I guess we will always have people that try to fool the system. I come to think about an approach to battling cheating when reading about how iRacing uses a safety rating iRacing - An Introduction to the Safety Rating System - BoxThisLap.org. In their world, you will gain safety rating points by driving without crashing - Being a good guy.
What if there was a system in Zwift that gave you points for each race you behaved well, while you would lose points if you e.g.:
- Change your weight/height unrealistically
- The performance in a race is far above previous performances
- Rider does something else that is considered intentionally trying to fool the (category) system.
- Quit a race
- Rider is flagged by x other riders in the same event.
Race organizers could have the possibility to manually detract some license points for riders that breaks some clearly defined rules in their events.
Race organizers could require a certain license level to sign up for a race or race category. Maybe if you fall below a certain level, you will lose your license, go down a license level, and be prevented from entering some races that require a higher level.
This system would encourage good behavior, just like behavior points in kindergarten, and the quality of the races should be linked to the license level they require. It will also add some gamification which many find inspiring.
This system will not replace a good category or matchmaking system, but be an addition to it.
This system will require:
- Tracking of license points
- A license points level for each race/category
- Enforcement of the level set on race/category
Related: Kick out of online servers cheating/bad behavior riders