Planning for the Future

[Fischer-Fan]

i think you guys need to be doing more to get players from perth visitng this forum. maybe holding a joint tournament or something along those lines?

[Zeitgeist]

Originally Posted by KiD

I probably won't be too preoccupied with "idea theft".

Whatever ideas/features you decide to implement here would be visible (and most likely formally announced) soon enough, and if the people from over there really want to, they should be able replicate it pretty quickly.

Okay, so it might take them two weeks instead of say, two days, but big deal.

The you-tube feature got cloned quickly at the other forum, but strangely the forecast of a general cloning of ideas has not eventuated. I speak of the the detachable Shoutbox, the easy-edit shoutbox, and a few other significant features.

[Just2Good]

Originally Posted by Zeitgeist

The you-tube feature got cloned quickly at the other forum, but strangely the forecast of a general cloning of ideas has not eventuated. I speak of the the detachable Shoutbox, the easy-edit shoutbox, and a few other significant features.

The difference with those modifications you just mentioned Z, including our new chess viewer, is that those one's cost money. When they ripped off the YouTube mod, that was freely available to all VBulletin license holders - so there was no cost involved.

[Just2Good]

Someone has privately inquired of me whether Premium Membership like the one offered at Chess Chat will become a feature here on OzChess.

Chess Chat's Premium Membership <<< Click Here

To address this please let me start off by stating that I am not really the owner anymore and the hosting has been paid for this site for the past several months by the new NSW based owner.

So ultimately the decision will rest with that individual, who remains at arms length from the site and has not even posted on OzChess since taking over the ownership many months ago.

However, to my knowledge, this will not become a feature on OzChess. Most of the things offered to Premium Members on the other chess forum:

•Unlimited Attachment Space
•Administrative Functionality to Move/Delete/Open/Close threads you have started
•A massive amount of additional space for Private Messages (more than one could ever use!)
•Capability to edit shoutbox messages
•Ability to see everyone who is on-line
•Black Text Username and Premium Member Bar under username on forum posts
•Ability to post, edit, and delete your own calendar entries
•Reputation feature enabled, but negative reputation is disabled (for all members; but premium members receive additional reputation power)
•Ability to hide reputation
•Ability to see who assigned reputation points to you

Are already available to our members at no cost to our members.

Also, regarding the invisible mode, I don't believe anyone should be able to pay to see who is using this function. At OzChess, we want to respect members privacy and we place a high 'premium' on doing so.

Out of curiosity, my query to the CC Admins is that the post linked to above also states:

For a minimum donation of $25, you can be entitled to a one year account upgrade, which includes:

I wish to ask the CC staff how many members who paid for and received the Premium Member accounts, had their account status reduced after the one year? If the answer is none, why is this the case?

[Just2Good]

A follow up to the post above, it seems that the Chess Chat users of invisible mode remained invisable afterall, as that Premium Membership feature was changed due to member complaints. Thanks to Kevin for that clarification.

I am not really sure why anyone would want to use invisible, but I do note that it is a popular feature even here at OzChess.