[ArcLight]

I just read that the MSN Gamin Zone Bridge site is closing.
Im surprised.
Does anyone know why?

[glen]

Google doesn't have a bridge site, so it can't be right to have one.

Bridge Demographics -> poor short term and long term Ad revenue -> money loser

Bottom line: we are very lucky to have Fred, Uday, and Sheri.

[Double !]

officeglen, on May 11 2006, 09:16 PM, said:

Bottom line: we are very lucky to have Fred, Uday, and Sheri.

That's a BIG 10 - 4 !

A definite, emphatic affirmative.

If one stops to think about it, BBO is an incredible achievement. Never take it for granted. And never forget the yellows who help the place run. Nothing compares.

DHL

[Double !]

lol
a humorous (not to me) side light.

I never was able to play on msn/ the zone bridge site. The msn software kept denying me access, claiming that I was under-age. (Actually am in mid-50s)

DHL

[ArcLight]

>Bridge Demographics -> poor short term and long term Ad revenue -> money loser

But it already exists, just dont add more, but why kill it.
What does it cost to keep running?

[civill]

Forget it because of off-topic.

This post has been edited by civill: 2006-May-16, 01:42

[ArcLight]

>And I think the advantages of BBO are guidances in the bridge game

I am not saying the Zone Bridge is as good as BBO.

I'm just wondering why its closing.

I wonder if Yahoo follows suit?

The Zone shutting down can be good for BBO.

[inquiry]

ArcLight, on May 12 2006, 07:16 AM, said:

I am not saying the Zone Bridge is as good as BBO.
SNIP
The Zone shutting down can be good for BBO.

I was a zone bridge player for a long time (I use to play long before MSN bought it... had to enter the "castle" and then find the "bridge rooms"), I thought I loved the zone, until I discovered BBO. Haven't been back since.

The zone closing will be "good" for BBO in that more people will want to log onto BBO. It will be bad for BBO because, more people will want to log onto BBO. Two sides of the same coin, I fear. Hopefully, Fred and Uday will have ramped up the site to handle the increase in online players. Many people feel that zone players are not as competitive as BBO and OKbridge and Swan players. As a generalization, this maybe true, but there are some very good bridge players on the zone (or at least were, remember, I use to play there!!!).

[hotShot]

They say that the ZONE's software will not run any more on newer systems (hardware or softwware).
I guess that means the server side software.
They seam to are willing to rewirite some of the software, but not bridge.

This post has been edited by hotShot: 2006-May-12, 09:37

[fred]

We are making an effort to try to let the Zone bridge players know about BBO in the hope that many of them will come to our site when the Zone bridge game shuts down (on June 19).

So far most of our efforts have involved posting on Zone-related message boards and trying to enlist the support of some of the Zone bridge community leaders. Gweny has created some nice new web pages that are designed to ease the transition from Zone to BBO and we have created a new public club where Zoners can congregrate.

We have made some good progress, but I am sure there are still plenty of Zone bridge players out there who have no idea that BBO even exists. If anyone reading this is in touch with members of the Zone bridge community, we would appreciate it if you could help spread the word about BBO.

Zoners who become members of BBO often find our site to be intimidating and confusing at first. Yes, we could make the software better in this regard, but this is not the time for that discussion. For now I hope that long time BBO members will go out of their way to help the Zoners and to make them feel welcome on our site.

I am going to be away from my office for a week starting tomorrow and I may be unable to respond to e-mail during this time. If you have any sugggestions as to how we might improve our efforts to recruit the Zone bridge players to BBO, it may be best if you e-mail gweny@bridgebase.com.

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com

[jchiu]

Double !, on May 12 2006, 02:31 AM, said:

lol
a humorous (not to me) side light.

I never was able to play on msn/ the zone bridge site. The msn software kept denying me access, claiming that I was under-age. (Actually am in mid-50s)

DHL

Unfortunately, compared to the general bridge-playing population, you are underage Don. On the other hand, in this comparison, I haven't been born yet; and won't be conceived for a very long time.

[Gerben42]

Quote

I'm just wondering why its closing.

It's closing everything, not just Bridge. The reason? Well probably it does no longer pay off - maybe everyone is playing games on their mobile phone?

[ArcLight]

>It's closing everything, not just Bridge. The reason? Well probably it does no longer pay off - maybe everyone is playing games on their mobile phone?


Wow, even the Spades site? Thats how I got into Bridge, by playing Spades with some good Bridge players. I guess there is still Yahoo Games.