888Poker officials have announced plans to introduce a new ‘tournament pause’ option to help deal with the crisis that connectivity issues produce.
888Poker and partypoker could merge. PokerStars could finally get some serious competition.
Exciting times right?
It’s not going to be very exciting if the soon to be conjoined twins can’t produce a solid product for their customers. Fortunately, both companies are taking steps to try and reduce the issues that seem to be driving customers headlong into the arms of the Daddy of them all.
Partypoker started work on cutting withdrawal fees and slapped a new coat of paint on their loyalty store after feedback from players suggested this is where most of their beef lay.
So what about 888Poker?
It seems 888Poker have an Ex Machina problem. If you have not seen the movie then let me elaborate. There is this mad scientist who has created an artificially intelligent life form called Ava. The AI is kept locked away in a subterranean building. Every now and then there are power cuts that affect the building. The mad scientist doesn’t know what is causing the problem. It’s obvious to everyone that it’s Ava.
888Poker is having these same power cuts. They are driving players crazy. The only feedback via the forums is that 888Poker are aware of the severity of the issues and doing everything in their power to solve it. I guess the main question is: who is the Ava of 888Poker?
A Denial of Service Attack (DDoS) is an attack on a server or network resource carried out by sad little people who have nothing better to do with their lives. During a recent gaming documentary I watched a shadow from the DDoS underworld saying the only reason he did what he did was because he could.
Are 888Poker being subjected to these types of attacks?
It seems pretty obvious to all and sundry that they are, but there has been no official word on the matter.
So what are 888Poker doing about it?
They have introduced a new fail safe that’s being called ‘Tournament Pause’. It works a little like your Sky+ box. One minute you are watching the football, the next you need to take a leak, so you pause the action and get back to it when the snake has been drained.
888Poker hope to do the same in the midst of severe connectivity issues. They will pause the tournament to give them sufficient time to investigate the problem. If they can find a resolution then the tournament can be restarted, and if not, the tournament can be cancelled and the refund policy put into effect.
The 888Poker representative on the 2+2 forum has indicated that “resolving the connectivity issue” is their top priority.
What do you think about the new tournament pause function?
What else do you believe 888Poker could be doing to improve this situation?
