Ratings floors can be a very bad thing. My thread on 'losing on time' pointed this out, but didn't really get taken anywhere.

Check out the following profiles for an example of why ratings floors are a bad idea:

http://www.chess.com/echess/profile/zigza

http://www.chess.com/echess/profile/kamasutra

He or she used different accounts to boost own rating, right?

What's the point in doing that? I don't get it. The rating is merely a measure on "how good you are" as compared to other players. Why would a player do this? Is there anything to gain by having a high rating like this (besides making your parents or kids proud)?  

I see the destructive effects for the rest, because he or she lowers the ratings for supposedly better players. It compromises the statistics.

I have thought that it would be better to have a "correct" rating to indicate just how good you are, and then feel a bit satisfied when it goes up because it means that you improve. (Reading all those books made sense after all ..)

But then againg, I have just admitted that I don't get it. The rating is just a number, isn't it???

G