| From | Message |
darthmix
9/25/2007
09:42:22
[ report abuse ] |
 Subject: Only 1 tourny at a time for free memberships?
Message:
Sorry, is this new? GK is won't let me sign up for the 39th tournament because I'm still participating in a previous one. Actually, I'm participating in a few previous tournaments... I've entered every tournament since the 31st without problems. How is this going to work, exactly? Do I have to wait until I'm eliminated from all in-progress tournaments before starting a new one?
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derman53
9/26/2007
01:56:27
[ report abuse ] |
Message:
Or pay the fee
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reivilos
9/26/2007
04:13:26
[ report abuse ] | I believe this is new !
Message:
I am playing in a number of previous tournaments too, and had no problem signing up for them as they came up. When I tried to sign up for the 39th, I got the same message darthmix describes. It's all very clever and GK do as they please, 'tis their site after all. This player will leave when all his tournaments are over, though.
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artaserse
9/26/2007
08:25:05
[ report abuse ] |
Message:
The same happened to me.
This is really annoying, now I basically play only tournament games, but with this rule I won't be able to continue this way, I would stay weeks without playing between a tournament and the next.
I'm starting looking around for other correspondence chess servers, let's see if I find one allowing me to play its tournaments...
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chessnovice
9/28/2007
04:28:43
[ report abuse ] | ...
Message:
"New" in what sense? I remember this being the case two years ago, and actually don't recall when free members weren't restricted to one tournament at a time.
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heinzkat
9/28/2007
06:24:19
[ report abuse ] | chessnovice
Message:
They are talking about the bimonthly GK tournaments.
-> gameknot.com
Probably GK wants to prevent free members from playing 30 games at the same time, all because of these tournaments ...
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derman53
9/30/2007
06:46:01
[ report abuse ] | Free memberships
Message:
Those leaving because they are allowed in only one GK and have free memberships are hurting GK how?
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rt4sm
9/30/2007
09:57:06
[ report abuse ] | WTF???
Message:
This is a very flawed decision on GK; let me explain why. What if a free member goes all the way in a GK tourny? They take years to complete, throughout that time you can't enter another tournament. A few years is quite a long time!
However, if they go out in the first round, they can immediately enter another one. This means their punishing people for being succesful and winning. Strange, innit?
A fairer way to do it would be simply not to allow people to enter tournaments if they're playing 12+ games at once. I can understand GK wanting to stop free members playing too many games at once because of the GK tournys. This aternative idea would achieve that, but at the same time free members would prefer it as they would not have to wait years to join another tourny. Also, it wouldn't discriminate against people for winning, which is absurd whether they're paying or not.
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nathanman22
9/30/2007
16:59:04
[ report abuse ] | The best solution
Message:
send a message to the GK "control tower" and ask him about it. There is no use whining in here about it. I just paid for a membership so I don't have to stop playing....I keep playing as much as I want. This is the best thing to do. Why post on the forum when you can go straight to the source and ask POLITELY if it can be changed and give the reasons. After all this is their site and they can do what they want. Everything they do for us is a favor--not a requirement. If it wasn't for them you couldn't play here at all , you know. We should be thankful for what we have and petition kindly and graciously for more rather than complaining about what we don't have. I for one love it here....
-Nathanman22
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chuckventimiglia
10/01/2007
05:49:37
[ report abuse ] | There are many chess sites out there...
Message:
that allow you to play "everything" for free. I suggest
you go to one or all of them.
You will find that those sites are inferior to GK. You
will also find that there is a myriad of trash talk that you
can join in on as well.
This iste and others that offer a good site to play
chess are not for free. It costs money to run and
operate any site not only good ones.
So what I am saying is "Good Bye".
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muppyman
10/03/2007
03:24:03
[ report abuse ] | I agree with chuck,
Message:
I joined GK as a free member and I stayed a free member for a long time. I never found any reason to complain about and I never thought that GK owed me anything. For the last 3 years I have been a paying member. I still have nothing to complain about and I still do not think GK owes me anything. I play here because I choose to and, having played on quite a number of other chess sites, I am satisfied that GK is the best one for me. To those who are not happy with conditions here I say, I could show you at least three sites which are free, will allow you to play in multiple tournaments, join a team, and join in the forums so you can read all the posts from people complaining about the unfair conditions at those sites. Hopefully you will feel more comfortable there. They are easy enough to find, and to join. I wish you happiness.
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artaserse
10/05/2007
04:30:23
[ report abuse ] |
Message:
I'm not going to leave GK, but, as I like to play tournaments, I simply found another server allowing me to play its tournaments. This means that I'm playing on two servers at the same time, but this also means that I will play less games than usual on GK.
Note that free members are very important for GK. If free members leave the site, premium members will have less opponents to play with, and GK will become less attracting to them.
Admins have to be wise balancing what a free member can and can't do, as they need to keep the site community big (thing that you achieve having many free members), but they also need to convince many members to become premium members.
Balancing this two things is difficult, and I think a public discussion about this theme can be useful to the admins. Hence I don't think the premium members should blame us for having started this topic.
