Once again, things need to be set on a straight course...
Let me preface what I am about to say by telling everyone that even though I may know a lot about 3Dice, I don't know everything and am not afraid to ask. Nor do I have any association with them other than the fact I am a regular depositor and I love playing there.
OK...
The VIP program was revamped for a few reasons...
1) People wanted to see exactly where they stood on the loyalty "ladder", so to speak. The new program lets them see exactly that, along with allowing the player to see what the levels above them contain bonus-wise.
2) People were getting frustrated with what seemed like "not enough bonuses". This has ALSO been fixed, although it may not seem like it since the N-D bonuses have essentially disappeared (which, IMO, is a VERY good thing). Levels and bonus amounts are checked every 10 days. If you move down, you will STILL get something (unless you go from Bronze 1* to "player"... this is the only time where bonuses would stop).
3) Players didn't necessarily want to cough up $50 a month for the old requirement of being a VIP and being allowed to play in the VIP tournies. Once again, this has ALSO been taken care of. All you need to do now is maintain a level higher than "player". Approximately $100 of play on any slot during 10 days (regardless of the amount deposited) should do the trick.
The tournaments are just that - tournaments. Yes, it's nice to win them every once in a while, but there were people under the old program who would win a $10 tourney (after having done essentially nothing) and request a cash-out. Unfortunately, this type of winning (where no deposit was required) got to the point where it became a burden, so it was made fair to everyone by putting on a SMALL WR (10x is very reasonable IMO - where else will you find that LOW of a WR on FREE MONEY?).
And yes... the $50 buy-in tournies are ALSO subject to the 10x WR. The reason for this is because of the amount of TC's given away (at least 150 DAILY), it needs to be made fair to everyone. The software (at this point) isn't smart enough to discern whether the TC's you bought in with were free or bought. So, to compensate for this, it was also made to have the WR attached. A WR on a tourney is not unheard of, especially when you aren't wagering your REAL $$ on it - you are simply buying credits to allow you to join a higher-paying tourney... that's all.
As for referral bonuses, support is awesome, but they can't do everything. They have enough to worry about before people come along, thinking support has some kind of ESP to know when someone has referred another player, demanding that they receive a referral bonus for a player who deposited an hour ago, 3 hours ago, whatever. You have ALWAYS had to ask for the referral bonus. It is NOT automatically credited to anyone's account. It will take 4 minutes out of someone's precious day to log into the casino, click the cashier button, click on support, click "Click Here to Chat", and explain in a very nice tone of words that you have referred someone and that you are POLITELY requesting your bonus. Then, AND ONLY THEN, will it be credited to your account (and yes, it WILL have a WR attached).
And another thing that has changed - gifting is no longer counted as a "deposit" to another player's account. I'm honestly not sure as to why it ever was, but nevertheless, it no longer counts. Anyone who refers someone needs to have that player play on THEIR OWN MONEY THAT THE REFERRED PLAYER HAS DEPOSITED. Also... The minimum deposit for a player to GET a referral bonus is $20. This amount has never changed.
The reason why you now essentially "choose" between a scratchcard and a GG conversion bonus is because of a very simple reason...
YOU CANNOT HAVE YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT TOO!!
You now have a choice with the conversion bonus from GG... Either have that be a part of your VIP allowance for the month, or use 3Dice's full allotment of bonuses. You essentially can't get more that what your VIP level states. If your level states a 35% bonus up to $25 and a $25 scratchcard (Bronze 4*, for example), and you claim a GG conversion bonus, Your VIP structure will automatically update to include the fact you claimed a GG Bonus. REMEMBER - GoneGambling states at the bottom of EVERY email that they send that the participating casinos have the EXCLUSIVE right to change, modify or alter the terms of ANY bonus AT ANY TIME. If you don't like those terms, THEN DON'T CLAIM THE BONUS! If you don't claim the GG conversion (which, BTW, has a three-times-as-high WR than any OTHER bonus (30x vs 10x)), your VIP structure will stay the same.
I still do not, for the life of me, seem to understand why these terms are so outstandingly "unbelievable" for some people to grasp. Things change! If you were in a position of giving completely, 100% free money to people and they were taking advantage of you, wouldn't you want to rein in the problem soon as well??
Remember - a casino is in business to make money. You don't see $60 billion of real estate in Las Vegas because people WON, do you? A few losses every now and then (and occasionally, the long unlucky streak) is something EVERY GAMBLER (be it online or in a B&M) has to be aware of. A bonus is the casino's way of telling you "We're so sorry.... but because you've been so loyal to us, here's a small token of our appreciation". They don't have to do it - they could simply laugh in your face and say "screw you" - but then people would find other places to go. However, when people begin doing things that undermine a casino's way of doing business, things need to change.
They don't always change for the better, but in this case (at least IMO) it did. If you don't like it, nothing is stopping you from playing somewhere else (and slamming something that never needed to be given to you in the first place).
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I think my whole point to begin with was that 3Dice opened up and invited all of us players here at CM. We were invited with open arms to play in free tourneys and We all knew the T&C's, WR's, Comp program... etc, etc.. 
