New ideas

[boysmom]

Hi all,
I’m sitting here thinking about how I’ve been playing Wordtwist now for 16 years and thinking about all the changes that have happened since 2008. I wanted to toss out a two new ideas and get some thoughts/feedback from the community.

Idea 1: amount of board plays increased. Generally speaking, I don’t see many boards with 40+ plays. I always like playing boards with higher amount of plays because there’s a higher likelihood that more words have been found thus a greater chance to learn new words. It also is satisfying setting a record on a board with more plays. You could scrap the board when all possible words were found and could even get an achievement for finding the last word!

idea 2: maybe as an idea for subscribers but putting words that no user has found yet at the bottom. I think this is a great way to learn new words.

Let me know what you think!

[BoggleOtaku]

I like the 40+ plays for high scoring, but I also see the drawback when trying to find longest words, because there are so few of these boards, if all are in play and long word taken... not sure how to weigh benefits and issues with regard to these two (and other?) strategies fairly... I suppose another method not tried yet is to set a time limit per board (e.g., retire after 1 month or the like), perhaps that has some advantages.
For idea 2, having the dictionary available would help in the same area, but would also make cheating easier... The three-letter sowpods is made readily available to help the 4x4. I would like to see the four-letter sowpods for 5x5 too, but haven't looked for it yet.

[bwt1213]

I still like the idea of a self-clocking game -- play continues until ten seconds have elapsed since the last valid word, then the game ends. So as long as you can type new words at a rate of 6 wpm or more, you can just keep right on going. Fast typing doesn't help as much that way. Of course, all the records from such games would have to be in a completely new category. The highest average score per word would be a much different and more difficult game that way, too.

[need4speed]

I like boards that have been played a lot for the same reason as boysmom. (I think ) I remember being presented with games in the past that have been played 200+ times. It always gives me a little buzz when I find a new word on one of those games. My ultimate goal is to be the player to find the final word of a game.

I would also like more time with some boards, and think bwt1213's idea is a good one. It wouldn't bother me if that feature was not part of the competitions.

[leabhar]

I like boards that have been played a lot for the same reason as boysmom. (I think ) I remember being presented with games in the past that have been played 200+ times. It always gives me a little buzz when I find a new word on one of those games. My ultimate goal is to be the player to find the final word of a game.

I would also like more time with some boards, and think bwt1213's idea is a good one. It wouldn't bother me if that feature was not part of the competitions.

I completely agree with that. The competition and ultra long words I really don’t care about, but finding a word in a game that has been played often is cool. I also hope to be the one who finds the last word, but so far (after many years) that never happened.

[BoggleOtaku]

I guess it could be expanded like on chess sites, where there is normal,bullet,speed chess with different timing,and then all sorts of crazy offshoots, and each one has a competition. I think these have increased the #players rather than just confuse and dilute them across the different game times.

Each competition (such as collectively find all words--maybe a 3x3 board would fit well with this in making achievable in reasonable amount of time) could also have its own set of boards that retire at different rates...

Did Wordtwist get started 2006? A large update would be a great 20th year celebration addition.

[bionicflutist]

I was thinking it would be nice to see if I've played a board before even if I don't hold one of the records. Maybe a red dot or something ... maybe also see my previous scores by hovering over it so I can try to beat my own record.

[2cute]

Hi all,
I’m sitting here thinking about how I’ve been playing Wordtwist now for 16 years and thinking about all the changes that have happened since 2008. I wanted to toss out a two new ideas and get some thoughts/feedback from the community.

idea 2: maybe as an idea for subscribers but putting words that no user has found yet at the bottom. I think this is a great way to learn new words.

Let me know what you think!

I like Idea #2; course it would give it away, especially for the super long word players, the longest & best word.

I was thinking it would be nice to see if I've played a board before even if I don't hold one of the records. Maybe a red dot or something ... maybe also see my previous scores by hovering over it so I can try to beat my own record.

