Rankings & News December 2022
This was originally written on Discord so the text may be confusing.
It is kept this way to preserve the original posts how they were.
December 2022 #
News #
The wait for one of the several CTs ready for review to be tested and approved continues but at some point Gilles has to awake from hibernation, right? Right? starts crying
- Several other players after NGZ managed to complete EF on their main save. These include (as far as I know): BlackSeal, Finalultima, XLII, dyme, and OddEntity
- The record sheet now has a different player at the top for main saves for each original theory!
- On the topic of records: NGZ joins XLII on 1e9 minigame stars!
- To no ones surprise a change in leaderboard scoring for the record sheet has done nothing to stop Playspout from being at the top. At least I’m still in the Top 3, so I guess it’s fine :)
- XLII has released the Theory Sim 3.0 which is going to be even better!
- More guide! We now have a guide extension about variable power with some nice graphs and stuff by spqcey
- Snaeky has been active on YouTube, recording videos for several guide topics
- He seems to have also motivated some more players to (re)start their tau tracking, which is nice for data and graph and stuff
- Huevos Revueltos has some amazing collection and tracking of \(F(t)\) values which opens up some graphing over time
- All in all it was another more quiet month with overpushing at the top and a lot of waiting and anticipation for the big bang when new CTs drop (please not yet, I need to finish EF) - I guess it should be expected at the slowdown where a single grad (usually 2 students) can take up the whole month or more
- Gen convinced me during the writing that I should do a yearly edition (which I interpret as an end-of-year review), so if you have anything to say about that, go ahead and tell me, especially now as it comes closer
Another announcement (which was kind of intended to be introduced by practical example) has to be made because I didn’t want to postpone further:
The rankings and news will be added to the guide website! This will not only open up this information to a way larger reader base but it will also allow for other perks like easier overview and better formatting. It will also make actually writing these easier. Current plan is to have the yearly edition as the first purely website rankings and transfer all the old ones over in the next weeks.
If anyone has ideas, please let me (and/or the guide team) know. If you have criticism do it as well. If you don’t want to end up in any news/rankings outside the server, then contact me so I could either exclude or anonymise you.
See you elsewhere soon!
Rankings #
So after once again avoiding the rankings in favor of news for a bit, it is finally time for the update!
December 2022 Top 20 on the leaderboard, their \(F(t)\) at the time the list was compiled and their Discord connection (Discord names in brackets are not their nicknames!):
- HeadedArt26 (Playspout) - ee67409:
If you ever looked at the record sheet you should know him because he’s literally everywhere there (still holding him off from T2/T4 for now^^). Also pretty active here, doing everything imaginable! Added fun fact: did ee50000 without T9. I wonder if there is anything he isn’t active in^^
Playspout is the Ling Ling of Exponential
IdleActive with 40 hours a day (and more saves than any person should have) and still searching for new theory strats and writing and and and. Having established a firm lead the only question to remain seems: will Gen still try again or will Playspout lose some motivation and allow someone else to get close? So could you slow down please?
- (+1) Eldrail (AfuroZamurai) - ee67203:
Always a bit difficult to write about oneself^^ Activity here is more in phases but at least pretty regularly (so hopefully daily), in the game I do like my idle theories (who could’ve guessed?). Favourite phrase: Time for active theories I guess^^ (while not doing that until I set myself a challenge). Also loves chess.
Have to work on my overpush because my one month intermezzo as #2 was of course short-lived (currently again #2 by the grace of Gen no officially competing) and I hope I can get near Playspout again at some point before I’m overtaken. Working on it and still fighting despite a somewhat more idle presence all around.
- (+1) AdamH99 (nemesis) - ee67073:
Found the server some while ago and no longer an unknown! Looks like he is back to fast and steady, getting pretty close to me actually.
So for a while he is consistent and so I just hope
he loses motivationhe continues to go strong. Good at minigames! Hopefully not too good in catching up…Also whatever EI steroids he’s on, I think I’d need them too^^
- (-2) GenErationNation (Gen) - ee67017:
While he cannot consistently keep up the 1000 messages per month, the Juggernaut is not stopping any time soon, neither ingame, nor in the server. Don’t be deceived by his stagnant \(F(t)\), he’s actually very close to Playspout!
Maybe not at the absolute top for CTs (though I think in terms of efficiency he actually is) but still going strong enough with accel (the madman^^) to keep closer to Playspout than he should. If this will be enough to get back his #1 can be doubted though he will try it.
