Author Topic: 100% award  (Read 11284 times)

technomc

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100% award
« on: March 19, 2007, 03:32:57 AM »


Hello Alan,

You seem to have covered just about everything now - the shuffle, the clear, the sounds, the new look, new words etc. etc. so when are you going to address the last big thing...... a 100% award..?????
The same message has flashed up for some time now....and it does say you haven't had time to prepare anything yet.....now is the time....maybe.... :-\
What do you think? I expect 'ussycat' may agree, especially today!

Cheers all.
Technomc   ;)

Alan W

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Re: 100% award
« Reply #1 on: March 19, 2007, 11:02:03 AM »
Most forum readers will be unaware that a player who finds 100% of the possible words in a puzzle - including all the more unusual words that are shown in italics - is presented with a message something like this (click here to see it full size):



To be honest, when I wrote those words I didn't think anyone would ever see them!

Then, after only a few days of live playing, it emerged that there were some players around who were much better than anything I had expected. So I hastily introduced the Maven and Cham levels. And at that time, I said:

Quote
And what, you may ask, happens if a player finds absolutely all the possible words? Is there a special title for such a player? Well the word "cheat" comes to mind. But if a player legitimately finds all the possible words in a daily puzzle, he or she will gain the people's ovation and fame forever. And we'll try to dream up an appropriate title. ("Iron Chihuahua"?)

Well, obviously some players are legitimately getting all the words, so maybe there should be a suitable title awarded to such players, and perhaps a little rosette or trophy symbol next to their name on the scoreboard.
« Last Edit: March 19, 2007, 11:08:56 AM by Alan W »
Alan Walker
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mymermaid

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Re: 100% award
« Reply #2 on: March 19, 2007, 05:14:54 PM »
Personally I don't expect that I will reach that stage that I will ever get 100% of ALL the words - however how about giving 2  awards - 100% of all the words - and those who get 100 % of all the "usual" words, then at least it will give the "normal" person a chance of getting some encouragement.

I think a little rosette for one and a trophy for the other is a great idea.

Have a great sunny day
Mandy

Alan W

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Re: 100% award
« Reply #3 on: March 20, 2007, 12:02:17 PM »
Allegations of cheating have been the most contentious issue surrounding Chihuahua. I probably shouldn't have raised the issue in a flippant way.

What I would call cheating is opening the game up anonymously and looking at the solution to the Standard puzzle, then going to the game in another window under my normal player name and copying all the words in.

Or, using some kind of software tool to generate a list of words using the day's letters, and copying them in.

You may find it hard to believe that anyone would bother doing such things, but I know it has happened, because one player admitted to it. About a year ago I got a message saying:

Quote
Thanks for the fun in the last few days Alan. I CHEAT. Solutions should only be avalible the following day then nobody can cheat.I'll behave now.

The writer seemed pleased with his efforts, because he provided his player name, actual first name, and email address. I replied:

Quote
Thanks for coming clean. I've never been particularly bothered by cheats and alleged cheats, but I know it gets some of the players hot under the collar. That was the original reason I created the Challenge puzzle - as a refuge from at least one kind of cheating, the kind I gather you employed.

What I can't understand is why you would bother. Maybe it's just to draw a reaction?

Anyway, I hope you keep playing and having fun in one way or another.

Incidentally, this player seems to have been as good as his word, since he, or someone using the same player name, has played from time to time since this exchange, but without spectacularly high results.

And on at least one occasion, when someone seemed to have got a very high score very fast, I found that they had played their words in strictly alphabetical order, and with each word coming only a couple of seconds after the previous one, regardless of how obscure the word was. This seemed to point to someone copying from a list. (Interestingly, there were a handful of words they didn't get, suggesting the list had been generated with the use of a different base word list. Or else, they were just careless.)

But in most cases when I've looked at the records for a game, I've found the highest scorers have played in just the way you describe, Technomc, taking a long time to get there, playing the more common words very quickly first, and then getting the rarer words gradually.

