Tikkabik

So what keeps you going back?

Well, in this case, it's mainly to test the new features of GameRanger Premium. I don't plan on sticking around any longer than I have to.

I think this is the kind of thing that becomes news only because there's no alternative that shares the same profound presence as Kevill's baby. Yes, he's going to start adding some goodies for a premium. And yes, this is a way to generously thank him for several years of consistent work. But unless there were any radical improvements, this wouldn't prove newsworthy if he had several other competitors.

As for the GameRanger kids, I wish them the best of luck. They're a nice bunch for the most part, even if they don't realize that a person's content is everything in terms of a chat room. You can come off intelligently or you can appear to be the fifth child of your brothers looking at your mum a little too keenly with a few misplaced keystrokes. If words are your bullets (as they are on GameRanger), learn to aim.

But honestly, I'm curious as to what's offered, who bites and how it all pans out and I think Kevill's put out a good product, despite the usual soap opera that is our industry.

I'm all for, as flargh so eloquently puts it, forking over some loot to "reward Kevill for three years of development." Even Australians have to eat.

Well, Scott did a lot of work and hasn't forced anyone's hand yet, so... I think those who enjoy the service should seriously consider it. I think the word "should" doesn't matter a fucking whit because people are just going to do what they want... but there's no harm in saying that the premium price, while rather high, is quite fair to the GR users.

If there were a premium deal that allowed me to watch certain GR users being electrocuted to death on a slab of concrete, I'd slap that credit card down so fast your head would spin (and I would then mention that if anyone had something important to say to Asterax, Daleks, Dogmeat, Powermac or Emily, they should say it quickly).

I remember a high school theater class in which a girl named Mim Nixon stood up and began speaking. Understand that Mim was about as complex as her first name (a shortened version of "Meredith", she seemed to be the human equivalent of Molly the horse in "Animal Farm"). As she opened her mouth, she went on to complain of how her recent pot purchase had been laced with Raid.

Not that she could have spared the gray matter to begin with.

Maybe that's what you're dealing with in terms of these users.

Chris

No, those are MacGamer readers.

(The smart ones)

$50 for 12 months is not bad for what you get. The premium stuf is nothing special right now but so what. Kevill has expenses and deserves a little something for his efforts. I think he should have done this 6 months ago. The whingeing is as pathetic as it is not surprising. Some of these pinheads will spend top dollar on the latest game or system but begrudge Kevill some income. What a bunch of tosers!

I would pay $50 if GameRanger Premium featured the presence of the much-missed Corey Tamas.

Yeah, that's what you said about me, you fickle bitch.

Uriel <3 <3 <3

bottom line: GR should be a completely free place for people who need a release from life to hang out and play some games. This isn't app you should make only to get money out of. If evill wants to make money then maybe he should start making real software not programs that are used mostly by kids.

WarD:

The whole point is that GameRanger REMAINS a free place for people to use -- it's just that folks who want to actually support the service instead of freeload can step up to the plate and give Scott Kevill some money now, and in return can get a smattering of new features that the leeches don't get.

Your comment about "programs that are used mostly by kids" shows how little you know about the game market. Computer and video gaming as a whole is a more than $6 billion industry, and of that, the majority of the revenue is spent by adults, not kids.

Now obviously the Mac game market is an infinitesimal fraction of that number, but the points -- and the demographics -- remain true. Adults are spending most of the money.

Personally, I'd like to see Kevill go subscription-only, period. I suspect the whole character of GameRanger would improve a lot.

"smattering of new features that the leeches don't get." - what features? getting your name at the top of the list??

"Adults are spending most of the money." - well duh. but that doesn't mean adults play the games more than kids, that means they buy them. so every time a parent buys his son/daughter a game it's the adult paying for it, and the kid using it. In my personal experience, I have met far more college kids or younger on GR than adults.

"Personally, I'd like to see Kevill go subscription-only, period. I suspect the whole character of GameRanger would improve a lot." - I agree. at least if he did that, he wouldn't be creating all this conflict between the GR upper class and lower class. and don't tell me that battle doesn't exist, even you referred to the people who didn't pay as "leeches"

The Interative Digital Software Association is the authority for this sort of data, and THEY say that the average age of a game player is 28 years old.

96 percent of the people who BUY computer games are 18 or older. 66 percent of the people who PLAY them are 18 or older. So your own experience aside, the statistics tell a very different story.

don't tell me that battle doesn't exist, even you referred to the people who didn't pay as "leeches"

It's not about class warfare, in my case. It's about how I think that GameRanger users are, on the whole, a bunch of jabbering twats that need to be pummeled with an axe handle.

I agree with rewarding Scott for his years of work on the GR project. Think about it folks...we have mooched off him for years and he has never asked for anything. The developers give him nothing and the advertisers (which probably accounted for a pittance of cash) withdrew. He should have come up with this solution sooner.

I would really like to see more "thinking" games (card, board) on GameRanger which appeal to older users. Most of the stuff in this category on GR is not carbonized. Maybe some helpful prodding of the developers is in order?

I would really like to see more "thinking" games (card, board) on GameRanger which appeal to older users.

This clearly is the niche that GameSmith is filling right now, and principally because Freeverse Software's library comprises games of exactly this type.

GameRanger suffers from one basic problem: A complete lack of organization and of administration. While the occasional user is banned for mentioning warez or for really irritating behavior, people aren't kicked for general obnoxiousness nearly as often as they should be.

What would really help is a forced reorganization of the "Rooms" on GameRanger, with specific administrators assigned to specific rooms. Perhaps people can work for their premium memberships for free that way. The Rooms should be set up by gaming category or other logical division, to help relegate people who want to play board and card games to one location, while action gamers and strategy gamers can have their own spot. People like me who just enjoy spouting off about irrelevant bullshit can stay in the Construct or some other equally irrelevant location.

Finally, rigid enforcement of this hierarchy should be established. GameRanger is just a little too "wild west" to attract much more than the sort of dregs it attracts now.

What the hell is the problem here? All of a sudden people who don't pay the $50.00 for premium membership are leechers? And before the new membership option was introduced, what were the current premium members then? Leechers! Did any of them voluntarily send Scott a cheque? I doubt many, if any, did. So until Scott decides GameRanger is to be a paid service only, there will be people who will bitch about the premium members, people who bitch about the leechers, and who gives a shit. As long as I have been using GameRanger (3 years) there have been people who will complain about pretty much anything. The 'block user' feature still applies to both premium and non-premium members, so click on the user whose bitching has offended you so much, click on 'block user,' and voila! Out of sight, out of mind. Things are just fine the way they are.