LJ - Which tournaments are those

Is it the ones which you offered a prize with the quote of: "would not start until XX people sign up", plus had it for 5 days per turn ----

And then when you switched it all around and made it a non-prize tournament, changed the description, changed the time to 30 days per move, and then started the tournament before many of the people who joined had a chance to see the new "rules" and have a chance to leave the tournament..... which now did not have a prize, had a very long time limit, and was nothing like what they signed up for?

or is it another of your tournaments you are talking about?

Well I hate the delete option - now my post look like I'm talking to no one (So now I need to go edit my post to point out that they were in reply to Andersp's post that were deleted) :-(

(UPDATE: This post is in reply to Andersp post about "everyone can afford to pay since they can afford a computer" post that was deleted by Andersp) -- BBW

Afford to pay vs. able to pay

Almost anyone who visits BK would be able to pay if they had to. BUT can they afford it is a totally different question. They could do without food, or insurance, or shoes, or gas to get to work - and would be ABLE to pay, but possible not actually be able to AFFORD it.

I really can't afford to extend my membership which is why I was waiting until the last minutes before I worried about it. (which until recently, i thought I only had a couple of days... now I found out I have about a month before I worry about it.) I really can't afford it, but since I do enjoy the site so much, I will probable be able to pay.

Support Tournament Information

I don't think it was ever mentioned that 6 months membership (was only for pawns) in the actually tournament description (putting every single detail in there would make that very long), but it was mentioned in post - plus the announcment on brainking.info (link above)

But then again, if you are a paid member, you could just say "OK, Give me some time to figure out who to give my membership to that I won" - then wait for your own membership to expire, then say "Hey, remember that membership I won, apply that to my now pawn account. Thanks!"

... There are always loopholes! :-)

Oh wait... I got a month, and 4 days....!

Here I am trying to get money moved into my PayPal account so I could renew in a hurry... Now I find out I got an extra month to wait until I "hurry and renew" :-)

My membership runs out in 4 days - both of you can donate to me - two 6 month knights = 6 month rook! :-)

Stevie - I also have the +8 for my started games for about a week now.

Bernice - As of right now, Lamby really isn't holding anything up since not very many games in the tournament is complete yet.

Which means in early may (once the vacation time is over), as long as she does not come back and start playing, the games will time out at that time...... and I would almost bet that by that time, you will still have 1 or 2 OTHER games that are still not complete, so my guess is that she will not hold too much up in that tournament.

Wow - With less then 2 days of signups, the special "Fast Start Backgammon #300 tournament already has over 20 players signed up. Still a few more hours to sign up if you want!

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

All Games - FAST #2 tournament will start in about 3 more days. This tournament is great for players who like faster games - only 2 days per move.

Fast Start - First X to sign up - Backgammon #300! Tournament!

YEA! I have now created the 300th "Fast Start" Backgammon tournament! And for this one only, I will be accepting more then 5 players!

But signup's will last for less then 2 days, so sign up now to help celebrate the 300th "Fast Start" Backgammon tournament!

Sign Up HERE!

If there is only 1 section, it will be a tie for all the players who win. (For some of the "Fast Start" tournaments with 5 players, there have been some that have been a 5 way tie!) Hopefully Fencer will look into letting the tournament creater do at least 1 or 2 "tie breaker" sections to break ties.... without going on forever.

IMCK - Right now it's not set up that way, but hopefully that is something else Fencer will consider doing as an improvement.

What to do. I support Fencer & I want to show my support for Fencer and all the hard work he is doing to try and make this a great place to play..... but I also think MM & Steve should be allowed to come back.

Is the "Show support for Fencer" tournament actually a "keep Steve & MM banned" tournament? If so, I want to make sure not to sign up for that one.

Linda - Took me an extra minute to find out what kind of tournament he had. :-)

Dragon - In a Fellowship tournament, it is a little more tricky

1) Go to the tournament you set up.
2) Click on the link that says "Back to the list of game types"
3) There you will see the "Close" button
4) Then you will see the "start" button

Let me know if you have any other questions.

