  We evaluate the rating system of "Heroes of Newerth" (HoN), a multiplayer
online action role-playing game, by using statistical analysis and comparison
of a player's in-game performance metrics and the player rating assigned by the
rating system. The datasets for the analysis have been extracted from the web
sites that record the players' ratings and a number of empirical metrics.
Results suggest that the HoN's Matchmaking rating algorithm, while generally
capturing the skill level of the player well, also has weaknesses, which have
been exploited by players to achieve a higher placement on the ranking ladder
than deserved by actual skill. In addition, we also illustrate the effects of
the choice of the business model (from pay-to-play to free-to-play) on player
population.
