We have the pleasure of inviting you to play the new versions of our Pool and Snooker Games. We have been working hard to improve these games based on player feedback. We have brought in hundreds of changes and improvements. Ultimately, we believe that these changes will make the playing experience more enjoyable for you.
In this article you will find a list of our most important changes. In addition, you will find a few useful comments about changes to the way games start and ranking updates.
1. Game chips
We have now created the ability to wager virtual money on the outcome of our Pool and Snooker games. You can now compete for Game Chips! Stakes can range from 1,000 to 1 Million Game Chips. Wagering virtual money is an alternate, open form of ranking. It adds the excitement for setting the wager then competing to win the prize… Quite simply, the better you play, the richer you will get! We invite all players who would like this additional level of challenge and risk to give this new feature a try.
2. Photos in game
Our site is all about the players who come to enjoy our games. We want our players to become friends. That’s why you can now see pictures of your opponents. You can now place your photo on display within these new games! This adds a more personal feel to the games, as you see a graphic representation of your opponents. We also have added the ability to set a mood, you can set your or view the mood of your opponent by simply checking their status. Our new games enhance the connection between our players.
3. New Tables Graphics and Action
We have created new tables, new physics, and improved logic. While all the functional features are available to every player on our site, the Graphics customizations are offered exclusively to our VIP members. As a VIP member you will be able to select your favorite table, cloth, balls and cue stick. VIP members have a choice of 4 different tables, 10 variations of cloth, and many kinds of wooden frame for the tables. VIP members can also customize the graphics of the balls and cues. If the appearance of your tables and gaming environment is of value to you, be sure to signup for a VIP account today! Then you can have your own custom version of our great new Pool and Snooker games!
4. New Window Formats
In our classic games we offer just 2 sizes for your tables. With our new games you have the ability to set the windows size to anything you like! You can now modify the size of the window to any size that will fit on your screen. You can also change the size of chat and fonts, to make them larger or smaller… No more squinting to see chat after hours of play… Now you can play longer without any eyestrain! You can customize the look of the game window based on your needs. Check out our new games to see how much easier on your eyes they are, and how many settings we offer to improve your visual enjoyment!
5. Automatic tournaments
We invite to compare your skills with other players in competition for prizes, like VIP status or game chips. We're organising big tournaments for many players and small sit&go tourneys, using tournaments systems like swiss, knock-out and round-robin.
6. Skype
You don’t want to write in lobby or game chat? Perhaps you want to speak to your opponent in complete privacy? It’s now easy! Set Skype to enable our game service and start a conversation with your opponent whenever you wish. To start a call, just click our Skype icon next to the player you want to speak with. The call will start automatically.
7. Rankings
Have you ever sat in the lobby trying to decide which table to join? Worried about what effect the game would have on your ratings? What will I gain if I win? What will happen to my rating if I lose? Well in our new games you don’t have to wonder any more! You can click the “Possible Outcomes” option and it will tell you those answers before you join or start a game. You will know the exact result of different outcomes before the game even starts! No more wondering if a game is worth playing, you can check and see ahead of playing!
8. Finding an Opponent
Ever wanted to play and had trouble finding an opponent? You advertise in chat, and still no one comes. Try our new QuickStart feature. All you have to do is click QuickStart at your table and the server will do all the work. No more need to ask in the lobby for an opponent just click QuickStart our server will automatically find an opponent who also wishes to play.
9. Friends
You have friends defined on our Website? You can now identify your friends within the games! See which of your friends are in the lobby or table, and be notified when friends enter or leave. If you don’t want to be invited to play by those you don’t know, you can limit invitations to your friends only. Make your own circle of friends at our site!
10. Chat
Do you want to be able to chat with many friends at one time? And keep better tack of your train of thought? We have new chat tabs! They make chatting with several people easier and faster. You can now keep multiple conversations going, always knowing when people are talking to you. You don’t want System announcement mixed with player messages? You can now have system messages in their own tab!
11. Emoticons
Everyone loves Emoticons. They are great fun and offer the ability to communicate our moods and messages in a universal language. We have added many new Emoticons with our new game versions. And now you can also change their size by hovering over them with your mouse, they pop up nice and BIG! Come see all the new emoticon choices and hover to see them in all their glory!
SIMPLY PUT: THE NEW GAMES AIM TO PROVIDE PLENTY OF GREAT FUN! SO ENJOY!