The only problem with doing a "line" game is that I can already pick the 2 or 3 people who will probable win the thing. :-(

Battleboats? There anyone has a chance! :-)

Update: -- 815 --

You can click on "My Tournament", and choose all... and that will list all the main tournaments.

813 tournaments currently finnished/running/waiting signups on the main tournament boards & my Battleboat & Backgammon fellowships.

This does not include a couple of "test" tournaments created that were not really played out, and that does not include MANY tournament that were created and then wiped out when BK crashed and we went back a few months.

.... since you asked. :-)

Yes, bring up the tournament.

then click the link that says "Back to the list of game types"

You will then see the "Close" option to close the tournament. And then you will see the "Start" option to start the tournament.

Let me know if you need more help!

... and the ability of people removing their own post should also be changed - why discuss something if you don't want your view known?

Privacy - I still think there are big privacy issues with this site, but I know that few others feel the same way I do, so I will live with it. I don't know if I'll renew my membership because of it when it comes time, but I've had my say about the issue so there is little reason for me to talk about that issue anymore.

huh? - what 180 degree change?

You brought up how some people are able to "hold up tournament" - I defend that because it is "within the rules", but at the same time I suggest other possible time systems here - possible having one like DailyGammon has.

Why I don't defend what you have done (even though it is in the rules) is because you are purposly trying to mess people up and cause trouble. (Where most (NOT ALL) of the people who hold up tournaments usually have a reason - which is not just to mess others up). But at the same time, I have made suggestions on rule changes that should also be made to the tournament so things like you have done does not happen again.

... which is why it is good to discuss it here - to hopefully get the rules changed so they are not exploited by certain players.

I'm not sure that it should be deleted, but possible a way for users to get our of them without getting counted as loses.

Why
1) Pawns & Knights have limits on the # of tournaments, and they would not have joined such a big tournament if it was not a prize tournament.

2) Many only sign up for tournaments with shorter turn limit. In this case, the tournament was changed to 30 days between moves, which could make the tournament even longer.

Actually about 10+ different tournament were renamed with the "." name.

The one that has most people upset is the one that was a Prize tournament which "Would not start until 200 people signed up" - but that description was removed, and then the days per turn was moved to 30 days per move, and started before many knew anything changed.

The other tournaments being renamed is just a user causing trouble, and I don't think any of those need to be deleted (maybe just renamed to something "unique" by the admin's of the site)

Now that is a good idea - "Any proposed change in the starting date or playing times [or description] should immediately have a notice sent out to all signed up people" Then possible have a 24 hour wait before the tournament can be started so they can be given a change to stay or leave the tournament.

(NOTE: I think Fencer has going to work on a smarter tournament in BK2.0 where it will let pawn out once they are eliminated... I'm not 100% sure, but for some reason I was thinking that)

Well apparently I have some control or say if Fencer now see's that some more/different rules needs to be in place. (How will Fencer know what needs changed/added without people letting him know?)

But I am sorry LJ - that was unlike me to actually name a person, where my post should have been about the rules that needed changed without mentioning yours (or anyones) name, so I appoligize for that.

Well I know that I will not enter any of his tournaments, and I'm sure that the people burnt by him this time and others reading this board will do the same.

What I'm worried about are the new users - the ones who are new to this site, not reading these message boards but entering a cool prize tournament. Then without any notice, it's gone.

I do not think this is the image that this site and us fellow gamers want to be sent to these new users - these new users who if they find things they like on this site, might then in turn support this site with $$ by buying a membership. These are the people that I'm worried about - these are the people that I want to see the best that this site has to offer.

When has Fencer answered that? I'll admit there are a lot of post and I might have missed something, but I don't ever remember hearing an answer.

(Unless you are confusing where Fencer said that the tournament creator can exclude anyone that they want from the tournament - which is different then the question I'm asking.)