- BlackSeal94 (BlackSeal) - ee66992:
Seldom seen here but always great to see him update his insane T6 stat (discounting Playspout who shouldn’t count anyways)^^ Custom theories have kind of awoken him to be more active here, which is nice. It also made him more active in the rankings, which is not so nice ;)
He had turned on CT overdrive but as the new CTs lose their power he’s back to catching up. Unperturbed by the switcheroo around him, though the fight to stay in the Top 5 got certainly harder.
- VintageSurfer56606 (kinger55) - ee66955:
He has discovered the main reason to be on the server: the tau bot^^ Else he’s not really participating (unless I ask for a tau update) but he’s a force on the leaderboard for sure. He certainly figured out CTs and firmly planted himself in the Top 5 until Adam showed up. If I had to bet I’d say he’ll get at least Top 3 one day! Not that anyone above would want to give ground though.
- Finalultima (Finalultima) - ee66547:
While they showed up a day before the rankings they got into the Top 20 in “real” Discord conversations (after some month of talking with the tau bot!) activity is still almost negligible but happy to have them and looking forward to seeing more!
Amazing fast progress and now the gap to close is pretty big. Still an impressive achievement getting here and after seeing their distribution I have no doubt it is fully deserved!
- some gibberish I won’t even try typewriting[name may change any second] (nubest) - ee66383:
She has been a long time member of this server, with quite a lot of messages a name to know. Maybe not the founder but excessive user of a rather unusual kind of text emoji: ouo and variations of it. She also likes to call hax and people bad which seems to correlate with her orthographic skills.
Unfortunately life came in the way and besides a pause on the server her leaderboard placement was suffering for it. Fortunately she is now back! And what a statement to get back into the Top 10 and even climbing! Maybe its the cat emojis^^
- (+1) TREDEC42 (XLII) - ee66309:
I don’t even know where to start but he’s doing amazing ingame and out of the game! Rising more and more thanks to his CT prowess (in absolute values currently #1), original theory pushing, the newly reached insane 1e9 stars and lots of pushing. To add to that he’s a minigame record hunter, sim programmer, CT balancer, helper and very active on the server!
Really happy to see him enter the Top 10 for a ranking and not only for a short time! Go ahead and rise some more!
- (+3) colinc719 (?) - ee66262:
They were maybe the biggest surprise when entering the rankings, shooting up from somewhere I cannot even remember directly into the Top 20 and never looking back. We cannot even know more about them because it looks like they are still not on the server. Maybe the future will give us more (so far not). For now they just entered Top 10 after first disappearing for a bit from the leaderboards completely.
- (-2) Antharion1988 (Antharion) - ee66258:
The original legend, longtime #1, creator of the original tau simulator and sadly not that active anymore (both in the game and on the server), though we can still see him (and he’s certainly not given up^^) quite regularly.
It was a surprise but a welcome one to see him back in the Top 10 and staying! Now the competition sadly got him but no reason to give him up. Gogogo!!!
- (+2) spqcey (randomname) - ee66245:
No idea what the name means but not that random of a person^^ We have another minigame master with a very impressive 2.55e8 minigame stars. Not only that but he’s also pretty active in the realm of collecting data in sheets like the theory strats, variable power or (sadly inactive for now) the tau graphing sheet and the \(F(t)\) sheet. He’s pretty active on the Discord server and a very impressive custom theory master.
When Top 10?
- (-1) ReckonCrew (ReckonCrew) - ee66224:
They have all their messages on the server from a single day about 20 months ago, which is an achievement in itself I guess^^
Not much else to say except they are pretty stable, mainly gaining a place now and then (and sometimes losing one). I do like stable players for this ranking^^
He did give me some work by switching places but at least he remains mainly in the same rankings group^^
- (-3) SnaekySnacks (SnaekySnacks) - ee66156:
Had a hard time not to think of sneaky but okay^^ Maybe the most active person on the server [citation needed]. Also known for his contributions to the guide and answering questions seemingly everywhere and everytime^^ Due to his work he’s been less active lately (which seems still pretty active to me). You’re doing a great job though! Same goes for his own custom theory idea (EF) which got implemented with the help of peanut and XLII.
Despite all this distractions he’s still consistently in the rankings! Now I’m even looking forward to him entering the Top 10 for the first time (in my rankings, in between he already reached it). Okay, so close but yet so far…
- UpArtz (?) - ee66097:
Seems to be active on Reddit but not here, though this is unclear.
They were already out and are often on the edge but because of that I’m even more impressed by their fighting spirit, looking forward to their next month! Still here and ahead by a decent margin!