I think it is a normal part of our self-regard (or vanity if you prefer) that we find it hard to accept that someone else could be, say twice as good as we are, at some task we think we are quite good at. That's why I wasn't expecting people to get 100% of the words - because I can usually get only about 50% of them!

But knowing, as I do, that most of the top scorers do it through honest effort and brainpower, I can only feel awe and admiration. So, anyone who does manage to get 100% of the words certainly deserves some form of recognition.

And Mandy's idea of recognition for the player who gets 100% of the standard words is a good one too. I might even be able to get that gong occasionally!

As some players have said in another topic, you find your own level, and strive to do well in comparison with players whose score is usually similar to your own. The scores way above and below your own are not so relevant.

I certainly wouldn't class studying words as cheating, Technomc. And it's very gratifying to know that Chihuahua is inspiring you to learn meanings and origins of words. The principal purpose of the game is to provide the world with some innocent fun, but it's nice to know it has some educational effects as well.
Alan Walker
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biggerbirdbrain

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Re: 100% award
« Reply #4 on: March 20, 2007, 12:49:06 PM »
As I've only gotten the magic 100% once or twice, it's really a kick. I'm another of those addicts who spends inveterately more time at this game than would be considered healthy, but like Technomc, I just have lots of fun at it and try to learn the meanings of the many as-yet unlearned words that exist in English alone. Alan, as a player, how much time do you spend here, and then as administrator, keeping things running in this virtual little pup-world you've created?

B-B-B

Alan W

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Re: 100% award
« Reply #5 on: March 20, 2007, 03:32:17 PM »
Well, before talking about me, here are some interesting figures from the Web log.

In the first 18 days of this month, the Chihuahua site had 1081 visits of more than 1 hour's duration (13% of all visits to the site). That's about 60 visits per day. But of course, this could slightly understate the number of people spending more than an hour there each day, because some people come back from time to time during the day.

Visits to the site totalled 2875 hours, averaging about 20 minutes per visit. But this includes the 23% of visits that were under half a minute. So the average visit by people who actually played would be slightly longer. (The figure of 2875 hours implies, if my calculations are correct, that there are about 6.7 people at the site at any given time, on the average.)

As for me, my Chihuahua partner, Viz, and I normally play the two daily puzzles every day, plus a number of random puzzles. I would guess we spend at least an hour every day playing Chihuahua - longer on the weekends, when we keep coming back to the daily puzzles trying to squeeze a few more words out. (Or when we're having trouble finding the big word - that seems to be when we get our highest scores, because of all the other words we think of while the 9-letter word won't come to us!)

As for the time I spend as administrator/developer, I shudder to think. It's probably more since the forum started, because I can't resist answering people's questions, at length. In general, Chihuahua, since it started, has taken up more of my time than I would like, in one way, because there are some other game projects I'm working on, but I don't manage to put much time into them. The thing about Chihuahua is that it provides me with instant gratification, in the form of usage statistics like those above and, of course, the generous appreciative comments coming from players.
Alan Walker
Creator of Lexigame websites

ussycat

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Re: 100% award
« Reply #6 on: March 21, 2007, 05:12:59 AM »
Hi everyone,

I have been playing Chihuahua since December and have become a card carrying addict. Today I wandered into the forums and found another wonderful place to be.

I do think some sort of award should be given to those that get 100%. As you can probably tell it takes alot of effort for me to get high scores. My percentages are kind of low   :( There are so many of you that get high scores with amazing percentages. I feel like I am in the presence of real masters.

I must say that I have now been exposed to words that I never even knew existed.

Just wanted to let you all know that this is a great game. I look forward to playing with you all each day.

