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[mrkgoo]

I dunno, many times I'll input something just because it sounds like it could be a word (and is worth lots of points so it's worth the risk if I can't come up with anything else). I could see others being the same way.

There's definitely some REALLY obvious cheaters, though.

For sure, I've done it many times. Sometimes you get away with it, sometimes you don't.

But you see the same people who come up with whacky words and ALWAYS get it.

That said, it's possible that people are picking up the words from others. For example, that last hand I exited out of? Qat. I still don't know what that is.

I still hate to call it cheating, as it's not really breaking game rules. Also, it can help someone who actually isn't very good to actually enjoy the game. The first games I played that first night I had a dictionary to look up words, because I didn't think it was bad (after all, Texas Hold'em automatically assumes the best hand), but after finding out that it is frowned upon, I have avoided it. And I can now see why it's frustrating. It kind of takes that unique spark out of Word Ace.

Let's just say, if this game were for real, and there were two versions, one where you could use a dictionary, and one you can't - which one would be more fun overall? I would probably think the one without - the other game with all best words assumed just becomes a bidding and luck game. Which is, you know, fine, but then you may as well just play Texas Hold 'em.

People can use the dictionaries if they want, I don't mind, but if they do, then they should do it with others who are doing the same.

Edit: Maybe I'm just being a sore loser. Haven't had a good winning streak like the other day

 

[jessecuster]

Ehh I don't get upset about those, because if you play Scrabble enough, especially online, you are going to run into those short high point hands. Just take you beating and know that you will get someone else with it, next time.


Its the crazy 6 and 7 letter words that seem to indicate cheating.

 

[LCfiner]

For sure, I've done it many times. Sometimes you get away with it, sometimes you don't.

But you see the same people who come up with whacky words and ALWAYS get it.

That said, it's possible that people are picking up the words from others. For example, that last hand I exited out of? Qat. I still don't know what that is.

qat?

wat?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khat

variant spelling of the plant khat

 

[mrkgoo]

Ehh I don't get upset about those, because if you play Scrabble enough, especially online, you are going to run into those short high point hands. Just take you beating and know that you will get someone else with it, next time.


Its the crazy 6 and 7 letter words that seem to indicate cheating.

I was meaning that it's the constant fringe words that are never wrong.

7 letter words can some times be glaringly obvious - they're just hard to get. Again, spamming 'mix' is awesome

 

[Flunkie]

Is this the biggest iPhone/iPod Touch game thread ever?

 

[helava]

I know I've asked already, but again - anything you can do to spread the word would be great. We're sliding back down the Games/All/Free list. We're hoping to get some traction once reviews start coming out, but we're depending on players to help spread the word...

Thanks!
seppo

 

[Dacvak]

I dunno, many times I'll input something just because it sounds like it could be a word (and is worth lots of points so it's worth the risk if I can't come up with anything else). I could see others being the same way.

There's definitely some REALLY obvious cheaters, though.

Yeah, it's super obvious when people are "cheating." The one guy I was playing with was just going all-in every hand, and ending up with words like makvah or some shit. It's upsetting, but that's why I'll just stick to playing with GAF.

At first I didn't understand how someone would cheat at this game, but then I found this after a simple Google search.

I do like calling people out when they write bullshit words, though. I usually say stuff like "hey, so what does ***** mean again?" I usually don't get an answer.

I was thinking that maybe there would be a way to "report abuse" on a player, and if it's reported enough times, their account gets flagged. Once their account gets reported once or twice, maybe it would be possible to get a log of the words they've been using. If they keep getting reported, then someone on your team can take a look at their past words. If they're mad bullshit, send them a message like "quit cheating, or you'll get banned. Btw, I'm taking away $10,000."

It's a sticky situation without any real way to combat the problem. I'm just hoping there will be some solution, or else this might turn into Metroid Prime Hunters.

 

[helava]

It's a sticky situation without any real way to combat the problem. I'm just hoping there will be some solution, or else this might turn into Metroid Prime Hunters.

It is a problem. No doubt. It's one of those things that we knew was going to occur prior to the launch of the game, the question was to what degree, and what kind of behavior we'd see from cheaters.