- adequateryan (adequate ryan) - ee66000:
Entered a few month ago. But who do we welcome into our ranks? I have no idea as they are seemingly on the server but with a whooping 0 messages so far. While I always feel a bit of sadness seeing veteran players fall, I do like new players coming in, showing all is fluid and you can catch up.
Now I wonder if they’ll stay or even rise or maybe even more surprisingly start to talk on the server! So far only rise and no talk… Or no rise and no talk…
- (+1) harumaki200 (harumaki) - ee65799:
So far with the lowest amount of Discord messages but at least still here^^ Custom theories required some posts but that was it somewhat sadly.
Activity on the server is no where equivalent to activity ingame and this held true here very well. For a while they had stopped playing completely but now grinding is back on the menu! Welcome back!
- (+1) JuannTitor (JuanTitor) - ee65762:
On the server it looks like a lot of bot commands lately but from time to time he pops up for some other comment.
For quite a while he’s fighting really hard for his place in the ranking and has been out and back again. His comebacks must be a record, right?
Top 20 streak: 3!
- (+1) Fireburner80 (Gull Dewcat) - ee65699:
His in-game activity seems to mirror his server activity: preferably idle (though he is an old veteran who was somewhat active back in the days). He did idled out of the rankings but already showed the fire for a comeback and now he’s back. I still fear for his place because their is some hungry competition creeping closer but even getting back is still an impressive achievement! For now he’s still save, so that is nice.
- (new) d4Nf6Bg5 (d4Nf6Bg5) - ee65601:
He’s been on the server and the rankings hunt for a while. A long while actually. According to him surely every day he wasn’t here too long.
If you know chess notation you can deduce from his name he’s a chess player (you can go as far as allow him his self-proclaimed expert status given his 2500+ lichess rating^^). As I’m something of a chess player myself I already like that^^
Being driven by his desire to finally reach the rankings but hindered by competition, long times for small gains and not much desire to actually cash in on the actives, he decided to do a first here at the top (at least as far as we know): he split his saves. One of them is going for the long haul and the other - this one - got the theory automator running 24/7 for the short-term gain. Well, it did pay off I guess…
Some enter the list and so some have to leave the list as well. Here is our fallen fellow from this month:
- (-5) GrimJuniper55831 (wind) - ee65556:
The legend and long-time #1 from a while back, whose presence here is sadly going to come to an end… Unfortunately he has stopped playing. That he hasn’t fallen earlier is testament to his previous amazing play. What is left now is to see him drop slowly and see it as a benchmark how long it will take to leave the Top 20. The final answer is about 5 month!
This month it is finally time to say goodbye to him :(
You’ll be missed!
An honourable mention goes to #
- (on iOS) Phask (Phask) - ee66000 :
Longtime leader on the iOS leaderboard and actually in the Top 20 overall if combined. For quite some time it looked like he actually might be pretty close to the Top 10 on Android but lately he fell pretty hard. Since some time ago he started fighting back, now being at #17 in the combined leaderboard. He’s also on the server, though his active times are some months ago. Also known as the creator of the first Tau data collection sheet.
It will be interesting if he can come fully back at some point (despite CTs which seem to be the reason to lose the touch a bit), would be sad to see iOS drifting further away (though the next contender neasi_cz is making a serious push and is currently above the #20 Android player!).
And in the end it is of course time for the “real” honourable mention (please nominate someone with a reason for future inclusion of players if you have somebody in mind) as Phask is technically in the Top 20 rankings:
??. Can’t remember how sad [not his user name] (Ignacio Di Leva) - undefined:
Already a veteran when I joined, which means good over 2 years of experience. While he wasn’t the most prominent player/grinder, he did claim the top spot for a while when 1.3 and theories dropped.
This wasn’t his main defining feature though. Instead he is a long time mod and a very capable beta-tester with an amazing ability to break the game in very creative ways. He had access to the code and was able to generate saves. In this his successor (my feeling) Alex feels inferior which say a lot about one game-breaking master (though I’ll save more for another time).
He was always there with helpful answers and a huge knowledge about programming and the game specifics. But he was also on the fun forefront with his grand persona, the great Liver Lord. Owning all the livers and granting some of them to loyal and good followers he’s a big part of the Discord Server lore. His control over bodyparts is unmatched and he’s still the owner of Snaekys spine.
Unfortunately and sadly he’s been missing since August, so if you see him, please tell him he’s missed!
As it turned out to be quite the undertaking to write this month edition (as always, maybe not after the relocation?), we had some \(F(t)\) changes. Luckily for me only one of them was enough to change any ranks (at least on my leaderboard and in the actual Top 20) but colinc719 overtaking Anth actually meant a change of posts for these 2…