Hi!
I've played with a lot of people in my past, and, of course, most of them had many different skill levels. It gets kind of hard to measure their skill and what I do/don't need to teach them, so I've made a scale for both new and experienced players to use to roughly propose how good they are (and how well they work with other people).
This will be split up into five scales, all from 1-5:
-(E) Efficiency (how well you plan out your days, your base, your boss fights)
1 - I never plan out my plan sessions, think about future days, make plans, or any of that stuff. I think about stuff spontaneously and make up plans by the second. My base is spread out, messy, and inefficient, and my inventory is always full.
2 - Occasionally, I do plan out days, but not very often. Sometimes I think about what I should do next when I'm waiting for the night to pass. Objects in my base are placed alright, but sometimes aren't very lined up/has a few flaws. I always drop stuff on the floor whenever I need to clean my messy inventory.
3 - For many big projects/advancements, I do plan out what I'm going to do to achieve my goals. My base looks pretty alright, and I have a chest to put items that I may lose in (such as rocks to protect from moleworms and pigskins to protect from Spiders).
4 - Every day, I plan out what I'm going to do in the next few days. My base looks great, I have a couple of chests to keep base looking clean, I always sort out my inventory and think about what I will and won't need for my next goal, and I place items in my base perfectly to make sure that they get covered by an Ice Flingomatic (unless I decide to base in the Caves) and I make sure that the Flingomatic doesn't touch my firepit.
5 - I keep tabs of my plans for the far future, no matter if it's tomorrow or in 15 days. I always know what I'm going to do next, and do certain actions before or after the next to make sure that it benefits me to the fullest with as less materials and time used as necessary. My base is perfectly symmetrical, covered by a Flingomatic (unless in caves), clean, efficient, safe, and supplemented.
6 - I'm too good for this scale.
-(F) FIghting (how well you know how to kite and kill various mobs and monsters)
1 - Fighting? What's that? I just let the Beefalo I base next to do everything. I can't kite, fight, or tank anything, not even a spider.
2 - I can kite a few mobs without dying - such as spiders, catcoons, maybe spider warriors, and even a hound if I'm lucky.
3 - Fighting groups of spiders, catcoons, and hounds are no problem. Spider warriors are a little tough, but if there aren't too many of them, I'll be fine. I can efficiently defend myself against early hound attacks, and I think I can kill butterflies now.
4 - Simple monsters are things of the past. Early hound attacks have become a cakewalk. I now know how to efficiently kill bigger monsters such as Beefalo, Tallbirds, Tentacles, and groups of Bees, though they may be a bit challenging in larger groups. I may be able to pull of a Giant, but they're pretty hard to me.
5 - I no longer need to rely on monsters to fight each other to get rid of them. Simple monsters can easily be handled in hoardes, and bigger monsters will probably be able to be handled, provided that there aren't a million of them. As well as being able to defeat Giants singlehandedly, I also know strategies on how to kill other bosses, such as Krampus, Bee Queen, Toadstool, Klaus, and even the Ancient Fuelweaver.
6 - I'm too good for this scale, pleb.
-(C) Cooking (your knowledge of the most efficient crockpot recipes, and how to make them)
1 - Crockpot? What's that?
2 - I now know that the Crockpot is a structure that can make magical food item that I may want in my base. I only know one or two recipes, those being Meatballs and Wet Goop (if I put in all twigs). However, the food items used in the recipe may mathematically outweigh the value of the meatballs themselves. I'm still experimenting with some recipes.
3 - Oh, I know some pretty good recipes, like Bacon and Eggs, Honey Nuggets, maybe some other health-restoring foods, Meaty Stew, and of course, Meatballs are still with me. Occasionally, while making these (especially Meatballs), I stop to consider that the food items may outweigh the hunger value of the Meatballs themselves. I'm still experimenting with this.
4 - I know what food items are and aren't efficient, and what they're good at restoring. I know when individual items outweigh the hunger value of the crockpot food itself. I eat these if they outweigh the said hunger value, and I only use Meatballs to get rid of all of that Monster Meat.
5 - I basically know all of the crockpot foods in the game, and what they're good at restoring. I know exactly when items outweigh the hunger value of the food itself, and also know when this may be beneficial or can be used for other means (such as Monster Meat for Werepigs, instead of being used for Meatballs).
-(K) Character Knowledge (how much you know about your character, and strategies you use with them)
1 - But he's a robot, he shouldn't have sanity!
2 - I have a basic understanding of the perks and drawbacks of each character, but I'm not sure what they're going to do for me/how to use them.
3 - I now fully understand how the perks and drawbacks work, and I use them on occassion. However, I don't necesarilly use them efficiently.
4 - I have an extended idea of perks and drawbacks, I use them often, and I can use them effectively.
5 - I have a multibranch idea of a character's perks and drawbacks, I use them all the time, I use them extremely often, and I also used advanced tactics and strategies to use my character's power to the fullest.
6 - Boi, I am Wolfgang.
-(T) Teamwork and Leadership (how well you can cooperate and deal with other players)
1 - What is a "tee-am"?
2 -I know that there are other people, but I just make a base by myself, even if it's an administrated server with no risk of griefers.
3 - I do work in a base with other people, but for the most part, I do things alone as much as possible. I don't communicate and talk very well with my team.
4 - I frequently talk with my team about my plans for the upcoming days, and so do they. Whenever necessary, I do activities with them.
5 - I talk with my team well and communication is always fantastic. If there's someone who doesn't know something, I teach them politely. I know exactly when working together or working individually will be beneficial or hurtful, and I and my team establish tasks to each other to make sure that we all reach our goals efficiently and quickly.
6 - I lead all!
Formatting example: E4 F5 C4 K3 T3
Yes, I am aware that this scale is definitely subject to criticism, plus it may not fit in all cases. If you'd like, suggest more categories to add to this scale as there's probably a lot of them I'm missing out on, or you can suggest a change to it constructively. Thanks!
(I understand that this will probably cause controversy, arguments about subjective players, flame wars, etc., but please do not go there. The only reason why I made this is to make things easier for you and your friends. Do not let this become another meatballs nerf thread or else I'll just delete this topic because god almighty I've seen enough of those, thank you, goodbye.)