Yeah I used to really enjoy playing with Maven at a skill level roughly equivalent to mine but since I don’t know how to update Maven’s word list to OWL2 it’s kind of confusing now. I guess playing the top player is the best way to learn but sometimes you just want to relax and play without getting the tar kicked out of you every game or putting up with some of the BS on ISC (I don’t have a local club at which to play.) It would be really cool if Quackle had some intermediate and novice settings.
From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Andrew Hime Sent: Thursday, August 23, 2007 11:24 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Re: [quackle] Playing/skill levels of Quackle >I am a 1500s player (down from 1700s lately), who plays against Quackle >frequently. Winning is not my focus with Quackle. I calculate my plays, >then consult the "generate choices" feature. I'm pleased with how often my >play is among the top three or so. But, when I like a Quackle choice better, I >play it -- thereby "cheating", and nullifying the win/lose factor -- but I'm >there for the lesson, not the win.  Additional pleasure comes in watching >Quackle perform his magic on HIS turn. I have always played computerized >versions of our game at their highest level, in order to see the finest >possible words played against me. I could name oodles of words that I have >learned that way -- rioja, unmew, lavabo, chirm, ratbag, thyrsi -- I keep a >pad next to the computer and list the words that are new to me, then I study >from it. By playing at a lower level, you wouldn't see those beauties go >down!  Personally, I am a strongly competitive player (gender >notwithstanding:), still I prefer to save the "need to win" for my club and >tournament games against humans.  Kudos to the genii of Quackle!  Carol >Dustin Minneapolis, Mn > True, but I can get the same kind of exposure to new ideas from simming/analyzing my games (or would if there were any new ones to be happening). Sometimes I just want to play a quick game and don't have anyone to play with and might want to be able to fudge and not play with ISC.
