There's already a large difference in the number of vacation days allotted to paying members compared to non-paying members, which affects how they can choose to use their vacation. There's no reason at all to specify further differences in policy between the two groups. Nothing bizarre at all about saying so, either.
Catherine, Erik's new vacation policy makes this site a much more fun place to play chess. People were seriously gaming the system before and it made playing Online Chess very annoying. There is nothing bizarre about requiring at least one day of vacation time per vacation. It was a bit bizarre before when a player could be on vacation for minutes at a time. Erik is right on.
I admit I'm a relative newcomer. However, I used vacation time in June of 2010 and it seemed to work very differently than it did this month. Maybe I misunderstood what was going on. Okay. Granted. But it is "bizarre" to require 24 hours. Here's why: 1) if I'm truly on a vacation, I want to relax and play chess. So, the only periods during vacations in which I would want to turn off my games is when I can't access the Internet (on the move, in a car, on a train, in a plane, etc.). These traveling periods are usually less than a day, but if I'm playing 24 hour per move games I have to use "vacation" pauses. 2) if I'm traveling or otherwise unable to access the internet during stressful periods such as business travel or being sick or in the hospital or whatever--a funeral--I still want to play chess to take my mind off the problems.
There is nothing stopping you from playing. If your account goes into vacation mode, and you want to play before 24 hours is up, you are totally free to take your account off out of vacation mode and play. BUT, you will still lose 24 hours of your alloted vacation time.
As for the reasoning behind this, you say that many paying members aren't interested in gaming the system, I would agree with you, but there are plenty enough players who were interested in gaming the system, and in fact WERE gaming it (usually by signing up for more games than they could reasonably play, then letting their account go into vacation mode automatically, then using their vacation time to think about their moves, and essentially granting themselves more time per move), that this change was necessary. The truth is that most paying members get more vacation time then they will likely need, and this change wont effect too many honest players, this will really only make things harder for the dishonest ones.
we're making a change to vacation soon: all vacations will be a MINIMUM of 1 day. so, no more using "vacation" time to just manage an over-loaded games list.
vacation was meant for when you go on vacation and can't play your games for a few days, not as a way of extending lost positions or enabling people to play too many games.
so if you are the guy who uses auto-vacation to cover you for a few hours while you make too many moves, or make all of your moves in all of your other games but refuse to make a move in the game you are losing badly, you will quickly find yourself running out of time.
i know some people will disagree with this, but those people are probably the people mentioned in the previous paragraph.
Erik, you have a very fun site here. However, you are straying drastically from the concept with this bizarre vacation policy. Most of your paid subscribers are on this site because they love the game. They (we) aren't here to "game" your system. We want to play with other amateur chess enthusiasts. We aren't trying to use vacation days to manage an unmanageable list of games. We aren't trying to use vacation time to avoid losing. The free subscribers may be doing this. So why not punish them, not us? I'm very, very serious about this. You have changed the vacation policy so that it's actually unmanageable for me. I only use vacation time when I'm expecting not to be able to access the internet for several hours. I would like to be able to find a wifi hotspot in an airport, make a few moves, get on a plane, and then look for anothe hotspot a few hours later. Please, please reconsider this new policy, at least for paid members. Thank you.
Catherine Mambretti
Excuse me Catherine, but please do not assume that somehow being a "paying member" puts you above what Erik is trying to do with the change in vacation usage. And to assume that us "free" member are the root cause of this chage is just plain ignorant, and smacks of "Im better than you because i paid for my membership" mentality.
If you have facts to your post then please post them.
Dear Catherine Mambretti from Chicagoland,
The change was specifically designed so it would affect almost nobody who was using vacation properly. I'm sorry that you seem to be in this infinitesimal minority. You'll get used to the new ecosystem, I have faith. Chicago is the best city in the USA! I love it there.
Ozzie
I have to say that I think Catherine put a good argument in here and I side with her. I also think it's fair to say Paying Members "are better" insofar as they have ponied up for a little extra support.
Having said all that, Ozzie kind of puts a fine point on it: her case, although being the superior, is just plain "out marketed" - as the neologism would characterize it, she's been betamaxed.
Hopefully, for her sanity and social life, she won't have so many illnesses, funerals and business trips to ever catch up to her allocation that she proves herself in the right.
If that ever becomes the situation, Catherine, I'm sure an appeal to the staff for a further allotment would not fall on deaf ears; they are not so draconian as to ignore due-diligence and with a close look at your game history and then grant you a reasonable allowance "on the house." That would likely come with request not to publically advertise such granted special consideration; sounds like it would be fair arrangement?
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She has an easy solution. If her lifestyle can't handle it, don't start any more 1 day games once any she has going have finished.
The idea of an "on the house" extra vacation allowance so she can continue with exactly the type of vacation use that chess.com tried to curtail is humorous. 
She has an easy solution. If her lifestyle can't handle it, don't start any more 1 day games once any she has going have finished.
The idea of an "on the house" extra vacation allowance so she can continue with exactly the type of vacation use that chess.com tried to curtail is humorous.
@Cystem: Your first point I agree with. Your second I take issue with (especially characterized as humorous). You'll agree that the kind of vacation use they were trying to curtail was intentional abuse.... hers (at worst) could be considered naive misuse.
THis is totally rediculous and should be reversed immediately. I f a player cannot keep their time committment, they lose. Period. Just like in real life.
To let them go automatically on vacation means there is no time limit... so what credibility does this site or the time limit have? Anyone can committ to a tourney or match time and you just automatically give them vacation of they are close to expiring ??? You must be joking.... no intelligent person can do such a stupid "auto-policy" like this.
This is unfair to the good people who play and keep their time commitment and the opponents who are waiting days and weeks.
I have one match where the opponent was 1 hour from defaulting and your idiotic auto vacation kicked in, when he should have rightfully lost. Instead all is delayed. What is the use of any time controls then with such a stupid policy?????????????????????????????????????
Simply a very imbecilic new policy that needs to be abolished immediately for the time controls to have any relevancy !
"new policy"
You're only a year and a half behind. Though, do like the irony of your name in this case.
I was about to reply and explain the "new" rule, but the words used by you made me think that I will just waste my time ...
THis is totally rediculous and should be reversed immediately. I f a player cannot keep their time committment, they lose. Period. Just like in real life.
. . . . rant rant rant . . . . .
Simply a very imbecilic new policy that needs to be abolished immediately for the time controls to have any relevancy !
Not only did you dig up a dead thread to complain about something that happened a year and half ago, you managed to misinterpret what the "new" change was. Before the change there were more vacation delays to games, not fewer.
Catherine, Erik's new vacation policy makes this site a much more fun place to play chess. People were seriously gaming the system before and it made playing Online Chess very annoying. There is nothing bizarre about requiring at least one day of vacation time per vacation. It was a bit bizarre before when a player could be on vacation for minutes at a time. Erik is right on.
I admit I'm a relative newcomer. However, I used vacation time in June of 2010 and it seemed to work very differently than it did this month. Maybe I misunderstood what was going on. Okay. Granted. But it is "bizarre" to require 24 hours. Here's why: 1) if I'm truly on a vacation, I want to relax and play chess. So, the only periods during vacations in which I would want to turn off my games is when I can't access the Internet (on the move, in a car, on a train, in a plane, etc.). These traveling periods are usually less than a day, but if I'm playing 24 hour per move games I have to use "vacation" pauses. 2) if I'm traveling or otherwise unable to access the internet during stressful periods such as business travel or being sick or in the hospital or whatever--a funeral--I still want to play chess to take my mind off the problems.
And there should be a difference between paying and non-paying members. To say otherwise is what's bizarre.