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Title: human vs bot games Post by KingElephant on Apr 24th, 2011, 1:37pm I understand part of the purpose of the creation of Arimaa was to challenge programmers, but... I wish I people would accept my challenges instead of playing bots. It seems very problematic to me that bots are such a large focal point. I understand the bot ladder makes it possible for players to get a game any time they want one. Unfortunately, the result is a lot of human vs bot games while I find it difficult to get a human-human game arranged. I have played people on this site who have said to me, "This is the first time I have played another person." But they had a long track record of games vs bots. Isn't the personal interaction of a human-human game important? I would like to finish by asking, What is best for the growth of Arimaa? |
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Title: Re: human vs bot games Post by The_Jeh on Apr 24th, 2011, 3:59pm On some chess sites, there are so many players that you can always find a human willing to play, and usually one of an appropriate skill level. We have been more successful in recent times gathering larger numbers of players online, but you will still see a lot of human vs. bot games, simply because 1. As you said, they are always available, 2. Beginners are less intimidated by an opponent that has no consciousness, 3. Unless you are over 2200 or so, there is a bot to match your skill level. So you might say, the best thing for the growth of Arimaa is the growth of Arimaa. The more players we have, the easier it is to get new players. A lot of things have been done to try to get the snowball rolling, such as giving commentary during live games. Fritz has published a book, and chessandgo is soon to do so. You have been inviting players. Have you also tried creating an open game? If you still can't find an opponent here, you can also open a board at iggamecenter.com and see if someone shows up. You probably won't find any Arimaa enthusiasts there, as they tend to play here, but someone new to the game might show up. |
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Title: Re: human vs bot games Post by Fritzlein on Apr 24th, 2011, 5:17pm Part of the problem is the chicken-and-egg syndrome. People who like to play bots feel at home here and hang around for a long time, since a great variety of bots are available to play at any time of day or night. People who only want to play humans may get frustrated and leave for lack of opponents. Thus when you seek out human opponents, they aren't there. If that frustrates you too, to the point of leaving, that will reinforce the status quo. On the other hand, the situation for human games isn't completely hopeless. Yes, many people only want to play bots, but others enjoy playing bots and humans both. Such people just need a little nudge, and/or a better opportunity. One thing you can do to try to change the situation is organize live tournaments on weekends, the best time seemingly earlier in the day for the Americans so that the Europeans are still awake. There is a tournament pairing tool created by Omar that facilitates running live events, but someone must still work with the tool on game day, not to mention recruiting and advertising beforehand so there will be players come game day. This has been tried with moderate success in the past; I think it has increasing potential to work in the future because the Arimaa-playing population (and the number of HvH games too) has continued to grow. Megajester's organizational energy made the Arimaa World League happen for the first time last year. I'm sure there is room for similarly-motivated organizers to make new stuff happen this year. If you are interested, just post your ideas and proposals here, and you will get plenty of feedback about whether folks want to take part, as well as what has worked better or less well in the past. As The_Jeh said, what is best for the growth of Arimaa is the growth of Arimaa. All of us who want Arimaa to grow find means to chip in, each in his own small way, to try to make it happen. So far, every year is better than the previous; there is no sign that Arimaa is peaking or petering out. On the contrary, we set new participation records year after year. |
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Title: Re: human vs bot games Post by 99of9 on Apr 25th, 2011, 6:13pm Apologies to those who feel shunned by me. When I'm around, I often log on while I'm doing other things on the computer, mostly just to watch any interesting games going on. I think the others are right that it's a bit of a critical mass / culture thing. If you stick around and keep opening games, I'm sure you'll get some bites. |
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Title: Re: human vs bot games Post by qswanger on Apr 25th, 2011, 8:20pm I on the other hand have no problem finding humans to play with. ;D I don't have any games going on right now, but when I get into one my "I really want to play Arimaa" kicks, I'll create a bunch of fairly aggressive time-controlled, turn-based games (aka, asynchronous, or "postal" games), usually about a dozen or so and I'll cycle through them as the moves get posted. There's never a problem of nobody accepting my games, and those who do accept have, by and large, tended to be around my rating, give or take a few hundred points ... no big deal. I enjoy making moves at my leisure without feeling the pressure of the ticking clock. Often times many of my opponents and I will get in several moves a day in a single game. I have no worries about the phone or an unexpected visitor, etc. |
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Title: Re: human vs bot games Post by 722caasi on Apr 25th, 2011, 11:50pm I play 20 simultaneous postal hvh games. It adds up to about one game's worth of moves per day. You might want to try that. |
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