Frequently-asked questions regarding our ladder system.

• How do I join the ladder?
  The ladder portal has a link on the right-hand side of the screen.
• Where can I find opponents to challenge?
  You can play ladder matches by joining our Match-making Chat room. Click the "Chat" link on the top menu and then join Match-making chat. You must be enrolled in the ladder to use that specific chat room.
• How often can I play the same person?
  You can only play a particular player once every 24 hours. This is to fight against rank inflation from beating the same opponent over and over.

• How do I use the match-making chat?
  The "Challenges" section on your chat screen has a list of "challenges" that you have sent to opponents or opponents have sent to you. The icon to the left of a challenge is an indicator of its status, and tells you when someone sent you a challenge, whether you or your opponent has reported a result for the challenge, and when your report conflicts with the other player's. You can hover your mouse over any of the icons in the Challenges section to see a tool-tip explaining what the icon means.
  
  To send a challenge to another user, click their name in the chat window or the user list and then click "Challenge!" in the "inspect user" box on the right. Your challenge must be accepted before you can play that opponent.
• How do I accept a challenge?
  Similar to the "status" icons, each challenge also has icons on the right for actions you can perform on the challenge. One icon shows an envelope with a green "O" on it; this will accept an incoming challenge, whereas an envelope with a red "X" will deny it. You can only accept a challenge when your opponent's personal status is "Ready to Brawl"; this prevents people from playing multiple challenges at once.
• How do I report a score?
  You can report a score for your current match by clicking the "Report Score" button in the Current Match section. This section replaces the Challenges section any time you accept a challenge (or an opponent accepts your challenge). You can reopen the section if it closes by clicking the "reopen" envelope icon next to the challenge.
• What happens if my opponent lies?
  Any time reports on a match conflict, the system automatically files a Dispute that a ladder referee will resolve at a later time. You can revise your report if you accidently sent in a wrong result by clicking the "reopen" icon and filling out the report again. Referees will ask for evidence and make a decision on the dispute to the best of their ability.
• What if I get disconnected and cannot play a match after accepting a challenge?
  Unfortunate as this scenario is, your fate rests entirely in the hands of your opponent. You accepted a challenge and indicated you were ready to play at that moment; it would be unfair to your opponent to forcefully cancel the match after you entered the agreement to play. There's also no way to prove that your disconnect was harmless. Maybe you pulled the plug on your router because you were losing... can you prove that you didn't? Sorry, but it will be up to your opponent to decide your fate. He/she has the right to report a win if they so choose, or to cancel if they feel it's warranted.

• How do I go up in rank?
  Winning matches is (obviously) the best way to go up in rank. You will generally gain more points for beating players with high rankings, especially if they are ranked overall higher than you are.
• Why do I gain different amount of points for each win?
  The amount of points you gain depends on your current Skill value and your opponent's Skill value.

• Where can I leave feedback about the ladder system, including bug reports and complaints?
  Check out our Rankings Ladder Forum.