Subject: acka-games-digest V3 #14
From: [email-masked] (acka-games-digest)
To: [email-masked]

acka-games-digest     Saturday, February 14 1998     Volume 03 : Number 014

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 00:44:14 -0500 (EST)
From: Rico <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: YORL

As Sam stood, empty revolver in hand, in front of the suddenly victorious
mob, two strange figures pushed themselves to the front.  One was a tall,
lean man with sunken eyes and pointed teeth.  The other figure was a
gangly youth clad in a mosaic of brightly colored, horribly clashing
clothes.  From his sagging chartreuse knee-length socks to his Day-Glo
blue fedora, he was the epitome of bad taste.  Plus, Sam noticed in
astonishment, he was carrying -- of all things -- a vacuum cleaner.

The two beings reached the front of the crowd simultaneously. Both began
to confront Sam, then suddenly noticed each other out of the corner of
their eyes.

"You!" they roared in chorus, staring daggers at each other.  Then,
inanely, the youth muttered, "Jinx, can't talk 'till I say your name."
The gaunt man screamed in inarticulate fury and jumped for the other's
throat, but Sam stepped between them before any harm could be done.

"Now, fellas," he began, "I don't know who you are and what you want,
but --"

"I have many names among many people," the taller stranger interrupted,
"but you can call me the Thin Man."  The crowd behind him gasped, and he
folded his arms across his emaciated chest and stared calmly at Sam.
"What I want can wait until later."  He glared at the younger stranger,
who stuck his tongue out in response.

"And you?" asked Sam, turning to the other and wincing inwardly at the
spectacle of hot pink Bermuda shorts being worn with a canary yellow belt.

The young man struck a supercilious pose that, for some reason, recalled
to Sam something about shaken martinis, and intoned, "2600.  _Kirby_
2600."  

The Thin Man rolled his eyes.

"And what I want," the caricature proclaimed imperiously, "is purple  
hedgehogs in the bathtub."

Sam gaped.

Slagothor plays: 2600.

[ Hey, Hoov: no offense intended, OK? :-) ]
[ This is long, but actually shorter than TGW's, 310 words to about 370. ]

- -rico

If you laid all the smokers end to end around the world, two-thirds of 
them would drown. 

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 02:39:22 -0500 (EST)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: YORL

On Sat, 14 Feb 1998, Rico wrote:

> 
> As Sam stood, empty revolver in hand, in front of the suddenly victorious
> mob, two strange figures pushed themselves to the front.  One was a tall,
> lean man with sunken eyes and pointed teeth.  The other figure was a
> gangly youth clad in a mosaic of brightly colored, horribly clashing
> clothes.  From his sagging chartreuse knee-length socks to his Day-Glo
> blue fedora, he was the epitome of bad taste.  Plus, Sam noticed in
> astonishment, he was carrying -- of all things -- a vacuum cleaner.

Sunken eyes, pointed teeth, must be a mutant.

I am interrupting this play with: mutant.

Yours,
Slakko
- -- 
Duncan C. "" Richer aka
Slakko (Lost) Warner - http://dcr24.quns.cam.ac.uk/ - Queens' College
Cambridge, 1st Yr PhD(PMa) - .Nomic Elector, Frgn Minister, HP(Morpork)
Acka - President "Gumball" RuneMaker ChessUmpire Map-Harfer

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 02:47:47 -0500 (EST)
From: Rico <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: YORL

On Fri, 13 Feb 1998, Duncan Richer wrote:

> Sunken eyes, pointed teeth, must be a mutant.
> 
> I am interrupting this play with: mutant.

Personally, I would have played that on the other character, but to each
eir own, I guess.  :-)

- -rico

"Will you surrender?" 
"I HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO FIGHT!" 
"Yeah, we noticed, that's why we asked." 

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 02:51:35 -0500 (EST)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: YORL

On Sat, 14 Feb 1998, Rico wrote:

> On Fri, 13 Feb 1998, Duncan Richer wrote:
> 
> > Sunken eyes, pointed teeth, must be a mutant.
> > 
> > I am interrupting this play with: mutant.
> 
> Personally, I would have played that on the other character, but to each
> eir own, I guess.  :-)

Goofy looking yes, but not necessarily a mutant.  Mind you, I played the
card on your whole play, so it counts if it is relevant anywhere.

