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IMO you should add an option to play a game with a random user. While I like playing every couple hours a la words with friends, it would be nice to be able to play with whomever is online right now...

and if you don't mind me asking, are you planning on monetizing it? there doesn't seem to be ads anywhere I've been

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Ideally we'll build something to play random users. It just wasn't something we build out at first.

To answer about monetization, we have loose ideas. I'm really against pop up ads and awkward experiences that most sites tend to have around this. I've toyed with ideas such as premium accounts, or something like old Pandora that used to show one, integrated ad for the entire page.

Mostly though, we're waiting to see how people use the site. It's impossible to monetize something when you don't understand how people use it.

A chess website that I subscribe to is gameknot.com. The model that they use are some simple text and picture ads for free members. Optionally, you can pay about 40 a year for no ads and some additional features. They focus on chess exclusively and have some really nice features and a clean interface. Your real time updating sound like an improvement, though.

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