Pay-to-Play

It’s taken me awhile to figure out how this process works. The standings that get posted are confusing and even finding the scoring explanation, it took a while for me to understand how this vote with lindens system works. The answer turns out to be relatively straightforward. The standings are not based on the raw amounts of lindens or votes, but rather on the relative ranking those amounts give you. The two rankings — the linden rank and the voting rank — are then averaged.

Here’s an example with three hypothetical players and their raw amounts:

Name	Lindens	Votes
Angie	300	6
Belle	700	3
Charlie	500	12

When I restate this in rankings, where the highest value gets number 1, etc …

Name	Lindens Rank	Votes Rank
Angie	3	2
Belle	1	3
Charlie	2	1

These rankings get averaged together and the results are ordered from smallest to largest. In the case of a tie, the number of votes is used as a tie-breaker.

Name	Lindens Rank	Votes Rank	Average Rank	Overall Standing
Angie	3	2	2.5	3
Belle	1	3	2	2
Charlie	2	1	1.5	1

If Angie wants to move up in the rankings, she needs to add more money, more votes, or both. But how much of each? The goal is to change the rank orders in order to get a higher average. With 300L and six votes, she’s third and second in ranking. In order to move up to first in votes she needs to add seven votes. If the minimum vote is 25L and she votes seven times, that adds 175L to her total as well.

Name	Lindens	Votes
Angie	475	13
Belle	700	3
Charlie	500	12

Now look what that does to the rankings! Adding the votes gives Angie a first place rank in voting, but didn’t change her rank in money. When she traded vote rank with Charlie, that gave all three of them an average rank of 2. The final order is determined by the “most votes” rule, leapfrogging Angie into first place overall even though she has the least money in play.

Name	Lindens Rank	Votes Rank	Average Rank	Overall Standing
Angie	3	1	2	1
Belle	1	3	2	3
Charlie	2	2	2	2

Now Belle has a problem because she already has the most money in play, but has the fewest votes. She can’t improve her rank by adding cash. She has to do it by adding votes. If she adds nine votes at the minimum level, that will give her 925L and 12 votes. Her money ranking won’t change but her vote rank will go up by one.

Name	Lindens Rank	Votes Rank	Average Rank	Overall Standing
Angie	3	1	2	2
Belle	1	2	1.5	1
Charlie	2	2	2	3

This demonstrates a hidden fact in the scoring. Belle and Charlie are tied with 12 votes each and they both get a ranking of two. I confess, this is speculation on my part, but the evidence seems to support it.

Armed with this information, I’m able to compete in the contest by knowing whether I need to add money, votes, or both. Strategically, the correct response seems to be “Only place minimum votes” in order to maximize standings. In our hypothetical contest, the person who places a single 100L vote will have a lower standing than the person who places four 25L votes. After that, it’s just a matter of keeping track of who has how many of each.