Yours,
Slakko
- -- 
Duncan C. "" Richer aka
Slakko (Lost) Warner - http://dcr24.quns.cam.ac.uk/ - Queens' College
Cambridge, 1st Yr PhD(PMa) - .Nomic Elector, Frgn Minister, HP(Morpork)
Acka - President "Gumball" RuneMaker ChessUmpire Map-Harfer

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 03:05:03 -0500 (EST)
From: Rico <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: YORL

On Fri, 13 Feb 1998, Duncan Richer wrote:

> Goofy looking yes, but not necessarily a mutant.  Mind you, I played the
> card on your whole play, so it counts if it is relevant anywhere.

Of course, but I mean -- sunken eyes, pointed teeth -- that's pretty
standard for Texans.  Clothes and insanity like Kirby's, though, are
unknown outside of places like Berkeley, an entire city of mutants.

- -rico

Scissors beat paper, rock beats scissors, and classical beats rock.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 07:25:46 -0500 (EST)
From: Joshua Herreshoff <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Spades

> On Fri, 13 Feb 1998, Aaron V. Humphrey wrote:
>
> > As I gather in the cards for the second trick, I toss out...
> >
> > The Deuce of Clubs.
>
> I slap down the King of Clubs.

I'll play the 3 of clubs

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 14:06:34 -0500 (EST)
From: [email-masked] (Aaron V. Humphrey)
Subject: Re: Acka: Spades

> > > I follow with the four of spades, wondering what in the hell possessed
> > > Alfvaen to lead out with 2 Aces.

> > Just my strategy.  If it backfires badly, I'll try another one later.
> > Or maybe I've just been playing too much Hearts recently, but I like to get
> > the certain tricks out of the way first.

> Lemmeeseee.  You have the Ace of Spades.  No matter _which_ trick you play
> it on, it will win it.  So you throw it out to _lead_ the second trick.
> You have been playing too much Hearts.

If I'm not mistaken, the "sandbag" thing in the Spades rule means that
it can be bad to get too many tricks just as it is to get too few.  So
if I throw out the Ace of Spades first, I'll have less chance of getting
too _many_ tricks.

Maybe I've been playing too much Oh Hell.

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/alfvaen/ )
Current Album--Elvis Costello:Kojak Variety
Current Book--Michael P. Kube-McDowell:Alternities
This was written by an infinite number of monkeys.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 14:11:47 -0500 (EST)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Spades

On Sat, 14 Feb 1998, Aaron V. Humphrey wrote:

> > > Just my strategy.  If it backfires badly, I'll try another one later.
> > > Or maybe I've just been playing too much Hearts recently, but I like to get
> > > the certain tricks out of the way first.
> 
> > Lemmeeseee.  You have the Ace of Spades.  No matter _which_ trick you play
> > it on, it will win it.  So you throw it out to _lead_ the second trick.
> > You have been playing too much Hearts.
> 
> If I'm not mistaken, the "sandbag" thing in the Spades rule means that
> it can be bad to get too many tricks just as it is to get too few.  So
> if I throw out the Ace of Spades first, I'll have less chance of getting
> too _many_ tricks.

Yes, but if you get too many tricks, your opponents will get too few and
lose more points.

Actually, given the way Spades penalises people for practically anything,
a game could go on forever.
A bit of a worry.

Yours,
Slakko
- -- 
Duncan C. "" Richer aka
Slakko (Lost) Warner - http://dcr24.quns.cam..ac.uk/ - Queens' College
Cambridge, 1st Yr PhD(PMa) - .Nomic Elector, Frgn Minister, HP(Morpork)
Acka - President "Gumball" RuneMaker ChessUmpire Map-Harfer

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 14:19:01 -0500 (EST)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Fictionary: Round 8 - I believe now.

Seven definitions for "corymb" follow.  Reply publicly to vote.

1. A line of Greek poetry consisting of three iambs followed by a dactyl.
2. Pertaining to a large amount of hidden detail.
3. A degernerate hyperbola.
4. The ninth letter of the Basque alphabet.
5. Any flattish flower cluster, whatever be the order of blooming, 
   or a similar shaped cluster of fruit.
6. An uncut ruby.
7. A bas-relief above the entrance to a building.

