Like the title says, I think combat reputation should go ratio wise, not the number of kills above or below deaths.
Such as (Not a for sure thing, I know my ratios are probably way off)
>.5 = Laughable
.5-.59= Feeble
.59-.69= Weak
.7-.79= Passive
.80-1.5=Balanced
1.51-2.0= Harmful
2.1-3.9= Dangerous
4.0-5.9= Deadly
6.0-7.9 = Menacing
8-9.9= Savage
10.0+ = Insane

You mean "<", right?

Yeah, it sounds like a pretty good idea to me.

only problem is that if someone has had a bad start to their GL career and is say 200 kills down, it will be extremely hard to get the ratio up, especially as it gets harder to get player kills the higher up the game you go.

like me. I get killed a lot but i kill even more... i think the ratio is too high, make it smaller.

Like I said, the ratios are probably wrong, (Why I'm not a game designer) If anyone could generate a good ratio, that'd be awesome.

But I believe a ratio would generate a better idea of some's combat reputation then the current system