As many of you know I have experimented with live chess before – but now I have a playable build of my new code that will run from a browser using the ubiquitous Flash plug-in, and I’m very close to making it available for public testing (for those who want to try it and offer feedback.)
But for it all to work I need to invest in some fairly pricey server software – unavoidable unfortunately, as it is key to the whole project. (Previously I have used Open Source (therefore, free)) software to run my projects – but this time I have had to go commercial, and that doesn’t come cheap.)
So, what I would like to know is this:
1) Who here plays live chess elsewhere – and do you pay to do so? There is no way I can support endless free use in the same way I do on RHP with the live service because of the way the licensing for the server software works. (And it will probably need a separate server of its own very quickly if people take to it.) So would people consider taking a subscription for the live service in addition to the standard RHP subscription?
2) I have always talked about RHPLive, but I’m thinking a new name and site is required because of the confusion that is has caused previously– people always ask if games affect their rating on RHP, etc. But I don’t want to fragment the community here, and lose people to the other site. New site, good idea/bad idea? I personally feel that I should keep the burning pawn focused on correspondence chess only – but would be interested to know others feelings. Can they both live side by side?
Sorry this is all a bit vague, but I would be interested in everyone’s thoughts and ideas.
-Russ
Hello, Russ.
I must confess that I am not too excited about the idea of a live chess site. I am already on FICS and if I want to play a live game, I will visit there. My attraction to RHP was the correspondence manner of playing chess. It is the reason that I am here and not at FICS.
That fact notwithstanding, I believe that the two sites should be completely independant and located at different URLs.
Just my two cents.
-Ray.
Russ
I play live chess at Playchess.com via the Fritz 8 software, this does not cost me anything at all as it is part of the deal buying the software.
As much as I prefer live chess to correspondence chess, on a personal note I would probably not take up a seperate subscription for RHP live, due to the fact that I play for free elswhere.
I still say RHP is the best chess playing site there is and I certainly will carry on paying my subscription for as long as it exists (even if prices went up).
So personally for me I use 2 different sites for my chess.
RHP - correspondence
Playchess - live
And I cannot see that changing in the foreseeable future. On the other hand, once (if) you get RHP live up and running and were to provide a months free membership to present RHP subscribers then some of us who already use another live service can compare.
This could almost sway me from a free service as the things that RHP surpasses any other chess playing site are
a. The community which are presently on RHP
b. The support provided by you and Chris
I am sure that many present subscribers would be happy to pay seperately for a live service
Cheers
Robbo
Originally posted by RussI currently use ICC for on-line chess, and have done for many years. I've tried others (WCN etc), and didn't like them.
As many of you know I have experimented with live chess before – but now I have a playable build of my new code that will run from a browser using the ubiquitous Flash plug-in, and I’m very close to making it available for public testing (for those who want to try it and offer feedback.)
But for it all to work I need to invest in some fairly pric ...[text shortened]... is all a bit vague, but I would be interested in everyone’s thoughts and ideas.
-Russ
I've used various sites for correspondence games before I got here, and I'd say this site was the best.
However, nobody else (to my knowledge anyway) combines the 2 ways of playing (I think ICC experiemented with correspondence games for a while, but I don't know what became of this).
You might have a wee market niche if you're able to combine the 2. Maybe you offer both correspondence and on-line games separately, but offer the option of a combined subscription package.
At the end of the day, though, I'd be reluctant to switch on-line sites unless the alternative was very good....
It would be sufficient for me if I was able to control the 'move to next waiting game' feature. So if I found that one (or two) of my opponents were on-line and moving in an interesting game I would be able to only move onto my selected game/s. This would be the best of both worlds... sometimes I end up playing several consecquetive moves in a game but it's often very late at night and I just have to get some sleep.
Andrew
I have played live chess at FICS. I didn't much like the impersonal nature of the site but I liked the live chess aspect. I don't get the time to play live chess now. If I did, I would rather play at RHP. But I'm not sure I'd pay extra for it unless I used it a lot.
Regarding the URL, maybe you could use RedHotPawn for correspondance and RedHotCHess for live, that way you keep the link between the 'brands'.
If I understand correctly, the problem lies in the live version being used extensively. Perhaps we could do something akin to the sieges, with x amount of slots available and a waiting list. I think it has been widely expressed that live chess would be nice, but that it would not be an important feature for the majority of players here. Perhaps we can find a way to cater to the small amount of players here that would really take advantage of the option, without any additional costs to the site, and integrate it with the traditional correspondance RHP.
Originally posted by RussHey there russ!
Sorry this is all a bit vague, but I would be interested in everyone’s thoughts and ideas.
-Russ
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Yes,I do pay to play live online chess.I've been a paying member of ICC for 2.5 years now with 2 more years paid for already.I have made a few good friends there and am member of 3 clubs within ICC.So no,I personally would not switch to live rhp.
I think you need to think this through very carefully before you invest a lot of money.There are a lot of 'live' sites already,many are free,it won't be easy for yet another (paying) site to get it's share of the market.As an example see deepnet chess server,they started a year ago,I think,and still don't have many players and they are free!
Another thing,which is mentioned by someone in this thread,ICC features corr chess but not too many people use it.And ICC is one of the biggest chess clubs!Take me for instance,I play live there,but come here,and pay here!,to play corr chess,even though I can do it there without paying extra!I think this may prove that the two are not really compatible.
Yet another problem,you would have to make a serious effort to ban computercheaters,which is by no means easy to do,'cause people don't pay to be cheated.This is a much bigger problem on a live site than on a corr site.And believe me,people WILL leave the site 'cause of cheaters,I've seen it many times.
Rereading my post it seems to be all rather negative,heh.Let's finish on a more positive note.If you do decide to give it a go,I will check it out and if I like it and can afford it,I will prolly subscibe anyway and play on both sites.That's how nuts I am about RHP 😉
I dunno, I like the idea. By associating the Live with the corr site you can use the goodwill produced by one to fuel the other. I know that i'd rather go to any RHP Live chess site before trying another site.
As for market share, i think that there are something like 700 million internet users out there, so with a bit of marketing know how, I'm sure that you could make a killing.
I suppose my point is that with RHP you already have access to a market that would be more than willing to use your product. Maybe you could give some form of discount if a user were to be a member of both sites.
99% of the chess I play is correspondance chess here on RHP - The live chess I play is mostly occasionally with friends OTB, marathon length games as I do like to take my time.... I'm terrible with fast time controls! 🙂
So I don't really miss any live-feature - I doubt that I would use it very much. Perhaps best would be to have it as a separate site... with very visible links to the RHP site of course! We want to lure more people to the perils of the RHP addiction... 😉
-Jarno
While I realize there are a number of subscribers, the number who would play live chess is likely to be a small fraction, just a guess. Perhaps it would still be feasible with the current server set up?
One idea might be to put it up for subscribers and see what the demand is. If the demand is high, then make a note and then membership will have to either chip in or lose it.