I found a reference to this on the shogi board, but it was a year old with no reply:

It would be really nice if, when playing shogi with the traditional piece set, the promotion piece was also shown as traditional and not western.

(The other thing mentioned there is that would be nice would be for "Japanese Chess" to be renamed to Shogi throughout the site. It seems to be half done at the moment, with some references to Shogi and others to Japanese Chess.

Apart from that, it's perfect!

Czuch: Yes, that's true.

Fencer: It is always the squeaky wheel that gets the grease.... If nobody ever said anything, nothing would ever get accomplished

Fencer: Ok.
With option "show/hide" will be great.
PLEASE & thank you.

aaru: All with at least one participant.

It's TOP or "almost all entry fee prize tournaments" ? I have 20 tournaments in this list now.
In my opinion will be better with TOP 5 or TOP 10 entry fee prize tournaments.
It's possible? Or option "show/hide".
Thanks

Jim Dandy:

Fencer: I'll repost my answer to a question in my interview:

If this was your site what would be the first thing you'd change? (if any)

"Everyone has an opinion,but being a business owner myself,I've learned there's often more than meets the eye"

.

mctrivia: I am sure that you understand that adding new features for 3rd parties which don't generate any additional income can be done only when there is time for it. It surprises me how many smart people don't see (or don't want to see?) that to maintain a site of BrainKing size does not mean only to confirm new accounts and read complaints from certain users. There are tens of other tasks and processes (not just programming ones but of marketing, economical, legal and such types) which must be done to keep this site alive and keep the membership fees as they are, although the current status of world economics should make me to increase them.

Anybody else who wants to complain about anything - it is your right, of course, but please, think again before you do it. As long as BrainKing is owned by me, I set the priorities and I decide what is the best for the whole site itself, not just a selected group of users. And I really don't care how many people don't agree with it and, especially, how many people think how arrogant and unfriendly I am.

Czuch: If I want money, I would close BrainKing and start an absolutely different business. Don't be ridiculous. Everybody knows that these clicking programs don't make anybody rich. The real purpose is to make some tests and try out some theories. And, as a side effect, to help BrainKing users who cannot afford to pay for a membership. But, of course, there is always someone who says bad things about any experiments.

coan.net: Well my program was open source so anyone could see that I had know hidden spyware systems encoded into it(well those that can model through Java). The only comunication with my servers was an update system to prevent damage do to fencer changing the code. But I was always an advocite for Fencer to implement it on his own site. I made it because I saw a need and Fencer refused to fill it(Current autpass system is not good enough it demands both parties agree to use it when either should have the choice.)

There was a time when Fencer was extremly healpful with trying to make 3rd party apps. He created many feed systems for use with the facebook app but he eventually stoped helping when trying to add more complex options to the app in favour of creating his own group.

Czuch: I agree about the pay to click campain. sure it can be very profitable for him since he has lots of people doing it but it does not help us out by giving us more to play.

mctrivia: I wondered what happened to your great invention

Andersp: That was kind of my original point... That Fencer has been changing gears as far as this site goes lately.

Not so much what we want, but more what he wants... MONEY!

But we agree that both could be compatible, yet he seems to think otherwise?

I personally dont like the recent shift towards money making "click on this other website " schemes that seem to be more and more4 a major patrt of this website :(

Andersp: Yeah, I remember Fencer once writing on his blog on brainking..info he doesn't like doing simple things a computer can do. "Why don't we have real autopass and automove then?" was what I thought when I read it.

As for the list that started this thread, distinguishing race checkers from non-race checkers on the bar has been a recurring wish as well.

Czuch:  Unfortunately Fencer's favourite features are 'actions" and payment options.  Im sure he would get more money if he added features who makes it more fun to play...yes im thinking about a REAL auto-pass and not this "joke"  :)

nabla: Yes, I agree - when I say "Auto-Pass" - I guess I should say "Auto-Pass/Auto-Move"

... and something that I would like to see if all games where it can be used. (again, auto-pass & auto-move being optional for each player. If a player wants to use it - let them. If another player does not want to use it - allow them to keep it off. If the other person does not want me to use it - O'well - Too Bad - I should be the one allowed to play how I want to play, not let others decide for me how I should play.... kind of how the current gammon auto-something is done now.)

coan.net: 100% agreement on all accounts.
I'd add two bits :
- Playing a forced move isn't playing either, at least it isn't for me.
- Installing a new program on my computer is already a barrier for me, even if it doesn't require any password.

Snoopy: I believe most who want the auto-pass on more games understand that some do not want to use the feature, and I know myself - I have always suggested making it optional for each person. (That is if I want to use auto-pass - let me use auto-pass on my turns. If my opponent does not want to use auto-pass - don't use auto-pass on his turns.)