Scrabble - I meant to start it last night. (I'm at work right now & I dont' have my scrabble sign-in information here right now) :-)

What do I say when they ask me why they are now stuck in a 30 day move backgammon tournament which when they signed up says that it was a prize tournament that WAS NOT going to start until 200 people signed up - but is now not a prize tournament, no idication it every was (since name & description is gone), and now they are not allowed to enter any other tournaments.

Yes, the tournament creator can do this.... but should they be allowed to? That is the real question.

funny IMCK....

Don't know how you see me looking at the running tournament list and noticing 10+ tournaments with the same name (or no name) as spying on him... but whatever.

... and what messes up many people on this site is a concern to me. I'm not part of the "Customer Service" on this site, but I do often help pawn and new players with questions and such - and when they come to me asking why some of the tournaments have no names anymore, well there you go!

But you are right - My point of the post should have been about rules about naming tournaments and not pointing out certain people. (And changing names & descriptions before/during/after tournaments have started/ended)

I was just looking at the running tournaments, and noticed that LJ has changed the names of all his tournaments to " . " - all his tournaments with the same " . ".

You know LJ you keep having excusing on why you do things, but something like that you know is just going to mess people up and upset them. Up until now I was unsure if he was making trouble on purpose or not, but I believe I have my answer now.

So if any user has " . " for the tournament, then it is one of LJ's tournaments.

A. You changed the rules and description of the tournament, and also changed the amount of time for the tournament. You did all this when there was alreayd many many people signed up, and never had a chance to see the new rules or new time frame. You basicly had them sign up for one tournament, and did a switch and had them play in a complete other tournament!

You mentioned GI's (GothicInventor) tournament - I have not heard from him, but here is what I think happened with the tournament he created. He created a tournament with a prize offered by him - the entry "fee" was a $5 donation directly to Fencer. It was then pointed out that if each person send the donation strait to Fencer, he would only get between $2-$3 of each $5 because of fee's. At this time, the tournament was REMOVED - with no one signed up, and no one forced to play in a tournament with false rules.

LJ - What should have happened is if you were going to change the rules after many many people signed up, you should have AT LEAST (1) give enough of the players enough time to see the new rules and remove themselfs or (2) just delete the tournament so people are not playing games they do not want.

I do agree that it is the tournament creators right to remove anyone they don't want to play in the tournament. It probable would have been polite to send the person a message to let them know they were removed (and reason).

... but I also agree with you Jason that such an IMPORTANT edit to the tournament description is wrong - not this late into the tournament.

There are probable already knights & pawns entered in the tournament, and now that they are signed up will not look at the description again. Then there are going to be stuck in a long tournament (2 games per player) without the prize they thought would be there.

Fencer has always said it is up to the tournament creator to remove and run their own tournament how they like.

What it looks like to me is the $5 to play in the tournament is to be donated directly to BrainKing (Fencer) - where then Fencer will let Gothic know the persons ID. (So Gothic does not see any of the money himself)

Then as an extra bonus, if 100 people donate, he will put up the money himself to the winners. (But you are correct that he will probable get the $1,000 himself) :-)

The previously BIGGEST Prize tournament, Gothic's $250 Prize tournament is still moving along.

Backgammon is one of the most popular games, and usually if someone wants to offer a prize, they want a lot of people to join - so Backgammon is usually the choice.

And if someone does go over 1500 before the start, as long as they are not WAY over 1500 I usually let them play - but lets say all of a sudden a person signed up while unrated, then has a rating of 1800 when it is ready to start, I will then remove them so it will be more fair for the other players. (But if someone has 1525 or something just over 1500, I don't worry about those.)

... And for everyone else - just a few more days to sign up for All Games for Dummies #3 tournament - and there are still a few games with only 2 or 3 people signed up - each section needs at least 4 players to start.

Sign up HERE

This tournament is to start on March 15th. It is all game types, for players that are rated under 1500, or unrated.

This tournament is perfect for:

► People who are not as good in a certain game, so you won't get killed by "master players"
► People who would like to try out a new game - What a better time to try something new against people who you might have a chance with.