The hardest part is obvious - it's *impossible* to distinguish between someone who's *extraordinary* at word games and a cheater. If you see someone playing the "optimal" word every hand, it's a reasonably safe assumption they're cheating, but you never really know for sure.

Then there's the even stickier situation - it isn't actually "cheating," per se - as mrkgoo pointed out earlier. It certainly violates the spirit of the game, and it makes the game a hell of a lot less fun for the people who aren't using anagrammers. So what to do? Can we ban "cheaters"? Technically, yes. But I don't think that actually solves the problem in an elegant way.

What we're looking at is actually "anti-friending" players. The idea is that if someone's playing in an obnoxious way, you can "anti-friend" them. When you start a random game, we'll do our best to make sure that you avoid your anti-friends. If someone gets anti-friended by enough people, we'll start to take whatever action is appropriate to the situation - or if they get anti-friended by the majority of players at the table, they can get kicked from the table. If they get kicked from X consecutive tables, it alerts one of us. Something along those lines.

Honestly, the thing that's surprising isn't that people are using anagrammers and playing obnoxiously, to me. The surprising thing is that so few people are. Almost everyone I've seen has been really in the "spirit" of the game, and playing to really have fun. So that certainly makes me happy. But that's not to say we're not taking this seriously. We absolutely are. We're working on it, but it's a very, very difficult problem.

Thanks.
seppo

 

[Dacvak]

I love the anti-friend idea. That would actually kind of solve the problem. But you are right, most of the time I don't encounter anyone who's obviously cheating.

 

[kaizoku]

the antifriend idea sounds good. when I find someone who repeatedly comes out with obscure words I just leave the table.

that said, I've won with a few obscure words myself. the game loading screens provide lots of examples which encourage their use! and there's simply a few classics avid scrabble players keep in their locker or pick up along the way i.e zeks, qat, quag, and last night we had kex. and sometimes its just accidental, I won once with 'brr' :lol

I would suggest reducing time between actions to make it difficult to cheat and still play, but that probably isnt a good idea as I like to multitask when I play, often play during work or while watching tv, so I'll suggest NOT doing this.

which leads to my first suggestion, make it an option to alert me when the words are revealed so I see who wins. I sometimes have my word ready and just forget about it and miss the winning word. or if I fold I still want to see who wins.

oh and I'd like to have preset actions like most texas hold'em games. users might know they're going to fold already but they cant do it until the menu comes up. it'd be nice to set an option like fold, call anything, call unless raised, etc. if you could implement this, please disable alerts if an action is preselected, this way I could focus on work for longer bursts!

feasible?

 

[helava]

the antifriend idea sounds good. when I find someone who repeatedly comes out with obscure words I just leave the table.

that said, I've won with a few obscure words myself. the game loading screens provide lots of examples which encourage their use! and there's simply a few classics avid scrabble players keep in their locker or pick up along the way i.e zeks, qat, quag, and last night we had kex. and sometimes its just accidental, I won once with 'brr' :lol

I would suggest reducing time between actions to make it difficult to cheat and still play, but that probably isnt a good idea as I like to multitask when I play, often play during work or while watching tv, so I'll suggest NOT doing this.

which leads to my first suggestion, make it an option to alert me when the words are revealed so I see who wins. I sometimes have my word ready and just forget about it and miss the winning word. or if I fold I still want to see who wins.

oh and I'd like to have preset actions like most texas hold'em games. users might know they're going to fold already but they cant do it until the menu comes up. it'd be nice to set an option like fold, call anything, call unless raised, etc. if you could implement this, please disable alerts if an action is preselected, this way I could focus on work for longer bursts!

feasible?

Alerts when the round is over? Definitely feasible, and desirable. Reducing the time between actions? Optionally, yes - we'll basically add an "expert table" option with faster timers, but we need the longer timers for *most* players.

We're looking at doing preset actions. The biggest issue is, strangely, UI space. With all the UI of Hold 'Em and all the UI necessary for letter manipulation, the biggest issue is that to have preselected actions, you need to have somewhere to put those buttons. But it's something we'd like to do. The web version (which has a TON more space for UI) will have preselecting in place when it launches.

seppo

 

[Dacvak]

seppo, I have a potential implementation idea for the whole "revealing the best word at the end of the hand thing."

