Delay the displaying of the rating for new members, until they have ten ratings.
This will improve the following aspects of the site:
Currently they are posted at 5. Unfortunately for the new player, if only one of the players they played left a bad rating, their rating is artificially low, and will not necessarily represent the kind of player they are. This is especially true, if they just happen to get into a game with someone who leaves bad ratings for nothing.
It will improve the site, because it will not force the new player to wear a "scarlet letter", when they probably do not deserve to do so. It will therefore hopefully not turn off new players that get this low rating, which is not really accurate.
There is the slight risk, that problem players, will not be as identifiable, because the rating is not shown as soon, but it will still be possible to read any ratings, and I feel this risk, is not only small, but worth taking in the effort to be fair to the new player, and inspire them to stick around. The success of CC is dependent on new players, and keeping as many as possible has to be a priority.
10 seems like the right amount, because its enough to give more of a fair accounting, and at the same time be early enough to point out the problem players. If there is a problem player, they will undoubtedly get plenty of negative ratings quickly, so the increase wont mean much. The delay really hurts no one, and gives the new guys a little more time to get acclimated.
Ive seen plenty of new players with very low ratings, and many had only one negative, and often didn't deserve even that realistically.
Id say since there is no real impact on most, the sooner the better on this. It only affects new players, so if some problem arises, it can always be adjusted. And how hard can that be?
Lets help the new guys out, and jump on top of this idea.
