Probably Tactics trainer is going to be changed

they have some predefined words for each categories you contact with them and normally copy paste same sentence to every user in reply.

ie I Send two suggestion's in different day's and both time got same answer!

I think what most people here want is to convert TT into Chess Mentor which is already there for paid members.

I've used TT quite a bit recently and I think it is beneficial, but I agree with some of the comments above about the way points are awarded/taken away.  It seems like so often I get around 4-5 points for each problem I get right, but then lose ~20 for getting one wrong (or sometimes even just taking a bit too long).  It seems rather unbalanced and de-motivating.

Suppose you have 3 seconds left in a game, enough to move 4 times, since there is a mate in 4 on the table, but you can only spot a mate in 5. 

I used to have a problem with the ratings as well. But I think it is something that has to be gotten over. It is just a number, and you have to force yourself not to pay too much attention to it, but rather, try to work on the problem. The timer and rating, are good for OTB training. 

I think it helps with developing the mindset of trying to find the best move under pressure. 

The best way I found to overcome these two is to set yourself your own time. Say five minutes per problem (you can adjust this yourself). Then just take your time, and only make the move at the end of your own time. If the timer runs out, then so be it. If your rating goes down then so be it. 

In the beginning your rating will take a demolishing. But after a while your brain will learn to focus on solving the problem, rather than getting hijacked by the painful loss of ratings.

Then also take your time to use the analysis board and understand the tactic. You can also bookmark the tactics that you find the most interesting and spend some time doing a longer analysis.

The important thing is becoming familiar with the basics. I think taking things slowly and building over time is better than rushing and being focused too much on a number.

Maybe it can be taken a step further. So that when you have low ratings, the trainer goes easy on you.

I like your second suggestion; no penalties for taking too long. This might be good for beginners; there is no need to punish for thinking too long when you are just starting.

Or maybe you just have the option of choosing to play with a timer or not. So that the focus is on learning tactics and not freaking out.

I agree, anything that encourages you to do more tactics is better. 

I find with tactics trainer it is best to hide the timer.  This forces you to look at the position and judge what move is best, not panic at seeing 30 seconds and going for the first thing you see.  While you of course will sometimes lose points for taking too long, over a period of time the more correct answers that you get will balance it out. At least as far as my TT ratings have gone, I generally move between 2000-2200 with the timer off, and I was not that high when I had the timer on.

Aside from this, the point of Tactics Trainer is to learn to solve the positions, not to gain ratings points, and disregarding the timer I personally believe is the best way to actually learn.  (same as if you are trying to improve your chess, slower time control games are better, as it gives you the time to find better moves.

Agreed 100% with the second point (well, maybe 99% -- rather than "borderline criminal", I'd apply Hanlon's razor and describe it as "utterly stupid").

In the first case, taking the points is justifiable -- if other people found the problem solution sooner, you need to be downgraded for not keeping up with the averages. Of course, only average times of correct solutions should be used.

Incidentally, ChessTempo also does not hande the second case correctly: e.g., after you find a mate in 5, it will tell you to look for a better move, but if you mess it up at this point, you get a boatload of penalty as well. This is also completely unrealistic when compared to OTB games. 

Not at all. If you read the comments, the complaints are primarily concerned with the way points are awarded or taken away, and with penalties that are given when good chess moves are made. The concept is great, but flaws need to be addressed. I'm a paying member.

I think TT is great in the way it is. Remember that the points are granted according to other people performance (capacity to find the best line and avg. time to find it) and not because someone decided the time and points for each problem. The philosophy is pretty similar to ELO points (compare with your peers).

nice potenitial

I believe one should not worry about points playing TT, but simply trying to always find the best solution in the quickest way possible.  Being able to do that will result in becoming a better player.  Is the purpose of TT to make points and get a higher rating in TT or is the purpose to help make each player a master of tactics the best and quickest way possible and therefore become a better player of chess?  You'll know if you are getting better with tactics when you play your games.  And your rating will show that.  To me, that's what counts -- are you becoming a better player.  I can't quite understand what all the concern is about.  It's chess that we are all about.  Not just one aspect of chess.

The whole point of TT is to learn to see patterns and spot the best move.  Points for okay moves, unlimited time to calculate everything, or other changes to how the problems are rated or solutions are scored defeats the purpose.  I have done tons of TT problem and never disputed the solutions.  If I came up with a different solution, then I go over the correct one and try to understand and learn.  Whining after missing a mate in 2 makes no sense to me.

Report these problems - they are not supposed to be in the pool. According to the current policy the solution should be unique or at least very clearly superior to all other options - ie. no more fastest mate problems but there are still several such old problems in the pool. Only way to get rid of these is if people report them.

In principle the problems are approved by humans but most approvers are just volunteers and it seems some bad problems still leak through.

TT is quite all right. No need to change anything. 

I don't remember the last time I picked a mate in 4 and lost because there was a mate in 3. More often I just don't see the mate, or make a move which looks like it winning but really isn't.

Losing points because one is considerably slower than average makes perfect sense. 

Winning points even when one gets the problem wrong (and this happens a lot) actually doesn't... but thank the lord for small mercies (and thanks Depeche Mode too)

In short - keep it up. No matter what you do, some people will complain :-)

Can anybody even explain to me why we need ratings for TT in the first place?

I found the rating system so confusing & distracting when I first started practising TT, that I stopped using it. Then when I took out paid membership, I set the thing to 'Unrated' & I'm a lot happier with it.

After all, I play practically only turn-based chess so what do I need a timer running for? 

BTW - if you want an example of how long it can take to get things corrected on this site, take a look at this TT problem...

www.chess.com/tactics/server?id=0042709

..if you read the comments for that, you'll see many members disagreed with the given solution but whether you do or not, I was told by a staff member that it be submitted for correction in November of last year.

It still hasn't been corrected!

BorgQueen - that may be true but you can also set the range of TT problems you want to solve in your personal TT settings!  That's what I've done.

sometimes tt needs the move theyre thinking of like on time i moved me rook to e7 on a discovered mate but it was f7 and it was the same thing

no punctuatioin or pressing the shift key

In other words, reward mediocrity.  Egos!