from me so I asked all of you. I hope fizz does take it over.

Meanwhile, I hope more of the high scorers will give their opinions... fizz in particular. Your opinions are important!! I have written Yuriy to check out this thread and all the comments..

I really like the current scoring system whatever it really is. Whatever the system is, there should be an explanation on the site. The main reason the old system was changed from my understanding was the load it put on the server. I like the 30 day scoring because it doesn't take new players years to become competitive. However I think it would be good to have either a separate ranking for number of games played or make it a small percentage of the score. I prefer the separate rank. Or have the stars not expire after 30 days and have a ranking for most stars from all the games. That would make playing archived games mean something. It would be nice if the unplayed games in the archive were shown in a different color the way they use to be. Though I think there are some games still in the archive that are unplayable. I agree with the others that moves should count at least double what speed does. I wouldn't take speed out of it altogether. There are some who still enjoy that challenge and the cheaters I think are a non factor. I would add a double star or perhaps a different symbol for whoever got the lowest moves first.

that sounds extremely fair and what I was hoping to hear!! An actual plan. Thanks Fizz !! I am sure Yuriy will read this with great interest and I hope he contacts you.

I am sorry to do this on this forum but....Yuri, please fix Mahjong Craving while you're at it!! I'm not sure what fixes are needed for SC but MC rankings have been broken for years. It's probably just a little piece of php code and shouldn't be difficult to fix. Yuri, if you can adapt SC for smart phones then it seems you have the technical ability to fix the other game you own: Mahjong Craving. Please! MC has a loyal (and competitive) following, just like here. How about developing an algorithm that automatically sets a new game when an impossible game is encountered? I mean this for both SC and Mahjong.

I think the idea for an automatic reset of the game when it is impossible, is a great idea if it is doable. I hope Yuriy gets back to us on this.

To reiterate: lowest moves should receive higher ratings than fastest times. An edit your own comments feature would be great. (The Forum has an edit feature.) Being able to type an apostrophe is good. On impossible games, and on other problems, assign a liaison person or persons to write to Yuri.

Here are my comments from several games back: For the ratings, how about Helpful, Misleading, Funny, Interesting, Nice. If we do not have Offensive, we would have to have another way to trigger a comment getting deleted. ~ Also, it would be nice if there were a way for us to edit our comments !! (This has already been said many times but you can add my vote for an edit button.)

Donna, I do agree that more weight should be given to low moves as opposed to speed - serf-serving in my case, of course. But the biggest concern for me personally is that the format remain the same. As I have stated before, this is the only site on which I can read the graphics. They are so finely and thoughtfully done. Thanks for the opportunity to weigh in on this. Regards.

when someone like Knit One logs on to just say "Hi from old slow poke in Boston" I would like to acknowledge her "Hi" with a "Hi" button to click. I always end up clicking "interesting" cuz I just want her to know that I noticed she said "Hi".

I should add concerning the scoring system. I'm not sure why Yurri is asking about it but the old adage might apply, if it isn't broke then don't fix it.

I agree that it is good, but I think as many do, that low moves should count more than speed, even though speed is a factor as well. Anyway, it's entirely up to him but he will appreciate your opinion Fizz. Why are none of the other high scorers leaving an opinion?