However - I think it's a bad idea, it would discourage new players.
I disagree. I think far more players are discouraged by a high dropout rate
than by any other problem. I've seen whole games fade away in less than
five turns due to the cascade effect of dropouts. Not just ME, either. The
deposit is to encourage responsibility. At the moment, there is absolutely
no penalty for someone who joins a game and then only plays for a few turns
before leaving his teammates in the lurch. (At times, I find it hard to
believe I'm a liberal at heart!) If I'm investing my time and money in a
game, I get really ticked off if the game goes under because of dropouts.
(On the other hand, I've been so bloody-minded in a couple of games that
I've kept going on my own just to try to prove it can be done!)
Make the deposit equal to five turns play. Then, if the player drops, that
money pays for the first five turns for the replacement player. That way,
Allsorts doesn't even have to lose money on the deal. You could use the
software's evaluation of the position to decide whether the drop was
acceptable or not.
And don't give me the "it's expensive" line, folks: it's not.
Gavin