the system as it is right now doesnt take away all your remaining vacation days at the end of the year ... it fills them back up to 30 day on the first day of the next year.
plus, as bbw said, you can renew early. my membership runs out at november (i think), when i renewed i was back at 30 days again, and i will be back at 30 days again in january (minus the 5 which i will spend on the very first 5 days :))

just use the vacation days when you need them .. try to be clever with your weekend days, and use automatic vacation days for unknow situations :)

the 'days per month' solution is pretty bad when you first start, as you will start with only a few days. this will even out when a couple of months have passed and you saved up enough. if you are above 30 days it should not add more (otherwise someone could hoard 100s of vacation days and abuse those ;)) .. which would make no difference with the end of the year as it is right now

for me the system as it is right now is the most flexible system there is .. as long as you keep yourself in hand just a little tiny bit and save some for later :)

automatic vacation: its like BBW said, i know from experience.
when a game times out and you ahave automagic vacation days set, then 1 day will take from your total vacation days and the game wont time out. that day is now counted as a vacation day for any games which would time out on that same day
(it doesnt add 24 hours to all of your games though)

the fact that it doesnt add 24 hours to all your games make the difference between fixed vacation days and automagic ones ... when you are sure you will need a certain day as vacation day .. set it as a fixed day! .. that way all your games will profit from it by having 24 hours added to them

Marfitalu: I don't know but I can do it if you want me to? ;-))

BIG BAD WOLF: I could be wrong but I thought I lost 3 days in one...it used up all the time i had left.. doesn't matter now.. I just have to wait out the last couple of weeks then get more in Jan.. I'll be visiting the kids last week of the year and first week of next.. so if i time out .. I apologize way ahead of time..

lovelysharon: As soon as an auto-vacation day is taken, it applys to the rest of the day. (Server/Fencer time)

So if one game uses the auto-vacation, it does not automaticly add 24 hours to all other games, but if they time out on the same day, it uses the same auto-vacation day.

Here in the USA, 5pm Central Time is midnight for BrainKing. So if I have one game auto-vacation at 4:50 my time, and another at 5:05 - then it will use 2 auto-vacation days since they are on different days according to the server.

alanback: if you read the FAQ http://brainking.com/en/FAQ?ht=20 it states that it uses the day to prevent the game from timing out.. it does not state that it adds another 24 hrs to all your games

alanback: I can't be positive.. maybe Fencer can clarify.. but that is what I thought happened to me.. as you know I am online at least twice a day and playing all my games thru at both sites.. I eased up a little when I was having that trouble with myy hands and poof my vacation time disappeared

lovelysharon: Are you sure of that? I've been watching the way auto vacation works with other players, and it seems to me that once they add (or subtract, depending on how you look at it) a vacation day, they don't add any more for 24 hours.

the problem I found with auto vacation is one game may time out .. ok the system takes a vacation day to cover it.. a few hours later another game times out.. the system takes another vacation day to cover that... another few hours game times out another auto vacation day.. so I've used up 3 days to cover one.. I think if you use a lot of vacation time like I do.. it's best not to set auto vacation..

playBunny: I have no problems with 30 days at the start of the year. Just plan ahead as best as possible. And with auto-vacation option, you really do not need to plan. Just make sure that is set and if you leave town and can't play - those will kick in.

If for some reason you are short come the end of the year, renew your membership early and it will be reset at that time also. (even though I would hope not too many people would need more then 30 days a year....)

BIG BAD WOLF: LOL. Which makes a good case for either a monthly allocation or a complete vacation renewal on the membership anniversary.

Fencer: (unless you renew your membership 1/2 way through the year.... then you can get up to 60 days a year!)

tonyh: No, that still wouldn't apply in a monthly system if there is a cap of 30 days. If there is a renewal of the 30 days in January then losing any days on December 31st is moot. In the monthly system you wouldn't get your 3 days if you were already at 30 - that's losing unused days on a monthly basis instead of in December.

I think the monthly allotment is a logical request because it allows another way for a person to manage their vacation days. If it's provided as a choice then Tony, Sharon and Vikings could all be happy.

tonyh: Are you kidding? Membership on BrainKing is not like your salary. There are different rules and who doesn't like it, nobody forces him to pay for a membership. 30 days a year is enough for everyone.

thats fair enough, but I think if you pay for membership then there should be some perks, sorry

oldhamgirl: following this argument, also pawns should be allowed to carry over the vac. I don't pay for my employment.

I think if we pay for membership we should be allowed to carry our vacation days over, you can in most employment.

nabla: So there is your answer; you could save money from your 1st January salary to spill over to the following year. Here, you can't.

tonyh: Yes.

Fencer: If a member has unused vacations days at 31 December, what happens to them? Do they just disappear?

tonyh: No. The request must be logical, must have a sense. Changing the vacation policy, as you propose, seems illogical to me, that's why I won't do it.

lovelysharon: If the incremental allotment gave the same number of days and you started with a decent quotient then you would certainly be able to do your "accumulation of days between". If you couldn't then you'd have to run out of days under the current system as well, because they both provide the same amount.

tonyh: Actually the current policy is strictly more generous than the "running total" one (I mean, it just always gives you more flexibility).
Imagine that you get a job offer where you will get an annual salary at entrance, and then an annual salary each 1st of January, would you decline it because you are afraid that you could spend all your money in January ? Well, maybe your answer will be yes, but mine won't :-)

Fencer: What, pray, is a good argument to convince you?

tonyh: other sites can have really bad policies too... at iyt I timed out everytime I traveled.. that is why I am no longer a paying member there and joined here..

tonyh: "Other sites do it thia way" is a bad argument to convince me. Nothing will be changed.

