- Report: #1016021
Complaint Review: SparkChess - Oslow Internet
Reported By:
Robert -
Bakersfiled, , United States of America
Submitted:
Updated:
-
Author Confirmed
Why?
SparkChess
Oslow, Internet, Norway
Phone:
Web:
www.sparkchess.com
Categories:
Business Rating:
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SparkChess Very Strange They Are Oslow, Norway Internet
Lately I have noticed rip off reports about Spark Chess. I wanted to add my piece to this.
As noted in the other reports there is something wrong with their scoring systems and how they give points to players. It seems true that people cheat allot and Spark Chess does little to stop it. The serious chess people I know are very displeased with Spark Chess and I assume they will stop using it.
One person told me that they figured out that those who bought the software where dinged for less point when they lost or resigned than those people who did not own the software. Several of us have shared notes on this and it is true.
The foregoing is true by statistical analyses. I noticed that one person was always receiving nine points when someone resigned to him/her. The magic number for me was the five points I received when someone with a massive amount of points resigned to me. When I resign Spark chess takes at least one hundred points from me.
As noted in other reports, their support is not good, even for those who own the software. These issues are very odd for a company that can design artificial intelligence or design chess engines they use for players to compete against their computer players. One hopes that they will correct the problems.
As noted in the other reports there is something wrong with their scoring systems and how they give points to players. It seems true that people cheat allot and Spark Chess does little to stop it. The serious chess people I know are very displeased with Spark Chess and I assume they will stop using it.
One person told me that they figured out that those who bought the software where dinged for less point when they lost or resigned than those people who did not own the software. Several of us have shared notes on this and it is true.
The foregoing is true by statistical analyses. I noticed that one person was always receiving nine points when someone resigned to him/her. The magic number for me was the five points I received when someone with a massive amount of points resigned to me. When I resign Spark chess takes at least one hundred points from me.
As noted in other reports, their support is not good, even for those who own the software. These issues are very odd for a company that can design artificial intelligence or design chess engines they use for players to compete against their computer players. One hopes that they will correct the problems.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
TWO YEARS FOR A RESPONSE/Kudos to Sparkchess
#2Author of original report
Fri, September 25, 2015
It is nice that SparkChess has addressed the issues of cheating. What is not true about their response is that they DO CHARGE FOR PREMIUM ACCOUNTS.
Emails and other communications were forwarded to SparkChess over TWO YEARS AGO indicating that there were massive problems with their programs and point management. They were not responsive which is why this ripoff report was filed.
Yes there are cheaters all over the internet. Spark chess was inundated with them. It is true that they re-formatted their platform. Good for them.
On a side note, people state that ripoff reports is not useful. It seems like ROR brought light to bear on a situation and a corporation dealt with their situation in a responsible and professional manner.
I did note that there seems to be screening for pornographic name title on Spark chess. I could not find one in a recent review of their site. This is a valid concern as one need be only 13 years old to open an account.
KUDOS to SPARKCHESS. They have the best chess GUI on the internet.
Armand Niculescu
Sibiu,Other,
Romania
We're actively punishing cheaters
#3UPDATE Employee
Tue, September 22, 2015
Frustrating as it may be, cheating in online games is a fact of life and cheaters are infinitely creative, even when no financial gain is at stake. All online games have this problem, even companies like Microsoft and EA are struggling with it and are banning hundreds of thousands of cheaters.
For SparkChess Multiplayer we tried to keep it simple. It is true that some people have abused it but our support team is always taking complaints very seriously. Abusers have been banned and had points subtracted.
Since 2015 we have overhauled the scoring system with a new, Elo-based one, making cheating much more difficult. It is still an ongoing battle.
I should stress, for those who may not know, that there's no "ripoff" involved. The multiplayer service is free and no money is won/lost by playing SparkChess.
