Whenever I log on I see a long string of names of people logged on but not in the game room. I know some people are set up to log on automatically, and maybe are not interested in playing at that time. But I think it may be that some people are interested in playing but are sitting back waiting for others to log into to the actual game room before doing so themselves.
I am wondering if this is the case and that if so, if anyone interested in playing could always enter the game room even if few others or no others are there. That way more people might be attracted to log in also - even guests / newbies. You might not want to sit and wait at a table for someone to show up, but at least if you are in the game room, you can receive an invite to play.
If we want new players to come to the site then a full game room is more likely to do that.
Posts:
66
Registered:
Dec 13, 2008
From:
New York City
Age:
58
Re: Where is everyone?
Posted:
Oct 28, 2011, 3:27 AM
Is it possible for a game site to have too many features?
Could there be people in the lobby who are more interested in studying the game database, or in posting stuff in the forum, and in trying to "solve" the game, rather than in playing it?
Live rated pente games against real people seem to be very available on flyordie.com between the hours of 12 noon to about 5 p.m. New York time (Eastern Standard Time) though one cannot understand why their code does not recognize wins by lines of 6 or more. The simple Java substring function should be able to pick up five identical characters in a row whether they are part of a six or seven character line of that character or not.
I guess that this is sleeping time in Australia. Most of the players there seem to be Hungarian; "szia" is more common than "hello" or "hi".
Re: Where is everyone?
Posted:
Oct 28, 2011, 8:08 AM
I heard on the grapevine that our arch-nemesis Flyordie has been luring our best players away from the site.
It is time for pente.org players to stand up and be counted! Do not be seduced by the cute interface and soft pastel colours of flyordie, the funky graphics or the mood lighting, strike a blow for freedom and do what is right, stay and play here where it all started.
Ask not what pente.org can do for you, ask what you can do for pente.org!
Re: Where is everyone?
Posted:
Oct 29, 2011, 6:34 PM
Yes, a site can have too many features, When the St patty days pente tourny at BK is going on , I ve noticed that a LOT of those playing in it are here in the data base and tottally NOT playing here. Also at flyordie , they only count 5 in a row as a win, six or more is not a win by design. I have lost many games there by forgetting this, however I have won a game when my opponet made a capture that elemanated the sixth stone and instanly gave me the win, one of my best wins becouse i set up that capture to see if he would fall for it...
Posts:
20
Registered:
Oct 22, 2011
From:
Kansas City, Missouri Home page
Re: Where is everyone?
Posted:
Nov 2, 2011, 3:32 PM
Sometimes I'm involved with being beaten by the computer, but much of the time I'm involved in turn-based pente. I would simply not have the straight unbroken time to play live pente. I can only get to it from time to time, so the turn-based form is what I can realistically do. However, since I don't log off after every turn, I might not even be around even though my game identity is still in the room. Taking a pente-nap?
Re: Where is everyone?
Posted:
Nov 2, 2011, 11:44 PM
Thanks Inigo. I know what you mean regarding live games. I play mostly from my office and get interrupted all the time! But when I have played turned based I have ended up forgeting about the game and losing by default!
So, I have an idea. Why not arrange a pente night?
One night a week, everyone who wants to play live games comes to the pente.org game room.
As most players are in the U.S. I suggest a 5 hour block of time starting from 7pm NY time. One night per week would ensure that people can at least make one evening free to play live games in their business lives.
I propose Wednesday night every week. But I would like to get a vote on this if people like the idea.
Can interested people please reply if they like this idea and nominate a preferred night and perhaps a second preferance?
Re: Where is everyone?
Posted:
Nov 4, 2011, 2:09 AM
I think this is a great idea.
I would be fine stopping by Wednesdays.
I believe that it would help to have these group nights but I purpose that we have featured games posted for those nights also. We could challenge each other to rated games these Wednesday nights through personal messages and then if accepted post the future plans of games in the forum. I feel like this gives a guarantee of action and if there are some particularly interesting set ups more people will want to come to watch.
I would also like to thank alisontate for taking such an active role in trying to revive the game room. Great idea
Posts:
66
Registered:
Dec 13, 2008
From:
New York City
Age:
58
Re: Where is everyone?
Posted:
Nov 4, 2011, 3:02 AM
I cannot say I know that this is the right thread for this post. This probably needs to be the subject of a separate thread, but I am not in the habit of starting threads.
Most of us, me included, made a big mistake when we supported the implementation of set-based ratings. (Richard III has the last laugh)
We failed to consider the fact that the majority of the players on any pente site are not (in our case) red or yellow ranked.
It is annoying if one of these players win a game while playing white then leave, but that is a better scenario than logging in for a whole day and not getting an opportunity to play a rated game.
The game is just not the same when there is no money on the table!
Re: Where is everyone?
Posted:
Nov 4, 2011, 3:16 AM
Thanks to everyone so far who has responded. Please let others know about this as I may not be able to reach everyone with direct messages, as I have to send these out one by one.
xtraclassy, I agree that another thread would be best for your comment but, for the record, I was one of those opposed to set-based ratings. Although I am not sure that it is the root cause of low player numbers per se.
Please keep those responses coming in!
Message was edited by: alisontate at Nov 3, 2011 10:18 PM
