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Re: Re: Wanted for a BG server, ratings?

Posted By: Daniel Murphy
Date: Friday, 18 May 2007, at 3:23 p.m.

In Response To: Re: Wanted for a BG server, ratings? (Bryce)

I think one thing to remember with ratings and the history of online sites is that rating/no rating was not the only factor in the success (or not) of various sites.

First came FIBS. Had ratings. Had no money games (except some privately run tournaments).

Then came GamesGrid. Had ratings. Had a membership fee. Soon had money games. Became "the place" to play. Failed to (and still hasn't) improve its system of putting two players together at the same table. The result was dozens of players "ready to play," but not for the stakes/match length another player wanted, or "not ready" to play, and no way to know who would be ready to play and for what stakes except by PM and negotiation.

Then came TMG. No ratings. no membership fee. Their table selection method meant no waiting for a game, since you could immediately see who was ready to play what for how much. And this is the same method that many other servers use now, Gamesgrid excepted. For this and surely other reasons, TMG became "the place" to play. But no longer: "the place" is now (but not for much longer?**) Play65/GammonEmpire, which has ratings, and a huge marketing budget.

Then came PartyGammon, first with and then without ratings, and with the world's largest pool of poker players.

Meanwhile, there are, I think, about one dozen other sites where one can play backgammon for money (the list at http://www.bkgm.com/servers.html is incomplete), some of which predate TMG. VOG, Clubgames, BGRoom, BackgammonMasters, Xciting Games, many more. I do not think rating/no rating is an important factor in the lack of success of these sites.

And soon will come Partouche Gammon. It's a very crowded field, Stick, with corporations with money looking for playerbase, and sharks and fish looking for the latest greatest place for action.

I will not argue that some people don't prefer no rating, or that for some people no rating means more action. No rating also means no problems with ratings manipulation. However, what would have happened if, before TMG started up, Gamesgrid had upgraded its table selection method? We'll never know.

**I'm not making a prediction. I do not wish to be the Sylvia Browne of online backgammon:

"If they [GammonEmpire] donīt change the failures quickly and improve, I predict that the 10-20 players which are online now will soon leave too and the site will become another backgammon graveyard." -- Chiva Tafazzoli, rec.games.backgammon, 10 December 2004.


One backgammon site's welcome message: "Sorry, this web site is designed for Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or later. Please, visit us using MS Internet Explorer browser. Thank you." No thank you, Vinco Online Games; I won't be back.

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