Why not make it some sort of reward? Like, if you got all the achievements, or reached a certain level, you can turn it on in the options. Or perhaps, at the end of the hand, a little button will show up over the cards saying "Reveal Best Word," giving you a small window of time to see what you could have done.

My theory is that your game already shows off some wicked ricidulous words during the loading screens, so it's not like it would break the game or suddenly give people the edge. Really, it would just help people's vocabulary and hopefully extend their ability to spot complex words.

Maybe that's just me overthinking it, though.

 

[Costanza]

This is basically the only game I play on my iPhone anymore. It's like.. why play anything else when there's Word Ace?

 

[mrkgoo]

The anti friend idea us interesting.

I was thinking you can't ban people just for 'cheating'.

But how about branding people? Like an 'i use lots of obscure words' badge. It doesn't change anything of the player except the perception of them. If the community find it bad, then they can leave the table.

 

[helava]

This is basically the only game I play on my iPhone anymore. It's like.. why play anything else when there's Word Ace?

Hahaha. That's ... well, that's perfect!
seppo

 

[Dacvak]

Hahaha. That's ... well, that's perfect!
seppo

Ditto over here.

Sandstorm was a waste of 7 bucks, or however much it was. Feel awesome, seppo, your app has made page two on my phone, a page reserved for apps and games that I've frequently used over a period of 3-5 months. (You bumped the Wiki App to page 3.)

 

[Costanza]

Sandstorm was a waste of 7 bucks, or however much it was.

I've played it once :lol

 

[Costanza]

Anyone wanna play now?

 

[Costanza]

This lagging out thing happened again.. it doesn't reconnect by itself.. quitting the app and going back in is the only thing that fixes it.

 

[Dacvak]

I just won a 3,500 pot with the word Hanky and eliminated 4 people. That felt AWESOME.

 

[helava]

...probably less so for the other players.

Congrats!

seppo

 

[Gunstar]

Awesome games dacvak and costanza. Lost all my chips again. :0) It seems I'm gonna have to throw a few euros the developer's way if I wanna keep playing with you guys. Totally worth it for this awesome game.

 

[Dacvak]

Awesome games dacvak and costanza. Lost all my chips again. :0) It seems I'm gonna have to throw a few euros the developer's way if I wanna keep playing with you guys. Totally worth it for this awesome game.

Yeah, that was mad fun. I was in tears when Constanza won with BONER.

Man, this game is awesome.

 

[Costanza]

Yeah, that was mad fun. I was in tears when Constanza won with BONER.

Man, this game is awesome.

It really, really is. How the fuck is it not the top downloaded free app yet? Look at all the garbage on that list

edit: wth 3 star average for reviews? I hate the app buying community...

 

[Dacvak]

It really, really is. How the fuck is it not the top downloaded free app yet? Look at all the garbage on that list

edit: wth 3 star average for reviews? I hate the app buying community...

Yeah, what the shit? Maybe it's because this game takes mild intelligence in order to succeed.

 

[Foob]

WordAce Pro is out!

Bought it. So gold...

 

[N Coward Parody]

WordAce Pro is out!

Bought it. So gold...

Melmy...

 

[helava]

I wish I knew what the deal is with the "melmy". Saw the screenshot, but WHAT DOES IT MEAN!?!?!?

And yeah! Word Ace Pro! Woo!
seppo

 

[centracore]

I just picked up Word Ace Pro.. gonna install it, launch it and make sure my profile is safe and sound then delete 'regular' Word Ace.

edit: did that and it worked fine! woot!

double edit: Word Ace Pro iTunes Link - http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=327765042&mt=8

 

[helava]

Shiny gold icon! Come on - once you've tried this one, you can't go back to the old red one. It's just so... not shiny!

 

[Flunkie]

I haven't played Word Ace in a couple days - this is perfect. Word Ace Pro was just the kick in the behind that I needed to get back to playing.

 

[Dacvak]

Bought Word Ace Pro.

I'm going to be the first (hopefully) to donate, too. =D

Edit: Wait, where do I donate? Is that in the pro version?

