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        Arimaa >> Say Hello >> Better late than never by odin73
        
(Message started by: odin73 on Jun 21^st, 2012, 5:13am)

Title: Better late than never by odin73
Post by odin73 on Jun 21^st, 2012, 5:13am

Hello Community,

since I finished the bot ladder, it should be really time to say 'hello' to everybody... :)

Although I joined the arimaa page already more than 2 years ago but never played regularly. At the moment I become more and more addicted to this game :)
My great thank is going to especially Omar and everybody else making this playing site running and possible! You are all doing a great job!

Arimaa is such a great strategy game. I didn´t expect this at the beginning. But now I clearly prefer arimaa to chess. I find it just more interesting and exciting to play.

I am also looking forward with pleasure to play also more live and postal games against human players for the future!

kind regards to the whole arimaa world from
Christian

Title: Re: Better late than never by odin73
Post by Fritzlein on Jul 17^th, 2012, 5:28pm

Better late than never to respond to your self-introduction...

I am thrilled whenever someone new to the Arimaa community loves the game and becomes obsessed with it right from the start. I believe, however, that it is even more a tribute to the quality of the game when someone who isn't immediately obsessed with Arimaa comes to love it more and more over time. The deepest virtues, of a person or a game, aren't immediately obvious, and take time to appreciate.

I'm glad you are discovering all that Arimaa has to offer, and I look forward to your participation in the Arimaa World League 2012, Arimaa World Championship 2013, and so on.

Title: Re: Better late than never by odin73
Post by odin73 on Jul 24^th, 2012, 8:27am

Thank you for your reply :)

In my opinion Arimaa is a game that can´t be understood in the early beginning. It takes time to see what really counts.
For example, on boardgamegeek.com there is some people rating Arimaa only to be a mean game. The reason for that is in many cases, that they played very few games leading to the conclusion that the game would prefer players performing a too passive strategy to win. Indeed, we know that this is wrong.

I really admire the top players because they know how to play an offensive game mostly not ending in a desaster..

Concerning myself I had already to learn different things:

I hesitated for a long time to play against the stronger bots in the standard ladder (and so also in finishing the ladder). I think it was not wrong to gain some feeling until engaging bot_bomb. there is some players running against a "wall" and losing 20, 30 or even more games against the same bot without a single win. Maybe in these cases, I think, there is some lack of insight.

After finishing the bot ladder, I started the advanced ladder. The lower part of the ladder was easy, I merely lost a single game.
So far I had to learn that winning against a 2000+ bot is much harder work. My impression is that against a 1800 bot it is ok to play "some move which isn´t too bad". For a win against a 2000+ bot one has to play really thoroughly and with precission (this is my impression) for every move and it is easy to lose but so much harder to win.

Playing live against a human is completely different. So far, with small experience, I lose nearly every game. The reason could be that for me it´s hard to stay calm and cool. I hope this´ll be better after some more playing.

In addition there is some specialists doing almost exclusively postal games. This type of game is again very different from a live game. Surprisingly, in this type of game, sometimes I blunder as well as in live games. The reason may be that I don´t have the patience to think about all moves for halb an hour..

My conclusion is: There´s much stuff left to learn and for training. ;)

Maybe I will join the World League 2012, but I am not sure whether is is already the time to do so.
Anyway thanks for the moral support for WC2013. I´ll do my best.. ;)

Title: Re: Better late than never by odin73
Post by Fritzlein on Jul 24^th, 2012, 9:25pm

on 07/24/12 at 08:27:58, odin73 wrote:

Maybe I will join the World League 2012, but I am not sure whether is is already the time to do so.

I am sure now is the time to join, and for the Rockies! ;)

Title: Re: Better late than never by odin73
Post by Nombril on Jul 24^th, 2012, 10:22pm

I blundered a camel :o in a postal game (in this year's postal mixer, after having just finished 4th in the World Championship...), and I know others that have made even greater mistakes. It is amazing how blind a player can be to a particular possibility, even when having such a slow clock.

The Ring of Fire is also looking for new players ;D

Title: Re: Better late than never by odin73
Post by browni3141 on Jul 24^th, 2012, 10:56pm

You'll get better against humans simply by playing humans. It requires a slightly different set of skills to defeat humans than to defeat bots.

When you are stronger you will probably start to think differently about the bots. Even the top bots consistently make horrible strategic mistakes and occasional tactical blunders. You really just have to have solid tactics and decent strategic understanding to beat them.

The real question isn't which team do you want to join, but do you want to be a loser or a winner? (paraphrased from the Great Fritz) Obviously if you want to be a winner you will join the Atlantics, otherwise join the Rockies. Sure, Ring of Fire has won every year previously, but they never had to deal with brownies and pie.

Title: Re: Better late than never by odin73
Post by chessandgo on Jul 25^th, 2012, 5:34am

on 07/24/12 at 22:56:34, browni3141 wrote:

The real question isn't which team do you want to join, but do you want to be a loser or a winner? (paraphrased from the Great Fritz) Obviously if you want to be a winner you will join the Atlantics, otherwise join the Rockies. Sure, Ring of Fire has won every year previously, but they never had to deal with brownies and pie.

Or maybe you'll recognize a familiar continent in the name of a non-above-mentioned 4th team ... and will be very welcome there :)

Title: Re: Better late than never by odin73
Post by Fritzlein on Jul 25^th, 2012, 1:08pm

on 07/24/12 at 22:56:34, browni3141 wrote:

Obviously if you want to be a winner you will join the Atlantics

Ha, the Atlantics have so little team spirit that browni3141 doesn't even have the team logo in his signature. Say you will about our past record (soon to dramatically improve), we Rockies have pride of belonging!

Title: Re: Better late than never by odin73
Post by browni3141 on Jul 25^th, 2012, 2:31pm

on 07/25/12 at 13:08:38, Fritzlein wrote:

That's funny, because I see a logo in my signature.
I'll have you know that I have Atlantics banners set up all over my house.

Title: Re: Better late than never by odin73
Post by Fritzlein on Jul 25^th, 2012, 2:33pm

on 07/25/12 at 14:31:41, browni3141 wrote:

That's funny, because I see a logo in my signature.
I'll have you know that I have Atlantics banners set up all over my house.

Meh, as the thread title says, "Better late than never."

Title: Re: Better late than never by odin73
Post by odin73 on Jul 26^th, 2012, 1:16pm

:o ..it´s getting very funny here. :D

Apparently, the team member aquisition challenge has begun.. ;)

Of course, now I am confused. Which team shall I join?

Naturally, I would join team EUROPA since this corresponds to my geographical origin (the familar one). But, considering the team size, there may be some lack of members in certain member depleted teams. Wouldn´t it rather be advised to join there being an act of charity and social behavior?
Last but not least, to join the most probable winning team seems to get the chance to enter the Walhalla of Arimaa as well as to get some cake. Not too bad.

Really. No. Easy. Decision.

Maybe I should sleep again one night to call my inner voice.

And meanwhile I´ll think which type of banner fits best to my yacht in St.Tropez. 8)