Points are awarded on a 40 point split. This means that in a game where the players have exactly the same ratings (1677 vs. 1677, for example), then the winner will win 20 points and the loser will lose 20 points. This adjusts for ratings; if you're rating is much higher then you may win 5 points for winning or lose 35 points for losing. For the opposite player it is the opposite; they lose 5 points for losing and win 35 points for winning.
Self-rating affects this system. It allows you to play against people who have a much higher rating with a much lower rating, so you get more points per game. Say a 1600 self-rates himself from 1600 to 1750. He plays against a player rated 1780. According to the "ratings", he is only 30 points below so no handicapp. However, if he wins, it's like a 1600 beating a 1780; 40 points awarded/lost.
40x28 = 1120. That's the maximum number of points he could be awarded if he won 28 games (it's 28 I think, didn't bother to look, just found 84% of 33 and rounded up) and all 28 he won 40 points. This, of course, is not true, but even if he only won 20 points per game, he would still be awarded 560 points, meaning he would be at the rating of 2160. So, he won less than 20 points per game which means he generally played people of the same rating or less.
I could win 1000 games and still be less than 1700... I would just play against people who only give me .2 points This is probably what is happening with Josey, but not to such an extreme.People don't get their points because their computer doesn't connect to the ESO stats server. I'm pretty sure this is the fault of ESO and not the user, but it may be joint responsibility, not sure. I really dunno why this exists but it's a problem because many points aren't being awarded/taken away, so people have inflated/underinflated ratings.
[This message has been edited by Einstein_006 (edited 01-09-2004 @ 06:19 PM).]