Hrqls: I think we could have 30 days as a start off. Then we deduct vacation days and add on 2 or 3 days a month until we get back to 30 days maximum. That way, we could always have enough days for vacations.
Other sites do it thia way.

I currently go away to visit my kids in dec/jan... feb vacation is with a girlfrind.. back to visit the kids in april for my grandsons birthday.. I take a small vacation in the summer for myself .. now with new grandbaby there's another birthday in october for a visit then.. and back again in dec for holidays.. do you think i can accumulate enough days in between??.. last summer i had an off chance of a holiday in Hawaii with 4 days notice.. I jumped on that.. lol.. .. I say keep the allotment the way it is..

lovelysharon: Yes, I realised when Hrqls posted that you were continuing the topic.

30 days in January or 3 days per month would surely be a choice for each user to decide. But even if 3 days per month were forced upon people there shouldn't be the problem that you fear, except right at the start of membership. If you take a long holiday in February but none in September through January then you'd easily have built up enough to take 10 days off. It's only in the first year that there would be any problem. If I were implementing that system then I'd avoid even that hardship by starting people off with 10 or 15 days and then adding the 3 days per month thereafter. But giving the choice is better.

Vikings: as far as the self discipline.. I get 5 weeks vacation each year from work... I'm not sitting home all that time worrying about my backgammon games... I go when the mood strikes... lol..most time it's to my son's house where i do have access but rather spend time with my grandson..

the major reason I joined this site was the current vacation policy.. I just have to remember to keep that auto vacation turned off... lost too many days to it this year..

playBunny: there was more than one person talking on this subject and I guess I was asking the group ... hypotheically if the vacation time was alloted a few days per month one person could not take a two week vacation in early months of the year...

blah

playBunny: nah .. you understood her perfectly .. i think .. i understood her the same way :)

user options are always my favo(u)rite :)

Hrqls: Ah, I see I actually misunderstood. Lovelysharon's query wasn't addressed to anyone so I thought it was a separate issue.

It makes sense, then, that lump sum vs monthly paycheck should be a user option.

playBunny: *nod* thats what she is asking .. and if she isnt .. then i am asking the same thing :)

the frist week of 2006 i will on vacation (probably athens), so i will need 5 days for that

then in march i will be away for another week (austria) so i will need 5 or 6 more days then

that wont work out with just a few days per month

i like the 30 days at once and try to use them wisely (in combination with weekend days :))

Vikings: Because, Vikings, I take plenty of holidays where there aren't always Internt cafes; what's this 'discipline' nonsense?

lovelysharon: You mean a real vacation for two weeks and 3 BrainKing days left? They'll lose a vacation day for the first match that would time out on a given day. That match gets extended. The rest of the matches that would time out on that same day get extended too and are covered by the same vacation day. This can happen three times after which the vacation days are used up and the matches time out for real.

Is that what you were asking?

what would happen if someone were to take a two week vacation in February with only 3 vacation days??.

Vikings: lol. Yeah, self-discipline's the answer. Now what shop sells that stuff 'cos I need some in about 100 areas of my life...

tonyh: why not just use a little dicipline and not waste them early in the year, that way if there is an emergency you are covered for longer

playBunny: Thank you for explaining this so perfectly; as you say, BK could allocate 2 days in one month and 3 days in the next.
What do you think of this so far, Fencer?

playBunny: oh.. yes that would be nice.. I could see that way..

ScarletRose: Tony's not asking for more vacation days. He's saying that rather than give a lump sum of in January, he'd prefer to have 3 days added at the end of each month.

That would mean 6 additional days for a Rook because twelve 3s is 36, but it could be done as 3 days in Jan, 2 days in Feb, 3 in Mar, etc. This would give no extra days but still spreads out the allocation.

For Knights it would be 2 per month giving 24 for the year or 2 days for Jan and Feb, 1 day for Mar, 2 for Apr, May, etc. giving the current 20.

furbster: I have 23

I agree i've still got all 30 left.

tonyh: Bud.. I would hope to heck he didn't give us that much vacation time, we have plenty..

Some peeps yes.. they need the vacation time.. while other abuse it..

For instance.. someone who starts up lots of games and tournaments.. then goes over to a new account .. and never intends on coming back to the account the games were started on.. if they have a full lot of vacation days.. and they game allows them 14 days to make a move.. it takes at least 45 days to time out when they have full vacation days.. which not only holds up the games and tourneys.. it also restricts those who are playing the game that don't have a membership to have to sit and wait it out.. or suffer the point loss by resigning the game.

even those who start over 200 games and can't keep up with the games..

We get plenty of Vacation Days!

Fencer: the 30 days vacation time is renewed at the end of each month (you might have to give us 36 days!! or add on 2 1/2 days).
that way, we need never worry about running out of vacation time towards the end 0f the year. For example, I have 0 days left but will get 30 days in January, when I don't really need them then.

Fencer: LL

Radiant Aunt: Because it is my rule.

Fencer: I always wondered why is it not possible to take vacation days to the new year?

tonyh: What is a rolling number?