Listen up! NEW WEBSITE IN THE WORKS!

[msufan]

Originally Posted by Jacob

I've been hinting at the possibility of starting up my own skill gaming site, and I can now happily say that it WILL happen. This is going to be a serious endeavor to break into the skill gaming industry, and I am going to be launching much bigger than any other entry-level skill gaming site. The goal is to provide a unique player experience that exceeds that of WorldWinner and King.com. You're going to have a fun time, and you'll also earn some serious money along the way.

That said, I do need everyone's help in making this possible . We all know that a skill gaming site's success depends heavily on catering towards its player community, and what better place to get feedback than you guys? So, I have a couple simple questions to ask in hopes of reaching a concensus on important stuff. Any responses would be greatly appreciated!

And here we go:

1. What's your favorite game? Favorite genre?

2. Do you deposit solely by PayPal, or do you use your credit card?

3. What color theme would you like in your ideal skill gaming site? What do you think of red & black?

4. Which "fair matching" system do you like more -- King.com or WorldWinner.com? Of the one that you like, how could it be improved?

5. What should happen to a player that's scoring abnormally high in a game and is suspected of cheating?

6. WorldWinner's Rewards Points or the King.com bonus meter -- which do you like more?

7. Cash tournament formats, which do you like more -- WorldWinner or King?

Awesome!! I wish you all the best.

1. I love Bejeweled/Swap It/Midas Miner -- the whole swapping genre. I also like word games.

2. I prefer Paypal but will use a CC if needed.

3. I'm color-blind -- make the site whatever colors you want

4. Definitely King has the better rankings/matching system! I would still like some more frequent open tourneys for all ranks (like the Royal Cups on King) -- that would be my one suggestion for improvement.

5. This is easy. Disable that player's account so they can only play for free, ask them to send a video of themselves playing and earning the type of score that seemed suspicious, and either perma-ban or reinstate based on that. Refund money either to other players (if the player was a cheat) or to the falsely accused player.

6. Definitely Rewards Points. This is a HUGE way to keep losing players around longer and make every game -- even a losing one -- feel like at least it wasn't a total loss.

7. Worldwinner is better with premiums, which matter most to me. I love King's Royal Cups, WW's larger limited-entry tourneys... basically anything where you can win significant money is fun to me.

[Grengoddess]

hows it going jacob?

[msufan]

bump for updates!?

[Jacob]

It's going to be a while before anything comes to the public...everything's still in the planning phase right now, and there is a TON of work ahead. That's all I can really say for now.

[Grengoddess]

yaay its good to hear from you. been trying to contact you for ages. :P

[bmy1]

1. What's your favorite game? Favorite genre?

Games: Scrabble Cubes/Keyword... but if Deal or No Deal (WW) becomes available to Non-US players AND cheaters don't run it over, I might have to go with Deal or No Deal

Genre: Word games OBV. I suck at everything else.

2. Do you deposit solely by PayPal, or do you use your credit card?

What's a deposit? I haven't deposited since March 2008

3. What color theme would you like in your ideal skill gaming site? What do you think of red & black?

Black & White. Red & Black is okay as long as it's not too loud.

4. Which "fair matching" system do you like more -- King.com or WorldWinner.com? Of the one that you like, how could it be improved?

WorldWinner by far, save for the problem with cheaters at the highest levels. The problem with King is that it punishes the top players too much. I think marcx made a great post in the WW forum saying how skill gaming can't be both "fair" and skill-based in the sense that the best players SHOULD be making the most money. I tend to agree. However, to appease the masses, lesser players should not be continuously pitted against the top players with no expectation of winning anything at all because that would eventually alienate the bottom of the player pyramid and kill the skillgaming industry, leaving only the top players to fight amongst themselves.

5. What should happen to a player that's scoring abnormally high in a game and is suspected of cheating?

This is a 2 step process.

First is identification - practically this has to take some time for the most part to build up a large enough sample size to rule out luck or an anomaly. I agree that the sites should actually hire hard core gamers as their "cheat-monitor" department because in reality these are the people who are most likely to be able to detect the difference between skill and cheating... obviously you'll need to hire some quality programmers as well to detect bots, etc. to understand the programming aspect of the games.

Upon identification of suspected cheating, that player's account should be suspended pending investigation by said cheat-monitor team. The ability to withdraw funds should be immediately stopped pending result of investigation.

Second is removal - If found to be cheating, money should be redistributed to the other players who would have received this money. Entry fees can be kept by the skillgaming site. If the skillgaming site has to factor in the cost of maintaining the cheat-monitoring system (salaries, etc.), then this should be factored into the overall business model of the site (i.e. entry fees, rake, etc.) not paid directly out (all of) of the cheater's winnings

6. WorldWinner's Rewards Points or the King.com bonus meter -- which do you like more?

Worldwinner.

7. Cash tournament formats, which do you like more -- WorldWinner or King?

WW because for a word gamer like myself, the earnings potential is so limited.

[/b]