ChipGuide Member Value Enhancement Announcement (11 Viewers)

CCA_SM_Director

CCA_SM_Director

Two Pair
Joined
Jul 7, 2023
Messages
390
Reaction score
814
Location
Las Vegas
[Sorry for the delay in posting this here. Had some access issues to resolve.]

To enhance value for our members, the CCA Board of Directors has decided to make the advanced features of the ChipGuide a member-only benefit.

Effective August 1, 2025, ChipGuide users will need to be logged on to access the advanced features.

ChipGuide accounts are available to all current CCA members at no charge, including regular, associate and lifetime members.

For a detailed explanation: https://www.ccgtcc.com/documents/1386/news/ChipGuide-Member-Value-Enhancement
 
homer-backsaway-popcorn.gif
 
Cratty said:
"Enhance the value for our members"

Just so I'm clear.. this is adding new and enhanced value to the chip guide for members, or just restricting existing value to non members to force more membership?
Click to expand...
If this were a large tech company one would assume the reference to value was a Freudian slip that while membership is currently free, it won’t always be. Hook em in now with free accounts then create account privilege tiers
 
FestiveKnight said:
If this were a large tech company one would assume the reference to value was a Freudian slip that while membership is currently free, it won’t always be. Hook em in now with free accounts then create account privilege tiers
Click to expand...
Might be a bit of an ask for a website that offers all of the modernity of the internet circa 1998….
 
cpac54 said:
Might be a bit of an ask for a website that offers all of the modernity of the internet circa 1998….
Click to expand...
Have to remember where ChipGuide got its start. It was one individual, Greg Susong, who was one of the pioneers in the singles part of the gaming collectibles hobby that started it. He passed away way too early and his family gave the website and database to the club. It's been kept up and improved upon by a group of volunteers and I'd say there is nothing else as extensive out there.

So the club is only blocking access to advanced features, non-members can still go to the website and look up chips. So my question would be, why should a non-member have access to something that come as a perk for being a CCA or MOGH club member? It's like 30 bucks a year!
 
billnict said:
Have to remember where ChipGuide got its start. It was one individual, Greg Susong, who was one of the pioneers in the singles part of the gaming collectibles hobby that started it. He passed away way too early and his family gave the website and database to the club. It's been kept up and improved upon by a group of volunteers and I'd say there is nothing else as extensive out there.

So the club is only blocking access to advanced features, non-members can still go to the website and look up chips. So my question would be, why should a non-member have access to something that come as a perk for being a CCA or MOGH club member? It's like 30 bucks a year!
Click to expand...
I would counter that this is the exact mindset that has that club dying on the vine. This website has tens of thousands of chip photographs and identifying information (most of which are much, much better than the Chipguide "scans") and it does not see the need to pay wall them or any search functions and it has a booming membership. Free to join, only become a supporting member if you want to and to get rid of banner ads, and it is the premier chipping site in the world.

If you all upgraded your website to anything even reasonably resembling a modern site, I think you would be surprised how many new members you might end up getting. Just signing up for a username and password is difficult and confusing AF. Becoming even more insular and closed off is the wrong approach, but CCA is going to do what CCA does. There is so much potential that could be realized but very few over there seem to care about updating, upgrading or trying something new. You had a visionary who left you a gift and now it is being squandered. Just my two cents.
 
Tonysquander said:
If you all upgraded your website to anything even reasonably resembling a modern site, I think you would be surprised how many new members you might end up getting. Just signing up for a username and password is difficult and confusing AF. Becoming even more insular and closed off is the wrong approach, but CCA is going to do what CCA does. There is so much potential that could be realized but very few over there seem to care about updating, upgrading or trying something new. You had a visionary who left you a gift and now it is being squandered. Just my two cents.
Click to expand...
Right? It's not my intention to be mean here, but looking at that website my instant reaction is "are you trying to tell me those advanced features actually work?"
 
billnict said:
I think you are expecting a flashy, commercial type website and the ChipGuide website was probably first created back when coding in HTML was the thing. and again, it is a volunteer project. It may not be flashy but it is an excellent resource...
Click to expand...

