Phone-users on FIBS

[Cigale]

Hi all!
The phone-users-problem on FIBS has been discussed alot lately here.

IMHO the is a very simple solution:
all serious players consequently refuse playing phone-users .... that should make them go look for other places to play by short time means.
By the way: i need to ask this to you Patty: what about some kind of fire-wall against phone-users?




When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

[socksey]

Patti does not read all of Fibsboard, so chances are she won't see this.  She will see if you leave her a message on Fibs or if you send her a personal email.   

socksey



"I call Christianity the one great curse, the one great intrinsic depravity, and the one great instinct of revenge, for which no means are venomous enough, or secret, subterranean and small enough - I call it the one immortal blemish on the human race." Friedrich Nietzsche

[stog]

also there are other threads on this topic, i recommend you reading-- use the search ; i remember dorbel correctly saying how phone users today can often become computer fibs players of tomorrow for example

[KissMyAss]

There is something I would like to remind you all of.   And it harks from WAAAAAAAAAAAY back in the days when I first joined fibs.  I'm not sure how many of you would care to cast your minds back that far, but there is a certain point to this post, totally relevant to this thread.

I started out as a phone user!

Yes, me!  The beloved KMA/TD. 

I walk among the more 'elitist' crowd of computer users in fibs now.... but I was once a lowly phone user.  I am not too proud to remember my roots, some of them were quite good really.  Others, not so much.  But, back to fibs. hehehe

How did I ascend from the pits of demonspawn and rise to the lofty heights of dominance I embrace today?    Patience, persistence, and a steadfast refusal to accept #### off as an answer!   
I guess having an engaging smile, a winning personality and a great set of norks helped too, but that's all part of the KMA package.   With me, you get what you see.   I was the same as a phone user, and nothing has changed now. 
Except maybe now that I am in the 'in' crowd, I get a few more games with you all since you are no longer 'bottom feeding' as some of the more eloquent members of our beloved herd used to put it.   
I think that's what some of these phone users of today are missing.  The ability to engage the members who play them, in witty, intelligent or failing that, deviant conversation.   I have discovered the best way to a man's gammon board is through his ........ well, you know. 

Perhaps its time we taught the demonspawn, that we are able to be engaged in conversation beyond the attention seeking abuse they spit at us, or the lowly dropping tactics they employ. 
Perhaps its time, as a community, we stood together, and embraced our phone using cousins, and tried to get to know them a little better rather than just ignoring or abusing them for their lack of computer. 

RISE UP PEOPLE!   We have Thursgay, and Pants Off Friday.... lets have Talk To Phone Users Sunday!  Who's with me?   Let's start a revolution, and get some personality flowing back through the veins of our FIBS body, so that we may live again, and restore it to its former glory!  After all, what's the worst that can happen??  You could meet some really interesting new people, and broaden your horizons just that teensy bit more than what they are already!  You know it makes sense people, JOIN THE REVOLUTION!   Chat to a phone user, and lets pump the life back into FIBS!

[dorbel]

Yes, I think indeed the time has come to reach out to phone users. I am going right now to chat and play with ObamaIsADirtyMonkey, farsiFucker, INeedPussy, FuckFibs and Crazy_For_Pussy. These all sound like the sort of good reliable chaps (one somehow suspects that they are chaps) that will be an asset to our community. No doubt some other equally appealing nicks will log in later.

[Patti]

The short answer:  I don't want to toss them out.

I want to make FIBS welcoming to as many people as possible.  I want to find ways to integrate mobile users into the community.

If I wanted to block them, it would take me about 60 seconds to do that-- it's technically trivial.  I can't see throwing out a third of FIBS users as a workable plan to solve any problem, though.

[dorbel]

Yes, in case it needs pointing out, I don't want phoneys blocked either, as I have pointed out in other related threads, they are a source of new blood, vital to our site and the game. Humour was intended.

[socksey]

I'm sorry, but wouldn't kicking them out speed the server up?  In case some have not noticed, the lag is back again, sometimes not so bad, other time, horrid.    