Have fun, Bluffers.
Slakko
Brainiac
- -- 
Duncan C. "" Richer aka
Slakko (Lost) Warner - http://dcr24.quns.cam.ac.uk/ - Queens' College
Cambridge, 1st Yr PhD(PMa) - .Nomic Elector, Frgn Minister, HP(Morpork)
Acka - President "Gumball" RuneMaker ChessUmpire Map-Harfer

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 15:11:18 -0500 (EST)
From: "The Gingham Wearer" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Fictionary: Round 8 - I believe now.

> 1. A line of Greek poetry consisting of three iambs followed by a
dactyl.

This one please. It's probably wrong but still...

TGW.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 15:14:19 -0500 (EST)
From: "Joseph W. DeVincentis" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Spades

Slakko wrote:
> Actually, given the way Spades penalises people for practically anything,
> a game could go on forever.
> A bit of a worry.

I played in a spades game in a mini-tournament as part of our mini-olympics
around here once where, at the end of the 16th(!) hand, we finally got over
500, but both teams made it over 500 at the same time, somehow ending up
with tied scores(!), so we played one more hand to break the tie.  If I
remember correctly, once side lost 100 three times for sandbags, the other
side lost 100 twice for sandbags and once for misplaying, and of course both
sides missed their bid a few times.  7 hands is more reasonable if one
side builds up a good lead; 10 hands if it's a close game.

If you guys keep up your current pace, it's going to take a month to play
each hand, and I might not be here long enough to finish refereeing the
duel.  Do we have support for changing referees in the rules?  We can
always add it if we need it.

/dev/joe

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 15:18:08 -0500 (EST)
From: "Joseph W. DeVincentis" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Fictionary: Round 8 - I believe now.

> 7. A bas-relief above the entrance to a building.

I vote for #7.

/dev/joe

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 15:24:10 -0500 (EST)
From: Towsner <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Fictionary: Round 8 - I believe now.

>5. Any flattish flower cluster, whatever be the order of blooming,
>   or a similar shaped cluster of fruit.
	This one looks good.

- --
- -Henry Towsner, AKA else...if, The Fearless Alibi Posesser, Laefu, and Yilran

	<[email-masked]>

	Success is the child of audacity.
		-Benjamin Disraeli

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 15:25:56 -0500 (EST)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Spades

On Sat, 14 Feb 1998, Joseph W. DeVincentis wrote:

> If you guys keep up your current pace, it's going to take a month to play
> each hand, and I might not be here long enough to finish refereeing the
> duel.  Do we have support for changing referees in the rules?  We can
> always add it if we need it.

I have a better suggestion: Get all four players together and play out a
hand on IRC sometime.  I'd be happy to continue on IRC if we can all get
together.

I'll go on now, in fact.

Yours,
Slakko
- -- 
Duncan C. "" Richer aka
Slakko (Lost) Warner - http://dcr24.quns.cam.ac.uk/ - Queens' College
Cambridge, 1st Yr PhD(PMa) - .Nomic Elector, Frgn Minister, HP(Morpork)
Acka - President "Gumball" RuneMaker ChessUmpire Map-Harfer

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 16:08:48 -0500 (EST)
From: John Frederic Mc Coy <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Fictionary: Round 8 - I believe now.

On Sat, 14 Feb 1998, Duncan Richer wrote:

> Seven definitions for "corymb" follow.  Reply publicly to vote.
> 
> 1. A line of Greek poetry consisting of three iambs followed by a dactyl.
> 2. Pertaining to a large amount of hidden detail.
> 3. A degernerate hyperbola.
> 4. The ninth letter of the Basque alphabet.
> 5. Any flattish flower cluster, whatever be the order of blooming, 
>    or a similar shaped cluster of fruit.
> 6. An uncut ruby.

I vote for definition 6, above.

> 7. A bas-relief above the entrance to a building.
> 
> Have fun, Bluffers.
> Slakko
> Brainiac

                                  - Vynd

[email-masked]

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 16:45:47 -0500 (EST)
From: [email-masked] (Aaron V. Humphrey)
Subject: Re: Fictionary: Round 8 - I believe now.

> > 7. A bas-relief above the entrance to a building.

> I vote for #7.

I also.

