Another feature suggestion: longer time controls into "Quick pairing"

@Toadofsky the popularity of the *+0 formats over their near-equivalents is evidence that you are underestimating the importance, to some, of having a guaranteed amount of time for the game to conclude. What else could be the cause of their relative popularity?

I would love to see 30+30 as a time option on the front page.
I think one reason it is not played often is because most people play only the 9 options on the front page!

@dsjoerg Something being popular doesn't make it a good idea. Other popular ideas:
* The penny
* Imperial units
* DNS

Again, I'm suggesting 5+1 as a suitable substitute for 5+0, and 10+2 for 10+0, so it's possible for people to defend positions instead of demanding USCF "insufficient losing chances" rules in the forum.

Why not, instead of changing current time control choices in quick pairing, add more in a new row in grid?

I think that would work well, then maybe if the custom buttom was shifted down you could have a row for each type of time control; something like:

Bullet: 1/2+0, 1+0, 1+1
Blitz: 3+0, 3+2, 5+5
Rapid: 10+0, 10+2, 15+10
Classical: 15+15, 30+30, 45+45

Not necessarily these exact options of course but you get the idea.

@Apeirogon @Gluybi I like this idea

Me too, a redesign of the "Quick pairing" -menu could be a usable idea. It looks less organized than it could be, and the "Custom"-button is totally unnecessary having the "Create a game"-button right next to it, contributing to the exact same functionality. Perhaps it could be modified, and turned into an option for 30+30?

@Apeirogon that is the perfect solution!!
just add another row , if the leaderboard is a bit lower really doesn't matter
and it should be easy do realise - I really hope @thibault is reading this.

I am very much a pro-increment and I don't really find 2 seconds a good enough increment either, and particularly if the intention is to play rapid, part of that goes hand-in-hand with a reasonable increment.

2-second increment at least allows you to complete a simple win and prevents the opponent flagging you in dead drawn positions, but it's really not for me.

From my searches in random seeks I see a lot of time controls like 5+8. A short initial clock time with a longer increment is less prone to quitters.

For very slow time controls, I think it's probably best to create a group to create pairings, as such is a real commitment to play a game for several hours, and it's better to find your partner and agree a time than just come online randomly hoping to get paired up.

15+10 is a popular time control on chess.com, however I think 5+10 would be quite a popular one on here.

Be careful of the deceptive nature of the slower time controls not being popular. Remember that
- If you play 3+0 the game is over much quicker, so for an hour's play you have to play a lot more games.
- There may be players who pick from the quick-pair controls so if it isn't there they don't request it
- There may be many others who go to the custom time control and don't get matched, or take ages getting matched (and then probably give up trying).

I like the 3x3 Square, making it 3x4 would look silly imo. You also need to be aware that splitting the quickseeks into further sections always reduces the playerbase further (eg 3 different long classical tcs will result in none of them having players)

What I dislike:
5+3, which isn't really a timecontrol anyone uses anywhere ever (ok, World Championship tiebreaks..)
15+15 being the default Classical, which is way too short, and rather close to a standard Rapid tc (15+10)
Lack of a Rapid tc with increment
And sorta: 2+1, which I dont really see a use for.. is this supposed to be Bullet for people with a crappy connection, or 3+0 for people who prefer playing with increment, or what?

So my improvement suggestion would be:

| 0.5+0 | 1+0 | 3+0 |
| 3+2 | Custom | 5+0 |
| 10+0 | 15+10 | 25+15 |

This way you have the 3 premier fast tcs in toprow,
the two main OTB blitz controls in the middle one,
and then the slower tcs in bottom,
with the classical one actually being a "slow" control.

The people who currently REALLY enjoy 15+15 can just play 15+10 instead, which is very close, and a standard OTB timecontrol
Whether the 2nd Bullet tc is 0.5+0 or 2+1 (or 0.75+0.. or the 1+1 that was suggested in here by some other people; actually 1+1 might be my favourite of those) I don't care too much about (I dont play Bullet either way), but the former seems to be better advertisement for lichess' capabilities speedwise to me, and is something that at least some top players seem to enjoy

I'd also be fine with removing the "Custom" button altogether and adding a 9th tc (after all there's a big "CREATE A GAME" button on the right..), but admittedly I'm not sure what I'd add. I guess 5+3 could make a 'comeback' then? Would prefer the Custom button, though, simply because 8 tcs seems good enough to me (could also keep it in the bottom right of course, I just felt putting it square in the middle might look nice)