baudrillard: What happens to people who are banned from this site. Are they simply refused entry to their account but it sits there with their personal information in it? Does it show they have been banned from the site?

Fencer is required by law (under the Czech Republich Personal Data Protection Act of April 4, 2000) to provide a method to delete the account. If a database holds personal information including published words (anything written in public on a site like this is recognised as 'published') they may only hold that information with the consent of the author. I have withdrawn my consent. Therefore, my account must be deleted. This is pretty standard in International laws regarding Data Protection.

grenv: Yea, but times that by probably 2,000+ active tournaments and all of a sudden it can become a strain on the server.

BIG BAD WOLF: I disagree, the calculations aren't that big, especially if you compromise (if each player from 2nd down adds remaining games to current wins and is still short of the leader for instance).

BIG BAD WOLF: That's the one. Thanks BBW. :-))

You really want to tell me that is not yet an entirely normal feature here?? What problem would honest moderators and administrators have with such a default requirement? Btw. I got an explanation also for the increasing unwillingness of seriuos players to pay here just for finding themselves chased over the boards by already ignored bullies, like Spam Tower, whose ranting and raving is yet visible on the backgammon discussion board. But how nice, while the webmaster dodges any serious issue he still has time to encourage the troublemakers, they kiss butt so warmly, I guess. Martin

eagle eye: Yes, it would be a tie with 2 winners (or more - I've seen 4 people tie before)

El Cid: Sometimes 1 players will complete all their games and win them all. At this point, it is known that they will win their section. If I remember correctly, server limitations was the main reason why something is not in place to determin a section winner early - since it would take a lot of extra processing to search each tournament and check.

BIG BAD WOLF: NICE example!
Is it possible that players tie in points and in S-B as well? if yes, does it mean that it will be 2 and more winners?

grenv: The only problem with that, would be which of the players would win the game. It could, however, be possible that if those games couldn't create differences in tournament's positions, the next stage would start, and those games wuold finish after that

I, too, would like to see the S-B calculated before the section is completed,

More important: Completing the section if a winner is decided prior to all the games finishing. This should be easy with a brute force method.

playBunny: Actually it was the tournament board. It was this (In case Fencer is interested in adding it to the help):

First, I picked a tournament as an example: THIS TOURNAMENT

Now first, the points are figured. You get 1 point for each win. So:

(1)arpa - 3 wins, 3 points

(2)zockerdotcom - 3 wins, 3 points

(3)SMART ALX - 0 wins, 0 points

(4)Ladybird68 - 2 wins, 2 points

(5)Merrily Watkins - 2 wins, 2 points.

Now once all the games and points are figured, this is where the S-B is figured.

The S-B is the SUM of the points of your oppenets that you won against. So:

(1)arpa(3 points) - had win against player 3, 4, and 5. Player 3 had 0 points. Player 4 had 2 points. Player 5 had 2 points. So 0+2+2=4 [4 S-B]

(2)zockerdotcom(3 points) - wins agains 1,3,5. So 3+0+2=5 [5 S-B]

(3)SMART ALX(0 points) - [0 S-B]

(4)Ladybird68(2 points) - wins against 2,3. So 3+0=3 [3 S-B]

(5)Merrily Watkins(2 points) - wins against 3,4. So 0+2=2 [2 S-B]

So first the person with the most points win. In this example, both arpa & zockerdotcom have 3 points each. At this point we look at the S-B. zockerdotcom has 5 S-B, while arpa only has 4 S-B, so zockerdotcom gets the win for this tournament!

IMPORTANT NOTE: The winner of a tournament is the one with the most points. In some cases, the person with the highest S-B will not have the most points, so does not win. Only time S-B comes into play is if there is a tie in points.

1. Would it be possible to add an example to the S-B help page; add a bit of concrete to the abstract. BBW very nicely, and painstakingly, demonstrated/explained S-B for someone on the backgammon(?) board but that's now history [and I can't find it :-(].

2. It would be handy if the S-B points were calculated and shown as a tourney progresses rather than only at the end.

:-)

TC: I'd like a tournament to accept more members to the sign list than the maximum. This way if someone bails or doesn't have enough space on their account the next person to sign up would take their place and then tournament could carry on. Lots of tournaments with a maximum of four players get filled. Then a fifth person can't sign up because it's full of players. What happens to the tournamemt if it starts and one of the current sighers isn't elgible to play?

