Help
Hi there,
As most of you are aware there 2 types of BBO, one via the downloadable software and one via the net (BBO online)
I much BBO online as opposed to the software, no discrespect to it but it looks like it was programmed in the 80's
In the software you can talk to the lobby and ask for players, on BBO online you can not.
Im pretty sure that this is a small oversight and just couple of lines of coding, can this rectified????
Regards Scampy
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BBO online lacking facility to talk to lobby! very annoying Can we get this rectified???
#2
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Posted 2012-February-11, 12:08
You are close - the downloadable version (otherwise known as the Windows client) is based on a program that was written in the 1990s 
We intentionally left out chat->lobby from the newer version of BBO (otherwise known as the web client) because the signal to noise ratio of lobby chat is so low. Furthermore, the more people who are logged in to BBO the less effective lobby chat becomes.
I realize that lobby chat is not completely useless, but it is not exactly a great mechanism for finding players. It is inconvenient both for the sender (who has to type a message) and for potential players (who have to have lobby chat turned on, the default is off, then sift through all the noise along with messages in languages he does not understand, then hope that the opening that was advertised is still available, and then hope that the person who sent the original message finds the potential player to be acceptable).
I believe that we can come up with better (and mostly-automated) ways of getting players together. Addressing this issue is near the top of our list of priorities for improvements to the web client, but I can't make any promises as to when you rate to see a solution.
Thanks for your patience.
Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com
We intentionally left out chat->lobby from the newer version of BBO (otherwise known as the web client) because the signal to noise ratio of lobby chat is so low. Furthermore, the more people who are logged in to BBO the less effective lobby chat becomes.
I realize that lobby chat is not completely useless, but it is not exactly a great mechanism for finding players. It is inconvenient both for the sender (who has to type a message) and for potential players (who have to have lobby chat turned on, the default is off, then sift through all the noise along with messages in languages he does not understand, then hope that the opening that was advertised is still available, and then hope that the person who sent the original message finds the potential player to be acceptable).
I believe that we can come up with better (and mostly-automated) ways of getting players together. Addressing this issue is near the top of our list of priorities for improvements to the web client, but I can't make any promises as to when you rate to see a solution.
Thanks for your patience.
Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com
#3
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Posted 2012-February-11, 13:24
Hi Fred,
I appreciate the comments and can understand your position, can this not be added as a disabled feature, which players like me could enable to attract players from lobby. (obvoiusly their would be some sort of filter to turn on/off lobby chat)
Most Messages from Lobby go along the lines of: 2 wanted @ scampys table etc.
The reason that I need to call players from lobby is whenever I become host, BBO does not send new players. When of the older software this is not an issue.
It seems BBO does not push players to table when im host, can be waiting for a few minutes, if im lucky someone might turn up
As soon as I leave the room BBO has already filled my seat and the other empty seats, this I find quite baffling.
Is this because BBO pushes traffic towards to software rather then online players??
Please advise
I appreciate the comments and can understand your position, can this not be added as a disabled feature, which players like me could enable to attract players from lobby. (obvoiusly their would be some sort of filter to turn on/off lobby chat)
Most Messages from Lobby go along the lines of: 2 wanted @ scampys table etc.
The reason that I need to call players from lobby is whenever I become host, BBO does not send new players. When of the older software this is not an issue.
It seems BBO does not push players to table when im host, can be waiting for a few minutes, if im lucky someone might turn up
As soon as I leave the room BBO has already filled my seat and the other empty seats, this I find quite baffling.
Is this because BBO pushes traffic towards to software rather then online players??
Please advise
#4
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Posted 2012-February-13, 17:35
scampy_008, on 2012-February-11, 13:24, said:
Hi Fred,
I appreciate the comments and can understand your position, can this not be added as a disabled feature, which players like me could enable to attract players from lobby. (obvoiusly their would be some sort of filter to turn on/off lobby chat)
Most Messages from Lobby go along the lines of: 2 wanted @ scampys table etc.
The reason that I need to call players from lobby is whenever I become host, BBO does not send new players. When of the older software this is not an issue.
It seems BBO does not push players to table when im host, can be waiting for a few minutes, if im lucky someone might turn up
As soon as I leave the room BBO has already filled my seat and the other empty seats, this I find quite baffling.
Is this because BBO pushes traffic towards to software rather then online players??
Please advise
I appreciate the comments and can understand your position, can this not be added as a disabled feature, which players like me could enable to attract players from lobby. (obvoiusly their would be some sort of filter to turn on/off lobby chat)
Most Messages from Lobby go along the lines of: 2 wanted @ scampys table etc.
The reason that I need to call players from lobby is whenever I become host, BBO does not send new players. When of the older software this is not an issue.