We have adopted an ELO-rating with a range of 0 to 10,000. In our old games we had problems when players reached the value of 10,000; they had reached the highest level, no reason to continue to play. In the new games ratings will have decimal values included (e.g. you can have a rating of 9312.94.) With this approach you might not always get 1 or more points for winning a game. Now, when playing with a weaker player, you may get less than one point for a win, e.g. 0.12 points. We also changed the penalties for giving up. If a player gives up he loses 3x what he would lose by being defeated in the game. The player who remains on the table gets 1/3 of what he would get for winning the game. Finally, we have tweaked the mechanism for the detection of cheating. In the new game versions dishonest players will find it much harder to manipulate their ranking. In summary, a rating of 9000 or higher will now be the mark of a truly skilled player.
Rating Groups
We have introduced rating groups. This relates to the different size of tables. Ratings in different rating groups are counted separately. Having a high rating on small (easy) table doesn’t mean having any rating on big (and difficult) table. Owners of league rooms will have the ability to define the rating groups for their own rooms. In this way, the ratings in private rooms can be independent from the players’ ratings in Public rooms.
Chat
To handle some common abuses of chat we have instituted the following new protection options:
New player chat blockade: e.g. Account needs 10 completed games to enable chat,
New account chat blockade: e.g. New accounts must wait 72 hours to chat,
Guest account chat blockade: Guests cannot chat at all.
We will enable and disable these options in given lobbies and games based on current conditions observed in chat logs.
We have created new protections against phantom unused tables. We have seen that some players create many empty tables that are never used. As lobbies have limits on total number of tables, this can prevent players from making tables to play. Now unused tables will be automatically closed.
The new games are equipped with auto-administration and censorship systems. In the case of vulgar words and spam, chat is blocked much more efficiently than before. If you believe your chat has been unfairly blocked please use Contact Us and let us know, so that we can update our auto-administration system. Our goal is to block offensive and disruptive chat, while allowing players who are well behaved to fully enjoy connecting with their friends.
Leagues
League or room owners will have the ability to set the configuration of their rooms, including features like rating options, room full levels, type of room, room messages and so on. League owners can also more effectively control which players can enter their rooms.
Administration
Room administration has changed completely. Admins will still remain in the service, but the main engine to handle problems will be use of the new Report Abuse feature. By clicking the icon in the application you can send the information about any cases of abuse to our support team.
Logic and physics of game
We have instituted many changes in the logic of the games. This affects Snooker in particular. We have changed our methodology of determining when a player or cue ball is snookered, we’ve improved such things as touching ball, Foul&Miss and many more. The physics of the game has been improved considerably. Spinning the ball is easier, dynamics of the table are better, and the tablecloth is faster.
In our classic games we offer just 2 sizes for your tables. With our new games you have the ability to set the windows size to anything you like! You can now modify the size of the window to any size that will fit on your screen. You can also change the size of chat and fonts, to make them larger or smaller… No more squinting to see chat after hours of play… Now you can play longer without any eyestrain! You can customize the look of the game window based on your needs. Check out our new games to see how much easier on your eyes they are, and how many settings we offer to improve your visual enjoyment!
We invite to compare your skills with other players in competition for prizes, like VIP status or game chips. We're organising big tournaments for many players and small sit&go tourneys, using tournaments systems like swiss, knock-out and round-robin.
You don’t want to write in lobby or game chat? Perhaps you want to speak to your opponent in complete privacy? It’s now easy! Set Skype to enable our game service and start a conversation with your opponent whenever you wish. To start a call, just click our Skype icon next to the player you want to speak with. The call will start automatically.
Have you ever sat in the lobby trying to decide which table to join? Worried about what effect the game would have on your ratings? What will I gain if I win? What will happen to my rating if I lose? Well in our new games you don’t have to wonder any more! You can click the “Possible Outcomes” option and it will tell you those answers before you join or start a game. You will know the exact result of different outcomes before the game even starts! No more wondering if a game is worth playing, you can check and see ahead of playing!
You have friends defined on our Website? You can now identify your friends within the games! See which of your friends are in the lobby or table, and be notified when friends enter or leave. If you don’t want to be invited to play by those you don’t know, you can limit invitations to your friends only. Make your own circle of friends at our site!
Everyone loves Emoticons. They are great fun and offer the ability to communicate our moods and messages in a universal language. We have added many new Emoticons with our new game versions. And now you can also change their size by hovering over them with your mouse, they pop up nice and BIG! Come see all the new emoticon choices and hover to see them in all their glory!