Fencer: since you're talking about mobile browsing, i've tried to see how the site looks like in my perfectly normal mobile phone. I'm using opera mini. I can read boards just fine. With some degree i can even play ponds. The game boards, however, simply suck. I can only view them properly on normal mode, but then i can only see a small portion of the board at a time. I've tested frog and dice games, i still need to check out chess boards. As it is now, there's still a long way to go...

mctrivia: I am aware of this problem because it doesn't work with IE on my PDA too. There must be issues with HTTP header processing but I am not sure how to solve it. However, since everything works fine with Opera Mobile, it could be a problem of Microsoft's.

Fencer: IE not much extra space to add extra programs right now

mctrivia: And which web browser do you use?

Fencer: I have an HTC Touch running Windows Mobile 6. I get to the DoLogin page and there it sits forever with a blank page

Jason: Hmmm. I don't think that I can do anything about that because BrainKing obviously has a DNS entry. Didn't you make a typo?

Fencer: when i have tried to connect to brainking using a mobile device i get "the requested server does not have a DNS entry! "

mctrivia: I am typing this response on my HTC Kaiser (320x240 screen) sitting in a train, so I guess BrainKing can be used with mobile devices, if you install Opera Mobile. And BrainKing automatically makes some optimizations when "PocketPC" string is detected at the user agent.

If you guess right in Frog (Finder|Legs), a frog is revealed. However, if you guess wrong, the square remains the same, and you can even guess it again. But the fact that the square doesn't contain a frog is important information (specially in Frog Legs) - having this information burried in the move list is awkward. If the game progresses at one move a week, it's hard to remember which games you have to scan the move list. Also, but this is a minor issue, the fact that a wrongly guessed square can be guessed again, this allows for a never ending game. (It may be possible that there are Frog Legs situations where it's "better" to guess a square of which you know there isn't a frog, than to make a move that reveals information).

So, I propose the following: if a square has been guessed, but doesn't contain a frog, the square is marked (perhaps with a cross, or a question mark), and cannot be guessed again. It still may be shot at (and then revealing the number of frogs surrounding it). This doesn't change the rules of the game (other than preventing guessing the same square twice - but that usually will not be what the player wants anyway), but makes it better playable.

Gammonator: There's a brief explaination what the new combinations are on: http://brainking.com/en/SelectGameType?p=10

Fencer,

I love the search feature, I use it all of the time to see if anyone has ever thought of an idea I have to bring up on the features board. It makes sense to check to see if it has been brought up instead of bringing something up for the twentieth time...

So, I was sort of wondering if we could have a discussion board search on the main discussion board that would search all of the boards instead of having one search within each discussion board... Is this a possibility?

I have unlimited internet on my phone and would love a mobile version. Searching google can easily tell you how to detect if it is a cell phone loging on.

Basically limit bandwitdth(current page most cell phones can't even load not enough memory) and try to format to fit a 240x320 screen.

Gammonator: I posted an explanation in the Dice Poker Discussion Board: Dice Poker (coan.net, 2008-02-01 16:05:04)

still trying to find the game rules on the new Dice poker games. Its not under game rules that I can find. Not under game rules when in the game match either. Nothing explaining what a full car is????? my fellowship said to look under BK info and click on plus and go to archives and ETC... ETC,,, but I see no BK info. on main page I see information though. But no plus to click on. Is there a way to get the rules printed out in the Game Rules area? At least what a full car and the new boats and stuff??? It would really help people like me out who have never had to look up game rules on the info site and click plus and go to archives and whatever else they want me to do....lol lol. Also ,, I do not know if this is the right place to even post this. It seems appropriate though.
Thanks in advance

El Cid: Ah! It should be fixed now.

Thanks, it works fine, though when editing it says "Message for opponent", but that's a minor issue

El Cid: It should be working now.

REMOVE FOR SELECTED TOURNAMENTS
or
REMOVE FOR ALL TOURNAMENTS

Fencer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bye_%28sports%29 and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-elimination_tournament

First round, only one game will be played. Then 64 players remain.

AbigailII: What happens if a 128 players tournament is created but only 65 users sign up?

mctrivia: Thanks. I am not too familiar with these abbreviations.

Fencer: Means you skip directly to the next round without playing anyone. Allows non power of 2 elimination games. Kind of shortform for bypass.

MadMonkey: What does the "bye" mean exactly, in this context?

Puckish: Easy. 13 players. First round, 3 players get byes. The remaining 10 play 5 games, giving 5 winners. Second round has the 3 players with byes, and the 5 winners, giving us 8 players, 4 matches, 4 winners. Third round, 4 winners from round 2, 2 matches, 2 winners. Fourth and final round has the two winners from the third round battling it out.

Fencer: Actually, in games like logik, where the notes can be "updated", it's easier to press "edit", than to select the whole text, copy, paste it on a new note, and then change what we want to.
This also happen in games like espionage, where you may want to change the coordinates of a possible piece, and to do that, you have to copy/paste and change it's location, or as an alternative to write the name of the piece again.

AbigailII: So, if you have 13 players in a 16 game elimination tournament, the top 3 rated players would get byes.


I am not sure its possible to have an elimination tournament with an odd amount of contestants?

AbigailII: Yes, never thought of that, i guess that should be taken into account

Like you say, it would then be possible to set a Tournament deadline, and no matter how many enter, it could still be Elimination

Lets hope Fencer agrees

MadMonkey: Good suggestion. It has been proposed before, and I still like it. But instead of giving byes random, I suggest doing the byes randomly only if the tournament is selected to not sort by rating. For tournaments which sort by rating, byes should go to the highest ranked players (just like it would happen in tennis or chess). So, if you have 13 players in a 16 game elimination tournament, the top 3 rated players would get byes.

