MadMonkey: I would consider it very untrostworthy (and maybe not legal) to sell expensive "life time memberships" and then just put the site offline. Completely stopping support (like it was announced) would not be much better. It would be nice, if after 2017 at least major bugs are excluded or any other fair solution is found.

It makes me feel sad to read Filip's post
Brainking, and its players have been through a lot of ups & downs over 15 years. The site was very new when i found it in 2002,(I can't remember how many games, about 20 then i think) and i had been playing at IYT & Goldtoken. After a while many friends from those sites moved to playing here as well, and the site started to grow.
After a while Fencer revamped the site (I called that Brainking 2.0 lol), and along with harley, BBW (coan.net as he is now) and some other we introduced a sort of customer service, which then turned into Moderators & Globs...(love that word lol). It looked like the site was going to take off.......
Sadly over the last few years, since Liquid cutting back his input, and Fencer not having the time anymore it has been getting buggy and stale
I really hope someone (or a group of people) will step up and save it, it’s part of daily life for me to come and play my games, sort out the Fellowship, and have a chat with whoever is up for one
I have also made a lot of VERY, VERY good friends here over those years, lots of moved on now, but many are still here.
It will be a very sad day for me, when i will click on my brainking.com link and "Page not found" comes up.....

All i can do is hope someone saves the day
MadMonkey (Ian)

p.s. I would still like to wish Filip all the best for his future in everything he does, and thanks for creating an awesome place for us to play our games

Brian1971: My point is that *you have no idea* if there is money to be made. You just *assume you know* it because you are an accountant or whatever unrelated experience you have.

Aganju: I wouldn't buy it as there is no money to be made in its current form. That is my whole point. If you are a player here who would buy it just to keep it alive, then fine but then I am sure you would find you would not have time to play games as you would be too busy maintaining the site and implementing new things that players are asking for. I am not sure how much fun that would be, just a lot of work for really no gain. Again just my opinion. All opinions are welcome and no need to run someone else's down to make their own point.

Every time this discussion comes up, I find it astonishing how many people that have exactly zero experience in handling a website or developing and maintaining a major code base know how it should be handled and how not.

In other words: If you think you know how it should be done, why don't you create one, and get rich? And if you don't know how, just shut up.

Brian1971: Then I recommend you just refrain from buying it.

Bernice: I will grant you that point Bernice. I do have a college degree in accounting and business management. I made a career on restaurant management and later my own insurance sales business as well. Then I got sick and disabled. I now take care of the financials for my church and oversaw the financing of our recently completed building expansion. I look at the income that Brainking generates now. I do not see how the site on its own entity is making money based on just membership fees collected. They may keep the site online,but not necessarily making a profit. I could be wrong. However like I said if someone was looking to buy it as an investment that could be profitable, changes would have to be implemented to help generate a return on that investment. Also working on the site would be a full-time job. Just things one would have to consider.

Bernice: I dread to think what the church account books are like.
And in response your other post it would be interesting to know what this site is worth.
All I can think is that Fencer must very wealthy to let this site just end.

Has something gone weird with the tournament tables? The behemoth chess tournament im in seems to be wrong, was fine this morning though.

Brian1971: Brian I had 50+ years accounting/bookeeping...that was what i did for a job...How can you even say that when you havent seen a financial report of Fencers Business (assuming he has financial reports) You have NO IDEA what the situation is/was at BrainKing, and in my opinion you cannot comment until such time as you have "checked out the financial records" for the last 5 years at least.

Im not trying to cause an argument here, just having my say :)

Looking after the church books isnt exactly a good example.....sorry

What would be the financial upside in buying Brainking? It would cost a fair amount of money to keep it online and unless you have the time and knowledge to implement new things and make repairs, you would have to pay someone to do it at a high rate of pay. You would need to demonstrate you have a growing site with lots of activity to coax businesses to advertise on the site to even start to get a return on the investment. ANd if you are like me, you do not to interrupted with popup ads or have them all over your game boards. It is a distraction and annoyance and can cause the site to run slower on your computer device. This may in itself would cause some to leave the site. Whoever would buy it would want a return on the investment at some point. Advertising, higher paid memberships, and perhaps a reduction in benefits at different membership levels are all ways to make it happen. As someone who is studies and works with finances at my church, I see buying brainking as a poor investment, and an bottomless money pit. Unless you are wealthy and do not care about costs, then that is the person who would be interested. Just my opinion.

Fencer: thanks for the platform you provide for us to play our beloved games, and learn the games we didnt know yet :-)

I had a great time here for quite some years ... but for everything comes an end ... life changes, work changes, everything changes .... the only time when nothing changes anymore is when you are dead .. and thats still far away i hope :-)

thanks for the effort and time and dedication you put into this site ... far more work and time than most people realize .. but i still do hope someone is willing to take it over from you

here's one to you and to brainking: *188*

Fencer: I've had a fun run here. Great site. Happy New Year. Here's hoping someone buys BK

WOW and that is how they say HAPPY NEW YEAR in Czech....oh well - hopefully someone will buy it.

