Mark,(posted 9605 days ago)First of all, I am probably pretty much maxed out on the leaderboard. There may be one or two more games in which I can get a top 3 score and probably a few hundred in which I can get somewhere between 1 and 10 percentage points. I don't have the time or the intention to do that. Yes, I know I have submitted several "free" 100 point recordings. I have changed my mind since then.
The reason I reply to your post is because you mentioned Crazy Kong. As of this writing, I own the #1 score on all 7 (not 5) versions of Crazy Kong. The main reason I wanted the #1 score on all versions was not to improve my leaderboard score, but simply because I love the game, I know I am good at it, and I can't stand it if somebody has a higher score on it than I have. Surely you understand the competitive spirit in that.
Of the 7 versions of Crazy Kong, there are at least 4 different ones. Each has its subtle differences, and every CK player probably has his own favourite version and his own version he is best at. (And I am not even mentioning Donkey Kong; personally, I like DK a LOT less than I like CK.) I fell in love with this game 17 years ago or so, but unfortunately I have never seen the exact same version as I played then since then.
Your concern is about the leaderboard, my concern is trying to show I am the one of the best at Crazy Kong, and I can't do that if I am just supposed to play one version, because then the 7 versions would have 7 different people holding a #1 score. Is that fair? Is it fair if I can beat a score on a different version, I am not allowed to do so, because I already played one version? Like I said, I am no longer interested in the leaderboard. As far as I am concerned, all the "free" 100 points I got can be removed from MARP.
I had a look at the list of Neil Chapman's recordings, and to me it seems that he feels about the same way I do. He doesn't have much more besides CK and all the PacMan variants, so it doesn't like he's really competing for the leaderboard. To me it seems that he is just trying to show he's the best at some of the games. Neither he nor I are any threat really to the people who are good at a lot of different games.
Once more, as far as I am concerned, all the "free" 100 points I got can be removed from MARP. I'll still have 9 or so first places left then, and shouldn't be much of a threat then to anyone who is trying to get a good position on the leaderboard. And while we're at it (and to make me even less of a threat), my Scramble and T&F/Hyper Olympic recordings should be removed too. I used autofire in those games.
I realise that this doesn't offer any solutions to the scoring system, but I don't think that taking one version and calling it the official version is fair either, because there may be (as I can tell you for sure there are in CK) subtle differences, and some people may be better at one particular version, while others are better at a different version.
Sorry to have made this post so long, but Crazy Kong is something that is very dear to me. :-)
Cheers, Ben Jos.