[pbmserv-dev] The main differences between Gamerz and Little Golem

[David Bush <twixt@cstone.net>]

My current count of the total games with graphics being played on Gamerz 
at the moment is 1199.

Little Golem is a turn based server with just 18 different games 
available not counting different grid sizes. My rough estimate is there 
are well over 4 thousand games in progress over there. What are the big 
differences in what they offer?

1. AUTOMATED TOURNAMENTS.

There are championhip tournaments with leagues. There are monthly 
tournaments and ratings tournaments. People tend to get drawn into the 
never ending saga. Will I bump up a league next championship cycle? 
Will I advance to the second stage in the July cycle? Ratings 
tournaments put similarly rated players in the same group.

Everyone plays everyone else just ONE game, so there is no temptation to 
copy your opponent's moves in one game back to them in the other game. 
Also the ratings do not have a provisional stage where you watch it 
fall back towards 1700 despite a string of wins.

2. FORUM WEB PAGES.

There is an overall forum plus a fourm page for each game. There is also 
a blog which the manager posts to from time to time. People love to 
talk.

3. PERSONAL WEB PAGES.

Every registered user gets to post personal information, links to web 
pages, images, etc. A list of that player's games and a rating chart 
are also provided.

4. A VAST ARCHIVE OF GAMES.

Every game played since the server started, well over 150 thousand,  is
available to examine. You can click on a specific move to see a specific 
position.

Another difference is a recent adaption for playing on iPhone, but that 
is of little overall consequence.

The intention here is not to post an advertisement for Little Golem. 
That site has many aspects I wish would change. A hacker once mounted a 
scripting attack which caused many players to lose games. The security 
provisions in place are, shall we say, minimal.

I'm just pointing out some basic differences between the two sites. If 
more players would play here, there would be a larger base from which 
to draw donations.