rabbitoid: of course

Roberto Silva: OK, you're welcome and sorry for my temper

speachless: ...hides into a corner until it's safe ...

Sorry?

Speachless is not to be taken lightly, guys. Have you never read the forums...ever? Tsk, tsk...:p

speachless: My apologies, no insult intended, my lady :)
and since you are a lady I'll assume that wtf stands for way too friendly.

Roberto Silva: dear Roberto, as I'm tired to think about what's wrong with you here the answer that I wrote to rabbitoid, which matches perfectly for you too: " I clearly am NOT A GIRL and I will not try to proove to any one of you that I'm a LADY, i'm 41, so don't call me a girl and stop fighting about my gender or am I in a kindergarten? and to be correctly I'm a lady with temper so stop annoying me...wtf"

rabbitoid: I clearly am NOT A GIRL and I will not try to proove to any one of you that I'm a LADY, i'm 41, so don't call me a girl and stop fighting about my gender or am I in a kindergarten? and to be correctly I'm a lady with temper so stop annoying me...wtf

Roberto Silva: Girls on the internet, yes. Speachless? no such thing.

Roberto Silva: You are correct we are ladies.

Roberto Silva: LOL!

Aganju: Lies! Everybody knows there are no girls on the internet.

She. Not He.

Roberto Silva:

the one

Roberto Silva:

furbster: What's the point of asking if he'll be speachless?

Only a couple of days left to ask your questions to speachless

http://brainking.com/en/Interviews?ht=35

ketchup in 2016

Hrqls: Thank you and the same to you too.

Mélusine: Thank you and Happy New Year to you too.

Happy new year to all, and may you enjoy the games you play on here, and make it joyous for the ones on the other side of the board as well :-)

thanks to fencer for keeping this site up and running, and thanks to my opponents to offer me nice games :-)

Wouah ! Surprised to see a so livened up board today. Me, I like to read all your comments, whatever is your position.
I just want, for the 1st day of the year, to send my best wishes, health, success...
Happy new year to everyone !

I hope all Brainking players have an awesome 2016

I agree with Beach,play and chill,and have a Happy New Year and thank you Fencer !

beach: Thank you Beach and Happy New Year to you.

Wow I just read the board!  People chill out!  Brainking is the best boardgame site compared to others I have seen.  Pay for a membership if you like what it offers, if you want to play as a pawn play as a pawn.  This is fencers site, he can do what he wishes with his site.  I probably play most of you as I play a lot and have been here a long time, and have made many friends here.  For 2016 can we just be happy.  Wishing everyone a happy New Year.

Brian1971: Okay if you say you have new things to deal with next year including health issues. So I have to respect your decision. But you won't lose face with me if you should decide to take my offer up of staying in Brainking as a paid member. I know I hate being limited in games sites if I am not a paid member.

crosseyed: Again thanks for the offer. In the new year I have lots of stuff to do to try to fix my health issues if possible. I am seeing 2 specialists in January for an ultrasound blood flow exam and another for kidney trauma. Most likely getting a toe amputation early in the year as well. I am also taking on a church council spot in February and I will be the financial secretary. So I will have plenty help fill the void of not being a member in 2016. There are more important things than brainking. I lost sight of this temporarily. So things are good.

Brian1971: Brian don't rush into anything just yet. Sleep on it so to speak. I used to play in IYT years ago and there was a lot of ill feeling in the discussion boards. I left the site and then I registered with Brainking. I have since gone back to IYT and apart from the discussion boards have disappeared there has been no change in the site. In fact I think it so dated. So you have to admit this site beats most other sitse in everyway.
I an serious about paying for your membership and ask that re- think about how you are feeling about things at present. I would rather see you in here as a paid member in 2016.

playBunny: LOL...you have too much time on your hands. I thought I had but you take the cake. LOL.

crosseyed: Thanks for considering me crosseyed. However I am sure I am doing what is best for me. Besides I will still play here for free as I do not want to lose the friends I have gained here. I am available on facebook and play games on facebook too. Just send me a private message and I would be willing to become your facebook friend.