It seems BBO does not push players to table when im host, can be waiting for a few minutes, if im lucky someone might turn up
As soon as I leave the room BBO has already filled my seat and the other empty seats, this I find quite baffling.
Is this because BBO pushes traffic towards to software rather then online players??
Please advise
I'd like to second this notion; I don't understand why the lobby feature isn't available as, at the very least, a somewhat-deprecated backward compatibility feature on the web client. Doesn't seem like it would take long to integrate as a by-default disabled feature that can be activated as a "check-box" option in the Chat Preferences window. 2 hours of programming time? Tops??
The reason I want it is I have been advised by more than one experienced/expert on the forums to use it to find high-quality games, but I can no longer stomach the Windows client.
There is a big difference between a good decision and a good result. Let's keep our posts about good decisions rather than "gotcha" results!
#5
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Posted 2012-February-13, 17:39
HighLow21, on 2012-February-13, 17:35, said:
The reason I want it is I have been advised by more than one experienced/expert on the forums to use it to find high-quality games, but I can no longer stomach the Windows client.
Are you sure that they are not being sarcastic?
"And no matter what methods you play, it is essential, for anyone aspiring to learn to be a good player, to learn the importance of bidding shape properly." MikeH
(still learning)
(still learning)
#6
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Posted 2012-February-13, 17:50
This would be very helpful as an option in the Team Game section atleast...
There is no way to notify kibitzers or players not on a table in the team game section that a new game has been formed...
Possibly there can be something added that automatically sends out a message that the match is looking for players if it is set to "Public"...
Public setting meaning that the player does not mind who joins.
There is no way to notify kibitzers or players not on a table in the team game section that a new game has been formed...
Possibly there can be something added that automatically sends out a message that the match is looking for players if it is set to "Public"...
Public setting meaning that the player does not mind who joins.
♠♥♦♣ The American Swede of BBF...I eat my meatballs with blueberries, okay? ♣♦♥♠
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"Did your mother really marry a Mr Head and name her son Richard?" - jillybean
Junior - Always looking for new partners to improve my play with..I have my fair share of brilliancy and blunders.
"Did your mother really marry a Mr Head and name her son Richard?" - jillybean
#7
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Posted 2012-February-13, 18:18
scampy_008, on 2012-February-11, 13:24, said:
Hi Fred,
I appreciate the comments and can understand your position, can this not be added as a disabled feature, which players like me could enable to attract players from lobby. (obvoiusly their would be some sort of filter to turn on/off lobby chat)
Most Messages from Lobby go along the lines of: 2 wanted @ scampys table etc.
The reason that I need to call players from lobby is whenever I become host, BBO does not send new players. When of the older software this is not an issue.
It seems BBO does not push players to table when im host, can be waiting for a few minutes, if im lucky someone might turn up
As soon as I leave the room BBO has already filled my seat and the other empty seats, this I find quite baffling.
Is this because BBO pushes traffic towards to software rather then online players??
Please advise
I appreciate the comments and can understand your position, can this not be added as a disabled feature, which players like me could enable to attract players from lobby. (obvoiusly their would be some sort of filter to turn on/off lobby chat)
Most Messages from Lobby go along the lines of: 2 wanted @ scampys table etc.
The reason that I need to call players from lobby is whenever I become host, BBO does not send new players. When of the older software this is not an issue.
It seems BBO does not push players to table when im host, can be waiting for a few minutes, if im lucky someone might turn up
As soon as I leave the room BBO has already filled my seat and the other empty seats, this I find quite baffling.
Is this because BBO pushes traffic towards to software rather then online players??
Please advise
You don't say so explicitly, but it sounds like you are referring to people not arriving at your table via "Help me find a game". As far as this goes, it shouldn't make any difference what version of our software you are using.
But make sure that "permission to play" is turned off at your table. Tables that have this option turned on will never receive players from "Help me find a game".
If you prefer to screen the players who sit at your table (and hence like to use the "permission to play" option), all I can really suggest is that you make sure your profile contains some useful information - it seems that many BBO members avoid tables when the host's profile is filled with "private"s. I suppose it also can't hurt to put a friendly and welcoming message in the description of your table. Again it will not make a difference which version of our software you are using (since potential players have no way to know).
The bottom line is that both the Windows client and the web-client behave identically in these areas. If we were to intentionally favor one over the other, it would almost certainly be the web-client that would get preferential treatment.
Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com
#8
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Posted 2012-February-13, 19:42
Couldn't the signal to noise ratio be improved by having a purely chat room that cannot be message from tables - removing all the 'need people at my table plz' spam while still letting intrested players talk to each other as a group? Heck even a BBO IRC channel would provid 99% of the fuctionality I would want froma lobby.
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