Re: [Eliot-general] Eliot - duplicate-joker-game

[Olivier Teuliere]

Hi Bernhard,

Thanks for your interest in Eliot and for the suggestions!

On Sun, Nov 10, 2013 at 3:55 PM, Bernhard C. Maerz
<address@hidden> wrote:
> the variation joker-game looks very interesting.
> I've read it first time on the program eliot.
> Is this variation created from an eliot developer, or is it be released
> elsewhere before?

This variant is quite popular in French Scrabble, at least among
duplicate players. It is explained along with the official rules of
Scrabble in the paper version of the ODS, and it is also described on
the French Wikipedia
(https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joker_%28Scrabble%29).

> But while testing it, I've found a bug:
> when you use a word with two jokers, only ONE is replaced by the letter from
> the bag!
> I expect there have to be both replaced.

According to the rules in ODS, both "jokers" (blank tiles) should be set
aside before the game starts, and there should always be only one of
them in the rack (until both of them have stayed on the board).

Eliot is supposed to follow this behavior for duplicate games, so the
situation you describe should never happen.
Did it happen to you, for a randomly generated rack? If so, this is a
bug, and I would appreciate as much information as possible to reproduce
it and fix it. A savegame would be ideal.

> Also I ask, if additional rules could make it (more) interesting (so I
> asked above, who has created this variation).
> Would it be nice to have 2 jokers on the rack or even bad?
> Hm, maybe there could be make further subvariations.

Given that it's a fairly standard variant, I don't think that adding
more variations would be so useful. In my opinion, variations too
similar would only confuse players, without much added value.

That being said, Eliot is open-source, and it shouldn't be too difficult
to modify it for your needs if you really wanted to :)

> Subvar 1)
> starting with (both existing) TWO jokers on the rack.
> Both jokers will be replaced if possible.
>
> Extra option (for ALL variations): if all jokers are used and there is not
> any on the rack, than the game ends immediately.

At the moment, there is no option for these variants. But if your goal
is to avoid the "boring" end of game, when both jokers have been played,
maybe you could simply change the letters distribution. For example, if
you specify that there are 5 jokers, instead of the usual 2, you could
play longer before reaching the "boring" part :)

The letters distribution is part of the dictionary, so you could do the
following:
 - Extract the word list from your favorite dictionary, using the "Dic.
   info" tab of the "Dictionary tools" window
 - Create a new dictionary, using the "Dictionary Creation Wizard", in
   the Settings menu. Load the letters distribution from your existing
   dictionary, and modify what you want

Note that I have never tested joker games with more than 2 jokers.
If you find bugs, please report them on the mailing-list!

> Subvar 2)
> one joker is on the rack, the other is NOT in the bag (somewhere out of the
> game).
> While in subvar 1 it's made that most often you have 2 jokers on the rack,
> in this variation you'll NEVER have 2 jokers on the rack.
> When the joker couldn't be replaced, the extra joker is put to the rack.
> (As written above: the game could also be ended if the second joker is also
> used without possible to replace)

This is what is currently implemented (or should be...).

> Furthermore an idea for duplicate-style which could be added to all
> variants:
> first a definition: "save-joker-move" will be a move where the (all if 2)
> joker could be replaced or where the joker is not even used
> if at least ONE player makes a save-joker-move, ONLY save-joker-moves are
> given points. Moves where the joker will stay on the board are not given any
> score, or (variation) maybe only half of the points or something else.

The joker is often essential to play all 7 letters, and thus to get the
50 points bonus. In some cases, the joker must replace a letter which is
not in the bag anymore, and thus cannot be replaced. In such cases, with
the variant you propose, a player could score 0 point for playing all
the letters, even if it is the best word, which sounds quite unfair.

In addition, it could introduce some tactics to the game, which would
be a pity for duplicate mode. As you can see, I am not a big fan of
this variant :)

Cheers,
-- 
Olivier