I'm a chess greeter. I think it's a great thing to have here having people ere welcome & play a game with newcomers. But I have yet to have any game finish that was started (sometimes not even begun). Since the majority of chess players joining this site are here for the rating system (I personally don't care about the ratings), maybe when they get the automatic game invite, the newcomers should be given the option of playing it as a rated game. I think more of the newplayers would play the game if there were rating points at stake.

Possibly true - but it might also be the case that they actually just don't have the patience to finish a game and are better suited to Live Chess.  The reason I stopped being a greeter was because so many games were unfinished.

I greeting games are unrated because the new player's strength is not yet determined. Suppose the greeting games are rated. If a greeter is rated 2000 and a new member is rated 1200 but really has the strength of a 2600 player, that greeter would lose A LOT of rating points when he loses. That would be unfair to the greeter as the greeter cannot tell the new member's true rating and therefore can't tell whether they are a good pair of opponents. I think that greeting games should remain unrated - they're simply a "community service" designed to help new members figure out how to use the site.

The purpose of this then is not happening anyway. I have yet had anyone ask me any questions about the site. I think anyone coming onto this site usually can figure out by themselves how to wander around & see what there is. Chess greeters are a nice idea, but just doesn't work

Do you initiate a welcoming conversation, Paint? I'm assuming you do. And I'm guessing that that's one of the chief purposes of the game. Maybe not, I am not a greeter - and don't remember whether i actually played a greeter.

Yes, my customery greeting is "Hi, It’s good to meet you. Have fun with this game, it’s unrated so there’s no pressure. This is the best & easiest site on the net & if you have any questions, feel free to ask. -Roy

I've found that if you just say, "Hello. Welcome to chess.com. If you have any questions, feel free to ask," the new member will often ask any questions they do have. After asking their question and making one move, the game times out. :P I agree, it's a nice idea, but it doesn't work because so many people just come and go. But I think that the ones that DO stay often stay because the welcome game got them interested. I've had two greetees that stayed. =(

Post #8 wasn't there when I was typing #9. That sounds good. I don't know what to tell ya.

Hi am new to site and enjoying learning, I started chatting and asked to be told if I was doing really stupid things, which I imagine was most likely but am not proud and keen to learn, was that wrong? Is the purpose just to play and be on your way?! Anyway am enjoying it which is main thing :-)

Talli, you have a good attitude. There are alot of good people here who will help you, but the main thing is to have fun playing chess. There are some people though who might be rude to you, just don't take them seriously. The more you play the more you'll find out who the good people are & you can always blocj the ones who aren't. Enjoy playing chess.

Thank you very much, will do, cheers to you and all the other people who take time to share all the great stuff on this site with others, much appreciated.