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/alfvaen/ )
Current Song--Survivor:The Search Is Over
Current Book--Michael P. Kube-McDowell:Alternities
An eye for a lie, a tooth for a truth.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 16:48:26 -0500 (EST)
From: [email-masked] (Aaron V. Humphrey)
Subject: Re: Acka: Spades

> > If you guys keep up your current pace, it's going to take a month to play
> > each hand, and I might not be here long enough to finish refereeing the
> > duel.  Do we have support for changing referees in the rules?  We can
> > always add it if we need it.

> I have a better suggestion: Get all four players together and play out a
> hand on IRC sometime.  I'd be happy to continue on IRC if we can all get
> together.

> I'll go on now, in fact.

I seem to recall the suggestion of playing games on IRC tossed around
back in May or June.  The decision was that it would be a pain, because
IRC isn't a public forum, and either many rules would have to be rewritten
to accommodate it, or the entire IRC log would have to be posted in the
public forum.

What might work better would be if the four of us(or five, if /dev/joe
needs to be there to oversee)could work out a time when we would all be
online, and just exchange rapid-fire email.  And I apologize for not
knowing I was supposed to lead off the second trick right away, too.
(Given a day's notice or so, my schedule is pretty damn free, still being
unemployed and all.)

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/alfvaen/ )
Current Song--Paul Janz:Stand
Current Book--Michael P. Kube-McDowell:Alternities
Garnish with beak.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 16:52:19 -0500 (EST)
From: [email-masked] (Aaron V. Humphrey)
Subject: Acka: Viruses

Here are the moves for Round 13:

Slakko: Place P7
/dev/joe: Place U16
The Gingham Wearer: Destroy Q6
else...if: Place G16
breadbox: Place F13
two-star: None

New Grid:

   C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W 
28 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
27 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
26 . . . . . . . . . . . . * * . . . . . . . 26
25 . . . . . . . . . . @ . . * . . . . . . . 25
24 . . . . . . . . . . ? . . * . . . . . . . 24
23 . . . . . . . . . . . @ . . . . . . . . . 23
22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
18 . . . . . . . . . . @ ? . . . . . . . . . 18
17 . . ? . @ . . . . X . . ? ? ? . . . . . . 17
16 . . . . ? @ G . X . . . . . . . . / / . . 16
15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
14 . . X X . X . . . @ / / . . G G . @ . . . 14
13 . . . X . X X . @ / . . . . . . G S . . . 13
12 . . . . . . . . . / / / . . . G G @ . . . 12
11 . . . . . . . . . / . . @ . G G G . . . . 11
10 . . . . S S S . . . / @ @ . . . . . . . . 10
 9 . . . . S S . / / . . . G . . . . . . . .  9
 8 . . . . . . . / / . . . . @ . G G . . . .  8
 7 . . . . . . / / / . . . @ S . G G . . . .  7
 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . G . . . G . . . .  6
 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . G . . . . . . .  5
 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W 

No viruspoint was awarded this turn.

Player Name      Symbol    Cells     Points
The Gingham Wearer G        17          6
/dev/joe           /        17          0
breadbox           X         8          0
Slakko             S         7          2
else...if          ?         7          0
two-star           *         4          0

Well, it looks like not only The Gingham Wearer tried to undermine
breadbox, but so did else...if(instead of shoring up eir own cells
in the top left corner, as I would've done...:-).  But /dev/joe
managed to hold back The Gingham Wearer for another round.  Now
all we need is for someone else to actually score some _points_...

Round 14 begins now.  You may reply to this message to send me your moves.

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/alfvaen/ )
Current Song--Paul Janz:Stand
Current Book--Michael P. Kube-McDowell:Alternities
There's a killer on the road; his brain is squirming like a toad.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 16:58:20 -0500 (EST)
From: [email-masked] (Aaron V. Humphrey)
Subject: Re: Acka: Spades

> If you guys keep up your current pace, it's going to take a month to play
> each hand, and I might not be here long enough to finish refereeing the
> duel.  Do we have support for changing referees in the rules?  We can
> always add it if we need it.

I know that you can ditch a Referee who is not active, but it looks like
resigning referees is actually game-dependent.  Spades says nothing
about it, but game custom might allow it...