Now, I've met some nice phone users, and I don't like myself for thinking this, but, all things considered, I'd rather not have anyone on a phone application until the server is improved beyond the lag.  For the most part, "they" seem to be rude droppers.    

While Patti seems to have improved the dropping problem with the new 10 saved rule, there also seems to be a playing slow speed problem that excels with phone users that is an unpleasant experience.  Some phone users cannot see shouts which limits their experience and keeps them a bit backward in how things go on Fibs.

KMA, I'm always polite to newbies, phone users or otherwise, and happy to meet formidable and polite players, phone users or otherwise.  Unfortunately, this doesn't erase the problems as I stated above, so sorry to say I'm not joining your "revolution" just yet.   

Combining phone users, lag, and the new Patti changed policy, Fibs has become all around far less enjoyable to me than it once was. 
 
socksey



"If I had done everything I was supposed to, I'd be leading the league in homers, have the highest batting average, have given $100,000 to the Cancer Fund and be married to Marie Osmond." - Catfish Hunter, American baseball player, born in 1946

[diane]

Just to make sure the reporting is evenly biased 

I am  total convert to playing phone players.

I got the interface, used it to understand the challenges they face, and what is going on. Now I know that, it makes it much easier not to get stressed with them.

I use the new commands, and do two checks..and have absolutely no problem keeping my saved games under 5.

Of the three saved games I have right now - 1 is a phone user, and the other two are regular computer users. [1 being the one where the game was lost, he threw the resign out there, then logged out before I could take it..I am confident I will get the resume..but it is even more annoying than phone users - because computer users should know better.]

So - the phone users bring new blood - and a lot of it is good blood..leaving aside the obvious ones dorbel listed up there - but we had enough of those before phones users ever came along, and years asgo learned to steer clear of anyone with a name in that ilk. I have met even more new people - in more remote places now, since phones go where computers often cant or dont.

The lag is similar to what it was.

The worst use of server resource seems to be players sitting online chatting - timing out those players not actually playing bg is great, I am fully used to doing something now to ensure I stay logged in if watching a match or running a tournament.

There are a million sites out there devoted to chat. IMs..skype, jabber, facebook to name but a few. There are also online chat rooms - there is even a chat room on this board.

If people are simply lonely and want to chat - then there are all those places to use. Most of them you can stay logged in while you play bg. They also have the added benefit of being 'opt in' chat rooms. You go if you want to..the chat isnt something you have to put up with, like it or not...you can be with a like minded group of people chatting about anything that grabs your interest. There need be no listening to someone you find boring or objectionable..how wonderful is that 


The changes to fibs are fantastic..and I find it a much better place to be. 

The ongoing technical upgrades are exciting - we are moving from it being something which looked like it would never ever evolve, to me wondering day to day what is coming next!

Maybe those who miss what FIBs was will eventually stop complaining, and go find something that they enjoy doing as much as they used to enjoy FIBs - maybe even pick up the BuckoFibs server and start running that for themselves in the way they want it to run..whatever...let FIBs be what it is, and was always designed to be - the first internet Backgammon server, where those wanting to learn and get started can come and be welcomed, encouraged and coached, wherever they are in the world, and whatever language they speak.

[Zorba]

Nobody forces anybody to read FIBS shouts... toggle silent is anyone's friend.

If you don't want to chat and just play backgammon, there are plenty of backgammon servers offering a much better player experience than FIBS, and this has been the case for plenty of years.

From 1994 when I first joined until today, what set FIBS apart is the lively shout area.

I don't like some of the abuse I've seen in the past years on FIBS, especially the "ganging up" against people is annoyingly childish behaviour. Nor do I like the people who think their own behaviour is somehow morally superior and should be imposed on others.

Just do your own thing on FIBS, respect others doing their thing as well, and ignore what or who you don't like. How hard is that really?

[socksey]

Don't get your hopes up, diane.  I don't plan to go elsewhere whether you like it or not.  I was just stating my opinion, for what it's worth.    

