New games

[Naboka]

When I first started playing, I loved running across new games. Gave me a chance to temporarily get high scores. Such as little burst of endorphins or whatever the body releases to let you know you've killed the beast and will eat tonight.

Anymore? Not so much. I don't get to see words others have found that I missed. No new words or discoveries. Not much gained.

Or only temporarily gained.

Sure, I can examine the board, find a couple of new words , maybe even longer and better words. Words I already knew.

But, it just lacks that sense of awe wondering HITF did they manage to see that word or those word veins in 2 minutes.

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[jbud1980]

I have been refraining from playing new grids as I really do not want to set the bar as I know it will eventually be crushed.

[Naboka]

I have been refraining from playing new grids as I really do not want to set the bar as I know it will eventually be crushed.

Well, don't let that be a deterrent.

I run across several games every day where you have the high score. I seldom beat them. As a matter of expanding galaxies, I haven't beaten one of your games in the last several days. This morning I scored about 80 points less than you did. Which means that if I had held that record with my score, you would have crushed me. And I'm no chump. I've been beating games that have been played 20-30 times regularly.

Should I feel bad that jbud1980 is beating me?

I think you're experiencing the same thing I do, knowing the better players are going to demolish your best efforts. Makes me feel inadequate somewhere deep in my lizard brain. Like an crow's going to see me sunning on a rock and pick me off.

But, hey, if all of us were adequate to all of life's demands, we'd be gods.

Just imagine what the players you're crushing must feel. Yet, you don't feel ill will or contempt for them.

Might as well relax, acknowledge your positives and enjoy being normal.

Better to be a decent human being than an expert at Wordtwist.

ps: just to put it more in perspective: a couple of days ago I knocked off a player who's scored over 900 points and 200 words--but I didn't beat a single one of yours.

[jbud1980]

Hiya, and thanks for the reply. Good evening. It doesn't make me feel inadequate to lose; if anything, it makes me try harder; however, if I can avoid losing I will, hence skipping the first to play a grid as I assume any record will be broken.

You are one of the best players here and to have bested you is quite a feat.

A few months ago I bested boysmom on highest score, most words and best word, which was a fluke, IMHO. boysmom must have had an internet issues. I wanted to take a screen shot and post, but I couldn't figure out how, so I took a photo on my phone.

Happy playing,

-J

[2cute]

I have been refraining from playing new grids as I really do not want to set the bar as I know it will eventually be crushed.

Thank you, new games are still my favorite! The difficulty is finding new boards. There's so few.

When they did that upgrade earlier this year, I was like high there were so many new boards. I was addicted & didn't want to stop. It was short lived as this site is very popular. So after only 3-4 days soon the unplayed boards disappeared. It was fabulous while it lasted!

[Naboka]

Hiya, and thanks for the reply. Good evening. It doesn't make me feel inadequate to lose; if anything, it makes me try harder; however, if I can avoid losing I will, hence skipping the first to play a grid as I assume any record will be broken.

You are one of the best players here and to have bested you is quite a feat.

A few months ago I bested boysmom on highest score, most words and best word, which was a fluke, IMHO. boysmom must have had an internet issues. I wanted to take a screen shot and post, but I couldn't figure out how, so I took a photo on my phone.

Happy playing,

-J

Thanks for the complement. I suppose "good" depends on several things. A long distance runner is seldom a good sprinter. A shot-putter is seldom good at either.

A single timed board is a sprint. Going for longest and best words is like pole vaulting. A monthly competition is long distance.

Congrats on the win over boysmom.

Something I've never accomplished in a single game. About 30 points less was the closest. Though, that might be because I never play any of his games unless he's scored over 500 points. Just a habit I got into playing him in monthly competitions. I noticed that the fewer points available on the board, the closer I got. Maybe I should try all of his wins even the ones where he only scored 200-ish.

We did go head to head in the monthly rush for gold. He'd won several in a row so I thought I might as well make a game of it. Challenge seems to make all of us better, win or lose. I won the first. Took over a million points to do it. He won the second. So we're tied head to head on those. I watched him put up over 60,000 points in a single day. Wow!

Monthly competitions got me in the habit of only playing games that produced points efficiently. No sense spending 2 minutes earning 200 points when you could get 300 or 400 or more. Every point lost becomes a thousand over that many games.

But also no sense in taking too much time clicking through possible boards trying to find ones that will produce a lot of points. Playing two 300 p0int games is equivalent to playing one 600 pointer. Playing only high scoring boards to maintain a high average puts one at a disadvantage in total point accumulation. Just a balance one needs to examine in choosing the results desired.