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/alfvaen/ )
Current Song--Don Henley:Last Worthless Evening
Current Book--Michael P. Kube-McDowell:Alternities
From the sleep of reason, a life is born.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 17:03:41 -0500 (EST)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Spades

On Sat, 14 Feb 1998, Aaron V. Humphrey wrote:

> 
> > > If you guys keep up your current pace, it's going to take a month to play
> > > each hand, and I might not be here long enough to finish refereeing the
> > > duel.  Do we have support for changing referees in the rules?  We can
> > > always add it if we need it.
> 
> > I have a better suggestion: Get all four players together and play out a
> > hand on IRC sometime.  I'd be happy to continue on IRC if we can all get
> > together.
> 
> > I'll go on now, in fact.
> 
> I seem to recall the suggestion of playing games on IRC tossed around
> back in May or June.  The decision was that it would be a pain, because
> IRC isn't a public forum, and either many rules would have to be rewritten
> to accommodate it, or the entire IRC log would have to be posted in the
> public forum.

If the entire IRC log for the game section is just a series of moves,
posting the "entire log" will not be a problem, and will in fact be
bandwidth-friendly, saving on headers etc.

Just allow the referee to "play a match privately" provided that the
results are then posted by the referee to a public forum.  It doesn't
require much, and IRC becomes /dev/joe's private method of playing.
> 
> What might work better would be if the four of us(or five, if /dev/joe
> needs to be there to oversee)could work out a time when we would all be
> online, and just exchange rapid-fire email.  And I apologize for not
> knowing I was supposed to lead off the second trick right away, too.
> (Given a day's notice or so, my schedule is pretty damn free, still being
> unemployed and all.)

Rapid-fire email isn't. :-)
I can't actually see what is wrong with IRC for this purpose.

- -- 
Duncan C. "" Richer aka
Slakko (Lost) Warner - http://dcr24.quns.cam.ac.uk/ - Queens' College
Cambridge, 1st Yr PhD(PMa) - .Nomic Elector, Frgn Minister, HP(Morpork)
Acka - President "Gumball" RuneMaker ChessUmpire Map-Harfer

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 18:05:15 -0500 (EST)
From: "The Gingham Wearer" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Viruses

> Here are the moves for Round 13:
> 
> Slakko: Place P7
> /dev/joe: Place U16
> The Gingham Wearer: Destroy Q6
> else...if: Place G16
> breadbox: Place F13
> two-star: None

Weren't these the moves for last round? I think you've probably counted
them correctly but just not displayed them.

TGW.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 18:22:59 -0500 (EST)
From: "Joseph W. DeVincentis" <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Spades

> > I seem to recall the suggestion of playing games on IRC tossed around
> > back in May or June.  The decision was that it would be a pain, because
> > IRC isn't a public forum, and either many rules would have to be rewritten
> > to accommodate it, or the entire IRC log would have to be posted in the
> > public forum.
> 
> If the entire IRC log for the game section is just a series of moves,
> posting the "entire log" will not be a problem, and will in fact be
> bandwidth-friendly, saving on headers etc.
> 
> Just allow the referee to "play a match privately" provided that the
> results are then posted by the referee to a public forum.  It doesn't
> require much, and IRC becomes /dev/joe's private method of playing.

IRC play for spades should work, provided all players and the referee are
there at once, since the rules for Spades include:

 "Bids and plays of cards may be made either by posting them in a public
  message or sending them in a message to the referee and all other players."

It may be a slight problem coordinating times between Slakko (U.K.) and
the others (Central, Mountain, and Pacific U.S. time zones, and Hawaii, if
I read all the e-mail headers right).

Weekends I should be able to meet on IRC at just about any time, unless
I'm doing something special like next Saturday.  I should also be around
7-midnight (central U.S. time) most weeknights, but this is in the wee
hours of the morning for Slakko...

/dev/joe

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 18:30:49 -0500 (EST)
From: John Frederic Mc Coy <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Spades

On Sat, 14 Feb 1998, Duncan Richer wrote:

