Page "QuakeWorld" Paragraph 4

For the first four months of its existence from December 1996 until April 1997, QuakeWorld ( Version 1. 25 ) sported its own global player ranking system where users were required to log into id Software's master server with their own unique identifications each time so that game statistics were logged in a central location.

This spurred competition between players striving to attain the highest rank, but also controversy over the fairness of the formula used in its calculation.

This, and more significantly, the incredible network and manpower load placed on id software's servers overwhelmed the company's rankings system that led them to abandon rankings entirely with the release of QuakeWorld Version 1. 5 early in April 1997.

The master servers thereafter only provided a list of active QuakeWorld servers.