Maybe a way to allow someone to "quit" the game, without having to commit suicide, could be implimented, Fencer? -- A very good idea!

Uhm mhm hm.

Bad Bishop: Thanks for the backup :)

"ScarletRose: (29. December 2004, 16:05:58) I guess I am still confused here as to how the points work. On two separate plays I played high moves, expecting to get my points back if I was the highest bidder. I have won 500 points two separate times. But, no motivation at this point to bid over 500 since highest bidder doesn't win back the points they bid.. there should be some motivation also in my opinion to get the bids higher then they currently are. This game is going to take forever! LOL"

scarlet. I agree you should get points back as well as 500.
But as for game length....the game will be same length no matter how many points are bid. (as it is now..it wont take longer than 356 days :o) could be quicker though :oD )

Czuch Chuckers: I absolutly agree. There needs to be a "Resign" option that doesn't affect everyone else trying to keep their feet dry.

It's a good idea - but I think once this first pond game is over, you will not see many people who will want to get out of the game

BIG BAD WOLF: I am looking forward to the next version of the game. I think I heard where Fencer plans on letting us create our own ponds and limit the number of runners anpoints per runner. I also, expect the next version to take into consideration weekends and holidays.

The first run ignoring weekends, holidays, and vacations was a little too much for me considering it is running over Christmas and New Years.

Do you think you won't be bored in the future games? Oh, sure, you can bet only 1 point again... ;-)

Bad Bishop: we shall see...I am willing to try a smaller pond that supports weekends, holidays, and vacation. It shouldn't take as long to get the the end game. Since it won't take a year to complete the game, I can see the game through to the end.

with this first run, it is probably going to take almost a year to complete.

A "smaller pond that supports weekends, holidays, and vacation" will certainly take only few days. I'd suggest to run it with only two or three people and I'm quite sure it won't be boring.

weekends etc will make any pond games even longer

What if everybody was given a number (say 5) free passes to the next round at the start of the game. These could be used instead of vacation days. This way, players can still participate, even if they know they will be away from BK for a couple of days without holding the game up for everyone else.

Thad:Is that not what already happenes when you cant get to pc..it puts in same number as before. pass's would be used to stay in without betting

Free passes- that would be using the same bid as last bid,
Weekends-the problem is that people have different days set for their weekends, would make the game drag on forever

No, if you used a free pass, it would be as if you didn't play in that round of the game, but could come back in the next round with the same points. With free passes, a few players could stay out of the game for a limited number of turns, but the game would continue on.

Thad: as i said...free passes then, would ruin the game.

for example. I have 3 points.. all other 4 players have 120 points.
I use 5 passes and win the game

Stevie: We'd need to think it thru, Stevie. How many passes do the other players have. What if one still has all five, etc.

I can already see that there might be a small problem toward the end of the game if one person still has a greater number of passes left than the others, but if that's the situation, then that player has probably outplayed everyone else anyway and deserves to win!

If you think it's a bad idea, please give me an example including how many players, how many points each has remaining, and how many passes each has left.

Thad: I just did.

Anyway...free passes are not needed. We have the auto rebid system already to cover players who dont get online

I don't think weekends & vacations would work with a multiplayer game like this. Take for example 20 people in the game, 1 person decides to take 10 vacation days. So now all 20 people have to wait the 10 days. Opps, player 2 has Monday & tuesday set as weekends. Playeer 3 has wednesday & thursday as weekends. Player 4 has Friday & saturday set as weekend. Player 5 has Sunday & Monday set as weekend. All of a sudden, no move will every be made!

Once we start getting more pond games, there will be different times and such which will help out.

So true BBW....

I see hads point about the free pass...if everybody got one it would be fair, but it would be a completely different game, and totally change the strategy. People would try to save them for the end, and they wouldnt be used like a vacation day or whatever. I agree with Stevie that it is not needed in this game for the reason that Thad stated, as we already have the :rebet" option for those who cant get online.

Is OldDear going to be removed from the game now he's been banned or will his guess (10) continue to be included?

goood question. I reckon should be removed.

Explain why Scarlet???????????

He will continue with default moves.

Scarlet, please feel free to bid 13402

Fencer: I thought Olddear/mauve was LJs' wife, a she, not he......

Fencer: I think thats a crock if he moves with his 10 each time now

Stevie: Now everybody can bid 11 and be gauranteed in the game, until she/he gets kicked into the pond.... I bet there are still some who will bid below 10 though.

Fencer: Although I don't understand the word "crock", I think I completely agree with Stevie. There should be really a way to remove her (OldDear/Mauve) from the game without affecting the other moves. :-/

LOL.. get the word out, and get everyone to bid 11, and he/she/it will fall in the pond...

Bad Bishop: Yes, it can be added later. Not now.

Bad Bishop: Crock means that this game is now ruined ( obviously not the actual meaning but it works) by Olddear being kept in the game.

Thanks, I understood the meaning as "sh*t" (oh my God, please don't ban me for bad language! ;-)) or something like that. -- I'm not really sure whether an "automatic player" will affect the game so much, I'd say the most of us will for several future moves still bid less than 10 - and probably in the round, in which OldDear will fall into the pond, there will be even more 10s :-), bud I'd prefer to have such corpses removed immediately.

If everyone were to bid 11 or higher in the next round Olddear would fall into the pond. Of course I think some will like the security of keeping that inactive account in the game. Takes away from the fun,I think. But eventually he'll fall and then things will get interesting...I hope

Its wrong time of year for everyone to be on here in time to set a bid of 11 though. And those that do it will be wasting points if all dont do it.

Did that make sense?

Stevie: well it sorta maybe made sense to a sensible person I'm not sure

Do you really think, that everyone from about 180 people would bid 11 points even if we all would say we do? :-) I'm quite sure, there were some reward hunters with 12-20 points, some reward hunters with much more, and several people with an automatical bid from the last round (maybe with less points than 10). We shoudn't obviously care -- or take it as a 10 point hurdle/feature. :-)

Btw there are more people who bid automatically for several rounds. ;-)

Was that bug fixed yet? Because I remember for a while it was putting the dot next to a bid that was not repeated, if that person had repeated in the previous round..
LOL.. well.. that made no sense at all.. but I think u know what I'm talking about.. :-)
What I mean, is maybe all aren't ACTUAL repeat bids? unless it was fixed..

Actually my vote would be to eliminate anyone who didn't move, rather than give them the same as last time. The game would be quicker and no issues like knowing what to play to guarantee staying in.

And if you go on vacation and can't move, too bad. It's not the end of the world, you can play next time.

rod03801: No, all the players with * in the table ain't certainly automatical moves from the last round, but probably all the moves in italics in this table. E.g. Alesh with his 1149 points. It makes any hunts for the reward senseless... ;-)

maybe webtv scrunches up that table to be viewable on our screens.. it is difficult for me to interpret it. Plus, I get the "Page too large to be viewed completely" message that we get sometimes..

Oh, the table is nothing special, it only lists all moves, ranks and difference in the rank to the previous move - from all players. Indeed, it is quite big (and large too)...

What does the * mean??

harley: * = automatic move (from the previous round)

Its meant to mean it was an automatic play

ooooooooooh Niki...nearly beat yer LOL

harley: But it's not implemented quite correctly. It's supposed to mean that the player made an automatic move in the last round, but what it's indicating now is that the player made an automatic move in SOME previous round. Fencer is aware of the bug.

I see, thanks for the explanation!

I assume that everyone will play 11 on this round???