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Title: Hi! (and a few questions) Post by Nombril on Nov 8th, 2009, 4:35am Hello, I've almost played 100 games - am I still new to the game? This is the first on-line game I've become addicted to, normally I stick with playing in person games. So if some of these questions have obvious answers, that is why! I noticed some discussion about playing bots vs. playing other people, and wanted to comment that the welcome message suggests starting with bots. So that is what I did, and became used to. Is there some etiquette about what level of player to invite? I know learning from someone better than you is a great way to pick up ideas, but was uncertain if people would want to play someone too far below their rating. Also, I'm wondering about the world championship and world league. How many hours worth of "available" playing time is required? How often do people play unrated games? I've gotten trounced a few times when trying new things... And finally - the chat feature in the games - is it rude (distracting) to be using the chat feature? Anyway, I'm looking forward to playing "a few" more games! |
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Title: Re: Hi! (and a few questions) Post by Fritzlein on Nov 8th, 2009, 7:18am on 11/08/09 at 04:35:16, Nombril wrote:
Congrats on topping the bot ladder! For most games, playing 100 times makes you a grizzled veteran, but not Arimaa. I have played about 1600 times, and I still feel like a child lost in the woods. Quote:
In the early days of Arimaa, it was rare to be logged on at the same time as someone of an equal skill level, so we all cut our teeth playing bots. Arimaa is blessed with having a stable of bot opponents of different styles and different skill levels, such that one can learn a substantial amount without ever playing a human. Quote:
I imagine everyone feels differently about it. You will notice that many players leave their invite flag off most of the time. People who are desperate for human games have been known to invite everyone regardless of whether their prospective opponents are open for games or not, but I tend to respect the invite flag setting for fear of being annoying. You will learn the most about Arimaa from playing opponents who are +/- 400 points from your own rating. When the mismatch is larger than 400 points, the stronger player is often bored or distracted, and will make crazy moves either accidentally or on purpose. It is not conducive to learning when your opponent makes screwball moves and wins anyway, because you won't have any idea why you lost. You might mistakenly conclude that his unsound moves were sound. In contrast, when both players are straining their utmost to win, they will both benefit the most from the game. That said, sometimes I get a little stir crazy from wanting to play and not having any opponents at my level. At some point bots get totally boring, and an 1850-rated human will at least make the game new and interesting for me, as opposed to a 2050-rated bot that will lose every game the same way. So I don't strictly adhere to the 400-point rule myself. Quote:
Theoretically, to play in the World Championship you have to be "available" for sixty hours per week, although the actual game usually takes less than two hours. This availability insures that you and your opponent will have at least one time slot in common even if you live on opposite sides of the world. In practice, for most rounds you will have a good time slot in common with your opponent some time on the weekend, despite the time zone differences. It only gets challenging when you or your opponent is not able to play some weekend. You might find yourself having to question how much you really to want to play in the World Championship if the scheduler makes you stay up to play in your midnight-to-two-in-the-morning time slot while the other guy is dragging himself out of bed for his five-to-seven-in-the-morning time slot. These scheduling conflicts don't happen often, but they do happen occasionally. Last year in five rounds of preliminary and six rounds of final, I had only one really awkward game scheduled, along with lots of convenient games on a weekend morning or evening. The World League will presumably use the same scheduler, but should make life easier by allowing you to opt out for some weeks while your teammates take up the slack. Quote:
Against bots people play unrated all the time. Indeed, if you are handicapping yourself against a bot, you should play unrated to avoid adding noise to the signal. Against humans I prefer to play rated in every game, unless the game is explicitly a teaching game or an experimental game. My preference for playing rated games stems from a conviction that people care too much about having a high rating. Your rating should be a tool to help you find opponents of approximately equal strength. Your rating is not a treasure to be hoarded. If you bend over backwards to preserve a high rating, it defeats the purpose of ratings, because your rating no longer indicates the level of opponent you should be playing. Quote:
I don't mind if people chat in the game, because I can always ignore them. Sometimes my opponent sends a message that I don't even notice for several moves. If you aren't going to be offended by brief, delayed, or non-existent replies, then chat to your heart's content. :-) Quote:
Just play enough so that you're not a noob any more. I think about 500 games should do it... :P |
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Title: Re: Hi! (and a few questions) Post by Hippo on Feb 16th, 2010, 4:59am Seems to me winning 2 games on WC opens the doors to play whoever with invite flag set :). BTW: Since Fritz replied "Are you always speaking when one tries to think" in the game chat, I have minimized the trash chat during the games :). |
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Title: Re: Hi! (and a few questions) Post by Fritzlein on Feb 16th, 2010, 7:49am on 02/16/10 at 04:59:31, Hippo wrote:
Well spoken. Quote:
Heheh, Hippo. In fact I didn't mind that you were chatting in our games, because I could just ignore it for as long as I was concentrating on my moves. But then when you asked me why I was not responding, it seemed to oblige me to explain. :) I'm not sure how other people signal their mood, but I signal my mood as follows: When I am "open for chat", I log into the chat room and wait for people to drop in and talk. When I am "open for games", I turn on my invite flag and wait for a challenge. Sometimes I am open for both at the same time, but other times I am only in the mood for one or the other. I use two different indicators for two different frames of mind. Thus it is fairly rare, if I am not in the chat room, that you will find me in a chatty mood by challenging me to a game just to talk while playing, or challenge me just to invite me to chat. |
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Title: Re: Hi! (and a few questions) Post by Eltripas on Feb 16th, 2010, 6:39pm on 11/08/09 at 07:18:43, Fritzlein wrote:
Yahoo, I'm not a noob anymore, it's a shame that my level is so low with the amount of games I've played. |
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