I agree with your assessment max. I am considering this proposal:
S6 Finale
- Reset all ratings and match history for all algos when the transition-period begins. Significantly increase the duration of the transition period. Remove the rating gain/loss cap in a small update sometime this week.
This experiment was polled with 17% against and 50% in favor, so we were going to run this experiment next season anyway. Bumping it up to now solves the current rating problem. The main downside of the reset is losing the historical leaderboard data, but this data is a bit awkward anyway due to this mistake.
Going forward
- Permanently remove rating gain/loss caps, but maintain the ability for stranded algos to play against significantly lower-rated algos