Is this some condemnation of this site? Perhaps you've seen something different in your two months of membership than I have seen. ( Probably ads because you don't pay for a membership.) True the site is a business, but it caters well to anyone interested in playing or learning about the game of chess.
What exactly are you not receiving pursuant to your unpaid membership that you believe you should be?
People try to make a living, dude. The bills will not pay themselves.
Nothing.
Create your own chess website with better free features than chess.com.
The sky is not blue.
I think most people think your original premise (the one starting with "Clearly") is wrong. This is a business, true, but it wouldn't be as great as it is unless the people behind it were really interested in chess.
My question to the OP is: what makes you think that an interest in chess was/is not one of the factors behind creating and maintaining chess.com?
My question to the OP is: what makes you think that an interest in chess was/is not one of the factors behind creating and maintaining chess.com?
Because it's obviously a super-glamorous, cash-filled market just waiting to be exploited by ruthless businessmen.
I think most people think your original premise (the one starting with "Clearly") is wrong. This is a business, true, but it wouldn't be as great as it is unless the people behind it were really interested in chess.
My question to the OP is: what makes you think that an interest in chess was/is not one of the factors behind creating and maintaining chess.com?
Are you serious? Clearly the staff cares nothing at all for the game of chess. Erik is in it merely because of the fanatical popularity of the game, and the ridiculous amount of money that is to be made in the chess market. As soon as something else, like, say, poker, became more famous and/or lucrative you can bet that Erik would turn his back on us without a thought, all he cares about is profit.
EDIT: Beat to le punch
Good point. Hope chess.com is financially safe - probably be bigger fallout from a online-chess related crisis than the credit crunch.
Instead of reading this thread, I could have had a V8!
What is wrong with the site being commercial? The site is better when the folks who make/design the site don't have to worry about things like where their next meal will come from when they are working on the site.
I think most people think your original premise (the one starting with "Clearly") is wrong. This is a business, true, but it wouldn't be as great as it is unless the people behind it were really interested in chess.
My question to the OP is: what makes you think that an interest in chess was/is not one of the factors behind creating and maintaining chess.com?
Are you serious? Clearly the staff cares nothing at all for the game of chess. Erik is in it merely because of the fanatical popularity of the game, and the ridiculous amount of money that is to be made in the chess market. As soon as something else, like, say, poker, became more famous and/or lucrative you can bet that Erik would turn his back on us without a thought, all he cares about is profit.
EDIT: Beat to le punch
Demonstration: more effort = longer posts = more time.
Conclusion: first.
I'm with you man.
I, for one, pledge not to rest until chess.com is no longer profitable. Only then (and then, only briefly) can we enjoy this site purely for the unadulterated love of this game without any commercial encumbrances whatsoever.
Dude! You can play here for free and the adverts are not too intrusive. For a nominal fee, you can make the adverts go away and get some added perks.
I suspect you'll not get much sympathy here for your thesis. Chess.com did not crash the housing and stock markets and put the world on the brink of depression.
Hank Stamper, Harmony In Nature Logging Ltd.
Instead of reading this thread, I could have had a V8!
Lagavulin! <smile>
Hank
The thing is that membership is completely free unless you choose to pay. Considering I only really seriously wanted to play chess since joining the site, have had my chess experience multiplied way beyond what I could have gotten without the internet during that time, and haven't paid so much as a penny, I'd say it's not the best example of commercialism ever.
But yeah, down with 'dem greedy capitalists! Right behind your campaign TheGrobe.
first!!111!!!1lulze1
Fixed that for you.
Jeez man get your game up before making these kind of comments on a FREE site
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Clearly the objective of "Chess.com" is commercial, rather than actual, direct interest in chess, per se.
What, if anything, can actual chess fans do to change or alter this ?
Should it even be tried ?