Author: Lawrence S. Tamarkin
Date: 20:45:51 05/12/99
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Yeah, you really hit the nail on the head here! Why buy any engine, if we suspect that in a little while the producer's of it are going to lower the price & put it in a better package, with other free engines, opening books, etc. thrown in. Conversly, why upgrade to a program like Millenium Chess Genius 6, when you have already bought, version 1, 2, 4, & 5, then find out that the new wonderful version 6 has the same engine as version 5, and according to many posters' here, the opening book is suspect. Yes, we chess software addicts! have to curb our spending. But is it not true that the companies making this stuff, are counting to some extent on our good will & insessant addiction to buy the next one they come out with? So don't they have an obligation to us to be a little more forthcomming with what is in the next program, and give us as good an upgrade price as possible? If they don't, I can think of a saying by Abraham Lincoln, about fooling people that could easily apply to these guys too... BTW, I have seen the Chess Base company take a lot of harping over the dongle issue, and over the upgrades between version issue (Heck, I type up some of this myself!) But here I want to take the opportunity to really commend them for the way they have been handling these issues over the last year or so - examples; 1. Chess Base 7 has an 'on-line upgrade' button in the Internet version, as well as a 'get new games' button. This really makes using this program a great pleasure. 2. Fritz5.32 (and most of the other Fritz engines), come with a decent database, previous engines, Aditional engines, and different tuned opening books, all on the one CD. So you really are getting a lot for your money buying from them. In addition, it even has winboard support, although I have not tried this, as it is overkill for my needs. I can't compliment MCS6 in this way, as it only comes with the one (Chess Genious6), engine, and it looks like that company is looking to charge buyer's of this program (including me), an additional upgrade price, if Richard Lang ever actually does come out with a new engine. And though I am overjoyed about the interface enhancements, I don't use it very much, because it still seems a little clunky in the database area. (well to me, anyway). Also, I wan't to commend Ed Shroeder and his Rebel team; After issueing his product at a higher, but still reasonable price, He took a very courageous decission. Market conditions, and a lot of his customer's annoyed feelings, forced him to lower the price substanially, and make a good deal a great deal. It would have been relatively easy for him (and/or company), to hide out untill all of that blew over, and count on continued sales, partly because of the endless controversy other companies create when they come out with their own. But instead, Ed listened to us here, and continues to to do great things to improve Rebel and reward its loyal customer base. I appreciate it, and I think Ed has made a great decission that will benifit his company in profits for many years to come. Perhaps most of the companies that make these chess software programs will make money, but I suspect that companies that fuction like Ed's (and Chess Base), will make more money over a longer period of time, and deservidly so! OK, done with rant, I'm off to spend less, play more, and use the chess software I already own:) mrslug - the inkompetent chess software addict! On May 12, 1999 at 21:02:22, Marc Plum wrote: >I know the urge to buy software. I have seven different commercial playing >programs plus ChessBase 6.01 (I've been able to resist the temptation to update >to version 7). I can't say that I need all of these, all of the playing >programs have their individual strengths and weaknesses, but any one would >probably meet my needs. I can't really complain about the price on any one >(except that a couple came down *after* I bought them), so why should I complain >that it is expensive to buy all of them? > >When you talk about "engines" being expensive, doesn't it depend on exactly what >is coming with the package? For example, around a year ago I paid around $50 >for the Hiarcs6 engine for Fritz 5.00. This was a single floppy with the >Hiarcs6 eng, Hiarcs6.dll, and a small readme.txt file. No manual, no opening >books, no interface of its own, no extras. I now think that I paid more than >this was worth, but I should have known better. > >Just recently, I bought the Nimzo99 CD for a little under $50. Although this is >an engine that could be used with Fritz 5.32, it is also a complete program, >with its own interface, large opening books, other engines, and database >capabilities. With the other programs I have, I didn't really need this, but >for what I got, can you really say this is an unreasonable price? > >Perhaps we both need to cut back on spending and just play. :-) > >Marc
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