Ooo, I really like this idea. I think I’ve only come across 1 or 2 games I’ve already played in the last 10 years I’ve been playing here.

[crazykate]

I just played a new game (as in, I was the first to play the board) and got a couple of words that I entered by mistake but they still counted. Now, usually if I do that, I then go to the list of words at the end (with the green, black and red ones) and click on the ones where I'm interested in learning the definition, and it takes me to the dictionary entry.
If I'm the first to play a game, this list of words with dictionary links is not shown. Probably because it's assumed that if you entered the word, you know what it means. However, it would be really helpful to add this feature even for new boards.

[quyxyz]

I've only come across 1 or 2 games I've already played in the last 10 years I've been playing here.

Really? I come across games I’ve played before every so often. In fact, last week I played the same board twice the same day. I remembered it because I saw EYELASHES after it closed and was able to get it second time around.

[the cryptogram keeper]

I like this idea:

I just played a new game (as in, I was the first to play the board) and got a couple of words that I entered by mistake but they still counted. Now, usually if I do that, I then go to the list of words at the end (with the green, black and red ones) and click on the ones where I'm interested in learning the definition, and it takes me to the dictionary entry.
If I'm the first to play a game, this list of words with dictionary links is not shown. Probably because it's assumed that if you entered the word, you know what it means. However, it would be really helpful to add this feature even for new boards.

But, as an 'average points per word/long-word player,' I really don't like this idea:
"play continues until ten seconds have elapsed since the last valid word, then the game ends. So as long as you can type new words at a rate of 6 wpm or more, you can just keep right on going. Fast typing doesn't help as much that way. Of course, all the records from such games would have to be in a completely new category. The highest average score per word would be a much different and more difficult game that way."

Have a good day, all.

[John13verse34]

But, as an 'average points per word/long-word player,' I really don't like this idea:
"play continues until ten seconds have elapsed since the last valid word, then the game ends. So as long as you can type new words at a rate of 6 wpm or more, you can just keep right on going. Fast typing doesn't help as much that way. Of course, all the records from such games would have to be in a completely new category. The highest average score per word would be a much different and more difficult game that way."

ditto for me. as another long-word/avg-points player, i often sit and stare at a board for a while before typing any words, so i would definitely not like a requirement to enter a word every certain number of seconds.

[bwt1213]

ditto for me. as another long-word/avg-points player, i often sit and stare at a board for a while before typing any words, so i would definitely not like a requirement to enter a word every certain number of seconds.

The quoted suggestion was mine, and I stand by it -- as a separate game, for those who want to play for highest score per board/highest average number of words without having to become speed typists. It would certainly not be a version of the game favored by most who play for highest average points per word. In any case, as I had mentioned, games with that "shot clock" feature would have to be in a completely separate category; none of their records would be comparable to the standard version.

[dannyb]

I just played a new game (as in, I was the first to play the board) and got a couple of words that I entered by mistake but they still counted. Now, usually if I do that, I then go to the list of words at the end (with the green, black and red ones) and click on the ones where I'm interested in learning the definition, and it takes me to the dictionary entry.
If I'm the first to play a game, this list of words with dictionary links is not shown. Probably because it's assumed that if you entered the word, you know what it means. However, it would be really helpful to add this feature even for new boards.

I believe that crazykate is just asking for an active list of words be available after the first time a board is played so that she can click on the word in the active list to be directed to Lexic for a definition. It has nothing to do with HOW the game is played by different players. Since reading crazykates message I haven't gotten an unplayed board to check if the user words played list for that first board is "active" with regards to redirecting to the Lexic resource.

[Spike1007]

An easy fix to the "timed" version for those of us who go for long words is to have the 10-second (or whatever) rule only kick in after 3 minutes (for 5x5). Pretty much the same game for the long-word people then, but it would really be a boon to some. (I'd love to see how high Megaword & others could go.)