And, once you have a system of byes, it should be easy to make setting the number of players for elimination tournaments optional (just as regular tournaments have optional lower and upper limits). You could make an elimination tournament with no set number of players. If at the deadline, there are 27 players signed up, you'll have a 5 round tournament, with 5 byes in the first round. If only 12 people signed up, you'll have a 4 round tournament, with 4 byes in the first round.

El Cid: Isn't it easier to delete a note and post a new one?

Since we can now edit messages we did(n't) wrote to our opponent, is it possible to be able to edit personal notes also

I have been good haven't i ?
Not one request today lol, in fact a couple of days

Well there is now, and i know it has been mentioned a few times before, but i would like to ask again

Regarding Elimination Tournaments.
We have to set to either 4, 8, 16 players etc...

Fencer, if you have time soon, can you work on the not enough players to start some games in a Tournament issue.
In other words, have byes so the Tournament can still play if the Tournament is not full.

If only 15 players enter a 16 player Elimination, we have 7 games + 1 bye (picked at random)
If only 11 players enter a 16 player Elimination, we have 3 games + 5 byes (picked at random)
If only 25 players enter a 32 player Elimination, we have 9 games + 7 byes (picked at random) etc..etc.., well you know what i mean

It just seems such a shame, to the people that enter these Tournaments, that end up just getting deleted

Most of us that create regular Tournaments, when we create Elimination ones, come across the same problem. We have a great selection of games here on BrainKing, but when we create multiple games in a Elimination Tournament we will always get people for the popular games here (Gammons, Ludo, Poker etc..), but then the lesser played games hardly ever get enough, and end up deleted.

It would be great if the people that bother to enter these, actually get to play

Rainbow Road: Chinese Checkers can be played on a star board with 2 players and one set of pieces each, but it would then be almost the same as Halma 8×8, just without the ability to move directly forward or back.

nodnarbo: I like International checkers too. Much better than boring ole checkers.

joshi tm: I second the vote for International checkers in the hopes that it may speed the process of implementing it on this game site

Fencer: Whoops, my fault. I learned tot play another game that way and my teacher called it Chinese Checkers.

Fencer: Chinese checkers would be har to bring here... a 6 player board or 2 players with 3 colors each...

joshi tm: By the way, I thought that Chinese Checkers were played on a star board, not a square one.

joshi tm: I like the idea of halma 8x8 and halma 10x10 where the pieces are on the first to rows... Fun Idea

joshi tm: There is always a chance.

Fencer: But is there a chance ( in % please) I can play International Checkers soon (say, within a ½year)?

joshi tm: I never said that I hate checkers. I just prefer other types of games, that's all.

Dear Fencer,

The Frog Legs game is pretty cool, but, I know you hate checkers, I am still in these two years missing the checkers game played most over the world. International checkers wouldn't be too difficult to implement, I think. Is there any chance I will play this game?

This game request is not only my thoughts, I know a lot of (potential) players still want this game supported by Brain King.

Also try Chinese Checkers (a 8x8 Halma type game but the pieces are in the first two rows; 16 instead of 10)

clueless36: I recommend to get rid of PeoplePal adware which is installed on your computer.

rednaz23: I would hate to see a limit of 10 tournament waiting at a time, since when I make a batch of my "fast start" tournament, I will create up to 30 tournaments...... of course 50% of them will start within a day - with the rest within 5 days (so not increasing the tournament list too much)

I mean right now I have 2 prize tournament sitting waiting for signups, so that would leave me with only 8 "fast starts" to create. Anyway, I would support a limit - but would rather see it at something like 30.

But what annoys me about tournaments are the ones with long wait times after tournament start ("in the red") - I mean I see it being good for 1-5 days after the start - but from what I can tell, if after 1 or 2 days after the start, chances are you are not going to fill it up. (Plus the tournament creator can still change the start date to a later date if needed). Anyway for that, 30 days is way too long. 7 days (week) would be a better limit in my opinion.

But overall - with the nice filters on the tournament page, honestly the total and "in the red" amounts don't bother me too much.

Fencer: Can we have a limit on how many tourneys a person has started at an time on the tournaments board? I think 10 tourneys is plenty... this should include those tourneys that have negative time left as well...

Hopefully this will cause people to reduce the amount of time until tourneys start, the massive amount of backgammon tourneys created by the same person all at the same time, and reduce the amount of tourneys that are 'in the red'... and maybe some other unforeseen things too.

BTW; When you consider that BK is growing and there are more and more paying members each year, there will be a point (and I personally think it is now) where there will need to be a change to this policy due to the sheer numbers of tourneys.

I hope you consider this... thanks!

Phil (rednaz23)

AbigailII: "And any rating system worth its salt should not consider a match won 6-4 to be equivalent to a match won 10-0."

I disagree. Isn't the whole point of a match to treat a group of games as one game? The way you propose it, it seems like it would be more like playing 10 normal games separately, which IMHO defeats the purpose of a match.

clueless36: please read this http://brainking.info/archives/414-About-the-complexity-part-1.html
oh and are you using firefox?

please can you speed up the page loading..it is so slow it takes me 45 minutes to play 8 games....thank you

AbigailII: And any rating system worth its salt should not consider a match won 6-4 to be equivalent to a match won 10-0.
In theory I agree. But in practice, I'm not so sure: when on a 10 game match, if I win the first 6 games in a row my opponents may choose to forfeit the rest of the games in the match by resigning early. If their BKR will be adversly affected by doing so, then they will prefer to take all the games through the end, trying to get to that 6-4. The outcome of the match will be the same (I win) but I'll just have to wait a lot longer to get to it.
And if Fencer ever gets to implement a ResignMatch option, that doesn't make you go through every single game left, how would this score be counted then?