troydaniels: Try http://mctrivia.com/autoplayer

mctrivia: There's a section missing from your page - the bit about what it is and what it does!

playBunny: Well it does say what it does but it is only 1 line in the whole page I will have to put it up top.

playBunny: Is it beter now or would you like more?

mctrivia: Well, let's just say you'd better stick to the programming for now, and forget that dream job as a marketing man!

Consider what's important to your prospective user.

"Open source program" - Nope. That's not a selling point as it provides no functionality. It's even a sticking point for some. Joe User: "Ooh, it's an open source program. Does that mean I have to do XYZ? Does open source mean it won't run on Windows? Does it mean <other strange ideas>?"

"games on brainking.com were you don't have to think to play". Joe User: "Er, but I have to think in all my games, don't I?"
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BrainKing Java Auto Player

What is it?

This is a program which you can run on your computer at home to automatically make the passes and other forced moves for you in certain games.

These are the games that you'd rather not have to waste your time visiting: Ludo, where you need a 6 but don't roll one and have to pass, or where you only have one piece that can move. Backgammon games where you're stuck on the bar but your opponent won't allow the Brainking autopass to work. Or when bearing off and there's only one possible way to do so [If you've implemented that] .. [And another example or two of whichever games apply.]

The program can do automatic clicking for you in all of these games: Ludo, Backgammon, Nackgammon .. [and all the rest]

How does it work?

When you want the program to watch your games and make move for you, you start it running. It'll then log in as you every X minutes and check your game sheet. If there are games which need to be played then it'll check those. If there's a pass or a forced move then it'll click the [Move] button and send the game back to your opponent, saving you the trouble. When it's checked all your games then it'll go to sleep until it's time to check again.

Does it always make moves?

Not always. It won't move if your opponent has left a comment for you to read. The game will be left untouched so that you can read it and respond. It also won't move when .....[whatever conditions]
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Etc. Tell the story, spell it out. An hour or two on this stuff will be of more benefit than the same time on a piece of code if it encourages more users. Each user multiplies the value of your coding time.

The privacy reassurance, open sourceness, license information and technobabble are irrelevant until the user knows why they should become interested in them. These things should come after the installation instructions. When they do get that far, put the privacy part in a FAQ section, the license and open sourceness too, but down at the end because most people really don't care. That is, if you change the licence and open sourceness how does it affect your users? Not at all in 99% of cases, so don't bother them with it.

Privacy concerns are interesting. For some people it's reassuring to hear that information. For others it brings to mind something that they may not have thought of - and suddenly they're not sure, despite what you say. I think it's best to have it available but not make an issue of it.

The technobabble should be on a separate page "Programmers this way -->". When there's a whole chunk of Source Code and Archive and other such stuff, it can scare off people who don't know what it's about. If they're concerned that they might have to understand what it's saying and make some decision about it then they might just back off, needlessly.

playBunny: Well that was a very helpful post I will have to take your recommendations and make some changes. I have a 3 hour flight tomorow so I will do it then. Today I will spend programing the web interface for my new always running autoplayer. Much like the old one writen by hexkid but my server is not the one making the moves.

Good news to all those that want auto player but do not want to install anything on there computer. You can now go to:

http://mctrivia.com/autoplayer/login.php

And create an account. The system will automatically play your games as quickly as possible. The only down side is you need to have some faith in your fellow man because you are giving me a hashed copy of your password(I do not keep the actual password) for this reason I let you chose what servers(brainking members with the server software) you trust and witch you don't.

This new system currently has 2 servers that play all the games and I am looking for more servers so if anyone is interested in becoming a server send me your e-mail and I will send you the necisary files and instructions.

playBunny: wow. havent seen something so nicely summed up in ages!

janajana: Thank you. It's very kind of you to say so.