Originally posted by zakkwylderWould it? I am sure there are many people who wouldn't want to subscribe before they have tried the site for a while. For me, it took only about a week, but if I had had to pay right away, I probably wouldn't be here now.
Not exactly, it would motivate people to pay.
Originally posted by Ravello
But the monetary income would be the same.
This presupposes that no subscriber would leave due to the decrease in player pool. This may, or may not be true. However, there are some people who become subs after a trial period. If they are not allowed to free load for a while, they'll go to a site that will allow them to try for a while before they pony up the dough.
Originally posted by zakkwylderThat might have worked for me, although it is quite a difference whether you know you have all the time you want to decide and then you find out that seven days are enough, or whether you know you won't get more than seven days. Quite likely I would have looked for other places instead. And I am sure there are many people who need more time to make their decision. For some, it's quite a lot of money, which makes the decision harder. Some may play here for a year before they subscribe. I don't see anything wrong with that.
O, and there's always the option of giving a free 7 day trial offer.
Ok so "non-subs not paying their way" appears to be the main issue. But...
As mentioned earlier - the reduced pool of players may cause subs to leave once the subscription runs out causing loss of income for Russ.
As its only subs that see the ads - having no non-subs would either cause the subs to then begin seeing the ads OR Russ would lose the advertising revenue.
As neither of these options would be very great for "the site" I would say that Russ knows exactly what he is doing.
It appears to me that non-subs are helping to "support the site" without using very many resources (only 7 games at any one time, no tournies etc.) and therefore should not be discriminated against by refusing to play us.
Originally posted by MCAI think people do this because non-subscribers are more likely to to T/O as soon as the timebank is empty. This is obviously due to the fact non-subs can only play 6 games at once. 😉
Why do so many open invites have the "subscribers only" request? I mean why does it matter if the opponent is a subscriber or not?
Ok I can understand any "no provisional players" requests that appear, because there is a fair chance of playing an opponent who's "real" rating far outways the 1200 or so of provisional players. (Even if this is partly acc ...[text shortened]... the only reason then they will be timed out. So...
Why make open invites for "Stars" only?
Originally posted by RavelloLet me give you another:
Just to give you an example,onight I started some invites with the name "Fast please",and a non subscriber picked it up,this is the result:the guy made three moves and left.
[fen]rnbqkbnr/pp2pppp/8/3p4/2PP4/8/PP3PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 4[/fen]
When you will have played 2000+ games like me you will have a more defined opinion about subs and non subs habits.......
Game 1109465
&
Game 1109458
Originally posted by MCAMCA you are free to put your own criteria against your desired opposition too.
Ok so "non-subs not paying their way" appears to be the main issue. But...
As mentioned earlier - the reduced pool of players may cause subs to leave once the subscription runs out causing loss of income for Russ.
As its only subs that see the ads - having no non-subs would either cause the subs to then begin seeing the ads OR Russ would lose the adverti ...[text shortened]... ime, no tournies etc.) and therefore should not be discriminated against by refusing to play us.
It took me more than 2 years to subscribe (it is worth btw), and although I will play anyone, now I get games from tournies or clans more or less exclusively.
If you want to play subs, send them a polite p.m. That way you are far more likely to get a good game, rather than hanging around the dodgy pick up zone of this site known as "open invites".
Originally posted by RavelloBefore I saw your reswponse I tended to agree with the original post, but after thinking about it after reading your reply, you are correct, although most non subscriber's wouldn't do this, nevertheless the small percentage that do are very annoying. I remember playing 2 games (actually not on this site) with a non subsciber who didn't even bother to answer my Hi, good luck (no problem there) but despite the fact I was beating him in one game the minute I blundered in the other he was full of himself taking the piss.
I'm one of those who often requests "Subscribers only" in my open invites.
1)Because subscribers are committed to the site and are more likely to play the game faster.
2)Because nonsubscribers often make a couple of moves then leave and let the game timeout.
3)Because nonsubscribers are often some kind of wannabes who shout (whit caps lock) during t ...[text shortened]... but I had this kind of troubles more with freeloaders hence my request to play subscribers ONLY!
Originally posted by RavelloDid he moved the white and black pawns? Probably he left because he was scared.
Just to give you an example,onight I started some invites with the name "Fast please",and a non subscriber picked it up,this is the result:the guy made three moves and left.
[fen]rnbqkbnr/pp2pppp/8/3p4/2PP4/8/PP3PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 4[/fen]
When you will have played 2000+ games like me you will have a more defined opinion about subs and non subs habits.......
- Joined
- 03 Sep 03
- Moves
- 87628
Another angle is...
A non-subscriber is more likely to have a good experience with RHP if they are allowed to play SUSCRIBERS; for all the exact reasons that subscribers like to play ONLY subscribers.
The better experience a non-subscriber has, the more likely they are to SUBSCRIBE.
For this reason, I will now take it upon myself to play one non-subscriber a week.
Perhaps Russ should create a volunteer list of subscribers that are willing to accept games from NEW non-subscribers. People who don't mind answering questions and moves fairly often.
--tmetzler