Want to know a little bit more about a player? Often you can gather the information you need from a simple look at the players profile. Simply left-click on your chosen target and select ‘show profile’.
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The Player Profile
Your basic profile on the office tab is broken up into 3 main sections.
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The information in sections 1 and 3 jumps out right away – this player is playing for the West side (indicated by the red name and red avatar background) and they are a member of the Iron Horse corporation. We also see 3 stars… we’ll come back to the stars a little later.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the items in the middle section. Most of these are self explanatory but a few could do with some clarification and a couple can be downright misleading.
Status Items
First up we have the current ranking of that player in the game you are in. According to the Rail Nation FAQ, rankings are updated every 5 minutes.
Next we have the players current prestige total (we can see what this is made up of when we click onto the prestige tab).
The $ sign indicates the players turnover so far that day. This resets each day and builds as the day progresses.
The engine count shows the total number of trains a player has, including bonus trains. In this example, I only have a level 11 engine shed as it is a a max for era 2, however I have 13 engines due tot he bonus Red Kite and bonus Bull.
The city the player has set as their ‘Home City’ is also shown… worth noting that a player can set this to any city they are connected to, whether they are actually based in that city or not.
Eternal Leaderboard
Here is where you need to keep your eyes peeled and not just accept what you are seeing in front of you to mean what it seems to mean on the face of it. Let me explain.
‘Game rounds played‘ includes every time that player has signed into any game for any length of time. In fact, I’ve played with people who show 38 games played and yet they have never been in any one game for more than 2 weeks. Similarly, new players will often sign onto several servers at one time… games in progress still count as games played and so a complete newbie might appear to have several rounds experience when in fact they may have just a few days experience.
‘Best solo rank‘ is another fact that can, at times, be a little misleading. This doesn’t necessary refer only to the best solo rank the player has finished a game, but includes the current game in progress. Here is an example:
Above we can see this player has a best solo rank of 2. We might be tempted to think they have finished a round in second position on a server (an impressive accomplishment). However, before we get too hasty we should also note the single star; indicating this player’s best finish has been in the top 1,000 – not the top 10 or even the top 100.
Best solo rank is still a nice little historic indicator but it’s worth keeping in mind that it also includes the current game in progress; obviously a good finish is a lot more impressive than a good start.
About the Stars
As you scroll through the rankings (or profiles) you will notice some players have pretty gold stars next to their profiles. These stars represent varying achievements in final game rankings.
A solitary star indicates a top 1,000 finish in a game round.
Two stars means the player has had a top 100 finish in a game round.
Three stars is a a top 10 finisher in a game round.
The coveted four stars lets you know this player has won a game round.
Stars do not come and go depending on the previous game you played; instead, the highest level of star you have attained stays with you always, regardless of later performance.
I, for one, am still enjoying the game after many rounds now and keep plodding along in the hopes of one day chasing down that elusive fourth star.
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