Actually I don’t have to look any further than the very site I’m posting this to, to find a nice example of a well run, visually appealing little place on the interwebs, existing despite operating under precisely those conditions.
 
Tonysquander said:
I would counter that this is the exact mindset that has that club dying on the vine. This website has tens of thousands of chip photographs and identifying information (most of which are much, much better than the Chipguide "scans") and it does not see the need to pay wall them or any search functions and it has a booming membership. Free to join, only become a supporting member if you want to and to get rid of banner ads, and it is the premier chipping site in the world.

If you all upgraded your website to anything even reasonably resembling a modern site, I think you would be surprised how many new members you might end up getting. Just signing up for a username and password is difficult and confusing AF. Becoming even more insular and closed off is the wrong approach, but CCA is going to do what CCA does. There is so much potential that could be realized but very few over there seem to care about updating, upgrading or trying something new. You had a visionary who left you a gift and now it is being squandered. Just my two cents.
Click to expand...

I assume when you say "this website" I assume you are referring to PCF? You are absolutely right, PCF is also an excellent resource with a lot of great people and that's why I chosen to be a supporter of it but why can't we support like the club.
 
billnict said:
I think you are expecting a flashy, commercial type website and the ChipGuide website was probably first created back when coding in HTML was the thing. and again, it is a volunteer project. It may not be flashy but it is an excellent resource...
Click to expand...
And would likely take 1 amatuer head a week to update to a more modern system. It's been 15 years since I've done web development of any general sort, but the tools available nowadays are 10x better than what was available in the past when I similarly built sites by writing the HTML/CSS/javascript/etc.

I appreciate the volunteers that are keeping things running, but if they want to add value worth charging vs the free legacy that was created.. I'd expect more.

Edit: and just to somewhat note that I'm not fully talking out of my ass, in ~2010 I was on a team of 2 that developed the website/system for my college's library.. not all that different from a record qty perspective. And again.. long ago in web tech years (and especially since emergence of AI to help with custom scripts).
 
Last edited:
Eriks said:
Actually I don’t have to look any further than the very site I’m posting this to, to find a nice example of a well run, visually appealing little place on the interwebs, existing despite operating under precisely those conditions.
Click to expand...
PCF is a great site with a great community, which is why I chose to support it. It’s not flashy—and that’s not a knock. It *appears to be run on a commercially available message board platform that’s been customized with some added tools. It’s functional, and that’s what matters.

The ChipGuide is a gaming collectible database with over 335,000 unique items. It’s never going to be flashy either—the club doesn’t have the budget for that—but it doesn’t need to be. Both sites are used daily and have made our collecting lives better.
 
Cratty said:
And would likely take 1 amatuer head a week to update to a more modern system. It's been 15 years since I've done web development of any general sort, but the tools available nowadays are 10x better than what was available in the past when I similarly built sites by writing the HTML/CSS/javascript/etc.

I appreciate the volunteers that are keeping things running, but if they want to add value worth charging vs the free legacy that was created.. I'd expect more.

Edit: and just to somewhat note that I'm not fully talking out of my ass, in ~2010 I was on a team of 2 that developed the website/system for my college's library.. not all that different from a record qty perspective. And again.. long ago in web tech years (and especially since emergence of AI to help with custom scripts).
Click to expand...
Are you volunteering or just throwing rocks?
 
billnict said:
PCF is a great site with a great community, which is why I chose to support it. It’s not flashy—and that’s not a knock. It *appears to be run on a commercially available message board platform that’s been customized with some added tools. It’s functional, and that’s what matters.

The ChipGuide is a gaming collectible database with over 335,000 unique items. It’s never going to be flashy either—the club doesn’t have the budget for that—but it doesn’t need to be. Both sites are used daily and have made our collecting lives better.
Click to expand...
This is the issue, you keep telling yourself it’s too hard, can’t be done when everyone responding is telling you not only is it possible, it’s not even that hard.

If the correct approach was taken, there are probably at least a dozen PCF’rs on right now who could (and would) do it for free if the club ever showed any hope of wanting to change.
 

Create an account or login to comment

You must be a member in order to leave a comment

Create account

Create an account and join our community. It's easy!

Register

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Back
Top Bottom
Cart

Cart

Total -