[0 carbon]

Often players complain about other players' chat. Make this visible!
I suggest that when a TD attends a table, they should have a menu choice to "See table chat" which shows the chat at this table for the current round.
Then they can make choices to sub players, reassure players, or whatever else is necessary, without being in the dark.

-- tom

[paulg]

0 carbon, on 2021-January-25, 18:22, said:

Often players complain about other players' chat. Make this visible!
I suggest that when a TD attends a table, they should have a menu choice to "See table chat" which shows the chat at this table for the current round.
Then they can make choices to sub players, reassure players, or whatever else is necessary, without being in the dark.

-- tom

Virtual club directors already have this option. Those who have the privileges to run their own free tournaments do not.

[0 carbon]

paulg, on 2021-January-26, 02:12, said:

Virtual club directors already have this option. Those who have the privileges to run their own free tournaments do not.

That's dumb!

[mycroft]

There are, and commercially need to be, benefits for a paid account. I realize that non-virtual clubs may not have that paid option (and from what we hear here, when they do, they will no longer have a non-paid option), but "It will work for you for free. You want it to work well? Pay us." is a time-tested software sales method.

[pescetom]

mycroft, on 2021-January-29, 09:29, said:

There are, and commercially need to be, benefits for a paid account. I realize that non-virtual clubs may not have that paid option (and from what we hear here, when they do, they will no longer have a non-paid option), but "It will work for you for free. You want it to work well? Pay us." is a time-tested software sales method.

Not when the customer is working for free to bring you more customers, and when those customers get to associate you with badly working software.

[mycroft]

I have said a number of times that while I will defend BBO where I feel it warranted, I am not a BBO zealot. Proof:

I'm not saying it's a *good* sales method, either in general or in this specific instance[1]. It is however a time-tested one that is not unique in the industry.

[1]I'm not saying it isn't either. I know nothing about the internal economics of BBO, nor do I really want to, as long as I can still play bridge.

[jandrew]

pescetom, on 2021-January-31, 07:19, said:

Not when the customer is working for free to bring you more customers, and when those customers get to associate you with badly working software.

I do what I do free because I want to, I take pleasure from doing it and it fills my time.
It might bring more customers to BBO (and I would be happy about that) but I certainly don't do it for that reason.
I can't quite decide whether I am offended by the suggestion that I work for free for BBO. I might do if asked but I would want quite a bit more - I do not come cheap.

I certainly do not agree that BBO has badly working software. I have several ideas for improvement, but it works well enough.
100s of thousands of players can't all be wrong - especially when the pay and come again - like you do.

I do not feel associated in any way with the quality of the software - why should I.

[pescetom]

jandrew, on 2021-January-31, 11:54, said:

I do what I do free because I want to, I take pleasure from doing it and it fills my time.
It might bring more customers to BBO (and I would be happy about that) but I certainly don't do it for that reason.
I can't quite decide whether I am offended by the suggestion that I work for free for BBO. I might do if asked but I would want quite a bit more - I do not come cheap.

I certainly do not agree that BBO has badly working software. I have several ideas for improvement, but it works well enough.
100s of thousands of players can't all be wrong - especially when the pay and come again - like you do.

I do not feel associated in any way with the quality of the software - why should I.

My reply was in mycroft shorthand to point out a rare flaw in his reasoning: probably I should have been more clear and diplomatic although it's difficult to be both at once.

My main point was that it makes little sense to give an old and malfunctioning version of a software to people who are using it to attract and entertain the customers who form your revenue base. Give them at least the most important and non customer-specific improvements because that will increase the satisfaction of all your customers.

My secondary point was that it is futile to hope people running a tournament for free will ever pay to use a better software. They are already doing you a favour and as you say, their time is not cheap even if offered for free.


This is elementary business logic, even if the situation is admittedly unusual.