As for feeling inadequate, glad you don't feel it. I do, pretty much all the time. Noting pronounced. Just a lingering, whispering presence. Like a ghost that can't be seen, and makes you wonder. Probably has something to do with upbringing.

Tends to be a driving force though. Lots of very, very successful people suffer from the feeling. Even after succeeding, they're burdened by the "imposter syndrome."

But, we all tend to have wide array of feelings. We isolate the unwanted ones so we can accomplish the desired ones. On the battlefield, everyone but the sociopaths was frightened. Courage required pushing away the fear. You can't really have courage without fear. The negative crap just provides an incentive to rise above. The will to rise above is always more important than the impulse to curl up and escape.

Anyway, before I launch into more philosophical nonsense, thanks and congrats.

[jbud1980]

Thank you, new games are still my favorite! The difficulty is finding new boards. There's so few.

When they did that upgrade earlier this year, I was like high there were so many new boards. I was addicted & didn't want to stop. It was short lived as this site is very popular. So after only 3-4 days soon the unplayed boards disappeared. It was fabulous while it lasted!

I used to play new grids all the time earlier this year, and it was fun, but eventually I realized any #1 I achieved would most likely be bested. I'm not trying to sound like a killjoy, I just skip the new grids I run across these days.

[jbud1980]

Thanks for the complement. I suppose "good" depends on several things. A long distance runner is seldom a good sprinter. A shot-putter is seldom good at either.

A single timed board is a sprint. Going for longest and best words is like pole vaulting. A monthly competition is long distance.

Congrats on the win over boysmom.

Something I've never accomplished in a single game. About 30 points less was the closest. Though, that might be because I never play any of his games unless he's scored over 500 points. Just a habit I got into playing him in monthly competitions. I noticed that the fewer points available on the board, the closer I got. Maybe I should try all of his wins even the ones where he only scored 200-ish.

We did go head to head in the monthly rush for gold. He'd won several in a row so I thought I might as well make a game of it. Challenge seems to make all of us better, win or lose. I won the first. Took over a million points to do it. He won the second. So we're tied head to head on those. I watched him put up over 60,000 points in a single day. Wow!

Monthly competitions got me in the habit of only playing games that produced points efficiently. No sense spending 2 minutes earning 200 points when you could get 300 or 400 or more. Every point lost becomes a thousand over that many games.

But also no sense in taking too much time clicking through possible boards trying to find ones that will produce a lot of points. Playing two 300 p0int games is equivalent to playing one 600 pointer. Playing only high scoring boards to maintain a high average puts one at a disadvantage in total point accumulation. Just a balance one needs to examine in choosing the results desired.

As for feeling inadequate, glad you don't feel it. I do, pretty much all the time. Noting pronounced. Just a lingering, whispering presence. Like a ghost that can't be seen, and makes you wonder. Probably has something to do with upbringing.

Tends to be a driving force though. Lots of very, very successful people suffer from the feeling. Even after succeeding, they're burdened by the "imposter syndrome."

But, we all tend to have wide array of feelings. We isolate the unwanted ones so we can accomplish the desired ones. On the battlefield, everyone but the sociopaths was frightened. Courage required pushing away the fear. You can't really have courage without fear. The negative crap just provides an incentive to rise above. The will to rise above is always more important than the impulse to curl up and escape.

Anyway, before I launch into more philosophical nonsense, thanks and congrats.

The past couple of months or so I have be exiting grids midway as it has become obvious that my score would be fairly low (c'mon, no six-letter words?!). However, I still refuse to look at the best scores before playing a grid as I don't want to psyche myself out.

I'm sorry that you feel inadequate at times. If anything, focus on the positive, such as you reaching gold multiple times. Many have yet to to that, and I hope to one day, so kudos to you. Also, about an hour ago I couldn't best Naboka on high score or most words (I don't believe I can do that often). Congrats and happy playing!

[Naboka]

The past couple of months or so I have be exiting grids midway as it has become obvious that my score would be fairly low (c'mon, no six-letter words?!). However, I still refuse to look at the best scores before playing a grid as I don't want to psyche myself out.

I'm sorry that you feel inadequate at times. If anything, focus on the positive, such as you reaching gold multiple times. Many have yet to to that, and I hope to one day, so kudos to you. Also, about an hour ago I couldn't best Naboka on high score or most words (I don't believe I can do that often). Congrats and happy playing!

Dumping games halfway through is a time honored tradition here. Sometimes you get traction, sometimes not.

You must have caught one of my good-moment games.

As an information junkie, I always look at every bit of data offered. Comes in handy at the oddest times.

