AlliumCepa: You poor soul. If you think the comments I previously made were "cruel comments", you are so wrong. I made light-hearted comments which I am assuming were interpreted as such by more intelligent followers of this discussion thread. Look back to 2008 (I think), when I first made comments about the inadequacy of the auto-pass feature installed on Brainking. I actually don't give a (xxxx) what's implemented on other sites - this discussion board is about what's implemented on BRAINKING. So keep to the point. What's implemented on Brainking is inadequate, has been for at least 15 years, and we all know that it's not going to change. But we stay here because most of us like this site, and the friendliness of (most of) our intelligent opponents, like moistfinger and Dice Cheater

Aganju: i've been following this forum with interest for a while.

At the moment, I score Agabju 4, AlliumCepa 2.

Let's see how it unfolds. I love blood sports!

Aganju: Very true, I'm sure. But ten years ago I offered to pay a brain rook membership for life to fix this "bug" and it made absolutely no difference. But I'm not going to pay "for ever" until it's fixed - and it never will be. I still play because I enjoy the site. I'm getting old and have a lot of time on my hands, but I'm still young enough to play competitive bridge face to face with real people, and Brainking when I can't be bothered going to the bridge club (which is VERY rare!). Pity it's not a perfect world, (sigh) but it's not REALLY bad!

AlliumCepa: It's over a year since we vented our spleens about this, and it is still as unsatisfactory as it was last year. (sigh) but we should probably continue to complain just to let everybody know that it is STILL far from ideal!

Walter Montego: Check "Feature Requests" 8 July 2011. This is not a new gripe, but from time to time I bring it up for old time's sake

Walter Montego: I think that however we define the requirements, they will be completely ignored, and no changes will EVER be made, so we may as well stop wasting our time.

Walter Montego: I am aware of the possibility, but I am pretty sure that if you do not offer a double on the first move after you are blocked, then you will not offer a double on any subsequent move while you remain blocked. This logic is not too difficult for a competent computer programmer, and we can all attest to the fact that a competent programmer has implemented BrainKing. When you pass on the first move that you are blocked, it would be quite possible to ask "Are you sure? If so, autopass will continue until you are unblocked" or something to that effect, But I'm not here to design the algorithm, just saying that the existing implementation is unnecessarily frustrating and annoying, and with relatively little effort could be improved dramatically. (SIGH!)

Why is the autopass system on this site so ridiculous? when I am blocked why do I have to roll the dice and then pass. How stupid!

The AUTOPASS feature for Backgammon is NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE! The implementation on this site is RIDICULOUS! After passing the first time of being unable to move, then it should be assumed that passing will continue until the player can actually move, Maybe the programmers are not up to making such a simple change.

Backgammon (pgt vs. Vinkel)

Can this be fixed?

Clandestine 1: Since this is a "private" game. what exactly are we meant to be able to see?

Walter Montego: Do you have his bank account number? (Post it here)

Aganju: Thanks for that. I've sent a message to Fencer, so hope he still reads them!

I usually throw 2-1 or 3-1 near the beginning of the game, and then 5-5 or 6-6 when I have one counter on the final point. Any hints as to how to correct this?

Carl: Yes, obnoxious is the correct word!!

Backgammon (walangpera vs. pgt)
I have borne off almost all my pieces (except 2) in this game, and have suddenly been given an eatra dozen or so pieces on the 1 bar. But if you look at the game, I have borne off 14 pieces. What's going on?

Has anybody else had the misfortune to play against "Nice works". He/she has been a most unpleasant player

moistfinger: I think you used the wrong word - "Cheat" not "player"

Aganju: Check my post of 19th May. I just looked at the earlier ones and it is the same player. He was rated number 1 in Hyperbackgammon.when I was number 2, and he would not accept a challenge, and then I noticed 5 normal games in the space of an hour, all private, and all won in 3 moves!

There is a player who won 5 normal games against the same opponent within the space of an hour (on 20/04/20), and all of them had a TOTAL of 3 moves! They were "private" games so unable to see exactly how they were won, but I suspect that this is a player trying to boost his rating - and ego.

Has anybody else noted that when you are way behind in a BG match you throw several 2-1s in a row.. When you are miles ahead, and need 2 to finish, you get a double 6!

playBunny
Hello pB - nice to see you again. Hope things are going well for you in the South Pacific. You may need to get a new flag, as I believe you island will be flooded in about 13 years! Hope the match is over before you have to leave!

happyjuggler0: Anybody stupid enough to set up a tournament with more that 2 day moves deserves what they get. I stupidly signed up foe a tournament which went for 7 years, and as far as I know it is still going, I just resigned all the games. For God's sake, I am 79 years old now, and I probably won;t be around if a tournamnet lasts 10 years.

Dice Cheater: I suspect you are right! (sigh)

Vikings: I'm not actually fussed about winning or losing the tournament. As I said, I am 75 years old now, and if it goes on for another 5 years, I might well be dead, and then take another 7 years to time out before the next round can begin. In the end the winner will be the player who outlives all the others! What a great result THAT would be!!

playBunny: I think I will just add entries to this forum until either I am banned from the sire, or the two spoilers are. It is just RIDICULOUS that two people can hold up a tournament for NINE YEARS Yes, NINE YEARS. How many onther tournaments have taken NINE YEARS to complete the first round. Is there anybody listening who can actually speed things up?

