PokerStars have gone old school by seeking player involvement in their development meeting aimed at solving the problem that ‘seating scripts’ present in games running on their site.
How did PokerStars become so big?
A question with a wide range of different answers all combining into the perfect package. One of which would have been great customer service. They understood what their customer valued, and they provided it. They didn’t lick their finger, and stick it in the air. They welcomed customer input. They allowed the voice to emerge from the throat, they listened, and they acted.
Then Amaya Gaming Group acquired them for $4.9 billion.
Then everything changed.
Fortunately, some of the good stuff is still reverberating under the PokerStars hood. It’s a glimmer of hope for those who have fallen in love with the stars. Those who now feel cheated, deceived, and trampled over.
Seating scripts have been a royal pain in the ass for quite some time. Quite why PokerStars never acted sooner is a mystery; as is the reasoning behind why they have never banned them? But they are acting now, so let’s take a leaf out of Eckhart Tolle’s book and focus on the present. The past doesn’t exist.
If you are not aware of the trouble that ‘seating scripts’ cause then let me give you the nutshell version. Essentially, some clever software geeks have created systems that allow players to reserve a seat in a game, whilst the software determines whether there is a player bad enough to make you want to sit down. This can lead to games being stopped whilst empty seats are continually reserved, without anyone actually buying in.
After seeking opinion on 2+2, PokerStars finally took action on the ‘seating script’ issue. A change was made whereby a limitation was placed on the number of times a player could reserve a seat at a given table without playing.
Here is the full explanation from 2+2 poster PokerStars Chris.
The measure outlined in OP has been designed, with some slight modifications, and has passed testing. As always, unexpected technical difficulties are possible. But the plan is to deploy on Monday.
Based on input received here and elsewhere, we have set the number of ‘failed reservations’ at any given table at two every six hours. To avoid being considered a ‘failed reservation’, you must post at least one blind at the table.
The following exceptions apply:
– Reservations made by Easy Seat or Find Seat (Seat Manager) will not count towards the ‘failed reservation’ total
– Reservations that result from reaching the top of a waiting list will not count towards the ‘failed reservation’ total
– If no other player is in sit-in state at the table (all players are sitting out or there are no other players at the table) when you leave the table, it will not count towards the ‘failed reservation’ total
As we are implementing this change between software updates it will only be live on newly spawned tables. Old tables, until they die out, will not have this restriction. It is possible some tables may be unaffected until the next server restart.
Now that’s great news for the people who despise ‘seating scripts’, but there is even better news that affects the whole PokerStars community.
PokerStars are not sitting back in hope that the new procedures create the desired effect. They are going old school. They have reached out to the player community to invite two players to ‘seating script’ meetings at their Toronto offices on 16 & 19 Jan 2015, whilst also committing to engage in discussions over the next two months.
E-mail [email protected] if you wish to join the revolution.
Bravo PokerStars.
Bravo.
