New Challenge Ladders have been activated for Supreme Commander, the Forged Alliance Beta, and Forged Alliance Retail.

THe Forged Alliance Beta challenge ladder will end on November 24th. The Forged Alliance Retail challenge ladder will be reset on November 24th with the European release of Forged Alliance. The Supcom challenge ladder season will continue through the end of the year.

Tp begom with, we're rolling out the the general challenge ladder. Additional challenge ladders will roll out every few weeks!

We hope you enjoy This new form of competition on GPGnet!

What is a Challenge Ladder?

Challenge ladders (“rung” ladders) are a form of competition for 1v1 or team play. Players join the “ladder” and are placed on it at the bottom “rung”. They can then climb the ladder by beating players above them. Players can directly challenge other players, or can “automatch’ to play others on the ladder.

There is one “overall” ladder that anyone can join, but there can also be “specialty” ladders – for example, single-faction ladders, single map ladders, or rating-specific ladders such as an “under 1600” ladder.

A challenge ladder deals with ladder RANKS as opposed to RATINGS. The GPGnet rating system is completely separate from a players RANK on any given ladder. Ladder matches are still rated, however, and ladder play contributes to a player’s overall rating.

Note: The existing GPGnet list of rated players is NOT a “ladder”. It is simply a listing of players sorted by their rating.

Some key ladder concepts:
Entry and re-entry: Players may enter any ladder for which they are qualified. Players may drop from and re-enter a ladder at any time.

Inactivity: A player’s ladder position will automatically degrade if they are inactive for a certain period of time.

Direct Challenge. Players may directly challenge any other player on the ladder, higher or lower. A player may only move up by beating a player that is higher on the ladder. All ladder players MUST accept challenges from lower ladder players *OR* play an automatch for at least 50% of their games.

Ladder Automatch. Players may seek an automatic match for any ladder. The system will match them with another player from the same ladder. An automatch allows a player to manually challenge upward for their next game.

Ladder Movement. When a player defeats a higher-ranked player on the ladder, they move up the ladder ½ the distance between their current position and the position of the player defeated. If #40 defeats #20, for example, #40 might move up to #30. In this case, #20 would not move at all.

Ladder Drift. Ladder matches are resolved in the order in which the reports are received. In the above example, note that every player from #30 to #40 would move DOWN as #40 moved UP – they “drift” downward. Drift is not recorded in the ladder audit trail.

Becoming #1: Only the #2 or #3 players on the ladder can become #1 on the ladder, and there are special rules governing the behavior of the #1 player.

Manual Reporting. Unlike regular ranked matches, ladder matches are manually reported by both players at the end of the match. In addition to reporting win/loss/draw results, players record any disconnects and can rate the honor and integrity of their opponent, with comments. This report is backed up by the regular rating report that is automatically made by the system, providing additional information for GPGnet in resolving any conflict.

Ladder History and Audit: Each players complete history of ladder movement and games player is kept in detail, to allow player movement tracking on the ladder.

Ladder “Seasons”: Each ladder on GPGnet will have a defined “Season” with a start and end date . At the end of a season, the ladder will be reset allowing new players to join.

Automatic Deletion: Players who join a ladder but do not play a game within a certain period of time will automatically be removed from the ladder.

Ladder automatic batch scripts: Various scripts run at specific intervals for ladder updating. These include scripts that resolve ladder matches; degrade player positions for inactivity or failing to play lower-rated players, and player removal scripts. Players that have match resolutions pending will appear in a highlighted fashion on the ladder list.

Match Resolution. Players have a certain amount of time to submit their match report to the system. Once both players have submitted their match reports, the system resolves their match. If the reports conflict (i.e., both players report a win), the system compares the reports to the automatic report made by each player’s system. The final outcome of this process is posted to each player’s record in detail, and the resulting ladder moves (if any) are made. If the match can’t be resolved, it is submitted as an NR (no resolution) for each player and tracked statistically.

Accepting and declining challenges: Players may accept or decline a manual challenge as they desire. Players can also “turn off” all challenges, in which case they do not appear on the challenge list.

Ladder qualifications: All ladders require that players have played at least one ranked match. Beyond that, ladders may have qualifications such as rating, number of games played, etc. Players can see the qualifications on each ladder by clicking the appropriate link on the ladder display.

Cheating or ladder manipulation: Any form of cheating or manipulation of ladders will be dealt with in the harshest possible manner.

Quick How-To’s and FAQ’s:

Where are the ladders? You’ll find a new menu selection, “Ladder”, at the top of your GPGnet screen. There is a listing of the available ladders, as well as a selection that allows you to globally enable or disable ladder challenges for yourself. By selecting a ladder, you’ll see a display of the players on that ladder sorted by ladder position.


How To Join a Ladder: One of the buttons at the bottom of the ladder display allows you to join the ladder . You may receive a message that indicates you are not qualified to join; if so select the link in the upper right of the screen to learn about the ladder qualifications. When you join the ladder, it may be up to 5 minutes before you are shown on the ladder. You’ll be listed on the bottom rung.

How to Challenge Another Player: You can challenge another player on the ladder by selecting the player name from the list, then using the “challenge player” button at the bottom of the screen. A challenge will be issued. If you are challenging up on the ladder (as is typical), you may receive a message indicating you must challenge DOWN or AUTOMATCH before you can challenge UP. Simple automatic or play a lower-rated player in order to be able to challenge up again.

What if I don’t want to play? If you’ve joined one or more ladders but don’t want to be challenged, simply select the “disable challenges” function from the Ladder menu.

How do I move up? You move up most directly by beating players that are higher on the ladder than you are. If you defeat a higher ranked player, you will move ½ the distance between your current ladder position and that player’s ladder position.

How to fill out the Report Form: After your match with another player, a match report form will appear on the screen (on top of the Replay form). You should fill this out as quickly as possible to submit your match report. Indicate whether you won, lost or drew. Indicate whether you think a disconnect was involved. Give your opponent and Honor and Integrity rating, and submit any comments you feel appropriate. Your opponent will fill out this form as well, and the match will be resolved based on your reports. Don’t worry about your opponent “fibbing”; the automatic rating report is used to resolve disputes.

My opponent and I started in one position, but after the match our positions had changed. Why? Other player’s matches can affect one or both of your positions. Match results are charted on the ladder in the order matches are resolved.

How many ladders can I be on? As many as you like, and are qualified for.

How is this different from Ranked Matches? Are ladder matches rated? Ladder matches are rated, and every ladder match you play also contributes to your overall ELO rating. Ladders operate very differently from the ranked player listing. The lowest rated player could be the top player on a ladder. The only factor that matters on a ladder is beating players above you.

Higher ranked players won’t accept my challenge! Remember, all ladder players MUST play lower rated players OR automatch *every other game*. If they don’t, they’ll lose ladder ranks…and you’ll move up! Use automatching to have a 50% chance of beating a higher rated player and moving up.