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A game needs to have at least 4 players signed to start, and the majority of them already have the 4 signed up, but some still need a few players. Take a look, and find the game which you would like to give a try.... and this is the best time to try out a new game!

Tournament will start in about 4 days, so go check it out now!

Sign up HERE

When you pay by PayPal, it give your e-mail address as the ID. (The only reason they ask for your e-mail so they can make sure they match up the payment which is already sent to the correct userID)

To not give out your e-mail, you will probable just want to send payment through postal mail.

I just got done paying through paypal, and I did not get an option for the comment box.

LJ - Well as it sounds, once BK2.0 come around, there will be true "site tournaments" and then "player tournaments". So maybe a suggestion would be to have different "winners" stats for each type of tournament.

So when BK2.0 is around, the "Fast start" tournament which I normally don't mess with the date and just start when 5 people sign up.

I will then have to set a date for lets say a week - then when 5 people sign up, change the date back to current time and then start the tournament?

First Official BK Tournament - Yup, that was the one Fencer created back in late 2002/early 2003!

It also shows how few games we had back then also. Plus it also show you how long Reversi 10x10 & Chess tournaments can last! (Both still going!!!)

Those will be a great addition to this site.

Have user be able to create their own tournaments is great, and always give users a great oppertunity to play almost any type of tournament with many different time limits, user limites, BKR limits, etc....

But I believe with "Official" BK tournament, we will get some great tournaments since I think you will get more players to join those. And the possibility to get a "gold cup" after a tournament win is cool. Do you get a "gold cup" after each tournament win - some players could start earning a lot of gold cups!

*sits back and waits for Fencer to make public post about goodfoods tournaments!* :-)

Sign up HERE

This tournament is to start on March 15th. It is all game types, for players that are rated under 1500, or unrated.

This tournament is perfect for:

► People who are not as good in a certain game, so you won't get killed by "master players"
► People who would like to try out a new game - What a better time to try something new against people who you might have a chance with.

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Currently, almost every games has someone signed up for it. Each game needs at least 4 players signed up for it to start, so go sign up now!

Yup, you are right Kevin - I remember that problem from when Crowded Backgammon was first introduced.

What it looks like a problem is in the programming - where if you are removing peices from the bar, you can not if the space has between 2 and 15 checkers.

Space #24 had 16 checkers, and the program let the other person take that position (and place one checker on the bar) (move 45)

Normal backgammon only has 15 checkers, crowded has 20 checkers..... and it is probable just a small problem that was missed while making the program - Fencer should be able to fix pretty easly. (You might want to send him a message - he does not alway have time to read the message boards.)

I will probable be starting the First 5 - ALL games tournament on Monday (since this weekend is going to be busy for me.

So there is plenty of time to join. Each section needs at least 4 players to start, with a max of 5 players per section. Good luck to all!

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In an effort to please Fencer, I have made an ALL GAMES - First 5 to sign up tournament.

► BBW's First 5 to sign up - ALL GAMES #1

I'm still playing with how I'm going to do this - maybe 1 tournament a week, or possible every 3 days or so - I'll take a look how people are signing up and how quick the games fill up to determin when I start the tournament. Maybe I'll make a "popular games" tournament which starts every few days, and an "unpopular games" tournament which starts every week or so - I'll see how it goes.
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► BBW's First 5 to sign up - ALL GAMES #1
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But I will also keep regular backgammon, nackgammon, 5-in-line, and Spider Line 4 since those are 4 of the most popular, and at time I can start 2-3 tournaments a day.... which would be imposible to do with the "all games" tournament.
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Any other comments or suggestion about these, please feel free to share them here or in my Message Box! Good Luck to all!

(and my last comment on the subject before I start to talk about tournaments again)

... if anything, it has made me move slower because people would get me mad and I would go and play Civ III for awhile just to cool down - which took me away from playing on here.

OK - My next post will be about tournaments - I promise! :-)