GoodFoods' 6th Broiling Backgammon Invitational (Backgammon)
It's 9 (NINE - that's NINE) YEARS (YEARS, not weeks or days - YEARS since the first round of this tournament and there are still TWO players playing THE FIRST ROUND!!! I'm 75 years old now, and fear that I'll die before I am eligible to play in another tournament, if I don't die before thr end of the first round. Is there anything anybody can do to speed things up?

moistfinger: Thanks, but that's not the problem It's a bug

playBunny: Thank you for your comments erudite rabbit.

playBunny:
I am definitely setting up 2200 as minimum. But there is always one (and only one) player who manages to accept the game with less than 2100 rating! It must be that the site isn't working. Since it first happened I have been VERY careful to check, and it has happened twice more.
As for points - it always seems to me that in a simple game, you get the same points whether you just win, or win with a gammon, or win with a backgammon. That's rubbish.
As for "match", in super-rugby, the losing team can still get bonus points for scoring 4 tries, or for losing by less than 7 points. It seems to me that if you lose an 11 point match 11-0, then you should not be rewarded, but if you lost 11-10, you should still lose, but perhaps lose 2 points instead of 8. (But it's only a game)

When I set up a Hyper game and say minimum BKR 2200, how come a player with a BKR of 2056 is, consistently, able to accept the game. I don't really enjoy playing a game where I stand to win 2 points and lose 12, but such is the ridiculous rating system that that's what happens. While I'm on the band-wagon, why do the same points apply when you win or lose an 11-point match 11-10 or 11-0???

"....slowcoaches who will keep you tied up for a year or two." Try FIVE YEARS!!

Walter Montego: I was a Brain Rook when the Lucky 13 tournament started, and vowed to renew my rook membership when a decent autopass feature was added. Sadly it hasn't happened yet. I can only play one tournament now, so I resigned all of my games in Lucky 13 second round - didn't feel like having that as my only tournament for the next nine years.

speachless: I don't think I did, but in any event, I suspect it was the same person, so it matters not which name was (not) mentioned! This was not meant to be a witch hunt - just an observation.

speachless: My initial post pointed out that (an un-named player) had played and won 15 of his or her 30 games with the same player. The games were all marked as "private" so it was impossible to confrim that they were genuine games. The game in question was Hyper Backgammon.

furbster: Thanks for that. All the games have now disappeared, and my BG rating has dropped about 100 points, But I won't have to worry whether I'll live to see the tournament conclusion

playBunny: I can only resign them one game at a time. So I need each player to play at least 4 or 5 moves (for a Backgammon each move) before the game disappears. At 5 days per move that will take about a month.

The next round has started! How do I get out of it? I have 8 of my allowable 20 games (I was a paying member when I joined this tournament 7 years ago, and promised to pay again when a decent autopass system was introduced, but Fencer is not interested) I am currently just resigning each time I get a game to play in this tournament, but given past experience, even that could take a few months!

playBunny: I wonder if I paid for a lifetime membership it would pass to my heirs to complete tournaments? An interesting thought.
I checked the mortality tables, and I now think I have enough time for one-and a half rounds more, provided the first round fo the tournamnet finishes by the end of 2014.

furbster: I'm through to the next round, but I'll be over 80 when it finishes, and there's no guarantee that I'll still have all my marbles my then. I think I'll just resign all the games and get on with real life.

playBunny: I enjoyed your contribution, erudite Bunny. Perhaps you should be elevated to "Play Rabbit"

AganjuNot a lot of point in discussing it here. Fencer doesn't give a stuff about Backgammon.

pedestrian: Well I guess you are right, but it's very confusing, and I have not figured out a way of seeing the details of games within a match to confirm it to my satisfaction. But we're not playing for cattle ranches, so let's forget it,

But I agree with grenv - we don't need messages for each game of a multi-game match.

pedestrian: Here is the message text for the final game (the game in question) which says that I am the winner. but the text says "Blue Sky is the winner". The game has disappeared, but does not appear in my "completed games" list.

Read message(back to the list of messages)
Date and time: 16. May 2012, 11:14:57
Subject: You moved all your pieces out (blue sky, Hyper Backgammon)


Game ID: 5710553

Game type: Hyper Backgammon
The game is a part of a multi game match which is not finished.

Aganju: I have done that a couple of days ago and it has not been acknowledged.

Hyper Backgammon (pgt vs. blue sky)

Can anybody explain why the Event Message told me "You moved all your pieces out" yet the game was awarded to my opponent? The game (wrongly) shows that he won the match, but it was clearly ME who won the match.

Czuch: My God!. I've moved house three times, travelled round the world twice, and bought three cars since this tournament started - not to mention I have also collected 5 years worth of superannuation payments and had five grandchildren! And to think, FIFA have managed to finish TWO tournaments in this period.

Vikings: It's not all that important really - I mean, it's only points, and BG points are a load of crap anyway.

pedestrian: Only problem is that I usually just delete the messages, so it's too late to verify.

pedestrian: I got a response "It's a visual bug. Player names should be switched in the message." I have no way of verifying it now!

pedestrian: > I won this match. How come I lost rating points? It was a 7 game match, which I won 4 games to 3
>
> Game ID: 4914333
> ennukene00 is the winner.
>
> ennukene00: old BKR = 2256, new BKR = 2264 (+8)
> pgt: old BKR = 2245, new BKR = 2237 (-8)
>
> Game type: Hyper Backgammon