What should I do with global high scores when the game has a major update?

Question

I have a game that people have been playing for several years now. The game has a global high score list, and there has been some fierce battles among the players for the top positions.

I now want to make a major update to the game, but the changes I have in mind will bring the maximum theoretical score down to about 80% of what it currently is. This is just an estimate, of course, I haven't gotten very far into the update, but it will definitely come down. I should also note that this game has no logical, absolute maximum score because it is based on things like time and resources used as well as kills.

So the question is, what do I do with the current high scores when I release the update? It doesn't seem right to leave it because no one will ever be able to take the high spots, and new scores won't really compare to old ones. I don't think I should wipe it because a lot of people worked really hard to get there. Any suggestions?

Edit to add:

I also don't think I can adjust the current score values because they are a sum of many small games, and the user can replay those to get an increase to the total. An adjustment would make a confusing mismatch.

Answer 1

When you change your game mechanics in a way that the old scores can no longer be compared to the new ones, then it doesn't make sense to have a scoreboard which does. So start a new scoreboard.

But the moment you do it, save the old high-scores and keep them available as a static website for everyone to look up. That way those who are currently leading won't be disappointed that their scores are deleted but honored that their awesomeness will be remembered for all times.