Because I'm still pinching my pennies.
Tell Me Why You Aren't a Premium Member
Sort:
8$ a month for the Diamond membership is nothing. It takes more than 8$ in gas to drive into town and back. My friends pay more than 8$ for a drink at a bar. I too get loads of good info and stuff for free online, but free videos by masters, the chess mentor, unlimited tactics training, and plenty of other things are provided by this site, and the MOST premium membership is 8$ a month. I am a cheapskate, and so tight when it comes to money, but c'mon, these guys provide a nice site with tons of stuff for chicken feed. Toss them a little money to keep their servers up and running. I have not regretted it once.
And of course $8 is also less than a dime bag...right? 
Boheme wrote:
@Monster_with_no_Name:
"there is no need for a massive centralised server."
This is not actually the case. First of all, it is not very easy to connect two people directly using a server-- the internet is not built that way (and by the way the internet is built, I mean to refer to TCP/IP).
Not to mention the fact that if some website allowed my system to implement rules of chess (or would somehow rely on the data I sent), hacking it would be a piece of cake.
Buddy you have no idea what youre talking about...
Its very easy to setup connections .. have you heard of .. say... torrents?? which is a much more complicated setup.
For the chess server.. The server would give host 1 the host 2's machines IP/port which would be listening and then host1 connects host 2. It couldnt be simpler. Ive got a double degree in Comp Sci, and have been working in this field for 12 years... please dont comment if you have no idea what you are talking about.
To hack the software, first of all you'd have to be a coder, second people would block you and stop playing with you. This would be a tiny problem, easily solved with a few mechinisms (like email registration)
TheGrobe wrote:
Really devalues things for those of us who'd like to do it for the money.
The fact that your not paying me 500$k a year to play chess devalues me.
Let's make it happen!
Not to be vociferous or pompous, but I do in fact know what I'm talking about... redirecting IP addresses to establish new connections is seldom a good idea when the two computers are foreign to each other. First of all, consider the monstrous amount of issues you'd have with firewalls blocking ports-- after all, such a connection would require that both playing computers act as servers. We can immediately discount using anything else than HTTP because anything else would almost unanimously be blocked by all self-respecting OSes, not even taking antiviruses into account. Thus, we would need to establish SYN-ACK connections between the two players, a pain enough on it's own. I imagine I don't need to delve further; such a method would not work. BitTorrent et al are made for systems where you have multiple computers seeding and leeching, which is not the case here.
OK, let's say there is a coder. And that he has netcat / tcpdump. A bit of (packet) sniffing around and he can easily determine the exact protocol the chess system uses, and promptly fake packets. No need to wait for people to block you-- just make their clock run to zero or make them resign. E-mail registration wouldn't help you here at all, either-- fake emails are super easy to make.
Boheme wrote:
Not to be vociferous or pompous...
Hey, this is a chess site! None of that kind of thing, buddy.
AndyClifton wrote:
Boheme wrote:
Not to be vociferous or pompous...
Hey, this is a chess site! None of that kind of thing, buddy.
Damn, I forgot to remove that sentence and press caps lock before typing.
Then maybe you could crank it up to 24-point and put it all in red.
I`m thinking about becoming a premium member here, but I dont feel pressing need for it so far.
Sign up within the next 24 hours and you win a free toaster!
Boheme wrote:
Not to be vociferous or pompous, but I do in fact know what I'm talking about... redirecting IP addresses to establish new connections is seldom a good idea when the two computers are foreign to each other. First of all, consider the monstrous amount of issues you'd have with firewalls blocking ports-- (not much at all, this is a very simple change to make even for lay people, most firewalls these days even prompt you as the connection is coming in) after all, such a connection would require that both playing computers act as servers. We can immediately discount using anything else than HTTP because anything else would almost unanimously be blocked by all self-respecting OSes, not even taking antiviruses into account. Thus, we would need to establish SYN-ACK connections between the two players, a pain enough on it's own. (Youre blowing this whole thing out of proporition, you start up your client and its running as a server already. Simple. If a change is needed on a firewall its a 2 click thing. 90% of people are on windows and use the windows default firewall, so it would be a very simple instruction to provide to everybody. Simple) I imagine I don't need to delve further; such a method would not work. BitTorrent et al are made for systems where you have multiple computers seeding and leeching, which is not the case here.
OK, let's say there is a coder. And that he has netcat / tcpdump. A bit of (packet) sniffing around and he can easily determine the exact protocol the chess system uses, and promptly fake packets. No need to wait for people to block you-- just make their clock run to zero or make them resign. E-mail registration wouldn't help you here at all, either-- fake emails are super easy to make.
There are ways around this too... (if it became a problem at all, I dont see it happening though... what kind of idiot wastes his time using packet sniffers to send illegal moves to clients that wont accept them, for a amateur anonymous chess game??) using 2 levels of encrypted keys, which we also dont need to delve into here.
It seems I also forgot to mention the possibility of using green...
Why am I not a member? idk.....
Currently without membership a cup of coffee costs me about $2 at most places. Were I a member, I could get that same cup for a mere two bucks.
I have no money (credit card) for premium membership, and also I'm just a student. :)
I tried it for 1 month, because I wanted to do infinite Tactics trainers :) So my membership will end soon, but in the future Ill buy new 'months' for sure (just dont want it to be continuous and automatic). I couldve also withdrawn that couple dollars, but that would be so gready since this is a great website.
I have been enjoying Boheme's & Monster's dialog. The last post proved my suspicion..... Windows. The bane of the PC for the last decade or so. As a computer guy, why would you want to make a web site compatible with anything other than windows? Don't have windows, too bad! Why would we want universal access?? You know... available for all OS's, kinda like the internet? Remember too that there are mobile apps of chess.com for not just Apple, & Android, but Blackberry & Palm too. Talk about universal access! All I can say is WOW! Chess.com is a great site. The only comparison I can make is to other commerce sites. Nowhere is there the security, availability, and slick usability for a web site that doesn't sell merchandise. Sure, Amazon is free to browse, but a new kindle or e-book isn't. Chess.com is free to browse, free to play and premium memberships are an option for PREMIUM service. I Suspect I won't change your mind with my post.... so here's my recommendation: If this chess web hosting thing is so easy, start up your own site and become a chess.com competiter.
thanks for reading, & happy chess to all 
Really devalues things for those of us who'd like to do it for the money.