If you read the comments in this blog, you know that tournaments are kind of a hot topic at Gamesville. 

As of this moment, Gamesville does not host any official tournaments or leagues. However, we are aware that various sites, including Rankmonster, use our game rooms for player-run tournaments and similar activities. We've heard from players who like these tournaments and we've heard from players who don't like these tournaments.

Here's what we've done to try and meet the needs of both groups of players...

As of April 6, we've started offering rooms that are specifically for tournament play. These rooms are easily identified by their names: "Tournament Room" followed by a number (e.g., "Tournament Room 1").

Right now, we offer tournament rooms for the following games:

• Dominoes
• Euchre
• Frantic Fish
• Hearts
• Magic 21
• Miami Dice
• Pool
• Spades
• Spite and Malice

If you're a member of a tournament or league, please be polite to your fellow players and use ONLY these tournament rooms for your tournaments.

If you're not currently a tournament player and you're looking for a tournament or league to join, please enter one of these new tournament rooms and ask a tournament host or member for more information.

If people are using a non-tournament room for their gameplay, please politely ask them to use a tournament room. If that doesn't work, simply use your block button to silence them.

Thanks for your assistance in this matter. As always, please be sure to give us your feeback on this topic, or any other.

Chris

Congratulations to Gamesviller "char_kng" of Val Caron, Ontario! She won $1,939 today playing Magic 21! Nicely played, Char; nicely played.

Gamesviller "gammylady" of Haysville, KS, recently won $4,717 playing Three-Eyed Bingo. We were lucky enough to chat with her and we think you'll agree that she is quite deserving of her good fortune. Read on...

Congratulations on your win. How did it feel to claim that winning bingo?
It was so exciting; I was screaming my head off. My daughter heard me in the other room and came running to me, afraid I'd hurt myself!

Anything fun planned for your winnings?
I'm going to pay off some bills, then spend the rest on a good time. Maybe a trip to the casino.

When you're not playing at Gamesville.com, what do you enjoy doing?
I volunteer as a tutor for special ed children at a local middle school.

That sounds like rewarding work.
It is. I love working with those kids and helping them overcome obstacles in their lives.

You sound like a very special woman, yourself.
No, I'm no different than anyone else. We all just want to give something back to the world.

Looking back on your own life so far, what are you most proud of?
My adopted daughter. She has overcome so much in her own life; she is just a joy to me.

What's the best movie or book you've enjoyed recently?
The Guardian. It's about a rescue diver unit and what they go through to help people at sea.

Any pets in your house?
Yes, a three-year-old cat named Pooh; she's the same color as the bear.

Thank you for taking the time to talk with us. Before we wrap up, is there anything else you'd like to say to your fellow Gamesvillers?
I'm proof that if you keep plugging away, you can hit it big!

At Gamesville.com, we really do read through every comment you post here or send to customer service. Three questions keep coming up in the feedback on the redesign...

In response to these questions, we're soon going to change the "My Gamesville" module on the homepage and other pages to make it easier to find all these things.

Soon, when you come to Gamesville.com and you are not signed in, the My Gamesville module will look like this:

After you sign in (or sign up), the "My Gamesville" module will reload and look like this:

The yellow box will link you directly to your friend's list; the links for the GV Rewards sweepstakes will take you directly to the monthly and weekly sweepstakes pages; and the other functionality (favorite games, current badge) will remain the same.

A few people have written in, noting that the current badge displayed in the "My Gamesville" module is different from their actual badge; this problem will be fixed when this revised "My Gamesville" module goes live.

Thanks again for all your great feedback; it's greatly appreciated. You folks are the best.

Chris

UPDATE April 12: These changes are now live; please let us know, what do you think?   

Everyone, please congratulate our most recent Three-Eyed Bingo winner, Gamesviller "gammylady" of Haysville, KS. Gammylady won $4,717 on April 4 and, after spending a few moments on the phone with her today, it's clear that she's quite deserving of her good fortune. Stay tuned for an interview with gammylady coming later this week.