If you see things on Fibs that you do not wish to see, Zorba has educated you on how to avoid those things and those people, a super simple process, as if you didn't already know.  Avoiding lag, however, is not so fixable.   

I too, have managed to avoid many saved games.  The process for checking tho, is a pain in the butt, since most newbies and phone users seem not to know that the next invite cancels out the one before as well as checking repbot and saves.  Mainly, I try to stick to people I already know.  It's all just too much trouble!   

I find I'm playing far less than I used to, not because I don't want to play when I'm on Fibs all the time, but because of the hassle. 

I'm happy you are thrilled with the new Fibs, diane.  I'm happy some are, I'm just saying.............

socksey



"Too many pieces of music finish too long after the end."  – Igor Stravinsky, Russian composer, who died in 1971



 

[RickrInSF]

Nobody forces anybody to read FIBS shouts... toggle silent is anyone's friend.

isn't this the main complaint against phone users? that they don't pay attention to shouts, so don't understand much of the fibs culture? The idea of toggling shouts silent is the idea of becomming a "phone user" but using a computer to do it. And everyone knows that gag doesn't work, it doesn't work because of the "ganging up" against people.

As for lag, it seems to be far better lately, not worse.

As for the lack of "lively" shouts, i really have to wonder what you mean by "lively". They seem as lively as ever to me, just much less drama.

[diane]

Nobody forces anybody to read FIBS shouts... toggle silent is anyone's friend.

That does not work at all if you need to use the shout area to run tournaments..does it?

But that is a different topic..the topic is phone users.  I repeat, this is the first internet backgammon server - the statement written by Andreas is clear..

This server is on the net to meet people from all countries.

All sorts of racists and fascists are not allowed to login here!

Rude language will not be tolerated on this server. Be nice.

That applies to phone users - particularly, since they seem to be from even more diverse places.

It is great to see FIBs approaching that original vision at last.

[Zorba]

isn't this the main complaint against phone users? that they don't pay attention to shouts, so don't understand much of the fibs culture? The idea of toggling shouts silent is the idea of becomming a "phone user" but using a computer to do it. And everyone knows that gag doesn't work, it doesn't work because of the "ganging up" against people.

As for lag, it seems to be far better lately, not worse.

As for the lack of "lively" shouts, i really have to wonder what you mean by "lively". They seem as lively as ever to me, just much less drama.

I think the main complaint against phone users is the high percentage of droppers and rude behaviour. We should probably be happy if they can't use shout.

To be clear, I didn't write that there was a lack of lively shouts. And there's still plenty of (melo)drama too I'd say! 

[GeneHackman]

Hi, I'm a mobile user for necessity. I have a mac osx and I can't find a satisfying client., so I prefer to use Odesis for fibs and gnubg (whcich finally has been made also for mac) for training.

For me it has been very hard to keep a good reputation percentage, without having the chance to deeply verify who is playing with me. It's hard but I can do it. sometimes through telnet I check the users and for saved games I send a message with messange command.

[dorbel]

Javafibs, easily the best fibs client, runs on a mac.

[rebayona]

I'm a phone user too, and Odesys' app is the best I've tried. Its usability is way better than the PC apps I've tried: javafibs and fibzilla. I'm sure I'll miss your clever and full of wisdom shouts, but I'm willing to take that risk. I love to play backgammon, thanks to Patti fibs is open for it, great. Thank you.

I know you kids want to invite us all to your nice sand playground, but some of our moms will complain about all that dirt in our shoes.

PS
Yes, some phone players can be douches. Thank God PC users never are.

[ifaesfu]

I started to play in FIBS through an Android app called Backgammon Lite. Afterwards I tried 3DFibs and now I usually play with JavaFibs. I still log in FIBS with my phone, as it's more confortable while l'm lying on the bed or walking or on a car, bus...

Computer users hava an easy tool to deal with droppers, repbot. It's very hard to use repbot for a phone user.