From:	Matb <mbreton@**.NETCOM.COM>
Subject:	Online Games (was: Re: Expansion protocol)
Date:	Tue, 22 Dec 1998 22:36:20 -0800

Teos Abadia wrote:

> The other thing I think is important is for us to establish some intra-list
> competition. One possibility is to use a play-by-MIRC or ICQ schedule. We
> could decide on a way to hold some competitions. For this to be
> cheat-proof, we would need one intermediary: Each player e-mails their decks
> to the intermediary. The intermediary needs to own all the cards. This
> person recreates a deck, and shuffles the cards, then writes the order down.
> This is repeated for all players. Then everyone goes online. The
> intermediary tells you, as your turn comes up, what card(s) you draw. The
> players choose what cards to play and what moves to make. We could then post
> how many victories everyone has.

Actully, I've been a bit of a jerk and haven't gotten back to Sorrow,
who's involved with a website-based system that does pretty much what
you've described. The 'intermediary' is the server, so it automatically
shuffles and deals cards.

The upside is that there's no need for a third person to moderate; the
server can handle all the routine tasks. You can even play against
yourself, to help tune a new deck you've been working on.

There's a rather sharp downside, and that's that all the server commands
are written in quasi-computerese: you have to issue a command to draw a
card, or to shuffle a deck, or even to trash a card as a result of a
Challenge or Special. The computer's just a computer; it doesn't
understand the game, it just publishes lists of cards that are in play
or in your hand. It also can't step in and enforce an opinion on
whether LotP can be played on Torgo or not.

I did play a game over mIRC (with Teos) once, and, while it did drag on
several hours (due in equal parts to talking about the game, breaks for
the bathroom, and telephone disconnects) it was a complete blast .. and
I think Teos beat me, at that.

If anyone's up for a game (of whatever) I'll be around the days after
New Year's (probably nursing a hangover, but that's another story).


- Matt