I think that when you're playing one of the voluntary, introductory games with new members you should be able to abort the game at any time or maybe more than one move in (or just when they time out; maybe this could be done automatically). I've played a few of these games and now my last five or so games are wins on time with only one or two moves because they didn't log in more than once! It isn't really that big of a deal, it just artificially inflates my wins.

 How has everyone else been dealing with this?

It only inflates your wins, not your rating, if they time out before two or three moves.

The past 10 games I've played with new members 5 timed out after 1 move 2 timed out after 2 moves and only 1 went to 20. It is a good idea to be able to abort the game or make new menbers play 1 move per day instead of 3 days.

Well you become a greeter and then you play them. I think it is a waist of time so i abort them.

Mabye you play a weak guy then you waist a lot of time.

There is no harm or benefit in winning an unrated game by timeout. If you volunteer to play an introductory game, is it really the end of the world if your opponent times out?

Unrated games do not inflate your wins either.  Your wins, losses, and rating are all determined by rated games only.

Greeter games are more than just whether or not you win. They won't inflate your ratings as they are all un-rated games.

Its more about introducing the newcomer to the site, showing them around, answering any questions they may have. If they like to play fast, then let them know about Live chess .. if they play slow, perhaps suggest in future games they play a longer time controlled game of 5+ days.

Give them the link to the site features  page, let them know how to join tournaments and set up new game chalenges themselves, which page to go to to change their homepage theme... make them feel welcome. This can be done by messages/memo's if they aren't chatting in the chat games box [or they close it]. It means you have done your best to inform them of whats available on this site. If they only make a few moves [or less] in their game, thats their perogative.. but as i said, being a greeter is more than just playing the greeter game with a newcomer.

I just looked at new members...the're all teenagers b.89 --95...I think a lot of new members are frivolice with no intention or real interest in chess.

purpleknight wrote: I just looked at new members...the're all teenagers b.89 --95...I think a lot of new members are frivolice with no intention or real interest in chess.

---

I guess some are just looking around the site or trying to find one where they want to stay. I don't really think age has that much to do with it as some of the high raters here are still in their teen years. 

You shouldn't become a greeter if your not ready to play unrated games.

kohai wrote: purpleknight wrote: I just looked at new members...the're all teenagers b.89 --95...I think a lot of new members are frivolice with no intention or real interest in chess.

---

I guess some are just looking around the site or trying to find one where they want to stay. I don't really think age has that much to do with it as some of the high raters here are still in their teen years. 

---

 You hit the nail on the head exactly. If people are just surfing between sites trying to decide where they want to stay and then abandon the greeter games, then those games shouldn't go on your record. Or they should automatically abort when the new member times out, regardless of how many moves have been made.

Stendido wrote:

You shouldn't become a greeter if your not ready to play unrated games.

---

 Thanks for the advice; I think you're missing my point.

i_hate_chess wrote: kohai wrote: purpleknight wrote: I just looked at new members...the're all teenagers b.89 --95...I think a lot of new members are frivolice with no intention or real interest in chess.

---

I guess some are just looking around the site or trying to find one where they want to stay. I don't really think age has that much to do with it as some of the high raters here are still in their teen years. 

---

 You hit the nail on the head exactly. If people are just surfing between sites trying to decide where they want to stay and then abandon the greeter games, then those games shouldn't go on your record. Or they should automatically abort when the new member times out, regardless of how many moves have been made.

---

 I never finished my introduction game, because honestly I don't like the time limit, i'm more of a live person myself. As for surfing sites I did that too. I used to play on yahoo chess, but I become disgusted at the amount of bots and cheats that are being used.

That is why I decided to try a new site and so far this site is doing great. But there still needs to be some work done.

I played an enjoyable game with my greeter, it just kind of seemed rude to abort.

Some new members want to play chess and learn about the site. I'm not a greeter because I did not want to take on that responsibility when I joined. I may later. My point is, what kind of host or you if you agree to greet and then have the attitude they are wasting your time?  DON'T BE A GREETER! The site doesn't need your help in that way. May people are young and don't know what they're signing up for, this is true. For that reason I like the earlier idea of greeter games being one (1) day only.

The 1 day game idea is a good one mate! But i also think maybe the rated players should be of around 1000-1300 maybe also. Higher ratings might intimidate new players just as a thought of course. My trouble is i wanted to play the games thats what i come here for and then when someone doesnt bother it is disapointing to me so for now i decided not to worry about it......

Well, I just timed out with another new member and it didn't have any effect on my wins/losses, so I guess it isn't that big of a deal. I guess I feel guilty claiming a "win" on a new member's game.

 The auto-abort upon timeout alternative is still good, I think. Or maybe the games shouldn't have a time limit? I'd be open to that, too. Then they'd stay at the bottom of the game stack until the new member moves (and everyone that's addicted to having a zillion games going at one time can max out on intro games). One feature or the other would be nice.  After all, these aren't tournament games and don't necessarily have to follow the rule that if you move you are committed to a win, loss, or draw.

 There being no time limit would allow the new member to come back at any time and still have a game they can plug away at. If they can still make moves in a game that has timed out and not subsequently been claimed as a win, then there wouldn't be any difference except that it wouldn't be an "unrated" game but a special "intro" game with no time limit.

Also, I've found it difficult to communicate with people that don't speak English. Wasn't there a forum that listed greetings and chess phrases in several languages? I remember someone disussing this several months ago.

carpman wrote: Some new members want to play chess and learn about the site. I'm not a greeter because I did not want to take on that responsibility when I joined. I may later. My point is, what kind of host or you if you agree to greet and then have the attitude they are wasting your time?  DON'T BE A GREETER! The site doesn't need your help in that way. May people are young and don't know what they're signing up for, this is true. For that reason I like the earlier idea of greeter games being one (1) day only.

---

 Attitude... right. When did I say they were wasting my time? And the site doesn't need my help in this way and that's why they... created the intro games feature? Not following you.

kohai wrote:

Greeter games are more than just whether or not you win. They won't inflate your ratings as they are all un-rated games.

Its more about introducing the newcomer to the site, showing them around, answering any questions they may have. If they like to play fast, then let them know about Live chess .. if they play slow, perhaps suggest in future games they play a longer time controlled game of 5+ days.

Give them the link to the site features  page, let them know how to join tournaments and set up new game chalenges themselves, which page to go to to change their homepage theme... make them feel welcome. This can be done by messages/memo's if they aren't chatting in the chat games box [or they close it]. It means you have done your best to inform them of whats available on this site. If they only make a few moves [or less] in their game, thats their perogative.. but as i said, being a greeter is more than just playing the greeter game with a newcomer.

---

 I just think as a new member that if I didn't log back in for a few days and then saw that I had timed out and lost my first game, it may discourage that new member from sticking around. I know I didn't know all the ins and outs of rated and unrated games when I first started playing here, and I could see how someone would log in, see the loss, and say, "Screw this! I'm going back to yahoo!"