Case histories of which we are aware;-
Fake Id's getting sponsored...
People saying they would rather buy a DVD...
I am not a bleeding heart liberal and as so rightly pointed out this is a games site. It is not something that is vital to the survival of the individual.
I do not, nor ever will, tell people how to spend their money or comport themselves (except within the bounds of social acceptability).
A public statement was made that memberships would be subscribed for. However worthy an idea given what is available for free I would suggest that individuals could find better causes for the money.

This is a GAME Site.
It is for the playing of GAMES!
When I first found BK, I couldn't afford the membership, which is why I was so glad it was free for pawns to play.
Later I did buy a membership, but if someone had offered to sponser me a Rook membership, I would have been thrilled. And I would be the first to Pay it Foreward when I could.
Possibly you could start a fellowship to help out others in the world, if not by people donating money, then at least to raise the level of consciousness to the plight of others in the world.

MM, its Linda's fellowship, therefore down to her who is allowed.
Steve, why am I 'stirring'? I didn't start the club, I didn't announce it. I'm just asking that you give LINDA a chance to develop HER idea. In what possible way is this 'stirring'?

Charity....
True charity is discreet and needs no publicity...
It is the lending of a helping hand to those in need...
BK is not a necessity of life... Surely the funds could be put to better use where lives could be saved...
Given recent experience .. does anybody believe it will not be abused?
Those who cannot afford the luxury of paid membership already get the basics for free...
If you can afford the ISP charges, phone bills and computer then if you want more you can afford that as well.
So look at the statistics for whatever country you come from... in England how many die for lack of Kidney Dialysis... how many children cannot reach the abuse helpline (run by charity) or samaritans or salvation army or any of a hundred genuine causes that save lives or relieve pain or suffering...
Rather than a token effort here, go quietly forth and when you see someone stranded or in difficulties or even that you can help just because you have skills or equipment... just do it... seek no reward and no publicity and enjoy the quiet satisfaction of having made a difference... however small...

You are stirring it harley.
I think its a good idea etc in ways (so not knocking Linda) But its not new, its not something for a private club, and I will just keep doing it all my own way

Well no members (apart from a selected few) know anything about what is being developed,as we are not allowed. It has been announced on the BrainKing Board and therefore must be open for anyones opinion.

Do you see something wrong with Linda's idea, Steve? I think its very generous and kind of her.
The Sultan of Brunei has lots of personal wealth while all the people around him are very poor, I think thats what Ughaibu is referring to.
MM, you're right, if any rooks or knights had financial problem, nobody would offer to help out would they? Now you know better than that. This programme is a different thing completely. And its JUST started, so give Linda a chance to develop it, maybe to include people who are already members if its successful. But don't give her a hard time while she works out the details.

You been drinking again Ughaibu?? LOL
I wont comment anymore on the below subject MM, I may get banned from this board LOL

The sultan of Brunei?

I know Steve, its a private club i to asked to join.
Lets hope no Rooks or Knight run into financial problems when there memberships are due to be renewed.
Everybody in the world has money problems at some time.

I see we are also not aloud to become part of this pawn helping group by requesting. Even though weve done it before ourselves :o(

I hope someone is also discussing the same thing for those Knights & Rooks that are struggling to keep there membership going.

Within a week or two.

When will game time come back on?

I cant log out??

LongJohn: re New Recruits.

If you're looking for members for your fellowship, please feel free to post on the 'Fellowships' db - perhaps with a link.

That's ok, Fencers about to get out a big ol' can of Raid.

I hate bugs.

Everybody who timed out please send me the game IDs to restore. There was probably some new year bug.

I think two of my games have just disappeared. I'm pretty sure I had six waiting for my move but now it's only four(??).

Happy Happy, Y'all. :)

And 6am EST corresponds to midnight Czech time. The :20 is a baffler, though.

Happy new year

I think its just when various countries have changed to 2004.

If your game has timed out without reason, send Fencer the game number and I'm sure he'll re-instate the games when he comes online.

I have 19 games which either I or others have timed out in!

Yea - Something did happen

Earlier today, the game with the least amount of time left that I had was around 3 days, XX hours

About 4-5 hours later, I look now and the game with the least amount has 1 day, 1 hour.

It'a a Y2K4 bug that lost about 2 days!

People we got in czech 1.36 am :) Wait few hours , thanks :)

Y2K4

I have 8 games where other people timed out against me.

For my sister's account (SueQ), she timed out on 4 games where I did not think she was that close to timing out.

It looks like the games timed out when the system (Fencer's time) possible had their new year.

Mabye it's Y2K, just 4 years too late.

i am sure fencer will sort any that shouldnt of timed out tomorrow :) i know there is a known bug...dont know if this was it?

My tablut rating went up 200 points :) Now if I can just beat Ugh in tablut....

Oh, I guess my 8x8 Bkr didnt drop TOO much.. but more than I'd like! lol..
Stop partying Fencer, and come back online! LOL
j/k my friend!

Well I'm glad I'm not alone.. Thanks..

My halma 8x8 bkr is my baby! lol.. im gonna be bummed if I can't get it back where it was..

I didn't pay attention, I just read the messages when I got home.

yes it was about an hour ago.. or so???

was it at 620pm Eastern zone by any chance? (approximately an hour ago)

i had 8 games where people had timed out too.. some i know about as they are no longer on the site since the crash and they are a 5 game match.. so have a few more to come yet... but others were out of the blue

yep, i timed out on four games which i had at least five days left on as of yesterday, i dropped fencer a note

I suddenly had four games that my opponents timed out in... but I didn't pay attention to the time... it did seem weird though....

I had 36 people time out against me, but I didn't time out with anyone.

Did anyone else suddenly experience some game time outs??? At exactly 6:20pm Eastern U.S. timezone, I timed out against 8 people, and 2 people also timed out against me (at this exact time too)

I KNOW this is a mistake, because the first thing I do when I come to brainking, is sort my game list in order of when it times-out, and I first move on any games with less than 2 days left, before moving on any others..
I know that last night before I went to bed I had tons of time on all my games!
I've already written to Fencer, I just was curious if anyone else experienced this..
I just hope my BKR's can be fixed.. it killed my halma ones!

Last I heard on eddie he was pretty upset about the loss of games in the crash and from what I'm told hes back playing lots of games at GT again., Hopefully he will be back here regularly as hes a fun guy!

I have not heard from him for awhile. I know that he was taking a break from playing games, and resigned many games. Not too long ago (a few weeks I think), I ended up starting a round 2 with him, and he went ahead and resigned those games - so at that time he was still checking in....

Gan ddumuno iechyd a hapusrwydd i chi yn 2004.

I wish everyone a happy and prosperous new year. Please be safe as you ring in 2004. I do not want to lose any good players.

Thank you Fencer Stastny Novy rok

I know by the time i wake up it WILL be New Year...so enjoy it at my expense LOL

Linda: Stastny Novy rok :-)
Or, if your browser can display Czech characters, Šastný Nový rok.

ROFL LongJohn hehe

ANYBODY...Im playing games with a lady here and she has expressed a real worry about Eddie Spaghetti....has anybody heard from him? apparently he was sick at Xmas time and hasnt been heard of since???
Sorry Harley, but Eddie Spaghetti WAS practically BK :)

Cz"HappyNewYear"ech

That is Happy New Year in"side" Czech