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The Everything's Best Users list is a ranking that is solely based on XP. Since XP can be gained in several ways other than writing high- reputation nodes, the Everything's Best User list does not rank users by their write-up contributions alone, but also by their voting habits, blesses, curses and what not.

A ranking that evaluates E2 writers solely by the merits of their write-ups should consist of two factors: quantity and quality:

E2-Contribution = quantity × quality

This definition is analogous to the XP rating system, where quality represents the simple Node-Fu, and quantity represents the number of write-ups. In order to use this definition for ranking write-up contributions, the quality should be a measure of the "average" write-up reputation for a noder.

As I have outlined in a previous write-up (Node-Fu), the mean (average) write-up reputation is a poor measure of central-tendency when there is a wide distribution around the mean. This is the case for most noders; some of their nodes skyrocket while others remain close to zero. For these wide distributions write-up reputations, the median is a better "average", and in the same write-up I described how to calculate this parameter, the Median Node-Fu (MNF).

The Median Node-Fu can now be used to rank noders by the quality and quantity of their write-ups. I will call this parameter the Median Node-Fu Product (MNFP):

MNFP = NC × (MNF+1)

Where NC is the total number of write-ups of a given noder, and MNF is the noder's Median Node-Fu (see here how to calculate this for any noder on E2).

The MNF is increased by one, to correct for the fact that new write-ups enter the database at reputation=0. Without this correction, a noder with a total of 10 "reputation-less" nodes would have the same MNFP as a noder with zero write-ups. An alternative way to think of this is as an implied vote on your own write-up (you do believe that your own work is a worthy addition to the database, don't you?).

The Median Node-Fu Product has the following properties (see also the properties of the Median Node-Fu):

  • It ranks a noder only on gained write-up reputation and number of write-ups. It is independent of XP gained or lost in any other way.
  • It ranks a noder only on his/her current set of write-ups in the database. Write-ups that were deleted or nuked do not matter.
  • Very high or very low reputation (e.g. disagreement-downvoting on controversial issues) generally do not affect the MNF, and thus will not change the MNFP.
  • Node Quality and Quantity are directly proportional; four rep=0 write-ups equal two rep=1 write-ups equal one rep=3 write-up.

Everything's Best Users by MNFP

So how do our Best Users stack up? Following is a table of Everything's Best Users, ranked by their MNFP. This data was collected on February 16, 2001, 15:56 and is therefore only a static snapshot. I did not include any data of users that are not on Everything's Best Users, but have a higher MNFP than the users listed here. This table is only for demonstration of the concept.

                      W/U     Exp.     SNF   MNF      MNFP   EBU Rank  MNFP Rank
Pseudo_Intellectual   5211    42820    8.2    2      15633      01        01
Deborah909            1843    12502    6.8    4       9215      37        02
pingouin              2241    27888   12.4    3       8964      04        03
Segnbora-t            1947    34361   17.6    3       7788      02        04
sensei                 915    23035   25.2    7       7320      07        05
Jet-Poop              1439    15441   10.7    4       7195      23        06
dannye                1397    28745   20.6    4       6985      03        07
Saige                 1700    19691   11.6    3       6800      09        08
tregoweth             2147    16188    7.5    2       6441      20        09
dem bones             1965    25775   13.1    2       5895      05        10
hamster bong           829    18821   22.7    6       5803      12        11
knifegirl             1158    23445   20.2    4       5790      06        12
templeton              788    18479   23.5    6       5516      13        13
ideath                 874    16324   18.7    5       5244      19        14
ariels                1280    12233    9.6    3       5120      40        15
Sylvar                 985    18849   19.1    4       4925      11        16
wharfinger             686    13779   20.1    6       4802      30        17
Uberfetus              784    10868   13.9    5       4704      50        18
Gamaliel              1157    13825   11.9    3       4628      29        19
stand/alone/bitch      661    11971   18.1    6       4627      42        20
mat catastrophe        916    11932   13.0    4       4580      44        21
Tem42                 1045    19899   19.0    3       4180      08        22
yossarian             1387    16947   12.2    2       4161      17        23
Lometa                1381    18030   13.1    2       4143      15        24
JeffMagnus            4084    11959    2.9    0       4084      43        25
ophie                  679    13145   19.4    5       4074      32        26
juliet                1343    16657   12.4    2       4029      18        27
The Custodian         1006    12026   12.0    3       4024      41        28
BelDion               1995    15866    8.0    1       3990      22        29
iain                   780    13136   16.8    4       3900      33        30
themusic              1273    14905   11.7    2       3819      25        31
Dizzy                  608    12742   21.0    5       3648      35        32
Rancid_Pickle         1215    12716   10.5    2       3645      36        33
pukesick              1806    11069    6.1    1       3612      49        34
moJoe                 1646    11176    6.8    1       3292      46        35
alex.tan               821    11073   13.5    3       3284      48        36
BaronCarlos           1617    18225   11.3    1       3234      14        37
Fondue                1595    18918   11.9    1       3190      10        38
General Wesc          1029    13658   13.3    2       3087      31        39
yam                    974    14316   14.7    2       2922      27        40
nine9                  958    17581   18.4    2       2874      16        41
perdedor               713    12400   17.4    3       2852      38        42
LordOmar              1387    16012   11.5    1       2774      21        43
dann                  2590    14535    5.6    0       2590      26        44
/dev/joe              1012    15432   15.2    1       2024      24        45
N-Wing                 908    11147   12.3    1       1816      47        46
anotherone            1202    11876    9.9    0       1202      45        47
dmd                    965    12332   12.8    0        965      39        48
Dis                    256    12912   50.4    2        768      34        49
Electricsound          542    13982   25.8    0        542      28        50

Remarkable is the big difference in noding styles. The Median Node-Fu in this list ranges from zero to seven (nobody nodes like our sensei!). Some people rank on the list with a high number of nodes at a low median, while others write less at a higher median. Some people make quite a drastic jump up (or down) the list compared to the traditional Everything's Best Users list. Deborah909 apparently has a big number of high quality nodes, while this wouldn't be apparent from the simple node-fu, or her XP. The same is true for Jet-Poop, who ranks 6th by MNFP, and 23 by EBU.

This analysis was not in any way meant to be contemptuous about anyone's noding style or ther quality of the write-ups (and I know I still have a lot to learn). It is simply another way of stacking it all up, just like the Everything's Best Users list. No single parameter will tell you how funny, intelligent, insightful, crazy or beautiful one noder is to you.

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