> On Sat, 14 Feb 1998, Aaron V. Humphrey wrote:
> 
> > 
> > > > If you guys keep up your current pace, it's going to take a month to play
> > > > each hand, and I might not be here long enough to finish refereeing the
> > > > duel.  Do we have support for changing referees in the rules?  We can
> > > > always add it if we need it.
> > 
> > > I have a better suggestion: Get all four players together and play out a
> > > hand on IRC sometime.  I'd be happy to continue on IRC if we can all get
> > > together.
> > 
> > > I'll go on now, in fact.
> > 
> > I seem to recall the suggestion of playing games on IRC tossed around
> > back in May or June.  The decision was that it would be a pain, because
> > IRC isn't a public forum, and either many rules would have to be rewritten
> > to accommodate it, or the entire IRC log would have to be posted in the
> > public forum.
> 
> If the entire IRC log for the game section is just a series of moves,
> posting the "entire log" will not be a problem, and will in fact be
> bandwidth-friendly, saving on headers etc.
> 
> Just allow the referee to "play a match privately" provided that the
> results are then posted by the referee to a public forum.  It doesn't
> require much, and IRC becomes /dev/joe's private method of playing.
> > 
> > What might work better would be if the four of us(or five, if /dev/joe
> > needs to be there to oversee)could work out a time when we would all be
> > online, and just exchange rapid-fire email.  And I apologize for not
> > knowing I was supposed to lead off the second trick right away, too.
> > (Given a day's notice or so, my schedule is pretty damn free, still being
> > unemployed and all.)
> 
> Rapid-fire email isn't. :-)
> I can't actually see what is wrong with IRC for this purpose.

Perhaps it would be good to revive this idea.  As best I can recall, what
killed it before was the fact that there was limited access to IRC.  A
couple of players with good net access could get together and play lots
and lots of games of whatever, and accumulate prizes, that some other
players wouldn't be able to acquire nearly as quickly.  This also made it
a handy vehicle for scams.

Perhaps what we could do is limit 'playing privately" to Duels, provided
all parties in the Duel agree to it, and the results are posted.  This
would eliminate most of the advantages of rapid fire play.  It takes time
to organize a Duel, and there are limits on how often they can happen.  So
it wouldn't really be scamable.  So if we limited "private play" to Duels,
the Duelists could enjoy the advantages of IRC (or perhaps some other
forum, it needn't be IRC specific), without brining in the possibilities
of excessive prize money or scams.

                                  - Vynd

[email-masked]

> 
> -- 
> Duncan C. "" Richer aka
> Slakko (Lost) Warner - http://dcr24.quns.cam.ac.uk/ - Queens' College
> Cambridge, 1st Yr PhD(PMa) - .Nomic Elector, Frgn Minister, HP(Morpork)
> Acka - President "Gumball" RuneMaker ChessUmpire Map-Harfer
> 
> 

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 18:32:49 -0500 (EST)
From: Duncan Richer <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Spades

On Sat, 14 Feb 1998, Joseph W. DeVincentis wrote:

> IRC play for spades should work, provided all players and the referee are
> there at once, since the rules for Spades include:
> 
>  "Bids and plays of cards may be made either by posting them in a public
>   message or sending them in a message to the referee and all other players."
> 
> It may be a slight problem coordinating times between Slakko (U.K.) and
> the others (Central, Mountain, and Pacific U.S. time zones, and Hawaii, if
> I read all the e-mail headers right).
> 
> Weekends I should be able to meet on IRC at just about any time, unless
> I'm doing something special like next Saturday.  I should also be around
> 7-midnight (central U.S. time) most weeknights, but this is in the wee
> hours of the morning for Slakko...

I thought that the best times would be something like

Hawaii: 12 noon
Pacific: 2pm
Mountain: 3pm
Central: 4pm
GMT: 10pm

I could do this on a Thurs, Fri or Sat most weeks.

Yours,
Slakko
- -- 
Duncan C. "" Richer aka
Slakko (Lost) Warner - http://dcr24.quns.cam.ac.uk/ - Queens' College
Cambridge, 1st Yr PhD(PMa) - .Nomic Elector, Frgn Minister, HP(Morpork)
Acka - President "Gumball" RuneMaker ChessUmpire Map-Harfer

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 20:02:13 -0500 (EST)
From: [email-masked] (Aaron V. Humphrey)
Subject: Re: Acka: Viruses

> > Here are the moves for Round 13:

> > Slakko: Place P7
> > /dev/joe: Place U16
> > The Gingham Wearer: Destroy Q6
> > else...if: Place G16
> > breadbox: Place F13
> > two-star: None

> Weren't these the moves for last round? I think you've probably counted
> them correctly but just not displayed them.

Oops.  The Gingham Wearer(and /dev/joe, who pointed this out to be
privately as well)is correct.

