wrote:
David Richerby wrote:
I won't remind you that ICC used to be free until they decided to
gouge all their members by charging for the service. Aw, crap. I
just did.

Do the math:

Ask a friend to play each night, every night, for a year. After 2
weeks you've ponied up EACH $50 in beer and chips money...

Yeah, you're right. FICS doesn't provide beer and chips. Oh, wait.
Nor does ICC. Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt.


Try to get a GM to come to your house and play. Good luck.

If I want a GM-strength opponent, I have the computer. It just so
happens that I paid for a copy of Fritz, which cost less than a year's
subscription to ICC and lasts forever. Alternatively, I could use one
of the many free GM-strength programs out there, which cost as much as
a year's subscription to FICS and also last forever.
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt.


Try and get 16 players together at your house for a blitz tourney
every night. You probably don't have 15 friends...

Haha. I'm not interested in blitz tournaments but, if I were, there
are plenty on FICS. Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt.


Then, do the ratings calculations yourself.

FICS does ratings calculations. Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt.


But hey, enjoy FICS. You and your couple-hundred friends...

A moment ago, you said I didn't even have fifteen friends. Make your
mind up. Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt.

Thank you for playing I'm A Bigoted ******. You scored five points.


Dave.

--
David Richerby Gigantic Lead Chainsaw (TM): it's like
www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~davidr/ a lethal weapon that weighs a ton but
it's huge!