VACATION ABUSE - Daily Move Games

I have a suggesting for the administrators to consider for those who ABUSE the Automatic Vacation feature at chess.com on Daily Move games:

If they are truly on vacation, then fine...they are not getting back onto chess.com...they are off 'vacationing'. Vacations are needed, so that is only fair. Someome might even have to...say, go to the hospital, that's a great use for the Automatic feature.

HOWEVER, if they get back on to chess.com - lets say to PLAY blitz chess for example, let their 'auto vacation' stop it's function, once they have logged back on to chess.com....and their time start ticking down.

This feature is currently abused a lot...and it makes those of us who like 'turn based' play...really quite unhappy - be it in tournaments or more simply one on one games.

Anyone else have some thoughts?    

I'm confused. You're only playing one game and he's not on vacation. It's also easier to just ignore anything imlag says.

Vacation mode isn't just for real actual vacations. People may not have time to commit fully to a Daily game but may have the time to get on to play some blitz, read the forums, do some tactics, etc. And the auto-timeout protection was created and built by the site as a premium perk; it automatically places games on vacation, regardless of whether the player wanted it to or not.

So, while it is called Vacation, it isn't just for vacation use. For players that don't like vacation, join no-vacation tourneys or send in feedback to the site to allow individual seeks to not allow vacation and/or add a feature to allow limited vacation time to be used.

I agree that vacation is sometimes annoying. But Martin is right I think. One can get back in just to read or write in forums. And what about "NO vacation" tournaments? In my case, while being a day off on christmas got back in to make 2 moves of no vacation games of a total of 30.

But maybe a parallel forbiddance of live - matches ONLY isn't a bad idea. Then I think there's no excuse to make other people wait....

Well, yes, of course it's not just for 'actual vacations'....'time off' might be a better term.

But if you commit to a tournament (in particular as it can affect the length of time until another round starts...but matches as well) and can still get on for say an hour or two and play speed chess...do some tactics, read the forums. Really, you are just avoiding making a move. To me, that is abuse.

Many people do not play Daily chess like normal chess. They consult books, they consult articles, they set up the position on the board to go over variations and try things out. Those things take time and sometimes they may not have sufficient time to devote to a Daily game but may have a little time to spare on the site.

The thing is, the site allows the vacation setting, they automatically set it when low on time for premium members, they allow them to log on and do other things without removing the setting, and they have a well defined definition on what constitutes vacation abuse to them. Anyone is free to disagree with their definition, of course, but one person's abuse is not another's

The OP seems to be talking about anyone that goes on vacation and still uses the site, regardless of the state of the game itself.

Prolonging a completely lost game with vacation; that's bad. Using vacation when you don't have time to commit to Daily games but may have free time here and there for other things; that is not abuse, even if some people think it is and isn't unsportsmanlike conduct. If you don't like vacation being possible, then you have the option of no-vacation tourneys. Maybe they'll eventually add no-vacation seeks as well.

I would rather players in Daily games play good moves, rather than rattle off a move under time pressure, so I don't mind vacation that much. Sure, there are some that use it to prolong games but even then, other than tourneys, it isn't that big of a deal. The game will still be there later and it doesn't prevent one from playing other games or doing other things.

I don't know why no-vacation isn't an option on Daily seeks.

The main thing is, one 3-day game may not be a big deal but with things like tourneys, which can last years, the ability to step away from Daily games for a while is sometimes needed, and sometimes fits an unexpected schedule better. Of course, not all people handle Daily games in the same way; some just play the same the would OTB and only give 10-15 minutes of consideration to any move and don't look at a position multiple times over the time control and spend significant time using the allowed resources. Some do the latter and when they don't have access to the time, or maybe resources, for a short time, will allow the games to go to vacation so they can move when they have more time to give it attention.

A lot comes down to people having differing ideas on exactly what Daily is to them. There certainly are incompatibilities between styles that can't be met with the current settings. One site I used to play on had base time per move plus a bank of time that could be used. I liked that method too but as I've said, I really don't mind the way vacation here works either and have used it a number of times.

Really, I'm talking about both when you get down to it. 

What some consider 'abuse', some might not.

It happens all the time in day (turn based) tournaments that people use their premium membership as an excuse to be lazy or not play within the 'spirit' of a turn based tourney (that is to say make a move within 1, 2 or 3 days or whatever). That's just...wrong. It is 'abuse'. If they want to make a move every 5 days, they should sign up for 5 day tourneys....
 

And of course, doing this when one finds oneself in a bad or difficult position is bad as well.

Premium members will get placed on vacation automatically when low on time, regardless if they were planning on making a move before the timer expired. They could have over an hour on the clock still; I've had mine stop at 3 before in the past.

It is a feature of the site, created by them, so it isn't something that is out of the spirit of a Daily games on Chess.com and consequently, not abuse. There are times when it can be abuse but in and of itself, isn't (by the rules and conditions of the site)

I don't even use the vacation mode if I'm gone I commit myself to chess and play no matter what.

Again, this topic wasn't just about a losing position. And there is a difference between a losing endgame and a completely lost one. In a losing endgame, depending on the material, some endgame books may give ideas on how to defend a similar position. That would be a possibility in such a situation

Think something like the Lucena position; the stronger side may not know how to win and the losing side can go and look up how to play that type pf position and try to prevent the win. If the winning side doesn't know how to play it, doesn't figure it out and doesn't look up how to play it, then that could be useful.

That said, I think dragging out games in a completely lost positions is pretty pointless and I think using vacation to prolong such a position is wrong. It is also true that what one person sees as losing isn't necessarily obvious to another. There are methods in place to handle people that do it in completely lost positions though.

Sure, it is a 'feature'... but that does not mean it is fair. It's like going to a local chess club and saying I am a 'premium member'...and you are not 'premium' or a guest...so our rules are that  I get 5 minutes with a 3 second delay and you get 5 seconds with no delay.

Both are unfair...even if you call it a 'feature' of being a certain class of member.

It's just the sites way of trying to get people to pay...can't blame them for that, but one could reasonably argue that they should keep paying members and non-paying members in separate pools.

BTW, I say this all as a Premium member.

Vacation doesn't last forever. Eventually it will run out and the player will move or lose on time.