For me personally - when I'm playing games, i want to actually play games - and hitting "pass" in a no-move situation is not really playing for me.... so if an auto-pass system can get me past all those "pass" moves to a point where I can play the game, I would enjoy that much more. (again - optional for each player - never force anyone to use autopass)

As for the outside auto-pass program, I never used that mostly for the fact I never liked the idea of giving my private information (password) to an outside party.... even using the same password on a program on my PC could still have hidden dangers. Probable very safe & no reason not to trust the programmer of those programs - but still something for security reasons I never wanted to do. So to compare the users of that outside program vs. players on this site is not really a fair comparison.

mctrivia: I do not know of course, but i can not see Fencer blocking it intentionally without telling you first

After all it was hexkids first AutoPlayer that started it all, and then you wrote your own when he vanished, but i do not recall Fencer be Anti it, although he never wanted one on brainking at first.

After all that some of us do to promote brainking all over the place (Faceboook, AIGAMEZ, BugCafe etc..) i dont think Fencer would do that. Have you checked for any code changes that may be effecting it

MadMonkey: as for fixing mine with Fencers help sure but everything I can see points to Fencer blocking the program intensionally. The other problem is I am a comercial electrician and this is my busiest time of year so I am working about 60 hours a week. For now if people want to play fast games of ludo use aigamez.com

Snoopy: that is fine that you don't want it. But the number of users that used my program is pretty high considering it required giving
me there password to work. There is more that were using my other version that ran on your home computer and did not require you to give me your password. Can't count how many that was but over 1000 downloads of the program were done.

mctrivia:
1) Fencer is sorting (we hope, though i have had no problems lately) lol
2) As not everyone wants this option, can you not work out the problem with yours, with Fencers help maybe.
3) A must
4) Common sense i think Though will not really help when situations like the Logik Tournament at present are involved (started July 7th), that opponent has not even made ONE move in yet against anyone. Similar to what Thad mentioned a couple of day ago.

mctrivia: Independently of the relative importance those four points have for me, I agree with you that they appear to be the most generally wanted, or at least the most consistently requested.

major featur requests people have requested(to the best of my knowledge):
1) Increase speed(fencer is working on now)
2) add autopass and automove(I had a program doing this but it does not work anymore because of some change fencer has made. currently fencer has a system but it is severly lacking)
3) byes in elimination tournaments to allow for non powere of 2 games.
4) tornament go to next round if open games can't effect result.

These are the big ones I can think about that keep getting asked for over and over.

Thad:  I do second that request..

Thad: I wouldn't contradict your recent requests, I like them.

Never heard the one about a limit of vacation days on games - but that is a pretty good idea.

.... and I've always supported the request to allow tournaments to continue once the winner has been determined.

Czuch: I wasn't trying to contradict you or anything negative - I was just letting you know of some of the visible recently additions and improvements. And I haven't kept track, but from what I've read over the past many months (and longer) is one of the biggest requests is for improved speed & site performance - which is one of the announced improvements that Fencer is working on.

I know some people don't read the BrainKing.info site to read about what new features have been added & that are planned, so I was just simply stating them. I was not negative towards you or any ideas or requests, I was simply replying to a post - you can try to make it something bigger or "personal", but sorry to disappoint you but it was a simple post.

Czuch: > I also know that you will try to contradict me at every turn, due to personal biases...

You feel that way too? ;-)

coan.net: Well, obviously (hopefully obvious) I was trying to get some form of positive reaction going...

But honestly, what I meant is what recently requested features were enacted?

The ones you mentioned were either new features that have really never been requested, IE I dont remember too many people ever requesting new payment options or new ways for free memberships. ( I am sure they have been requested before, But really What features have the most requests?) Or have never been requested before.

I understand that there was a period of growth that allowed for more requests, and now this is not true, and yes, there have been some requests made possible, but it seems like the focus has changed considerably lately.

I also know that you will try to contradict me at every turn, due to personal biases... but you even admit hoping for more features to be improved

Anywho, my only hope from that post was, as I stated, to generate more interest and to get Fencer thinking about such things again, hopefully.

Thad: That can be taken in consideration.

Fencer: If a typical player wants to play games as quickly as possible why don't you:

1) Limit vacation days in any one game. Bobes hasn't moved since MARCH in these games:
Pente (Thad vs. Bobes)
Pente (nosovs vs. Thad)
He's used at least 100 vacation days. That's ridiculous.

2) Start the second round (and additional upper rounds) of a tournament once the section winners are all determined. I got a knight membership about six months ago to be able to play in more tournaments, but I haven't because Bobes won't move in the above games, EVEN THOUGH THEY'RE MEANINGLESS in terms of who will qualify for the next round of the tournament. If the next round had started, it would probably already be finished! Instead, every player just sits and waits. We are all being held hostage by the selfishness of one player and that's not fair. If there's one thing a game site should be, it's fair.

