I note that there’s a lively debate going on in the Automatch Proposal thread. As I mentioned there, I don’t think that is a problem that needs solving. The seek graph is already an excellent way to quickly find open challenges. What we lack is an easy way to create those challenges in the first place.
The automatch feature would solve the problem of creating challenges but it introduces all sorts of complexity concerning what time controls should be offered and whether negotiations should take place. I think a simpler solution is available.
I propose an Open Challenge Preset feature. When creating a new game, or viewing the open challenges, a list of presets should be available to the user to create an open challenge with a single click. This preset list would be pre-populated with common time controls or settings, so that each user starts with three presets available.
However, this list should be customisable. Each user has their own preferred time controls or settings. For example, I like correspondence games a particular way. I also have a few live time controls that I like. It is difficult for me to create open challenges because I have to repopulate the form each time.
If I could create a list of preset time controls and settings this would allow me to create one of my preferred open challenges with a single click. This would solve the problem of open challenges taking time to create and would, I think, alleviate the need for a complicated or limited automatch feature.
What do you think?