THE NONSTOP PARTNER NAME WHAT/HOW/WHY
Partner name rules:
1. No making a partner name without permission from the leaders.
2. Don't ask us for a partner name unless your main nonstop name is 2300 or higher.
3. It must be 2300 when you show us.
4. The 2300 must have been earned by 1v1. Here are some specific guidelines when you are trying to earn the partner name:
a) You must have played at least five series (ft3 or longer) of 1v1 on the name since your last partner game played on the name.
b) If you have trouble doing this then don't worry about getting a partner name; you don't need one.
c) If you feel frustrated, then read the explanation below and make sure you are trying to get a partner name for the right reasons.
5. Final approval is necessarily subjective. We reserve the right to ask you to defend your 2300 rating if we feel the need.
6. Partner name must be of the format XXXX1_nonstop. (ex. drummer1_nonstop)
Here is the reasoning behind the concept of the Nonstop partner name (If you want a more personal explanation, don't hesitate to ask the leaders):
Let me talk a bit first about the *main function of ratings*. The role of ratings is to give everyone an idea of what each other's relative skill level is. This makes it easier for players of equal skill level to find each other! Despite the extreme abuse of the towers rating system, the "goal" of the system is still achieved to some degree. Even with the many people making new names out there, everyone still has some idea of what their individual rating ranges are.
Now, we created the partner name option for an important reason. It definitely wasn't so a player could keep their "higher ratings" safe while playing on other names. It was because the design of the towers rating system doesn't always allow a player to have the full benefit of the *main function of ratings*. Here's why: The upper range of "partner table players'" ratings is signifigantly lower than the upper range of singles players' ratings. This makes it impossible for a higher rated singles player to ever play people in the higher ranges if they also play lots of partner games, because their rating will always be lower than their "true 1v1 rating."
So how high does a singles player's skill level have to be before these partner games give him an inaccurate rating? While there is no clear cut answer, we do know that there are many players who get and keep 2100 and even 2200 ratings in partner games. We decided that a player who maxes out at 2200 in singles rating (maxes out meaning they are probably 2100 or lower a good bit of the time too) would generally be able to play partner games and keep their rating within their singles range. A 2300+ rating, on the other hand, is much harder to reach (much less keep) in partner games unless you use an underrated partner. So players who are at and above this rating level in singles can only enjoy the full benefits of the *main function of ratings* if they have seperate names for partners and singles.
While we feel our clan members should be able to use ratings for their main purpose, we don't really care about any of the other functions of ratings, such as the personal satisfaction of having scores of "high rated" names. You are not allowed to partake in these types of things as a member of Nonstop. Sorry.
PLEASE NOTE!!: The ratings are always fluctuating. At this point in time, singles ratings in the red range are down considerably (ex. 2300 might represent what 2500 used to.. it changes all the time.) This means the need for partner names isn't as great as it used to be, as less people are out of their doubles rating range when they play singles.