MidnightMcMedic: The request calls for an AUTOMATIC notification to be sent via PM to the Banned/Hidden User, with a reason attached. Kind of like the AUTOMATIC message you get when you join a pond. Since Fencer's name cannot be blocked, there should be no problem :)

Keyword, AUTOMATIC, not a message from Fencer himself (just so there's no future confusion).

This would be an ideal feature so even if a Mod is banning a user arbitrarily (as they sometimes do) there will haveta be some reason given. It is good for bringing the power-abusers to BK justice, whether they be a Poster or a Mod

Fencer: This tournament which I mean has one game type and accept no more registering. What do you think?

We have all flags for the country languages and when click on any flag, see the preferred language.

Now, my suggestion:

Second 'language' title and 'change' word middle of the right column is useless.

Thanks.

TC: A tournament can contain up to 67 tournaments [one for each game type], some of them can be full and some of them not.

Hi,

In the main page of general tournaments, I saw following datas:

Name Time to deadline Time control (?) Creator
Backgammon 2100+ 30 mins 4 days zockerdotcom

When I click on this tournament, I saw following datas:

You cannot sign up for this tournament because the maximum number of players is 5.

Now, I suggest a modifications for the main page of all general tournaments:

If the player counts of any tournament full and accept no more player, users like to see the situation under the 'time to deadline' any of following words: 'No more register' or 'filled'.

This help to users effort to save from clicking on and come back again useless.

Thanks

Fencer: If anyone deletes their account can I have their remaining time? ;) j/k

Purple: Not the main team game but the currently selected game.

BIG BAD WOLF: That's the main purpose of fellowships. To create teams of supported games [which are displayed on the list of fellowships page] and other actions related to the supported games. Fellowships are not a substitute of more and more discussion boards [although several people use them only for this purpose].
A new board system which would solve this "problem" is already planned, though.

BIG BAD WOLF: Not only that but the main team's game always appear in the tournament and you can't get rid of it. If I want a Backgammon tournament in Purple World I have to make that the main team or checkers will be the game that shows up.

WhiteTower: Sure, it can be added to the User Agreement. But not immediately, of course, due to the number of languages it must be translated to :-)

BIG BAD WOLF: I do believe this impossibility of complete account removal should be noted in the BK User Agreement/Privacy Policy, because, as we all saw, a simple and legitimate request could not be honoured due to lack of proper documentation... No offence, Fencer, but if you cannot do something, like removing an account on request due to database management consequences, prospective or existing users should be made aware of it, right?

Would be nice to be able to create any game type fellowship tournament inside a fellowship without having to add a "team" to the fellowship.

Is there really a reason a fellowship needs to have a certain team before it can have a tournament for that game type?

baudrillard: What you could do is just rename your account to something like "gone123". Then send Fencer a note asking him to change your password. Then *poof* - you will no longer be able to log in.

One of the features of BK is that it keeps all the game history and such - so to remove an account completly may mess up the database and such. So in my opinion, a quick rename and a quick note to Fencer asking him to change your password so you can never log in again would probable work best.

Hrqls: too bad indeed! alot would quit.....then pay again to rejoin

frolind: I second that request!!

bumble: hmm .. i see it .. it would make a mess of all the data the account would have been in (tournaments/games/etc.)

too bad :)

Hrqls: Fencer cannot delete accounts. What has happened on BK is in it's history.

The best thing to do is remove or alter all your personal information from your profile and change your ID to something meaningless - like a row of numbers.

baudrillard: when you send your request to the database operator (fencer), i guess he will be able to delete your account

baudrillard: Fencer said here some weeks ago that a deletion is not possible. I can understand that - but maybe there should be a status active / inactive.

I've been trying to delete my account but there does not appear to be a way to do so. It is a legal requirement of a database operator to provide removal on request. A delete button feature should be added to this site immediately.

gekrompen hoofd: Most are notified via pm of being hidden and why, but when they have put all the moderators on hide, it is impossible to do so.

nobleheart: very interesting topic and I have no objections to it per se, but take it to another board please

I'd like to have the opponent's membership symbol (Pawn, Rook, Knight) displayed next to their handle in our current games on my home page.

Sometimes I overlook single black checkers on the purple fields. Would it be possible to have a few options for the field colours, as we have in chess?

Walter: One time I would consider the reporting of hidden messages as a bug is when I go to the board and there's nothing to see. I wouldn't mind if there were fewer messages than reported but I'd be annoyed by none. But even so, it strikes me as untidy.

gekrompen hoofd: Having moderator-banned and hidden users reported at the top of a board is a major no-no for me. I'm not really interested and it would just be more clutter. I think it should have a place as a sub-section/page of Blocked Users.

