Monthly Archives: May 2013

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Choices

Our lives are a long string of choices. Each choice we make is informed by our past experiences, and what we learn from the outcomes of each one will inform our future choices. Sometimes the choices are difficult and can have major impacts on our lives, like getting married, buying a house, changing a job. And some choices are so easy that we don’t even have to think before making a snap decision, knowing instantly and subconsciously which is the better option; for example whether I would rather watch Celebrity Splash or gouge my eyes out with a rabid rottweiler.

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Microsoft Internet Backgammon

Who likes playing Backgammon?

Who has tried playing the version of Internet Backgammon that comes with Windows?

I have, and I hated it. I hated it for one reason: whenever my opponent started to lose, he or she would quit. Then I would be forced to either play against the interminably slow AI (and I’m using that term very loosely), or quit and take a hit against my statistics. So instead of finding out if I was any good at Backgammon, I would have a near 100% loss rate.

If the opponent quits, the game should at least give you the option of ending the game with no change to statistics.

In the interests of balance, I will praise their “chat” feature. It gives you a list of possible phrases that you can send to your opponent and nothing more. This allows some basic conversation but eliminates the possibility of abuse or harassment.