Bernice: that’s not what he said. He said ‘brains that were gained by cheating can’t be used’.

Bernice: i thought about that too, but it doesn’t make much sense. Imagine you a Bishop membership, and after a week you decide you want a Rook. Now you have to wait the whole year to have Rook privileges? I doubt that’s how it works.

But I have no facts either.

Mélusine: I didn’t - someone was nice and sponsored me.

Mélusine: I don't know - would that work from a credit card? So I pay with a credit card, and Paypal (takes a fee and) puts the money into your Paypal account? That could work.
Thanks for your offer, I might get back to you - next year. I am in the lucky situation to have postponed my issue for a year - I now got my one-year rook till Jan 2019.

Did anyone recently extend his membership? Mine will run out in a week, and I am in an ugly sitation in that I technically cannot pay - my problem is not that I don’t want to risk an annual Rook amount or don’t have the money, the problem is that I cannot get it to Fencer.

If you care to know why, read on below. If you are willing to help me and live in Germany, let me know (I don’t expect you to pay for me, just execute the transaction for me)

First, I cannot use Paypal, as Paypal has blocked me for life (for the incredible vile crime of having transactions in two different countries). In the past, after discussing with Fencer about it, I simply used a bank-to-bank transfer to his account; as I have an account in Germany, that was easy and fee-free. However, my bank has now started to disallow international transfers without two-factor authentication (in the name of security), but they only offer mobile TAN to german mobile phones (I don’t live in Germany, so I don’t have a german mobile phone), and they cannot handle international SMS. As a result, I can no longer send money to Fencer.
What I am looking for is a volunteer X in Germany, so I can transfer (Überweisung) the required amount to X (national transfers still work with paper TANs, which I have), and then X pays to Fencer in my name. Anyone? If so, send me a personal message with your name and IBAN, and I’ll order a membership, and transfer the respective amount to you.
Thanks!

Carpe Diem: well said.

Btw, Halma has a rule that you _must_ remove all your pieces from your own home after N moves, or you automatically lose. Although N is I think 30 or 50 depending on board size, and that is quite high. It is a bit like the 50-move rule in chess - only that one turned out to be too short after all, as now there are endgames known that force mate in more than 50 moves.

Clandestine 1: I especially hate being resigned on in the Dice Poker games. Several times I had managed to get 'Values in all Boxes', and my opponent resigned two moves before the end, denying me the achievement.

But generally, I agree.
If the game is mathematically lost, you should resign. There are other sites where this is implemented (the game just ends), but it is not trivial to code that for each game.

rod03801: or on facebook.

Walter Montego: This is a good start, but consider also what kind of game you set up. If people chose 10-wins-match, and the game is one with many moves, it can still drag for years.

But generally, yes, Fisher Clock is the thing to use. You can fine-tune it to your wishes pretty nicely.

Carpe Diem: One of them is enough: Search for any running tourney from before 2012, see which games are running. it is typically a single player (or two) that keep such a tourney still in round 1 (although different ones in different tourneys). Just try it. I did it multiple times.

Carnie: carnie, it IS now your turn in the next game - he lost on time, and the next game started. Why don’t you check it in the game?

Bernice: it means that opponent is online right now (and you have a chance of him answering with a move right away)

speachless: I like the idea, but I probably would not fly over the ocean for it, sorry. Now if I am in Europe anyway...

speachless: this could actually get us somewhere... although you all might just be shooting the breeze.

Be aware that this was discussed before, and various estimator sites give very different values. What matters is what Fencer considers a serious offer, and that is still not publicly known (but it is probably higher than this estimate).

It is very difficult to build a group of people from all over the world that trust each other enough to chip real money in, but I'd be willing to be a part of it.

speachless: me too! if i get a team together.

Carnie: no. Chrome has started to report all non-https sites as 'insecure'. This is not related to anything happening at BK, but a general move in the internet. Security of BK is unchanged; it was never high-security, but there is also not much to lose or steal. Any hacker above twelve would probably focus on pages where there is something steal-worthy.