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nathanman22
10/06/2007
09:19:48
[ report abuse ] | No blame
Message:
Artaserse--no blame for you for starting the topic. I agree that it is good to talk about options, and especially if you might try to convince them of your point by sending a private message which is what I suggested.
If free members leave, we can always play paying members...this is a growing site. There are plenty of people to play. (: I'm not saying you are not important--I'm just saying that since they control it they can do as they please--and it's a hard issue to balance. I hope you are well. I also play at chessmaniac.com. You might try that out as well. There is no restriction on how many sites you can play at....Maybe I'll see ya there. Challenge me--I'm nathanman22.
-Nathanman22
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chuckventimiglia
10/06/2007
11:32:41
[ report abuse ] | This site has seen a....
Message:
number of chessmaniac players. Most have been
left either because their accounts were terminated or
they quickly realized they could not carry on here like they
do at chessmaniac. They found that cursing and trash
talk in general was not allowed on this site as it is common
talk on that site.
Yes it is free so I guess you get what you pay for.
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darthmix
10/10/2007
14:44:30
[ report abuse ] | For the record
Message:
I'm not disparaging the site or those who choose to pay. Chess on the web is just not something I personally am willing to pay for, but that's me. I'm really just trying to figure out whether I'll have to wait until I'm actually eliminated from all current tournaments before signing up for a new one, or whether I'll be able to sign up when I'm between rounds in my current tournaments, not eliminated but with no active games.
Looking back on my past tournament rounds only about 1 in 4 of my opponents have been premium members. It seems like the net effect of this will be to dramatically decrease the number of players in any tournament, which may be good or bad. It'll certainly speed things along.
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dansuno
10/12/2007
10:43:43
[ report abuse ] |
Message:
Regarding my games, I would say 80% of my opponents are paying members...
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nathanman22
10/17/2007
06:28:59
[ report abuse ] | I am now playing...
Message:
both chessmaniac and chesshere as well as at gameknot. (: There are many sites out there, but most will only allow a certain amount of games at a time before playing...if I want more chess, I just join another site....keeps me busy. However, gameknot is by far the best site for layout and damage control. I love it here--and I don't ever plan on leaving...when they get a lifetime membership, I don't care how much it costs--I'm going to buy it.
-Nathanman22
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throneseeker
10/19/2007
13:44:15
[ report abuse ] | Been There, Done That
Message:
As I am presently a non-paying member, I will say simply that I would prefer being able to join additional GK Tournaments but I do not establish the policies here. Nor did I establish them at the site where I formerly played although as an Administrator at that site I was called upon to enforce them to the extent I could.
IMHO, it is the responsibility of Administrators to enforce the rules and policies of the site and assure that such rules and policies are clear, concise, and consistently enforced. There should be no favoritism in such action. The rules and policies of the site should be established by the site ownership with adequate input from the Administrators permitted and encouraged.
I would like very much to be a premium member of this site but due to circumstances in real life, I was forced (medically) to terminate my professional career early and although this has given me the time to pursue Chess once again, it has really done a number on my financial structure - so I play what free games are available to me and envy those poised to do more.
As for the PITAs, every site has them, and they are scattered among both the paying and non-paying members. I developed very thick skin a long time ago as all good Admins must eventually do.
And yes, I think it is best to present one's arguements for and against an issue in private communications though I must admit that I would at least like to know whom I am addressing (that is another way of saying I really don't know who the Administrators and Owners are).
And as you may (or may not) come to know I generally do not hestitate to throw in my two cents on subjects of interest to me. (Actually, if I could get all those pennies back I might be able to get a membership here!! ROFL)
Regards, ThroneSeeker
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sushi1978
12/13/2007
10:29:41
[ report abuse ] | NEW ROUND BEGINS AND VACATION FLAG IS ON
Message:
say a a new round begin, you have advanced to it, but your vacation flag is on, will be be removed from the tournament. usually, it says that you need to log in once to ensure you intend to continue but if you're away/on vacation, you wont log in. is there a vacation exception?
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cyberknight999
12/13/2007
13:08:15
[ report abuse ] | Yes, there is.
Message:
I have received this message in the past. Note the last (next to last) paragraph.
Congratulations on winning the 2nd round of Intermediate Chess section, 34th GameKnot tournament! The 3rd round will start on Tuesday, November 6th, 2007.
Unless you have a vacation flag set for your account, please make sure to log in to GameKnot at least once before the start date to confirm your participation. If by the time the next round starts, you haven't logged in to GameKnot for 7 or more days, you will be automatically withdrawn from the tournament (in order to avoid unnecessary timeouts).
If you have a vacation flag set for your account at the time the next round starts, all newly created tournament games will be automatically postponed for the same number of days.
Good luck and have fun!
GameKnot.com
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mekk
1/16/2008
07:19:01
[ report abuse ] |
Message:
I am a free member, but I do not think there is anything incorrect here, GK is free to limit free members as they like. The free offer is rather reasonable, one can try almost everything for free, but must pay to avoid limits.
I know commercial sites where freebies may not play any tournaments, and even site where you must pay to play rated games (although I know also commercial sites with more privileges for freebies and totally free sites).
Limiting access to GK tournaments may be indeed a good thing, those tournaments take very long to complete.
The only thing which could make sense is some message when the free limits change.
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