[zenith]

Ok, on our development server I have a working rendition of what will hopefully be our new respect code. Hopefully I can explain this where others understand.

Respect is not based on the opponent's level completely. It's based on level and statistics. These combined give a general power level to the code. I will leave everyone in wonder by not giving the exact formula.

If the attacker wins and is 10 more than the defender in power level, the attacker gains nothing. The defender still loses 1 respect. REASON : Everyone knows that this person should win, and thus no respect is given. No one wants to associate with someone who is constantly beaten down on, no matter what, so the defender's respect still decreases.

If the attacker wins and is 10 less than the defender in power level, the attacker gains 5 respect. The defender loses 5. REASON : Major upset.

If the attacker is within 2 of the defender in power level, the winner gains 3 and the loser loses 3. This is virtually two equals.

If the attacker is 3 to 9 greater than the defender in power level and wins, the attacker gains 1 respect and the defender loses 1. REASON : This is still a mismatch, but there is still a chance the attacker is going to lose.

If the attacker is 3 to 9 less than the defender in power level and wins, the attacker gains 4 respect and the defender loses 4. REASON : This is an upset, but not a cinderella story. Perhaps the defender was weakened in some way that made the fight close.

Now I know this isn't a perfect solution, but I feel it is better than what we have. The majority of battles will be the +1 / -1 variety as we have now, since everyone fights people they know they can beat. Looking at our combat history, this will be 75% of all fights. This also prevents gangs from "harvesting" respect from gangs who have no chance at all. It will still drop those gangs down, but with less incentive to do so by the stronger gang it will happen less.

This is still in development because I want everyone's input. So fire away.