Mike,
Thanks for responding. Any idea if they are going to get it working this year? The minute they announce that DCC will be doing Fargorate in full swing, that's the day I start practicing like a madman. I wish Fargorate was more like a United States Chess Federation rating... Required for nearly ALL events in the U.S., and the rating is the be-all, end-all measurement of improvement. Chess players are improvement junkies, only because of the rating system. Without a rating system in full force across the entire sport, often times lower level players don't have any incentive to practice.
I am betting that a lot of midlevel players would put in a LOT of practice if they thought 10 days at DCC would boost their rating 100 points, if they played well. I know I would. Within the context of a Fargorate, losing to Jason Shaw 9-7 really means something, and would lead to a ratings boost, and a measurement of improvement, whereas without it, you just lost to a better player.