Ok, so after a little more pondering on this I'm going to try to write this just in terms of the game language and stats. Let's see where it goes:
Instead of using "1000/mile" as in the above example we will just use 100% as the length of the bar.
We need to determine how the speed stat fills the 100% turn meter bar. For the sake of language, it would help to introduce a unit of "time", even though this is not a defined (or relevant) specific value in the real world. So let's introduce "time" as a unit in the swgoh universe. I hate to call it "seconds" or even "time", so let's call it "ticks".
The speed stat now has units of %/tick. (That's percentage of turn bar per tick.)
My QGJ has a speed of 195. How fast will he fill his turn meter? It will take 100/195 = 0.513 ticks. (With units that looks like 100 / 195 = 0.513 ).
When a toon hits 100% they will clearly take their turn. They then reset to zero.
The other toons at this point will be at turn meter percentages of:
Speed * elapsed ticks = Turn Meter increase
So a base Datcha with a speed of 119, after 0.513 ticks, will be at:
119 * 0.513 tick = 61.0% turn meter
Continuing, how many ticks will it take for Datcha to reach 100% turn meter?
(100% - 61.0%) / 119 = 0.33 ticks.
QGJ at this point will now be at 195 * 0.33 = 63.9%
And so on. This is one way it could all work out. The "ticks" will actually drop out of every equation and are unnecessary, but I thought it would help to introduce them for the sake of the thought process.
I've thought ahead and if this is how the system works then I agree that the "length" of the turn meter bar does not matter. It is 100% and doesn't really have units. The imaginary tick units also don't matter. All that matters is the relative rates, which are the character's speeds.
But can anyone confirm if this is indeed how the system is set up?
For thoroughness, since I'm answering my own question anyway, I'll return to my original concern. And yes, the turn meter percentages before a 50% increase will affect which toon goes first afterward. It all just depends how much closer the slower toon was to 50% before the increase. It's a bit obvious in this situation, but it was not clear at all if the turn meter had actual units and wasn't just a percentage.
If anyone dares to try making sense of what I've wrote can you confirm or elaborate on the mechanics and let me know if this is indeed how it all works? I can't think of any abilities that would break this system offhand, and it doesn't introduce any arbitrary unknown factors known only to EA. I'm not sure if I'm crazy enough to actually try tracking my battles and collecting stats to confirm anything, but if someone already has an answer that'd be great!!!