Czuch: 1) coan.net is right.
2) There are even more background tasks going on.
3) Too many new features means too many new bugs. It's easier to maintain a site with less features. Furthermore, a typical user wants just to play tons of backgammon games as quickly as possible.
4) There were many features added in the recent past but since they don't affect the English speaking community, it is very likely that you didn't notice them.
5) It is not possible to address all feature requests. Ergo, only the most important ones are implemented. Sometimes.

Czuch: Some of the things I can think of recently:

Allow 100% of prize tournament with brains to go to the players

New ways for users to get free membership

New option to pay for a membership added

Plus the one I'm looking forward to - the announced plan to physical relocation BrainKing in September which will hopefully solve many of the speed issues which many people have requested.

Even though I can't speak for Fencer - I believe that he has been doing work in the "background" to get ready for the September move. (again, this is just a guess)

When was the last time any new features requested by the membership were enacted anyway?

One of the better things about this site in the past was the accessibility and responsiveness of the ownership, which has been sorely lacking as of late, IMHO

If an LB invites someone to their Fellowship it seems that only the BB gets the accepted invitations response? Is it possible to let LB,s have the accepted messages too?
Thank you.

I'd like to see result in the SGF files of completed go games.

SGF files normally include a special tag that says who won and how. The tag is called RE), and it goes in the first node of the SGF, along with other tags like SZ (size), HA (handicap) and KM (komi).

For example, if white won by resignation, the tag would be RE[W+R]. If it was a timeout, RE[W+T], or if black won by 10-and-a-half points, RE[B+10.5]. Ties should be RE[0], but I don't think ties are possible with the rules BrainKing uses, anyway.

This is especially useful in games won by resignation or timeout, when there's no other way to tell who won.

Fencer... will you ever give us another multi player game please?

Also or, please give us more control with pond runs.... IE smaller person games and other ideas which have been requested for years now?

TY

Just a little request as its a Sunday and i am hungover

Could Big Bosses get a message about Team challenges as well as the Captains please.

I have just challenged a Team that does not have a Captain (crazy,but true) so unless the Boss looks at the Matches page, it will go un-noticed
Also, it would be handy to be able to send a reminder to a Fellowship that you have challenged. We have loadssssss just unanswered from ages ago

Under Matches for Teams on our Fellowships page, could we have a Finished Matches grid like we have in our own profiles please to keep track of how all our Teams are doing etc......
e.g.

Type  					Wins 	Draws 	Losses 	BKR 	Position 	WT
Alquerque 				17	3	10	1646 	12. (17.)	1
Amazon Chess 				9	2	3	1177 	8		-
Amazons 				59	0	10	1827 	12. (16.)	1
etc
↓↓↓                         

nodnarbo: ok, I got it ... do you think it would be better to collect two squares in the first move ? it would solve this problem, since starting at a1 and moving to b1 (as a one move) will open the door to j1 ...
Andy.

KnightFighter: hm...I'll put it this way, you start with your plow in the bottom left corner, say, we'll call this space a1. you move 2 spaces to the right and you are now on c1, continue moving this way and you will eventually get to i1, but j1 is unreachable, because you can only move one space in that direction.

nodnarbo: you are not stupid, do not say this about yourself... we are learning and trying to invent something ... I honestly do not know how you got this idea about two edges ... but, do we really need to care about this ... look, as a first player you put you plow on any numbered square and collect points from this square ... your opponent does the same. After these two moves any mirrors are removed or, if you stepped on a double you chosen any double to be removed. In your next move you move two places in any chosen direction and collect points for this move. At the same time any two mirrors are removed from the board ... game continue this way until there is no more numbered squares on the board ... when the board is becoming emptier, plows are racing two spaces to get to numbered squares ... in my opinion all the numbered squares can be cleared unless there is a situation I cannot see right now ... but even then it's easy to determine the winner ...
Andy.

KnightFighter: oh, i was not considering diagonal moves, stupid me.

I can see this game working on a board with an odd number of spaces on each side, but with an even number of spaces on each side it leaves 2 edges unavailable to each player...

diogenysos: you wanted to say that plow HAS to remove two numbers ? right ? no matter how long is the path ? I think it's s a trap ... look at the diagonal, for example ... there are two numbered squares at the other end that plow resides ... so the plow has to go along the whole diagonal to get the numbered squares, simply because, empty squares do not count ? No, it wasn't my idea. Plow moves 2 squares no matter what ... thanks for your comments ...
Andy.

nodnarbo:

maybe we solve the problem like this:
the pieces always have to move 2 steps. but an empty square does not count!

mctrivia: Well said

BrainBeast: ROFLMBO .......me too, me too.......

nodnarbo: I'd call keeping players trapped in a tournament FOUR TIMES longer than necessary pretty broken to me!

Thad: nah, I assume he just figures why fix what's not broken

nodnarbo: So he's just not that good at coding?

KnightFighter: oh, 10x10, not 8x8, my bad, now there are 35 spaces that can't be touched, so...the players can choose where their pieces start?