Rank & Rating

One equation, four lessons, and the reason a win can pay nothing.

These pages explain the maths behind Convocados' rankings and the product redesign built on it. The through-line: the failure was never a bad formula — it was askingone number to do two jobs.

Two numbers, two jobs

ADR 0031 separates the hidden Skill Rating from the visible Season Rank. They look similar and must not be crossed.

	Skill Rating	Season Rank
Job	Predict performance; balance teams	Make progress felt; give a goal
Audience	Organizer, matchmaking	Every player
Visibility	Hidden (admin only)	Visible to members
Horizon	Lifetime; never resets	Per Season; soft-resets
Engine	Glicko-2 / OpenSkill	Transparent point payouts
Failure to avoid	Unfair teams	"+0 after a win"

In this section

Elo in one game — expected score, the update rule, and what K controls.
The cost of certainty — Glicko's rating deviation, volatility, and rating teams.
Pricing a win — floors, clamps, and the unit you count in.
The redesign — choosing an engine, the Season Rank blueprint, and a season simulator.

See the glossary for the canonical terms used across these pages.

Reading order. Each page assumes the one before it. If you only read one, read The redesign — it is the conclusion the other three argue toward.