Edit^2: What exactly is the difference between the regular and pro version? Seems exactly the same.

 

[Flunkie]

What exactly is the difference between the regular and pro version? Seems exactly the same.

Hellooooooo..

Shiny gold icon! Come on - once you've tried this one, you can't go back to the old red one. It's just so... not shiny!

12k chips, fancy "pro" lettering on the title page (my personal favorite), new icon, and ability to purchase shit in-app

 

[helava]

Bought Word Ace Pro.

I'm going to be the first (hopefully) to donate, too. =D

Edit: Wait, where do I donate? Is that in the pro version?

Edit^2: What exactly is the difference between the regular and pro version? Seems exactly the same.

Pretty much, yeah. What Flunkie said. The strictly donation-based stuff is coming, but it requires a little more work, so it'll be a little bit down the line (given that we want to do the avatar icon indicator thing to show others that you donated). For now, it's just chips for the in-app purchase, but more will be coming shortly.

seppo

Edit: That said, Dacvak - you *are* one of the first to donate. By picking up Pro, you've helped us immensely, and we really appreciate the support. Same goes for everyone who's picked up WAP. Thank you.

 

[Dacvak]

Weird question, seppo: Is there a way to always play just against a bot, but still online? Sometimes when I'm playing, I just want to plow through a few games really fast, and the bots are perfect for that.

Also, how do I purchase something in-app? I want to give at least a little extra cash to you.

 

[helava]

Weird question, seppo: Is there a way to always play just against a bot, but still online? Sometimes when I'm playing, I just want to plow through a few games really fast, and the bots are perfect for that.

Also, how do I purchase something in-app? I want to give at least a little extra cash to you.

No, there's no way to just play against bots - sorry!

To purchase something in-app, it's really simple - just go to the Chips & More section in WAP, and click on the chip package you want to purchase. Hit "Buy It" on the bottom of the screen, confirm via the little Apple pop-up, and you should be good to go. One of the weird things that didn't show up in testing (probably because the testing program doesn't actually work exactly the same as the actual in-app purchase) you may have to wait a moment or two for the new chips to show up.

But yeah - that's it. Easy as pie.

Thanks!
seppo

 

[mrkgoo]

wtf.

How did I not know this.

So bought. Gonna be so melmy.

Anyway, I' don't really like the Pro monicker, but if that's what it takes to give Seppo money, than so be it.

Can I delete my regular version before installing and retain profile?

 

[Reno7728]

Any info on chip pricing seppo?

 

[mrkgoo]

Any info on chip pricing seppo?

99c = $10,000.

I forget which way around is the real money, and which is the in-game money.

 

[Dacvak]

seppo, fuck your crack-addictive product. I should have been asleep 3 hours ago. Do you have any idea how shitty it is driving 2 hours to class on only 5 hours of sleep? Damn you.

On a happier and less sarcastic note, I just bought 10,000 chips! Of course, I already had like 33,000 or something, so I didn't really need them, but I figured I'd chip you guys another buck.

 

[helava]

seppo, fuck your crack-addictive product. I should have been asleep 3 hours ago. Do you have any idea how shitty it is driving 2 hours to class on only 5 hours of sleep? Damn you.

On a happier and less sarcastic note, I just bought 10,000 chips! Of course, I already had like 33,000 or something, so I didn't really need them, but I figured I'd chip you guys another buck.

Thank you! ...and sorry about the sleep. :O

For the record, the chip prices:
10,000 chips = $0.99
55,000 chips = $4.99
120,000 chips = $9.99
300,000 chips = $19.99

And now that WAP is out, and the purchase stuff will be following shortly on the Pre, we'll be firing up the $4K tables really soon.

seppo

Edit: Also, I feel your pain. We had some friends over for dinner. We hung out a bit after that, and then ended up playing WA for like, another hour. This thing EATS time.

 

[mrkgoo]

Thank you! ...and sorry about the sleep. :O

For the record, the chip prices:
10,000 chips = $0.99
55,000 chips = $4.99
120,000 chips = $9.99
300,000 chips = $19.99

And now that WAP is out, and the purchase stuff will be following shortly on the Pre, we'll be firing up the $4K tables really soon.

seppo

Edit: Also, I feel your pain. We had some friends over for dinner. We hung out a bit after that, and then ended up playing WA for like, another hour. This thing EATS time.

