[smoogipoo]

See: https://discord.com/channels/90072389919997952/1476979671886205060/1553530746323599413

Once this is deployed, we should also run an UPDATE statement to fix existing rows in the database. It would probably go something like this:

UPDATE matchmaking_user_stats
SET elo_data = JSON_SET(elo_data, '$.approximate_posterior.mu', GREATEST(600, CAST(elo_data->'$.approximate_posterior.mu' AS SIGNED)))
WHERE pool_id IN (38, 39, 40, 41, 42);

[pacowoc]

This can create rating inflation long term especially if those players continue to intentionally throw.

A better implementation will be to display and matchmake using max() and keep an underlying hidden real uncapped elo for rating gain/loss calculations.

[smoogipoo]

I don't think that's a valid concern. Rating inflation for who, exactly? A 600 rating player is never going to be matched up vs a 2400 rating player.

On the contrary, I think that there's good argument for not soft-clamping, which is that, while your rating is <600, you will never see any sort of in-game progression. Or it would be some weird implementation where you have to work harder to raise your rating from 0-600 than from 600-700 and enter into the next tier.