I am done fighting about this subject folks. I made my views known and have made my decision as it is clear that Fencer has made his. The site is going to remain status quo as he does not want to do anything else with it for now. Perhaps in the future he will change his mind and do more. If he does, I will then look into paying for a new membership. This discussion has taken an ugly tone. I am sorry to anyone who I may have offended as that was not the basis for my contention. However it goes to show the passion that the players here have for this site. All in all that in not a bad thing. Before I started playing here in November 2004, I played at itsyourturn.com and there was a bad vibe there at the time and through messages I read, i decided to try it out and have been here since. I hope in the near future there is some sort of balance to please those who are content with things the way they are and those who want some new features. God Bless everyone and happy new year.

playBunny:

2003-2009 ......... Thirteen mentions of words starting with "arrogan".
2010-2014 ......... None
2015 Jan-Nov .... None
December 2015 ............. Twenty four!!

Brian1971: Brian I understand your frustrations but I think you are expecting too much from this site. I know you do not have good health and spend a lot of time in here. But as far as most games sites go I think this one is the best in all ways. I would rather pay a membership than have limitations which would frustrate me. So do you think you are "cutting of your nose of to spite your face" by not renewing your membership? I was going to offer to pay for your membership next year when it runs out as I know you are on a limited budget. So come on folks let try and understand Brains frustrations.

Aganju: Heh heh. Me too. I've further found that even if you test the waters by asking whether advice would be appreciated, an affirmative answer is no guarantee of a good reception. I agree with you that biting the tongue is often less painful than getting the hand bitten.

Aganju: I am glad you now except that some people do not want advice in playing games. We are all at different levels and some of us are not so clever and may never get to the top level. Don't bite the tongue too hard

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.

ThunderGr: Apology accepted. However you did not offend me when telling me how I should play a game, it was that you annoyed me at the time. I don't take playing games as seriously as you and many other players do. I play for fun and sometimes to chat to people from all over the world in all walks of life, that what interests me.

Fencer: I am sorry you have not been feeling well. I hope you are feeling better now.
I know in the past I must have annoyed you with some of my posts but back then this site was not what I would call stable, with a blank white page and constantly being kicked out of the site.
Thankfully those days have gone and I am very happy playing games in this site. In fact I think this is the best site out of the four sites I play in. I don't have big expectations and I am happy with this site and the games I play in it.
I wish you a Happy New Year and hope that maybe one day in the future you might become more interested in your site.

crosseyed: I see. So, offering advise and stating one's opinion about games counts as arrogance for you. Thanks for letting me know, even if it is so much later than it should. I humbly apologize if I offended you when I thought we were having a friendly conversation. It was not my intention and rest assured it will never happen again. :)

ThunderGr: I wondered when you would respond to my post about that I think you are arrogant. And I still think you are arrogant in all ways. For example when I played games with you. You were telling me how I should play games. I am sorry I am not blessed with your intelligence. But I do think you need to look up the word arrogant as you frequently use the word and sometimes use it in the wrong context.
However I do have to agree with you now that I do think Brian1971 recent post does come over as being arrogant.

Brian1971: Whatever. Apparently you are not reading your own messages. Also, if you think that I am belittling you and you feel the need to "defend" yourself because of that then I assume you cannot understand mine.

Last but not least, I think that you have not checked around for how much memberships cost on other sites vs what they offer. Brainking offers the greatest variety over cost that exists on the net. And you can have the full package at the cost of nothing more than limitation on number of games. No one else offers that. I think that your answers only prove that your statements are based on misconception of things and not actual knowledge or research. You say you do not know everything but you certainly talk as if you do. I am not going to bother listing one by one all the points in your messages that prove my point. They are here for everyone to read.

Sometimes one needs to defend other times he needs to apologize. The most common form of arrogance is when one does the first when he needs to do the second. And I am not the one being offended here, please do not misunderstand. I am just someone who fails to mind his own business and keep his mouth shut when I think someone is being targeted out of line.

Anyway, I have spoken my mind and I feel at ease now. I do not think I can explain things any better than what I have done so far. I apologize for the sharp tone but it is in my character to treat people the way they treat others.

Cheers!

playBunny: I thought there was an autopass in ludo now. that was the reason I gave up on mine. that and the extreme pain of parsing a site that could change at any time.

mctrivia: Happy new year.