I saw the prices. I'm a little concerned that there will be very few people who will actually use the purchase chip buttons. Again, who are they targeting? The people who play a lot are probably pretty good, and thus don't really run out.

Then again, once the big tables hit, and if they do become a hit, I can definitely see people buying chips as the daily allowance doesn't cover the games.

It's going to be interesting.

Also what happened the other night? When we were playing, all of a sudden you bid everything then folded, kind of donating money to who was left. Was that just you being generous?

Lastly, a note to other people if they were wondering, I was able to delete the apps before even installing the Pro version, and everything was dandy. It did ask me to upgrade to the pro version when I wen tint the chip area, but after closing the app and restarting, that option was gone.

 

[truth-lasers]

Played Word Ace and liked it. Perhaps not exactly my type of game, and not having english as my first language makes it a bit harder, but it's a great idea and executed well.

And I'll happily support Self Aware, so I bought the Pro-version earlier today.

 

[kaizoku]

there's a new twitter account devoted to word ace cheaters - is this official seppo?

http://twitter.com/wordacecheats

Seems like there isn't any kind of 'proof' required so it will probably lead to abuse and groundless accusations.

game is strangely devoid of activity this morning. I've grown accustomed to there being at least one addicted gaffer online when I log in.

 

[Costanza]

I bought WAP

edit: And a 10,000 chips package for now. I'll donate more soon.

 

[kaizoku]

just read some of the previous page that I missed and I didn't realise some of us were getting annoyed or even rage-quitting :lol

It occurred to me that I never get angry with this game. I'm generally quite an angry gamer when things don't go my way, even when I lose at poker where its down to luck more than anything else, but with Word Ace I never feel angry at all. Even if a good word is beaten I can just brush it off and get on with it.

If I'm playing with someone who keeps coming out with crazy words, I leave or keep folding until i have a word I can beat them with.

seppo - how were those initial words shown during loading chosen? did you compile a list of obscure words or something?

edit - this is weird now. on the day WAP comes out none of my friends are online? all morning?

 

[LCfiner]

I just picked up word ace pro now and the 10 dollar chip package. I figure that this game matches up well with the other "premium" iphone games i've bought for 8-10 bucks. for others it might not, but i guess that's why the chip package system is a nice option. I hope it works out for the devs.

I don't really care about running out of chips. just wanted to pay my fair share for this game.

i should be able to get online tonight and get schooled. :lol

 

[Barrett2]

Bought Word Ace Pro. Finally on a roll this morning, winning a lot of hands. I found that even though the long timer still irritates the hell out of me, if I can just be patient I can win a few hands, it really changes how I can approach the game.

edit - I had my first rage quit yesterday. Some dude was pulling random words out of his ass, and I called him a cheater right before leaving the room. I may not be a word genius or anything, but I do have a decent vocabulary. When you see someone using multiple words you have never heard of, it does spark a bit of madness.

 

[Remy]

So on Sunday, I gave my wife a very quick tutorial as to how to play. She's always hated Texas Hold'em with a passion, but loves word games, so I figured it may be her thing. Last night, I come in to bed and I see her curled up, looking like she's asleep - but when I come around to the other side of the bed, I see she's got her iPhone in her hand, playing Word Ace.

Bought Pro this morning after I saw the quasi-ad on the chip page. Will probably go for the $20 package not because I need the in-game money but in support of the game. (I already won someone's first and second born children last night...)

I do agree that there's not a lot of incentive to buy the Pro version other than love of the game (or if you're terrible and need more chips). Just to throw out some dumb suggestions about more incentives:

* The ability to set levels for the AI (maybe both in word-finding ability and aggressiveness of betting) in practice mode. They all seem dumb as rocks, and because I'm out of signal .
* In-game music player
* Review of your hand history
* More stats
* Selection of other pleasing colors for the table felt

 

[Barrett2]

Seppo, will you be able to track users who buy chips? I would suspect a certain amount of players will both be bad at the game, but also have a bit of poker addition. I think it would be interesting to know how many people eventually spend $100+ on this.