All of us have good and bad days, not to mention good and bad stretches during the day. If I see boards with scores that don't add up for certain players, I'm prone to playing them just to see why. Sometimes that leads to beating an exceptionally good player when they got caught fumbling with a long word, having a brain freeze, getting distracted by the phone, or maybe just experiencing a bad stretch.

Yesterday, I played one of my games and ended up losing by over 80 points. A bit ago, I played one and beat it by 151. That would have been a good one to catch before the revival. Same player, just different circumstances. I sometimes wonder who's the better player me, myself or I. Maybe there's a split personality that's being missed. Or, as BTW suggests, sometimes we find the honey pots and sometimes not.

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As for feeling inadequate and insecure, maybe paraphrasing Evita: "Don't cry for me Argentina, truth is ... something or other." (I just like the song; it has no applicability here otherwise.)

Feeling inadequate and insecure are actually good things for me. Keeps me humble, gives me balance. My wife flat out considers me arrogant. She's a very observant woman. If I tell her I feel inadequate and insecure, she just shakes her head and says, "Puleez!"

Balance is a good thing in life. The best way to practice balance is being forced off balance. Being forced to make adjustments strengthens the core. And you develop the ability to remain upright when most people would fall. With good enough balance, it's almost impossible to knock you over.

We have physical, mental and spiritual cores that need balance. They also require exercise.

So, I probably need those feelings to keep life in perspective and test my sense of balance. I wouldn't give up those insecurities and feelings of inadequacy for a year's supply of Ben & Jerry's. Keeps me hungry for improvement.

[bwt1213]

The weather has turned cold and my O2 saturation levels have dropped. I was running about 93 - 97 and scoring fine. Now it's often more like 87 in the mornings and might reach 91 or 92 in the afternoons, if I've taken all my medication. On the good side, I'm still enjoying playing. On the bad side, my scores aren't very good. I'm still thinking well and writing well (that's what my family members say) but I'm just slower at everything. I know a lot of you guys have your own health issues, some of them far worse than mine, and I wish you all well. But if you're wondering why my averages are down and I'm not playing as many games, you now have an explanation.

[Naboka]

Sorry to hear that.

87? That's dangerous isn't it?

Does deep breathing help? Do you have sleep apnea?

[bwt1213]

87 isn't dangerous as in "you're going to die from this". But it's not optimal; your body doesn't work the way it should. There are breathing exercises to do, but you can't do them all the time. And I have nebulizer treatments, which also have been helping. But even with them my numbers are down four or five points. I'm told that it's the colder weather, which makes the air dryer inside (not good) and the furnace put out more dust (ditto). Nope, I don't have sleep apnea. I don't even snore, and my wife would certainly know if I did. I think I will figure out what to do to get back to something approaching normal, and when I do I will share it in case anyone else has the same problem (likely).

[jbud1980]

The weather has turned cold and my O2 saturation levels have dropped. I was running about 93 - 97 and scoring fine. Now it's often more like 87 in the mornings and might reach 91 or 92 in the afternoons, if I've taken all my medication. On the good side, I'm still enjoying playing. On the bad side, my scores aren't very good. I'm still thinking well and writing well (that's what my family members say) but I'm just slower at everything. I know a lot of you guys have your own health issues, some of them far worse than mine, and I wish you all well. But if you're wondering why my averages are down and I'm not playing as many games, you now have an explanation.

I'd like the weather to be cold here. It hit 95 degrees today in So Cal! Granted, I'm not complaining about sunny, clear, and hot weather, it's just odd this time of year.

Happy playing, bwt1213, and I wish you the best of health.

[Naboka]

jbud1980,

here's an example of the madness of this game.

You beat me on number of words. But because I've memorized all sorts of weird high-point nonsensical words, I managed to beat you on points. Have no idea how many points you had before, since I was beating my own record there, it just means that I had already gotten some of those the first time I played.

But you beat me on number of words both times.

I still contend you're better because you see words faster and type faster. It's just that I have the advantage of having memorized utter and useless nonsense.

Therein lies the rub.

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Been on a roll today.

[BoredInTheCar]

My feelings about new games vary depending on what, if anything, I'm trying to accomplish. At the moment I tend to avoid new games because - and I know this is incredibly silly - I don't want a poor score to be exposed for everyone to think "hah, BoredInTheCar isn't such a hot player ... I can beat that!" I can fly under the radar by playing a game with a great high score already.

On the other hand, I'll play a tempting board no matter what, and my current definition of "tempting" is any 5x5 board with 170+ total common words.