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Frustrating Scrabble part deux
I think people partly got the wrong idea.
I wasn't frustrated just becasue I was losing, but because I was facing a player who didn't seem to be putting any thought into the game. Having realised why I was losing - board too blocked - I sacrificed a blank to create some open space and am now over a hundred points in the lead.
I'm still frustrated. If you're a Scrabble player, maybe you'll understand the frustration caused by an opponent who manages to score 6 on a triple word score (with lots of free space around it). She played 'at'. Having looked at the tiles left in the game, I'm sure she could have managed one of cat, sat, mat, bat, fat, hat, vat, etc. before we even look at longer easy words.
I play games for both the challenge and for the social element. This particular player isn't interested in chatting (I've tried a few messages) and seems to have no real interest in the game. I can only guess that for her its a pastime on the level that my great aunt used to play Patience. You do it a lot and it helps pass the time.
(Someone asked why I don't abandon the game. Fair question. Partly courtesy. It's rude to abandon a game part way through. Whatever her reasons for playing, she obviously gets something out of it as she plays her turns faster than anyone else I'm playing. I may find her annoying, but that's no reason to dip out on her.)
I'll stick to playing friends in future. All the seven other people I'm playing at present are players who put some thought into what they're doing. Some, like![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
megamole , are far better players than I am, but the game is fun. And knowing who I'm playing creates part of the social aspect for me.
I wasn't frustrated just becasue I was losing, but because I was facing a player who didn't seem to be putting any thought into the game. Having realised why I was losing - board too blocked - I sacrificed a blank to create some open space and am now over a hundred points in the lead.
I'm still frustrated. If you're a Scrabble player, maybe you'll understand the frustration caused by an opponent who manages to score 6 on a triple word score (with lots of free space around it). She played 'at'. Having looked at the tiles left in the game, I'm sure she could have managed one of cat, sat, mat, bat, fat, hat, vat, etc. before we even look at longer easy words.
I play games for both the challenge and for the social element. This particular player isn't interested in chatting (I've tried a few messages) and seems to have no real interest in the game. I can only guess that for her its a pastime on the level that my great aunt used to play Patience. You do it a lot and it helps pass the time.
(Someone asked why I don't abandon the game. Fair question. Partly courtesy. It's rude to abandon a game part way through. Whatever her reasons for playing, she obviously gets something out of it as she plays her turns faster than anyone else I'm playing. I may find her annoying, but that's no reason to dip out on her.)
I'll stick to playing friends in future. All the seven other people I'm playing at present are players who put some thought into what they're doing. Some, like
megamole , are far better players than I am, but the game is fun. And knowing who I'm playing creates part of the social aspect for me.
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BTW I'm interested in your rules of thumb for better play - are they documented anywhere?
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Never use a blank or an s unless you will score at least 25 points (if you're a really good player, set that value as high as 50)
Never play a tile worth more than two points unless you can double it (and most of the time you can)
If your turn scores less than 20, you probably aren't looking hard enough - try and see what you've missed.
Try and hang onto the letters RETAINS - you'll find your odds of a 7-letter word are greatly increased it you do this.
Look at the premium squares on the board and see if you can get your high scoring letters onto them.
QI, XI and ZA/ZA are remarkably useful words.
Just that lot, with no extra word knowledge at all, will improve your average score by around 50%
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I'm sure she's not a bot. A bot would have got more out of the triple word score. THey can just run through the dictionary.
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House rules for Srabble - which are optional, but the ones I use.
Partners/children may assist with turns, but the final decision is always yours.
No use of anagram-solving programs.
Two letter words lists are there to be used.
Look up words if you aren't sure if they're correct, but don't go overboard trying every combination if you didn't think it stood a chance in the first place. (three letter words are almost fair game, don't feel too guilty about trying a few more of those as you get to know them in time in any case)
There are no turn deadlines. If a turn is very late, then it's probably because I'm not well enough to type, or knee-deep in convention work. (ie. Neither of us force a win if the other fails to put in a turn, or at least not without asking first)
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