Changes to "Monarchy" Piece Set

I logged in just now to see that the "Monarch" piece set here on Lichess was changed.

It looks horrible! It used to be a unique piece set that combined the sound color design of the Staunty pieces with a unique piece design. Now it looks very obviously and clumsily deformed, especially the new skinny pawns. Why was this change made?

Why was this change made?

It was updated by the creator of the set. Tbh, only the pawn has noteable changes, and that's just a pref. thing https://github.com/lichess-org/lila/pull/16556/files

@TBest said in #2:

that's just a pref. thing

It's not really reduced to a matter of preference because now the pawns have disproportionately large heads compared to the rest of the chessman's design, an objective design flaw. Compare the new "Monarchy" pawns to the pawns in the following sets:

• Staunty
• Dubrovny
• Fresca
• Cardinal
• Gioco
• Maestro

the pawns in these sets all have an overall triangular geometry, making them look visually stable. The new pawns have a rectangular geometry, making them look like they are going to fall over. It's less obvious when looking at a scaled-up image of the pawn on Github, but the pawns look awkward when scaled down for actual use, and they don't mesh well with the rest of the set anymore.

I don't like the new queen geometry either (and yes, I noticed that change before looking at the blown-up images on Github), but that one might be more of a preference issue as the overall geometry is still sound.

I think Lichess could use some more piece sets, ICC style maybe?

I created the piece set “Monarchy” and I appreciate the feedback. If you want to use the old style they’re available here
https://userstyles.world/style/16852/lichess-monarchy-piece-set
While everyone may not be happy with the changes, they are for the better in my opinion, which is why I pushed for a pull request. Just as originally they were made in my image, the image changed slightly of how I wanted the piece set to look, and after hundreds of games played I am finally happy with the result. I will keep this in mind on future piece sets.

Might be unpopular opinion but piece sets and board themes should not change after the initial couple of weeks of "testing the waters" phase. People are using it cause the like the current iteration and it doesn't matter how much "better" you think you are making it, it breaks user experience. Not breaking user space trumps everything else (q. Linus).

I love Monarchy and I personally feel the small changes are appropriate as a modification rather than a new addition.

I do sympathize with those who get used to something and then have it changed. If details like the subtle shading on a piece set are important to you, definitely consider adding your fav as suggested by @KingOfJesters in #5 because that way - it will never change.

That linus quote is advice to kernel engineers who are often paid primarily to support the needs of enterprise customers. I'm not sure how well it applies to an online chess website. I do think Lichess should be allowed to modify their assets. And come to think of it, there are a number of boards that are just a hue translation away from each other...

@icp1994 said in #6:

Might be unpopular opinion but piece sets and board themes should not change after the initial couple of weeks of "testing the waters" phase. People are using it cause the like the current iteration and it doesn't matter how much "better" you think you are making it, it breaks user experience. Not breaking user space trumps everything else (q. Linus).
Chess is always evolving. So are websites. Do you want a chess website that actually updates its site or one that does not? There is no need to be afraid of updates.

@schlawg said in #7:

I love Monarchy and I personally feel the small changes are appropriate as a modification rather than a new addition.

I do sympathize with those who get used to something and then have it changed. If details like the subtle shading on a piece set are important to you...

???

Nobody is complaining about the changes to Monarchy's shading. The problematic change is the pawn geometry. There is nothing "small" or "subtle" about it, it completely changes the character of the set.

@schlawg said in #7:

I do think Lichess should be allowed to modify their assets.

And we're allowed to use the "Lichess Feedback" forum to tell the devs which changes we don't like.

@KingOfJesters said in #8:

Chess is always evolving. So are websites. Do you want a chess website that actually updates its site or one that does not? There is no need to be afraid of updates.

This is a straw-man fallacy. Not all updates are improvements, and just because I didn't approve of THIS PARTICULAR update—to the pawn geometry—does NOT mean that I am reticent of ALL updates.

You're entitled to make changes to your own set design. I'm entitled to say that I don't like the changes. Why do you feel the need to justify your decision by straw-manning your critics or ( @schlawg ) gaslighting people about what the issue is?

For shame.