ThunderGr: I do not know everything. I never said I did. However I am just expressing my views which is not arrogant. Some people agree with me and some do not. I see other people's views and find they have some merit. I am not belittling anyone or accusing Fencer of theft. He is providing a service for the money he collects. However I remember a time when I started to paying for brainking there was much growth and excitement. I feel the last couple of years it has become stale and stagnant. For my money I am looking for more. That is not being arrogant, belittling or accusing someone of theft. It seems to me the only one who is belittling anyone is YOU. Anyone who feels as I do is called ARROGANT. Read some of my replies to others including you and you will see I am not arrogant or belittling, just expressing my feelings. Like I have said before, I enjoy playing here. If people are content with things remaining the same and want to renew memberships that is fine. However for me I expect more from the person cashing our membership fee checks. Nothing personal, just my opinion. Not trying to fight, just defending myself.

Brian1971: Fencer said, several years ago, that he was not as dedicated or enthusiastic. He also said then that the site could no longer be his priority. I must admit that I'm surprised that it comes as news to you.

You're right that a perceived lack of interest will result in the loss of paying members. There are gammoner Pawns here who would have gladly renewed their Rooks if their requests, you might even say pleas, had been answered. Sadly the impression has long been that the gammon variants, despite being collectively the site's most played games, have not been considered important enough to fix various issues. I forget the details but the Backgammon forum has plenty of words about them up until people gave up trying. And where is the AutoPass for Ludo? I think I've wished for it almost half a gazillion times!

Your perception that activity is dwindling is a correct one. Two years ago, in November 2013, I took a snapshot of the Running Games page. The number of started games was 53000. The November 2015 page showed 33750. Today it's 31150 (although that difference may well be seasonal). I did take a couple of snapshots several years before 2013. Unfortunately they got lost but I remember noting that the 2013 figure was definitely lower.

But it's not just BrainKing. DailyGammon has seen a decline in numbers and Pocket-Monkey struggles to fill its fast class of tournaments. The years have seen other sites and a whole new mobile market to entice people away.

With regard to memberships here, there are 52 Rooks, 10 Knights 5 Bishops and one Forever Knight showing for this year. That's a total value of 2367 Euro (assuming 12 months for the Rooks and Knights), and that Forever Knight will, by definition, contribute nothing next year and thereafter. I have to believe Fencer when he says that memberships are the least contributor to the site's profitability as that sum may well be gobbled up by the Internet Provider alone.

Brian1971: I knew that my point would not reach you but whatever. Fencer's position is the same for quite some time now and this is known to everyone that cared to check the Forums. I am not on this site for as much time as you are but I know more about it than you, apparently. I have posted my opinion on Fencer's stance on this matter and it is available on the forums for anyone interested. That being said, expressing your opinion and accusing/belittling others without any consideration or thought, are two different things in my opinion. I never said I do not understand your frustration or discontent and you are not the first(or the last) to do so.
My problem is with the way you choose to express these things, as if you know everything about everything and everyone. I do not think I am qualified to judge people's characters and I have no idea if you are arrogant in general but the statements you have made on this particular matter, implicitly accusing Fencer of theft and trying to patronize him on the way he should run the site publicly, as if you have the skills to build and maintain the site as a programmer, analyst, administrator, owner and manager(yes, he fills all these roles), really disturbed me.

Let us all stop fighting. Happy New Year to all.

Aganju:
McDonalds is an interesting analagy. In order to maintain its customer base it has changed and altered its product offering.
You can get salads and smoothies and all manner of healthy things that they did not offer in the past. They offer internet and even computers at some stores.They could have stayed with their original offering, pumped up the advertising but i expect they would lose market share to others who adapted to a changing market. Brainking has the same option change or stand still. Standing still will inevitably result in a loss of market share over time but it can live off its name for a number of years and probably be more profiable In the short term.
But i agree with you, whether burgers or boardgames the ultimate measure is can i get more for my bucks elsewhere? Or perhaps even if i like the burger i just get fed up with the same old same old and want something different even if it is no better.

ThunderGr: You see me as arrogant. I just want to get the most for my entertainment dollars. Look at it as a fan to sports team. If you support a team but they constantly lose and are not dedicated to getting better, are you going to spend your money to buy tickets, pay for parking, concessions and merchandise to support the team? You may stay home and watch the games on TV but that doesnt cost you anything and the team doesnt benefit from it except for the TV contract deal they have. Fencer has said he is not enthusiastic about this anymore. That is fine. I am just not enthusiastic about supporting a site financially that does not want to be better. So I will continue to play for free and forego the other extras. Happy New year to you too.