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BGonline.org Forums
Alphabet Soup
Posted By: Bob Glass
Date: Wednesday, 12 October 2011, at 1:13 a.m.
Internet backgammon! Such a thrill! You can mull over the merits of certain plays and cube actions while sitting in your underwear (please don't visualize). The trouble now is that there is so much going on, it's hard to keep track of it all. I'm on Gridgammon burning time when bjp opens up a chat window and asks me when I want to play our match. Like an idiot, I say what match? The NIC! First I go to info to see who bjp is. Then we negotiate a time trying to find intersecting windows involving 2 different time zones. That's harder than you think. And then I think to myself, didn't I get knocked out of the NIC (what does NIC stand for anyway?), or was it the Nation's Cup, or was it the US Qualifiers, or was it the Grandmaster Norm (1 or 2), or was it the Esprit, or was it that best 2 out of 3 5 point match thingie. I actually had to Google Backgammon NIC to see what it was. In fact I did lose in the first round but I was scheduled to play in the second chance not knowing that there was a 2nd chance. I think if you lose in the 2nd chance, you qualify for the Dubrovnik Open, taking place in a city in Croatia where everyone plays backgammon in their scivvies.
I then wonder what website I'm supposed to go to? How do I contact my opponent to schedule my match? How many points? Where's the drawsheet? Where do I report the results? What is the deadline? Am I maintaining a good enough audit trail in case my opponent doesn't show up? How do I explain to my opponent that I find 4am a less than desirable time to play. And then on top of that I'm supposed to save my matches (in the proper format, no less) and send them to who knows where? This is all too much for someone who considers the transistor radio a marvel of modern civilization. And how about dem Polaroid cameras, huh? To me, DOS Boot is the name of a movie, not a procedure.
But seriously, folks, there should be a central database for all of this stuff. Maybe Carol's newsletter could have a Mark Your Calendar section for just internet events which would include the website. It would also be nice if someone would actually take the helm and schedule the matches. Let the players give a list of available times and come up with a set time. It seems to take an eternity scheduling matches, going back and forth, back and forth, then getting no response, then asking you to play in the middle of a workday, especially with people in different hemispheres.
On top of all that, Internet backgammon is holding me hostage to my computer. I can't go out and play live backgammon because I have a scheduled match with some fellow from Outer Congolia. And he never shows up. I'm missing out on that juicy chouette with Joe Russell, Steve Sax, Bob Wachtel, and Jim Pasko.
All this stuff is so much harder than backgammon itself!
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