| |
BGonline.org Forums
One of my dealings with a USBGF director and match recording
Posted By: Michael Petch
Date: Saturday, 29 January 2011, at 7:32 a.m.
I have had a somewhat bad relationship with at least one director at the USBG recently. Director was a title given on one of the USBG web pages. I will not mention names (But will call him Player X), nor will I post their email to me. But here is the slippery slope that some people inside the USBGF have embarked down, that has all but made it clear that I will never give USBGF money as a founding member (Something I had intended to do). This happened before the New Year.
I was on an unnamed backgammon site that is free to use (Sign up requires giving a verifiable email address). Player X happened to be playing in a particular tournament that is well watched (And tournament rules require watchers be allowed). This particular site also allows anyone watching or playing to pick up the entire match log and have it saved automatically as a MAT file to their hard drive with no intervention.
I happened to watch the series of matches, and then afterward (Like I have done for many years) I analyze the match and post a link to my website of the complete analysis (My XG settings - World Class/Huge Filter/No Outplays/Rockwell-Kaz MET) in the main chat area/lobby. My site has absolutely NO advertising, I do not ask for donations, and everything is FREE for people. I have a lot of matches (including many World Class players who have played on a number of sites over the years) stored as HTML. I do this as a service to promote Backgammon among the people who don't use the bots, or have just a passing interest in an environment where the World Class players are the exception and not the norm.
I have been doing this for years before the USBGF came into being, and have done this to promote Backgammon among the Intermediate/Advanced players.
In December things changed. I posted the matches to my website . Player X contacted me the next day about how they didn't appreciate the fact that I had saved and analyzed their match, posted a link to my free website and made the analysis available to everyone.
They had a couple of interesting beefs. They told me that they didn't believe I have the right to post without their permission, AND that they didn't want it published freely because they MIGHT post it to the USBGF for PREMIUM members or to GammonVillage (these 2 sites were named specifically) in the future.
Not only that they were unaware I posted all 3 of their matches in the series to my site (they just saw the link for the last one). In the last one (using the XG settings I gave above) the opponent had a .1 advantage in PR. Player X made it clear to me that when they analyzed it it was not the same (Thorough actually had the PRs in favor of Player X, but I'm unsure of Player X's settings). The indication was that I was doing something wrong and that the results were not right. Not only that since they only knew about me posting the last match, they went on to inform me that posting just the one match to my site was unfair because it didn't paint a picture of the true skill across the series of 3 matches.
Player X was playing a less experienced player on this free site. Player X had good PRs (I posted the matches) in the first two matches, but they were all jacked up that I had apparently made available the last match where they pretty much played at the same WC level as the opponent.
I will be straight up. If you play on a site where there is no expectation of privacy, enter an event where Kibitzing MUST be allowed, and match logs are saved automatically by the client, and where you can expect dozens of watchers, then don't expect that people like me won't analyze the match and give it to the intermediate and advanced players to look over.
The fact Player X had a beef about the actual PRs leads me to believe that are they not only being unrealistic and unfair - that their ego is probably overly inflated and they are too full of themselves and their playing ability.
My view is that my little known site is a threat to some WC players, and a threat to the potential revenue stream of the USBGF (and possibly GammonBillage)
I will state that Player X did not identify themselves as speaking on behalf of the USBGF, but they did specifically mention revenue for USBGF and articles on GammonVillage. But the way it came across, I was competing with the USBGF's potential FUTURE premium content.
To this day none of the 3 matches I observed of Player X have appeared anywhere else. I will be quite frank. If the USBGF did publish these matches I would NEVER consider removing them from my site! If the USBGF think I am a threat for matches I SAVE from a public venue and post them FOR FREE then they are kidding themselves. If USBGF want to post matches that I have already published and USBGF want people pay to see them - then they need to add value. They need to add commentary and annotations in my opinion.
I believe that the USBGF for the moment may not always be working in the best interests of Backgammon in general - but seem to be more interested in increasing the people who are willing give them money. It has been a theme with 2 other USBGF board members I have had private correspondence with.
My main point is, if the USBGF wants people to pay them then they have to add value. Playing a match in public and posting a straight analysis is not value.. If the USBGF sees me as a threat for something I have done for years before their existence then so be it, but it is this petty attitude to shut out the little guy trying to promote Backgammon that has me thinking "The USBGF will not get any more of my money if that attitude continues".
| |
BGonline.org Forums is maintained by Stick with WebBBS 5.12.