Quoted from dannunz:What do you think of the way the pinball wizard arcade runs there tournaments? What is there system?
I don't like the Aurcade system, because it increases the relative importance of "big games" and a third party's big game can change the outcome between two others.
The Aurcade system makes the top score on a game 100 points, and the other scores are a percentage of the top score.
For example, let's say the high score on Monster Bash is 100 million, Bob has 80 million and Al has 40 million; then Bob has 80 points to Al's 40. Now Cayle comes and drops a billion; suddenly Bob has 8 points to Al's 4. This works heavily in Al's favor. Meanwhile now Cayle has 100 and nobody else has more than 10 on that game; those who can't top 100 million barely have a reason to play the game any further compared to others.
Similar logic shows that "exponential scoring" games become more important than "linear scoring" games under this system.
I highly recommend the PAPA scoring system with 100 for first, 90 for second, 85 for third, 84 for fourth, ..., 1 for 87th place. It has been used for 10+ years at the PAPA World Championship, players know it, and it's easy to explain.