Would this be considered a game?

I'm not even sure if this falls under the "game" category but I'll give it a shot anyway.

I'm trying to create a type of ranking system. It'll go something like this -

User signs up and starts with 0 points, he does things on the site like rank other users, posts in forums, play games, leave comments, on profiles and gets a like .5 of a point for doing so. The higher the players ranking the more his votes,comments,posts are worth.

If another player gives him a low rating it affects the givers and recievers rankings. so eventually everyone will be linked.

The player will have up to 10 "allies" and their score affects his as well. his ten allies will form a group that is also ranked in a "top group" section

I'm guessing there is a lot of math/algorithms involved - but even thought math isn't my thing I'd like to know where and how to get started on something like this. There are probably a few things I'm forgetting to mention but I think I've covered the most important aspects.

So my question is what language would be best suited to do something like this?

Thanks.

I don't think the language is really relavent with regards to the ranking. As for the rest of your site it might have more bearing.

The ranking should really be worked out, without looking at coding it. figure out all the logic of how it works then look at how you would code it.

I am guessing you need to clarify your ideas some more and possibly draw some modeling digrams to figure out how it all works.

Good luck

You mean ... that ranking system will be the only thing the player will observe and interact with? Or is it ranking system like in forums only to distinguish between noobies (as myself here and long-time users?

This seems like a social networking site to me.

The proper language depends on how much traffic you'll get and what kind of a program it is. If it's web-based, you have a selection of a few languages, or if it's a client, you have a selection of others. The database you use with it depends on the language and on the amount of traffic you expect to get. And if you use a client<->server setup remember you'll need to make a server too (three tiers: client, server, database, unless you combine server and database), while if you do a web-based setup you'll only have two tiers (web and database).

Possibilities are large.

If you're a beginner, though, and it seems you are (just an observation) you'll most likely want an easy web-based language (I recommend PHP) with a free database (I recommend MySQL). You won't get too much traffic to MySQL should do just fine. And both are free, of course.

Sounds like some project your going for. Doesn't sound easy to me and I am not new to programming.

MsTeeee,

This does sound like quite an adventure in programming!

I am also a little confused on the exact details, it sounds like you have some drawing board work ahead of you to work the exact structure out.

I agree with gimp. Listen to gimp.

Once you get all of that figured out, though, one thing that might be an option would be to work out deals with sponsors so that your users can turn their points in for prizes.

Because it sounds like the whole site itself (blogs, forums, individual games, comments, etcetera) is supposed to be like a game of itself, kind of a meta game.

I really like the concept and think it has potential, I'm excited to hear about your success with it.

Once you come up with more specific information, feel free to post again and I'm sure someone will come along to help you in the right direction if you still need it.

In the meantime, there is a real neat phpBB forum package that was developed by the Shockv2 Group a while back called MetaBB, which can be found on phpBB's main site for phpBB2.

Most of what you mentioned can be done with this, as it includes several options for contests and cross-referenced events and it has an arcade modification installed along with a couple hundred flash games and a couple hundred popular phpBB modifications. It's easy to install if you are just beginning to toy with PHP, and might provide you better insight and a better starting place to plan the rest of your website as a sort of beta sample (before you get too far in to things).

There isn't an upgrade for MetaBB to phpBB3 yet, but again, it might be a good and free starting point for you to better organize how you want things set up.

Hope we've helped!