Adding a new highscore before or after an equal score?

Question

I'm making a highscores list for my 2048 replica. An entry in the list consists of a name and a score (e.g. "John" and 2100.) When I add a new entry, the code runs through the list and inserts the new entry when the score for the new entry is greater than the currently indexed entry. So imagine this list:

Roman   17000
Sergei  12500
Dean    8000
Andrew  1400

If John was inserted into the list, the new list would look like:

Roman   17000
Sergei  12500
Dean    8000
John    2100
Andrew  1400

The question is, what do I do when inserting the entry for "Steve" whose score is 8000. Does he go before or after Dean? Is there a convention for this?

Answer 1

Though it is (to my knowledge) most common for newest score to be entered at the top, I would argue that the OLDEST score would deserve the first position.

For this simple reason:

The first player to achieve the high score had LESS TIME to achieve that score, than people making later/following attempts, thus deserving a higher position as (s)he was the quickest to achieve the level of skill required to make that score.

Inspired by this you might track time spent in each game, and sort the list so that LEAST time spent on creating a similar score goes FIRST.

Answer 2

Just sort them alphabetically.

And if you have numbers to call out the position, be sure to handle the tie case appropriately so you aren't calling one person 3rd and another 4th even though it's the same position.

Answer 3

If you're looking to encourage competition and activity, it might make more sense to have the more recent score replace the older one. Players wouldn't be able to simply achieve a high score and become complacent, because their score is at risk of being replaced at any point.

In fact, if you really wanted players to rue being replaced, you could have the higher scores on the list displayed in a style that is more rewarding than the older ones (e.g. more colorful, stylized, etc.) This way when a player's score is tied, not only do they move down, but they also lose whatever superficial qualities were associated with that spot on the list.

Answer 4

Tradition says new scores on top. No idea why, though... now that I think about it, it makes more sense the other way around, you should award a player for achieving an equal score in less time. But that's just my personal opinion, in the end the choiche is up to you :)

Answer 5

I don't believe there is a standard. From what I've seen, and what I use, who ever got to the top first should keep their position.

Answer 6

Now the choice is up to you, but I would spend some time to add more to the highscore board so it can track different achievements of a player throughout the play-time, and then compare them to the player who has equal score.

Placing Steve on top would be unfair for Dean. Placing Steve below Dean will make Steve angry. One of many things that might lead to a forum war. It's a minor but you got my point.