I also think that member-hidden posters should be displayed there as well, rather than at the top of the board as is done at present. Having hidden someone I don't want to be reminded of them each time I come to a board.

You can state your ideas on this board and argue until your nose turns blue. But unless Fencer finds them personally acceptable, they will not be implemented. Period.

Walter Montego: I support these two feature requests:

1) An Automatic Notification message sent via PM to posters who are Hidden/Banned, with a reason given.

2) A list of Banned/Hidden users, and Mods responsible, at the top of every board.

  Nothing more, nothing less :)

fungame: Understood. I still wonder why the Jokes board states to keep it 'family friendly' when I see many vulgar posts that go conveniently un-noticed by the Mods. While other regular posts are deleted willy nilly because the Mods don't agree, or have a personal vendetta against the poster(s).

Or perhaps breaking board rules is an unlisted feature for paying members?

gekrompen hoofd: You're arguing both sides now. First you complain about the lack of visibility of moderator actions and then you say you don't like leveling the playing field by letting us other members have access to something they routinely get?

As for this veil you refer to, that's a marketing strategy. This is a capitalist enterprise, isn't it? Why not add incentives to try and coax someone the shell out a buck or two and get so more money coming in? Fencer has freely acknowledged using this very strategy on occasion.

gekrompen hoofd: Of course when a feature is useful for a minor group, the major group doesnt have to use it but thats not a reason to not have the feature. I personally have no interest in parental lock, it was just an idea.

fungame: Every feature implemented at BK concerns all members of this site, not just those with certain out-dated beliefs. Therefore, when deciding new features, everyone should be considered, regardless of nationality, race, religion, etc.

Walter Montego: Goodness, such verbosity! I cannot help but be touched :)

You know, you're about halfway correct. The elite are power-abusers. But also, such a feature regarding hidden posts, IMHO, should only be visible to the Moderators. There is no reason why a Non-Moderator should see them. How does this better anything? Looks like a frivolous excuse to drag more people in so they can 'Pay to see what's behind the mysterious veil!' -- It's none of anybody's business, unless you're a Moderator.

2 cents and a quarter
for you and your gallant crew

gekrompen hoofd: OK, I understand but I was referring to people who still might use or believe in these approaches to educational process .

fungame: The parent is the parental lock. You've lost me here. What do you mean by children? If you're talking about a fourteen year old, there's nothing on this site that they haven't seen on television or in the movies. If you're talking about a six year old, you have one smart child if he can play Dark Chess and run a computer. Surely the small chance that they might be exposed to something on this site that a parent finds objectionable is worth taking. As I would have the feature, you'd have to purposely toggle it. Why couldn't a parent leave it off and let it stay as is? Or maybe the feature could be disabled on request when paying for the membership? Certainly it would be a minor inconvience to those few that are that worried about anything they think their children might come across on this site. I imagine they don't have television or rent videos that aren't rated G either. Hard to imagine such people even using a computer to access the internet. Are there such people?

Can moderator hide certain posts or only certain users with all his/her posts? Because some might be ocassionally rude but ocassionally they have useful ideas too. For example danoschek, he is usually babbling or repeating the same over and over, but when he expresses certain opinions or suggestions they might be useful and acceptable, f.e. three checks chess rules - I do even agree with him, or some computer or chess related hints.

Parental lock? Don't make me laugh!
Kids don't even care! They already know about bad words and politics. Hell, probably more than the parents do

This isn't the 50's ya know :P

gekrompen hoofd: Er, how is being a paying member making me an elite? Shouldn't I get more things if I pay for it? This is a game site, you can just play games and not even bother with these discussion boards. Since you're here posting, I assume you have an enterest in other things. There is an elite on this site, but it's not because of someone being a paying member of it. It is the well connected and powerful to whom you should address your concerns. If you were or eventually become a paying member, you'd see what I'm talking about. In the meantime, I think you'd do best not to categorize me and others just by the fact that we've joined the site as paying members and might expect something above what non-paying members receive here. There's other members here that give extra money beyond their membership fees to the site just for no reason except to support it. As far as I know they get the same benefits I do and no extra or bonus features. Don't you find that amazing? These people are being charitable to help a cause they believe in. Some internet game site in Czech Republic. I find that hard to see happening, considering all the spam I get from people that want my money out there in the aether. Obviously something about this site works. The fact that we can argue about it is a good thing and I'm sure contributes to its popularity.