Papa Zoom: seems one of the games was never created (the next number is another unrelated game).
That is an easy fix for Fencer. If he doesn't see this here, you could send him a PM. He typically acts on those.

Carnie: you have some contradicting asumptions here...

You talk about the end of brainking - there is no defined end, only in the mind of some fatalists. But even if brainking 'ends', then you would not 'time-out', and even if you would, it wouldn't matter anymore. So where is the problem?

Also, there is a resign button at the bottom. Keeps you from timing out, if it is so important for you.

Did you contact your opponent and ask for a draw (or offer a draw in the game)??

Finally, which part of 'Time per move: 7 days' did you not understand when you signed up for the game? It is well known that many players fully use the alloted time; and it has been discussed about a gazillion times in detail here. If you don't want to play that slow, don't sign up for such games.

Mélusine: so ... you could travel and have TWO of them!

Marshmud: I did. And he did. So I got them now. :-)

Aganju: I never got the price, though. Random Backgamonn prize tournament
I should have got 37 brains.... maybe the turned bad over time.

I just won a tournament that started in 2012, I signed up for it on during my first months here. :-D

Carnie: this game is setup with 1 day *total* time - for the *whole game*, not per move. You get 1 additional hour for each move made, but the original day does not get 'refilled' otherwise. You probably had not the whole day left.

grenvthompson: unfortunately, not much poker is going on anymore. The last time I saw anyone was about two years ago and there was one guy who joined every table, could not play, and talked you to death.

Carnie: There could. There could be all kind of such rules, and they have been discussed before (about once a year... scroll down.)
In a nutshell, it is not that easy. There are people that have 800 games running, and play all of them multiple times a days. And there are people who have five games and play each one after 30 days once. In other words, the count is not a good predictor of playing speed.

The only solution currently is that you make your own list of 'slow' players, and don't play with them anymore.

P.S.: My preferred idea is that the system shows at each players profile his 'average time to move' for the last 60 days; and that you can chose to 'hide all games and tournaments' where this number is greater than a number you decide.

ketchuplover: we had that discussion last year, for weeks. It doesn't work that way.

Roberto Silva: he didn't log on since 5 weeks. i doubt he will come back right now and do anything. So just hold your breath for three more hours.

evertVB: it is automatically a draw. Check the game.

Brian1971: My point is that *you have no idea* if there is money to be made. You just *assume you know* it because you are an accountant or whatever unrelated experience you have.

Every time this discussion comes up, I find it astonishing how many people that have exactly zero experience in handling a website or developing and maintaining a major code base know how it should be handled and how not.

In other words: If you think you know how it should be done, why don't you create one, and get rich? And if you don't know how, just shut up.

Brian1971: Then I recommend you just refrain from buying it.

crosseyed: I guess it was your local cache or cache server or the ISP's cache server. Sometimes CTRL+F5 helps (but sometimes not). For me, it was always ok.

happyjuggler0: good point! I didn't even know there is a 'trash' there... yes, it was in there. It says:

Game ID: 7461994
Doris is the winner.

Doris: old BKR = 2100, new BKR = 2109 (+9)
Aganju: old BKR = 2049, new BKR = 2038 (-11)


But as Carpe Diem predicted, the names are switched - I checked her stats, and she was not anywhere near the 2100 in the last week (and I was not anywhere near 2050).

So, thanks all, everything is good, just the names switched.

Carpe Diem: I know that display error, but that was under different circumstances (I think when you tie or so). of course it could be the same effect here. Unfortunately, I tossed the event message; I'll check the next time.

I think I found a nasty bug in the evaluation of matches that are set up for a fixed amount of games.
Here is a match that was for 5 games, and I won it 3:2: Fevga (Aganju vs. Doris)
However, the fifth/last game of the match went to my opponent (so I lead 3:1, and then it ended 3:2 - still a win for me).
The event message I got, however, declared that *I lost*, and deducted some points from my rating (and gave rating points to my opponent).

I would guess that the code uses the result from the last game for its decisions, as - typically - the winner of the last game is the winner of the match - but not for this type of match.

