ICC features that I miss

I get the logic that the arena tournaments sort of fulfill the needs of people who enjoy random pairings (they are clearly not the same in a lot of important ways though), and I also get that it might fracture the player-base a bit. But with the number of users on LiChess growing by leaps and bounds, I don't think tournaments will suffer that much, and in many ways I consider the auto-pairing pools quite a bit more logical than the seek graphs.

I'd love to see ICC style pools as well, yes.

When I say they failed, I mean lichess saw fit to remove them... I think they introduced too many time categories, and most of them were pretty empty most of the time.

I don't doubt they could be brought back, and a good number of people would use them. But what is it that people miss about them? What's the attraction? Someone please explain to me. Is it:

1. "Easier" to get a game (just hit a button)
2. Ratings more accurate as a result of not being able to choose an opponent
3. The fact it's like an ongoing tournament, and you can climb to the top

or something else?

For me, it's about finding the best opponent for me to play in the easiest, fastest, and fairest way possible. You click one button (on ICC you just type the time control), and you're paired with the optimal opponent based on all the usual factors pretty much instantly. There's no perusing seek graphs (though I agree that is fine and has it's place as well), and no cherry-picking colors, opponents, ratings, and so on.

Just a very elegant way to handle things, which is why I'm surprised LiChess hasn't made it work yet. Couldn't you imagine 4 buttons below the seek list that just say 1, 3, 5, and 15 (or whatever people vote them to be) on them?

Yes, all of that. No choosing opponents, no avoiding opponents, no wondering if somebody cheesed their way to their rating by praying on lower rated people, etc. Just an easy way to get games with a consistent time control and the most accurate rating you can get online.

It just feels like the only way to get serious competition online. The rest of it is mired down in all sorts of ifs and buts.

How is a pool different than a tournament?

For the record #1, lichess has the notes features. Click on 'Notes' near the top of someone's profile. However, only friends (i.e. people who mutually follow each other) can see the notes they've left on players. We reckon public notes could make for a somewhat unpleasant experience due to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_disinhibition_effect.

#16 there's no end date and tournament takes standings into account but otherwise, they're functionally equivalent. When we had pools the matching algorithm was nearly identical. If people want pools, we usually suggest to them to play in the big scheduled tournaments.

That's okay, except that it's sort of bizarre to ask people to register then drop from tournaments if they only want to play a few games, additionally, you have to wait if you want to play a time control that's not being featured in a tournament. And if you want a mix, it's sort of just a mess, though I'll admit that that's kind of a corner case.

#16: In pretty much every single way. You just play one game at a time in a pool and get a rating.

Honestly - Once you guys stepped it up in the last 12 months and started adding feature after feature, ICC started to move forward again, too. All I'm saying is that I've criticized it's recent quality in the past, too but it's been improving over there again lately.

I mean, if I had to play a tournament or series of matches that mattered...or even one big game...I'd want to do it on Blitzin 3.11 @ ICC. It's just the most stable and has the most customization and possible ways to tailor your gameplay experience. On top of this, ICC is really the only online server that handles lag responsibly and effectively. Speedtrap + all the moderation that goes on, etc. It's just the best overall site.

For Lichess to be a free site and even in the same discussion like this is a huge accomplishment, though, and not one to be overlooked. Lichess is a phenomenal site.