Surprise that the site is becoming less and less accessible

I knew someone would say that.

It's about priorities, as is about everything in life.

I mentioned the $33/yr option: that is a mere 9 cents per day.
Even the Gold membership works out to 14 cents per day.

Each gets the unlimited puzzles some crave. The cheaper of the two gets...well, everything!

If one is so broke they cannot afford these, they might consider spending a wee bit of time each year coming up with, say $33 if indeed what they want is important to them. One could even get that amount in the US on average by donating 1 pint of plasma a year or not eating out once or twice a year. You can earn $ by taking some online surveys during the year or selling items you do not need anymore. There are of course far more ways to come up with these small amounts during the year.

I might add, the prices I cited are normal for the US. In other parts of the world, pricing for membership may actually be cheaper.

If one can't afford 9 cents a day...arguably they have more pressing issues than a need for more puzzles or more game review. I am not a 'life coach', and I am not trying to 'shame' anyone, but what I said only seems to make sense.

A large portion of staff are engineering, from coding the front-end, back-end, and handling all the supporting tools/software. Staffing has to be balanced against revenues.

Regarding your bug, what is it? I may have seen it but don't recall.

@Cornfed,

What does the price have to do with it? We're talking about a policy of restrictions here. Put simply, what was free is becoming paid. Why? With all due respect, when you buy Premium, you are paying for yourself. Those enhanced services you get with Premium are only available to you.

What do you mean by writing in a tone as if someone is paying for someone else? You pay for yourself and receive services for yourself.

I did not object to the existence of premium features for those willing to pay for them. But I am surprised that free features have started to be cut back. What, in your opinion, is the objective reason for this?

What I see in your messages, considering you are a premium subscription buyer... is a fear that—God forbid—others who don't pay might get slightly more features than they have now. Because, presumably, in that case, you would feel a personal discomfort from your premium subscription becoming less "premium"? Even though features that were once available have been cut for free users. If those were to be restored, you would still be displeased by it, wouldn't you? I can find no other explanation.

Perhaps, in your opinion, the site should, in principle, only be accessible to those who pay? However, I'm sure you have nothing to worry about, because we both know that nothing written about here will ever be implemented. Because decisions made = decisions made, and my voice here, along with a few others, will not affect the site's popularity in any way. Only numbers matter, when we say about commercial. If the restrictions continue to exist in their current form, it means they are justified / they do not reduce the site's profit.

However, I repeat, these functions are not so important to me; after all, there are other sites for this as well. I merely voiced my bewilderment aloud because these restrictions are unpleasant nonetheless. If the restrictions had existed in this form from the very beginning, I would not have been perplexed.

@wanderer232 - What do I mean that paying members are essentially paying for those who do not? The money we pay goes towards various things including simply keeping the site profitable enough that it can give free stuff to people.

Think of membership as being like taxes if that helps - taxes go to pay for roads, schools, police, etc. Those are used by people not paying taxes as well. If those who pay were not to...do you think the roads would fix themselves, teachers would work for free educating, policemen would work for free to protect people? No...they have to earn a living and would look for jobs elsewhere. When the tax base dwindles or people refuse to pay their taxes...services have to be cut back. Nothing produced is really 'free' in this world. To give too much to those who do not pay compared to those who do...seems largely a matter of keeping the income coming in and not have paying members deciding 'why am I paying for what others are getting or getting too much of, for free'? That's something the site decides and may be doing so. Me, I don't even do puzzles really, nor do I use all the things offered...I simply pay my membership to support the site I prefer to play at and visit.

Remember, support what you enjoy...and 9 cents a day is a real option for basically anyone.

Oh, I did not address your 'bugs' comment simply because I agree enough with it.

Our posts crossed paths in cyberspace.

See my most recent post, specifically where I say that I simply do not use all the things offered - even the puzzles very much and that I pay simply because "I simply pay my membership to support the site I prefer to play at and visit". Everyone should arguably do so and the cost is as little as 9 cents a day. But if one choses not to, there are still enough of us who help make it possible for those who do not so they can play all they want and to get a taste of what is offered. It's all about ones conscience and where ones priorities in their chess life are.

@Cornfed,

I understand and agree with your logic regarding taxes. You are absolutely right. But is the site struggling / experiencing a shortage of incoming funds to maintain its quality of operation, and were these restrictions forced upon it? 🤷 Personally, I find that hard to believe, given how popular the site is.

Furthermore, payment isn't just about money. Users with free subscriptions are not useless to the site, as they are its audience. Doesn't the site also earn money from us? Advertising, revenue from the site's popularity...

And what if users with free subscriptions are involved in developing the site's community infrastructure? Be it as an administrator or a member—it doesn't matter. The site is interesting because of all of us, and I believe we all, in a way, pay for our presence here through this.

Yes, I sent my message before I had a chance to read yours... My next message (#27) is written with your words in mind 👍

By the way... For me, a year of the Diamond subscription translates to about $47.5, not $33. I just checked... It's 166.67₴/month instead of 299.99₴ (if opting for a monthly subscription). 166.67₴ × 12 = 2000.04₴ ≈ $47.5 (based on average exchange rates).

You may not have read what I said earlier. I was referring to the 'friends' and family offer....do the math based on 6 for that. That works out to $33 US per year per person or 9 cents a day US.

Ah, there's an option for a family subscription here... In that case, for Ukraine, it would be even cheaper than $33 per year: 283.34₴ × 12 = 3400.08₴ / 6 = 566.68₴ ≈ $13.5. Well, that's really convenient 😊 I wonder if it works if people from different countries join together... But personally, I don't need Premium, the free version suits me fine 😄 I was just a bit upset that the features available to me – already limited – became even more restricted. That's why I posted my message 😊

i guess the cc employees were not getting paid enough

There' are limitations on countries if they're different than the plan holder.

Yeah that's true, I currently can't afford a premium membership.

@GoodyPrime - have you looked into the options I mentioned? I'm not sure what you want or need from the site, but Premium - even through the Friends and Family plan is not the only option available.

My bromosomes these complaints cannot be this deep just use chesskit or wintrchess for free analysis and choose the option to analyse by chess.com username. Although its a bit different it is good enough and then choose lichess or smth for puzzles.

A year of gold is the price of what a year of platinum used to be

Considering they made $150m in 2023, I doubt they're doing too bad

Agreed. I think that at least game reviews, puzzles, and puzzle battles should all be free, like in lichess. Lichess is nearly perfect; everything is free and there are even video "courses", but the ratings can be inflated. However, that's besides the point.

Another thing I find really frustrating is that in game review, you will not get feedback sometimes if you don't have a diamond membership. Like, isn't that the point of game review? To review your games and get feedback?