Here are the _real_ moves for Round 13:

/dev/joe: Place J8
Slakko: Place H9
The Gingham Wearer: Place I16
else...if: Place E17
breadbox: Step G13-F13
two-star: None

We apologize for the inconvenience.

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/alfvaen/ )
Song In My Head--Manhattan Transfer:The Boy From New York City
Current Book--Michael P. Kube-McDowell:Alternities
"My God, that could have been bad!  Thank goodness for lingerie!"

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 20:03:19 -0500 (EST)
From: [email-masked] (Aaron V. Humphrey)
Subject: Re: Acka: Spades

> IRC play for spades should work, provided all players and the referee are
> there at once, since the rules for Spades include:

>  "Bids and plays of cards may be made either by posting them in a public
>   message or sending them in a message to the referee and all other players."

Oh, well, then.  No prob.  Let's do it!

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/alfvaen/ )
Song In My Head--The The:Infected
Current Book--Michael P. Kube-McDowell:Alternities
I've got too much energy to switch off my mind, but not enough to get myself organized

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 20:06:14 -0500 (EST)
From: [email-masked] (Aaron V. Humphrey)
Subject: Re: Acka: Spades

> I thought that the best times would be something like

> Hawaii: 12 noon
> Pacific: 2pm
> Mountain: 3pm
> Central: 4pm
> GMT: 10pm

> I could do this on a Thurs, Fri or Sat most weeks.

We'll have to see if Slagothor can get up earlier, or that's gone for
this week, but next week, sure.  Tentatively.  In the meantime, we can
go on with email play...  And next time we'll try to make sure that all
competitors are in close time zones.  :-)

- --
- --Alfvaen(Web page: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/alfvaen/ )
Song In My Head--The Rainmakers:Shiny Shiny
Current Book--Michael P. Kube-McDowell:Alternities
If you can survive death, you can probably survive anything.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 21:51:30 -0500 (EST)
From: Brian Raiter <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Fictionary: Round 8 - I believe now.

> 1. A line of Greek poetry consisting of three iambs followed by a
> dactyl.

I vote for definition #1.

breadbox
Bluffer
who will not declare a certain Brainiac Postal, but only because I'm
such a nice guy

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 22:02:03 -0500 (EST)
From: Brian Raiter <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Viruses

> Well, it looks like not only The Gingham Wearer tried to undermine
> breadbox, but so did else...if(instead of shoring up eir own cells
> in the top left corner, as I would've done...:-).

Sigh. You make a tiny bit of progress, and everyone jumps all over
you. 

Anyone could have seen that I was going to suffer massive deaths this
round, with little or no chance for improvement. It was hardly
necessary to sabotage me further. All this time I've just been trying
to survive; the fact that I managed to postpone The Gingham Wearer's
steady progress for one measly round was just icing on the cake.

Pick your battles, my fellow opponents.

breadbox

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 22:46:15 -0500 (EST)
From: Rico <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Spades

On Sat, 14 Feb 1998, Joshua Herreshoff wrote:

> > On Fri, 13 Feb 1998, Aaron V. Humphrey wrote:
> >
> > > As I gather in the cards for the second trick, I toss out...
> > >
> > > The Deuce of Clubs.
> >
> > I slap down the King of Clubs.
> 
> I'll play the 3 of clubs

I play the 6 of clubs.  Score one for the good guys.

- -rico

When you do a good deed, get a receipt, in case heaven is like the IRS 

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 23:24:29 -0500 (EST)
From: Rico <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Spades

On Sat, 14 Feb 1998, Aaron V. Humphrey wrote:

> We'll have to see if Slagothor can get up earlier, or that's gone for

Hmmm... how early is 'earlier'?  I have classes pretty much every morning,
but luckily my work schedules are very flexible.  Afternoons and evenings
are the best time for me, but I realize that what is evening to me is the
wee hours of the morning to most of you.  

> this week, but next week, sure.  Tentatively.  In the meantime, we can
> go on with email play...  And next time we'll try to make sure that all
> competitors are in close time zones.  :-)

Hey, you're all welcome to come to Hawai'i to play.  :-)

> > I thought that the best times would be something like
> 
> > Hawaii: 12 noon

I can only make noon on a Monday, Wednesday, or Thursday.

- -rico

When you do a good deed, get a receipt, in case heaven is like the IRS 

------------------------------

End of acka-games-digest V3 #14
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