Did anybody experience this too?

crosseyed: it's perfectly fine here, all the time.

ThunderGr: i guess he was kidding.

badgerboy78: no such bug here. Try to clear your cache.

Justaminute: I don't follow your all argumentation. There are so many companies that sell life-time this-n-that, and they never specify the obvious - when they go out of business, of courseyou have nobody to go to.

I am still considering buying a life time membership, and the only thing that keeps me from it is that I currently have no need to act as I have still some years of rook. Nothing has changed comparing to five years ago, I still get exactly what I expect to get.

Some people have gotten the idea in their heads that they have the right to expect continuously more for less, and every offer in the world has to follow this. That is an unrealistic expectation, and shows complete ignorance of reality. Just because facebook and google and such give you new features all the time (and seem to be free), does not imply that that is a standard all have to follow.

I think generally, when you buy something, it should be clear what you get, and you should not make implicit assumptions about it becoming more in the background. The only reason to complain is if you not get what was explicitly promised when you bought - and this is not the case here. Nobody bought a membership with the claim that 'number of players and move will increase' or 'new features will come all the time'. That is your _imagination_, guys. So grow up and become realistic!
What have _you_ recently done for free for the world outside of your normal work?

The number of players goes down because old people die and the next generation can't be bothered so much to play games where you need to think, and that don't have realistic-looking moving 3D graphics; that is hardly BKs fault.

I only hope when Fencer decides to put BK in the trash, he is willing to give it away to someone else to run instead of really deleting it.

I wish it was time for the kids to go to bed and stop bickering.

All: Don't you have games to play or something?

I'm really getting tired of the whining. Write letters to your politicians if you think someone needs to become more active; they actually owe you something.

Hrqls: I am right with you there...

She. Not He.

I have learned that many people don't appreciate to be told about how they play and what was not a good move and what would have been better, etc., no matter if the advice is good or bad or wrong. I think it takes a certain mood to be open for critic (and I have times where I don't want any, no matter how well-meant and helpful).

So I generally don't offer any advice or comment unless asked to.

Even if I have to bite my tongue.

Brian1971: I have a different perspective. I pay for what I get, and if its worth what I paid, I am fine with it.

Here some thought: if you go to McDonalds (or wherever you eat), you pay x$ for a burger, and the next time you pay the same again for the same burger. if the burgers are worth the x$ (for you), you come back and keep doing it. The same applies here. You pay 3$ a month for playing games, and the next month you pay 3$ again for playing the same games - if it is worth it for you.

Where does the idea come in that it *has to* continuously change and improve? (McDonald *does* continually decrease the size of their burgers, and increase their prices, but that's probably not the kind of change you are looking for). It is certainly a valid request, but understand that there is no such automatic obligation. It's offer and demand, and if you think the status quo is not worth 3$/month, that is your decision. Sorry to lose you as a player, though.

Marshmud: ok, but why did you address that to me? I said the same thing, and I perfectly understand why he doesn't chime in. And I agree that we 'need' very little change.

Bernice: I think he doesn't answer because this discussion comes up about every six month, with the same arguments and points each time, and after the hundredth time there is really nothing to add from his side. Or maybe he is just enjoying Christmas with his family.

Brian1971 (and all): don't forget that many gaming pages spam you with advertisements right and left. There are no ads here.

For some people, it doesn't matter too much or not at all if part of the screen contains an ad every click, for others it is quite annoying.

A site that makes money from ads can afford to be free and still invest into improvements. An ad-free site needs to earn the money to pay for the upkeep before there is any extra left. It is everybody's personal choice, conscious or unconscious, which one he prefers and where he takes his money (or his clicks).

coan.net: I think so too.
From what he wrote here before, he has other priorities, but as long as BrainKing is about paying for itself, I doubt he would shut it down. It would be equivalent of throwing its value away, and that would be a bad financial decision, considering it could instead be sold for about its value. Which was discussed in other threads before and is not negligible, or it would have changed ownership already.
So I think we are good to keep going *as-is*. Don't hold your breath for any changes, but it is good enough as-is.
Yes, it could be improved, but what couldn't?