Why get rid of "Notes"? (Carbon Poker Update)

#1 28th January 2016, 6:06 AM

Carbon Poker just made an update to their software, and a few useful features have been removed, namely the note taking feature. Does anyone know why a site would get rid of this? Of the things that I noticed, they also got rid of a small "stats" tab within the table interface. The information provided by the stats tab was useless to me in cash games, but it allowed Tournament players to quickly see where they placed on the leaderboard. I am confounded as to why a website would eliminate these useful and fairly conventional features.

#2 28th January 2016, 7:33 AM

I don't play on Carbon, but I can't think of any reason why any site would get ride of the "notes". It's a super useful feature. Did you contact their support team? If so, what did they say?

#3 28th January 2016, 8:13 AM

I haven't contacted them. I will, now that you mention it.

Honestly, I just use PokerTracker for my note taking, but I know that there are people who don't use software. That said, Carbon does offer a free Carbon-only version of HoldemIndicator, so maybe they are trying to encourage people to use that.

I also just realized that everyone's notes are gone, too, not just the feature.

#4 29th January 2016, 5:01 AM

I inquired, and here was the response:

Quote:

We have made a few updates to our poker room, which will help improve the overall poker ecology. This will make your poker experience more exciting and fun.

We are trying to replicate a live poker room environment where players usually don’t take physical notes, but more mental. This will help even out the playing field and provide a fun, recreational environment.

Unfortunately now that the feature has been removed, past notes cannot be retrieved.

This is interesting, because I thought that live players do take physical notes. I have never played live, so maybe it is not as common of a practice as I thought. Still, I don't think that eliminating the note taking feature really accomplishes what is described in the response. Physical notes can still be taken, whether with pen and paper or in a word processor. Based on their motives, I would think that they would be more inclined to discontinue their offer of free tracking software--which, along with the obvious tracking features, also includes a note taking feature.

#5 30th January 2016, 4:11 AM

They removed notes to foster a recreational environment and allow HUD use? I must be confused.

#6 30th January 2016, 6:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScooperNova

[...] and allow HUD use?

The thing that confuses me isn't that they simply allow the use of HUDs. It's more the fact that they offer free tracking software with a HUD that is meant for exclusive use on their site.

#7 31st January 2016, 8:33 AM

years of data (notes ) vanished . thanks a lot carbon, for all that effort that is now wasted . first the color codes were removed , and now notetaking ! ?yet as ScooperNova commented , they promote HUD usage . WOW !

#8 31st January 2016, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skaterick

first the color codes were removed [...]

I was really perplexed by this, for a while. I stopped playing at Carbon for a long time and recently decided to get back on, and I thought I remembered there being color coding, but I eventually just figured that I was remembering incorrectly. Thanks for clearing that up.

It just occurred to me that their free tracking software kind of is a method towards "evening the playing field". If everyone has a HUD, then that technically does make it less of an overall advantage to any one player. With regard to "evening the field", it makes sense, but with regard to "catering towards casual players", offering the software seems like a contradiction.

#9 19th February 2016, 7:09 PM

Update: It looks like Carbon has eliminated HUD use from their site. Not even their free software is compatible. In my opinion, they are doing a poor job of informing their users of the site-wide changes that are taking place, as of late. There is no excuse for them to have removed HUD compatibility from their site while their free software is still heavily advertised, as though it is still available for use. They are also still listed on other software's websites as being compatible with those programs. It could be that this is a temporary issue that they are having, some sort of glitch as a result of their recent updates. However, this has continued for at least the past three days, and without a word to their users.

#10 2nd March 2016, 5:18 AM

I agree this is terrible. I just opened up carbon poker to play a sit n go to practice for some live satellites I'll be playing this week and on the first hand somebody shoves all in. I right click on them to open player details and was wondering where the note box went. The last time I played Carbon was last September! I used to rely on my notes.

#11 2nd March 2016, 2:43 PM

In my opinion carbon poker is not recommended, after I joined they said they'd give me free $5 extra within 48 hours and nadda, then when I asked about it the rep ignored me

#12 2nd March 2016, 4:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrbond8844

[...] when I asked about it the rep ignored me

When was that? I received the same offer, and it worked out fine. I had a similar thing happen to me where I didn't correctly enter a promotional code, and they applied it to my account after I contacted them about it. All of my customer service experience with them has been good. All of my inquiries have been answered, after I contacted them. Where I find fault in their procedures is in the fact that they have not proactively informed users about changes to their software.

#13 10th March 2016, 8:45 AM

when they abolished the 'notes' I gave up playing the ring games completely. then I went tilt and blew most of my now - useless bankroll betting on Carolina in the super bowl ! I might try some smaller tourneys in the future .