Life In 19x19

I have my KGS rank for almost 10 years now and it makes me sick that if I should not play one game in 6 months it will be gone forever. I can understand the idea behind, but after having an account for so long another rule should apply for such members. Imagine one gets cancer or needs to go abroad for the job...all that can take months.... What do u guys think about that?

You don't have to play a game, you just need to logon once to keep your nick.

karaklis wrote:You don't have to play a game, you just need to logon once to keep your nick.

That doesn't make much of a difference though.

I apparently lost two of my three nicks at KGS. I don't think this practice is good, but I don't worry about it either.

It's an unusual practice, but considering the large number of people who try go very briefly, possibly never even playing an actual game, it's not outright crazy.

KGS's curious solutions to some problems do have their side-effects, but this one is easy enough to avoid in 99.9999999999% of cases.

Yeah, I wanted my user name on a server that didn't have this policy and couldn't get it. The person who had it never played a game and logged in only once over five years ago.

I prefer the way KGS has it, but I wouldn't mind some of the parameters getting tweaked.

Maybe an email when your account is about to go dark offering a link to click and prevent it?

oren wrote:Yeah, I wanted my user name on a server that didn't have this policy and couldn't get it. The person who had it never played a game and logged in only once over five years ago.

I prefer the way KGS has it, but I wouldn't mind some of the parameters getting tweaked.

I think names should be reserved based on the length of time that they were active. If I sign up and never play, it should expire. If I play for two years, and leave, it should stay longer. Thirteen years, like exactly four people on KGS, it should be damn near permanent.

(And an expiration email for older accounts would be a nice touch).

Encouraging us to embrace impermanence is a good thing. Go is about go, not about celebrity usernames.

Anyway, the games don't disappear.

MS_Sydney wrote:Maybe an email when your account is about to go dark offering a link to click and prevent it?

this!

and an email notice when kgs plus is about to expire would be even more welcome.

jts wrote:Encouraging us to embrace impermanence is a good thing. Go is about go, not about celebrity usernames.

Anyway, the games don't disappear.

I thought so, but there's something funny going on: http://www.gokgs.com/gameArchives.jsp?user=tartrate

Also, I find it undesirable that if a name expires and is reregistered that both games should appear with the same name. On the other hand, I'm the same guy who didn't start building his personal website for a year because I couldn't decide on information architecture and url schemes...

hyperpape wrote:

jts wrote:Encouraging us to embrace impermanence is a good thing. Go is about go, not about celebrity usernames.

Anyway, the games don't disappear.

I thought so, but there's something funny going on: http://www.gokgs.com/gameArchives.jsp?user=tartrate

Also, I find it undesirable that if a name expires and is reregistered that both games should appear with the same name. On the other hand, I'm the same guy who didn't start building his personal website for a year because I couldn't decide on information architecture and url schemes...

You forgot to check the little box.

Pippen wrote:... and it makes me sick that if I should not play one game in 6 months it will be gone forever...

I believe they did something to prevent accounts with active KGS+ subscriptions from expiring. It costs money, of course, but it is an option.

Pippen wrote:I have my KGS rank for almost 10 years now and it makes me sick that if I should not play one game in 6 months it will be gone forever. I can understand the idea behind, but after having an account for so long another rule should apply for such members. Imagine one gets cancer or needs to go abroad for the job...all that can take months.... What do u guys think about that?

To be honest, I don't understand the issue. If keeping the account is so important, why not just log in every couple of months? If you don't log in and don't play, why is the rank important?

BigDoug wrote:To be honest, I don't understand the issue. If keeping the account is so important, why not just log in every couple of months? If you don't log in and don't play, why is the rank important?

Agreed. If you don't care enough to login ONCE every six months (not even play), why should the administration spend server resources to let you keep your name?