Fencer...can you give an indication of what you would be looking at as a sale price....maybe there is a group here that could get together and purchase it. At least when a house is for sale there is a price quoted and then it is negotiated......thanks :)

Happy New Year Everyone! I truly hope something happens to help this site continue, the members have became friends and extended family and it would be so sad not to see the same folks I've come to know for many years.

Papa Zoom: We'll be still here in March, so who knows? Anything can happen.

In fact, BrainKing will be 15 years old this year and it is also the last year with any support from me. After that, nothing will be guaranteed unless someone else buys the site and takes over.

I will post an official announcement about it at the News section very soon.

Fencer: New Years? How about my 65th birthday? It's in March. ;)

Has anyone heard of this great variant. For more info go to Spartanchessonline.com

Two seperate but vastly different armies with remakably balanced game play.

How are the BKR points figured in say backgammon and triple dice poker ?
,

Further posts arguing will be deleted and probably banned. That's enough. Thank you

crosseyed: I never said I could find the money to renew my membership. I have just stated that I would not renew my membership. Some people simply can't afford to renew their membership. All because you can find a way, doesn't mean everyone can. It is very pompous of you to assume everyone can because you can. You do not know everyone's personal situation or priorities with the funds they have available. I was just giving Bernice an option to consider. Another would be to be on a list for someone to sponsor her and pay for a membership if she still wants to be a member. I choose not to be a member any longer. So why demonize me for responding to someone. Are we going to start this attack garbage again? Grow up.

Brian1971: No dishonest and hypocrite come to mind. The man who was not prepared to pay for a membership several months ago and criticised this site.
I am pensioner and on a low income (pension) yet I can spare approximately £30. UK money and today's rate is £30.3156. I do not smoke or drink so I consider my membership good value and worth every penny. I know there are some people who REALLY cannot afford a membership but there are a lot people claiming they can't afford a membership but could spare the money.

crosseyed: No, how smart of me. If Fencer has left this door open, then utilize it. Even when my games drop below 20 eventually, I am still not going to renew. However, I can relate to Bernice's position financially. Just giving her an option to maximize the amount of game play if she wishes to play a high number of games until she can afford to renew a membership.

Brian1971: How unchristian of you.

Brian1971: hahahaha i couldnt be bothered with all the games....I dont have the time to play...Im not an invalid YET hehehehehe

Bernice: Load up on hundreds of games and tournaments before your membership expires next week. You will be able to play tons of games without have to renew your membership for a long time. I did that before my membership ran out in February and I am still playing above the 20 game limit for pawns. I have 32 games currently going. Also signup for any membership prize tourneys that might start before the membership runs out and you might win a renewal in the meantime.

Bernice:Believe you have the exchange rate the wrong way round! The NZD has strengthened against the EUR, so your membership is actually cheaper. A black rook is now 40% cheaper than it was at the beginning of 2009 for you!
Fencer will have to put up his prices :)

rod03801: Now that I am not working it is hard on a pension...Might have to do the monthly one :(

Bernice: Too bad no specials again. I only have a couple more "colors" left to get my black rook. Guess That'll never happen at this point.

Bernice:

oops my bad. Is that a record high?

ketchuplover: NZ $ $1.42 = 1 Euro

Bernice:

last time I checked 1 euro was 1.06 USD

WOW the EURO has certainly gotten expensive...Might have to pay by the month for me membership :(

Fencer: thanks.

Bernice: Nope, unlikely.

Hi there Filip,

Just curious - will you be running a Christmas special this year? Hopefully you will, as it has been a while since we had one ;)

regards

Bernice

ScreaminMime: public friends are shown on your profile. other players can look at your profile and see who your public friends

friends which are not public cannot be seen by other players

ScreaminMime: When you go to the friends link on the side, you'll see a little padlock by the name of each friend and if you click on that, it should make them public, once they accept.

Once you've clicked the padlock, press submit at the top of the page.

What is the difference between that and regular friends and how do you put people on it?

Mélusine: Now you had! :)

Mélusine:

I love these smileys : but no opportunity to put them !

nice

MadMonkey: I love these smileys.

Aganju: Thank you for that information.

crosseyed: Happy Days

crosseyed: I guess it was your local cache or cache server or the ISP's cache server. Sometimes CTRL+F5 helps (but sometimes not). For me, it was always ok.

MadMonkey: If that is the clapping hands I can't see them lol. I can a see three pink somethings that I can't tell what they are.
Wow guess what it has come back to normal now. I can see the three clapping hands now. There were several other square boxes that I could see what they were.
No I have not been drinking, I don't drink alcohol.