Thanks,

ussycat

biggerbirdbrain

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Re: 100% award
« Reply #7 on: March 21, 2007, 09:36:49 PM »
Oh, yeah, Technomc is so right! Ussycat is another great player, and nice to hear from.
See y'all on the next puzzle! And in another forum chat.
:D
B-B-B
 

Gaye

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Re: 100% award
« Reply #8 on: March 27, 2007, 11:58:22 AM »
Hi Alan,

I am interested in the other game projects you are working on - are they destined for the Lexigame site? - if so any hints as to what to expect?   
Gaye
   :)

Alan W

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Re: 100% award
« Reply #9 on: March 27, 2007, 01:38:16 PM »
Hi Gaye

It's nice to hear from you again. I guess this means you're back from WA. Hope the feared withdrawal symptoms didn't set in.

As it happens, one of the projects I'm working on might help avoid such symptoms - a mobile phone version of Chihuahua. The game would come with a number of puzzles built in, but if your phone was able to connect to the Internet - and most can these days - you would be able to download the daily puzzles that are being played on the website. I really like the idea that you would be able to add words via your phone if you happen to think of them while you're out and about, and when you next sign in to Chi on a computer, your words would be there!

I'd also like to make a downloadable version of Chihuahua for the computer, which could be played either stand-alone (e.g. on a laptop without an Internet connection) or online. This version would have a lot of extra options, so you could create puzzles to order, supplying some or all of the letters yourself.

But I've also got some ideas for Letterbox, my first game, including a global high score table and a system for people to play against each other using the same letters.

I have another idea which I think is quite original, so I don't want to say anyhting about it at this stage, although it has been said that if your idea is really original, you don't need to worry about people stealing it - your problem will be getting people to take it seriously!
Alan Walker
Creator of Lexigame websites

Gaye

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Re: 100% award
« Reply #10 on: March 27, 2007, 05:42:42 PM »
Thanks Alan.  It all sounds very interesting - I'm intrigued about your original idea - hope it works out for you.

Yes we are back from WA - had a great time.  Didn't have much spare time to give in to the withdrawal symptoms.  I did enjoy using some spare time to read a few novels. The view from our apartment of Perth city and the Swan River was a perfect setting to relax!
Gaye
   :)

mymermaid

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Re: 100% award
« Reply #11 on: March 27, 2007, 09:36:29 PM »
Alan Hi
The downloadable daily puzzles sound a great idea - especially for me, as in another fortnight we will start sailing again  :) (summer is at our doorstep here) and then I won't be able to get online 24/7 . >:(
Looking forward to seeing more news about it.

Mandy


technomc

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Re: 100% award
« Reply #12 on: August 22, 2007, 02:40:01 AM »
I have just discovered an unread post by MMM...going back yonks....

Having reread the posts i wondered Viral, if you had had any luck with the projects you mentioned above, namely;

The mobile phone version of Chi, the downloadable version of Chi, and your ideas for Letterbox [i love that too, and am so chuffed when i beat the computer, which i do fairly often].

More importantly...what about the new and original idea you had?

Can we have an update please..
 :angel:

Alan W

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Re: 100% award
« Reply #13 on: August 22, 2007, 06:24:10 PM »
Thanks for asking, T.

I've been working on the mobile phone version of Chi. (Think I've got the marketing spiel worked out - "Ever wanted to be like Paris Hilton and carry a Chihuahua around with you wherever you go? Now you can!")

I'm hoping to have a complete working version within a month or so. When I get to that point, I'll be inviting interested forumites and other Chi players to download it to their phones and test it out. I anticipate there'll be plenty of problems on different phone models, unfortunately. (One of the major problems for mobile game development is the hundreds of incompatible handset models on the market.)

In working on the mobile version, I've been tackling some of the issues affecting a downloadable computer version, because in both cases, people need to be able to play off-line and then synchronise with the website game when they get connected. So I'll probably be moving on to that after the mobile version. The other ideas I talked about have had to go onto the back-burner for now.
Alan Walker
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biggerbirdbrain

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Re: 100% award
« Reply #14 on: August 22, 2007, 07:45:27 PM »
Alan -- not that it matters to me, 'cause I'd play the game WHEREVER you had it available, but after Paris's little run in, do you really want to reference her now? (I see she's been VERY quiet lately.)