Thanks to "mopsyhouse" and everyone else who wrote in about connectivity problems with the games this weekend, our engineers were able to track down the problem and, moments ago, release an update that has fixed the problem for "mopsyhouse", "bakingmaven", and several other members that we've been able to contact this morning and test with.

Please note: This fix does not require you to do anything except exit your browser, restart your browser, and then try to play again. 

If you're still experiencing troubles getting games to load, please go to http://www.javatester.org/version.html and scroll down the page until you see "Method 1: Ask Java". In that part of the page there should be a pink box with some text in it. For example, the text might say something like "Java Version: 1.5.0_11 from Sun Microsystems Inc.". Write down the text that appears in that pink box and submit it to customer service using the Lycos ticket submission form

Some of you have written in with troubles finding your GV Rewards sweepstakes pages and friends lists. All of these can be found in the "My Gamesville" box at the top of most of our pages; when you sign in, click "edit" in the "My Gamesville" box and it will take you to your My Gamesville page which has all that information and more. We're working on an update that will make this more apparent. In the meantime, you can navigate to those pages directly by going to:

Weekly GV Rewards sweepstakes:
http://www.gamesville.com/rewards/entries/weekly 

Monthly GV Rewards sweepstakes:
http://www.gamesville.com/rewards/entries/monthly 

Friends list: 
http://www.gamesville.com/my_gv.php

Note, you will need to sign into Gamesville first to access any of these pages.

On Thursday, March 29, we had our first Magic 21 winner: Gamesviller "steve3265" of Jeffersonville, NY. Steve3265 won $1,765, and he nearly fell out of his chair when it happened. Steve3265 took a few minutes to chat with us about his win, his 42-year-old African parrot Clancy, and more. Read on...

Congratulations again on your win. How does it feel? 
Oh, man; I still can't believe it. I nearly fell out of my chair when the words "jackpot win" came up on the screen. I play in Three-Eyed Bingo all the time, and my friends in there still can't believe I won.

How long have you been playing on Gamesville?
I joined in 1999. I've been playing ever since.

What are your plans for your winnings?
I have some medical bills that need paying off, so this came at just the right time.

I'm glad we could help. 
Me, too! 

Now, let's get to know you a little better: Favorite movie?
Definitely the Rocky movies. I own them all on DVD, so I can watch them any time. But whenever they come on TV, I have to stop and watch them. Sylvestor Stallone is my idol.

So if you could have a party and invite anyone in the world, living or dead, real or fictional...?
Stallone would be there, definitely. I'd also invite Arnold Schwarzenegger and Willie Randolph (the manager of the New York Mets).

I'm sensing a trend here.
(Laughs.) You know what, since I'm a big wrestling fan, I'd also invite Hulk Hogan.

Now, I know our members are proud of their pets so I have to ask: Any pets in your house?
Yes, two dogs and an African parrot.

What kind of dogs?
Molly is a beagle and Carmel is a mutt.  

Any distinguishing or fun facts about them?
Well, Molly weighs 90-pounds; she is the biggest beagle her vet has ever seen.

And you mentioned a parrot, too?
Yes, Clancy; he's 42-years old, and I inherited him from my mother-in-law who asked me to babysit the bird while she went on vacation. When she came back, she asked me to keep him.

How's that working out?
Clancy's all right. He definitely has his own personality: he doesn't speak when spoken to; he talks only when he feels like it.

Well, thank you for taking the time to talk with us. Before we wrap up, is there anything else you'd like to say to your fellow Gamesvillers?
It happened to me; just keep playing, having fun, and it could happen to you, too.

Gamesville.com will be brought down for an upgrade tonight, April 5, at around midnight eastern time. The down time should last for no more than two hours.

UPDATE, April 6: The upgrade is complete. Part of the release included upgrading the version of Java the games use. (Java is the software allows you to play games on Gamesville and elsewhere, and it is 100% free.)

PLEASE NOTE: If you are having trouble getting games to load, please download the latest version of Java at http://java.com/en/download/index.jsp

Thank you, everyone, for all your comments on the new look for Gamesville and the other changes we've made. We are reading each of your comments and acting on them. Some things, like the Spite & Malice connectivity problems, have been resolved. Others are actively being worked on. Watch this space for updates.

Chris