I think Live Ponds are a good idea (AS LONG AS the normal ponds keep working the way they do)

My thinking on the game:

1. Only SYSTEM live ponds – no user created live ponds (if you make only certain system ponds, the hope would be enough will sign up for those, where if you start creating a lot of them… it might dilute the players.)

2. Live Ponds – System starts a new one EVERY HOUR, on the top of the hour. So 24 ponds a day. Starting at 1:00am, 2:00am, 3:00am, ….

3. Live Dark ponds – System starts a new one EVERY HOUR, on the ½ Hour. So 24 dark live ponds a day. Starting at 12:30am, 1:30am, 2:30am…..

NOTE: By starting it on the top of each hour (and ½ hour for dark), it will allow the users to know EXACTLY when the next pond is starting. If I know I will be here at the top of the hour, I know I can play through a live pond pretty quickly.

TIME PER MOVE.

I would suggest that the time for each move is 1 minute to place a bid. EXCEPTION – for the FIRST bid, maybe make it a 2 or 3 minute time frame to place their first bid. This is so people won’t time out if their clock on the wall is a little fast/slow. After the first bid, the limit goes down to 1 minute per bid.

IF everyone who is still in has placed their bid before the 1 minute time frame, then PROCESS the round and go to next round. (no point in waiting.)

NUMBER OF PLAYERS:

I would say as long as 5 players join the live pond, then start it. It won’t be as fun as bigger ponds, but still something.

STATISTICS:

1. Keep stats SEPARATE from normal ponds.

2. Keep 3 different stats for live ponds. (Live ponds under 10 players), (Live ponds 10-19 players), and (Live pond 20+ players) So a Live Pond rating would look like:

Live Pond 1768/1819/2012

(with the 1768 as the under 10, 1819 is 10-10, and 2012 for 20+ players)

Why different stats for number of players – Because the game is played very differently depending on the number of players. With less players, you need to be aggressive and take chances… with more players, it is more of trying to wait out some of the other aggressive players & know when to make your move with your own aggressive play.

OTHER RULES:

Everything else, including time outs should work just like the do in ponds currently.