BBOFlash Comments Thread3

[helene_t]

So far I have been unable to replicate this

I cannot replicate it under Windows. Maybe it's a linux "feature".

[nrd]

Hi

 

 

Sry, for my poor English.

 

FLASH BBO

 

I think this might be important: I can log in from one browser with two different nicknames. Chat with me :-) And, didnt try it yet, kibitzing , so I am able to see all hands during a play.

 

Other thing, is that Flash detects my OS language and doesnt make it well: I've set polish version of OS X Leopard and language in Fbbo is Czech I think. I used a link with #pl and it works fine.

 

I can browse standard CC's but the first two from the list only: SAYC(Std Am Y crd) and BBO Adv(2/1 GF). It tries to save if I want to view other ones.

 

Is it possible , during kibitzing TM , go to second table directly(i.e. by pressing once ) or just press BACK button and than when two tables are listed joing one?

 

Minor thing: when kibitzing there is My Results button which shows players' results, not mine.

 

I've closed browser window by mistake couple of times. Is it possible to add(next versions) a feature to confirm browser closing if BBO is launched?

There are also problems with displaying polish fonts.

 

Intel Mac, Safari 3 and FF 3 , os X Leopard.

 

Jack

 

ps. waiting for Partnership bidding tables, I cant teach my girlfriend now :-) I'm starting to get use to Flash version.

[sceptic]

I am curious , at what point will BBO flash be the only version available to us all (or even if that is even on the cards) and will it be the only available through msn, as I personally find msn games a pain in the backside to log onto and since it has been moved to msn, the log in time is quite slow for me?

[fred]

I am curious , at what point will BBO flash be the only version available to us all (or even if that is even on the cards)

We currently have no plans to retire the Windows client. I would not be surpised if we were to make such plans one day. I would be suprised if such plans were made within the next year or so. I would not be surprised if we never make such plans.

 

The Windows client does have a built-in limitation of only being able to handle "only" 25,000 simultaneous logins. Likely this would be far from trivial to fix. So the time might come in which login attempts with the Windows client are rejected when there are 25,000+ people already logged in. Given that the maximum number of simultaneous logins in a typical day is roughly 13,000 and that our all time record is something like 16,000, I doubt we will be hitting 25,000 any time soon. When we start to get closer we will have to decide whether or not we want to try to increase the capacity of the Windows client.

 

and will it be the only available through msn, as I personally find msn games a pain in the backside to log onto and since it has been moved to msn, the log in time is quite slow for me?

 

I can say with large degree of confidence that this is most unlikely to happen. It is hard for me to imagine a scenario arising in the foreseeable future in which we remove the ability to log in with the Flash client from our home page. Besides that, I expect that more and more "portals to BBO" that utilize the Flash client will be appearing in the months and years to come.

 

Fred Gitelman

Bridge Base Inc.

www.bridgebase.com

[fred]

I think this might be important: I can log in from one browser  with two different nicknames. Chat with me :-) And, didnt try it yet, kibitzing , so I am able to see all hands during a play.

Yes we know about this. If people kibitzing themselves from a single computer becomes a problem we can always block this.

 

Other thing, is that Flash detects my OS language and doesnt make it well: I've set polish version of OS X Leopard and language in Fbbo is Czech I think. I used a link with #pl and it works fine.

 

The multilingual version of the Flash client is new and the Czech translation is only partially done - I would expect that you would see a lot of English if your PC language is set to Czech. If it is set to Polish, however, the translation should be complete. It is not unlikely that some specific translations in various languages are less than ideal. If you have any suggestions on specific improvements, please send them to me by e-mail (fred@bridgebase.com).

 

I can browse standard CC's but the first two from the list only: SAYC(Std Am Y crd) and BBO Adv(2/1 GF). It tries to save  if I want to view other ones.

 

Sorry - I am not sure what you mean by this. Can you please try to clarify?

 

Is it possible , during kibitzing TM , go to second table directly(i.e. by pressing once ) or just press BACK button and than when two tables are listed joing one?

 

Currently there is no easy 1-click solution for switching tables, but I agree it would be a nice feature. Most likely it is only a matter of time before you see this feature appear, but it is far from clear how much time rates to be involved.

 

Minor thing: when kibitzing  there is My Results button which shows players' results, not mine.

 

True - maybe "table results" would be a better heading, but I agree this is only a minor point :)

 

I've closed browser window by mistake couple of times. Is it possible to add(next versions) a feature to confirm browser closing if BBO is launched?

 

Not clear if we can do anything about this due to browser security restrictions that prevent Flash programs from controlling such things. There might be a solution through Javascript. It is on our list of things to look into...

 

There are also problems with displaying polish fonts.

 

This I can almost certainly do something about before too long, but I need more details. In particular, are there any specific Polish characters that are not appearing at all or are not appearing properly? If yes, please let me know what these characters are. If no, what is the nature of the problem?

 

If you know how to send me a screenshot that can illustrate the font-related problem(s) you are referring to, that would be much appreciated.

 

ps. waiting for Partnership bidding tables, I cant teach my girlfriend now :-) I'm starting to get use to Flash version.

 

Hopefully you won't have to wait to long, but just like anything else it is hard for me to make any promises with respect to when this feature rates to be available.

 

Thanks for your feedback and don't worry about your English - it seems pretty good to me (and is definitely much better than my Polish or Czech!).

 

Fred Gitelman

Bridge Base Inc.

www.bridgebase.com

[barmar]

I can browse standard CC's but the first two from the list only: SAYC(Std Am Y crd) and BBO Adv(2/1 GF). It tries to save  if I want to view other ones.

 

Sorry - I am not sure what you mean by this. Can you please try to clarify?

I think he's talking about the fact that BBO Flash can't display FD convention cards. It saves them to the desktop, but there's no application to view them.

[johnu]

Any chance of adding a second chat window, one chat window dedicated to room and private chat, and the second chat window for lobby chat? When multiple people are bombing the lobby with chat, it's very easy for room chat to scroll off the screen before it is read. I know I can turn off lobby chat, but I may only want to keep casual tabs on what's going on.

 

Edit - In the immortal words of Roberto De Vicenzo, 'I'm a stupid'. I thought the more advanced table options (IMO) was the flash version. Nevermind........

 

Now that I know which is the flash version, is there a way to make declarer South and display dummy with suits shown vertically?

[barmar]

What are you talking about? There's no lobby chat in BBOFlash, only in BBOWin.

[mrdct]

First let me apologise if I'm raising issues which have already been raised. Over the last two days I've had my first sustained go at playing with the Flash version of BBO as I've only had access to a Linux machine (it's a long story). A few things I don't like:

 

- Fair enough to make some revenue from advertising; but I could do without ads that blink which are very distracting (actually giving me a headache). I know I can move my window over to one side to avoid it, but that kind of defeats the purpose of advertising and makes a bit of a mess of my browser for when I open another window.

 

- When declaring, dummy's hand doesn't get rearranged with trumps on the left which is a tad disconcerting. Moreover, the cards aren't getting arranged in columns like the Windows version which is a much better representation of face-to-face bridge.

 

- I have a huge personal preference for the bidding to be in the middle of the table (just like face-to-face bridge) and found it a strain keeping track of the auction with it tucked away in the corner. I generally use picture cards, so in that setting I suggest the easiest way to fix this would be for the opponents' cards to be rotated 90 degrees.

 

- When viewing the main bridge club to find a table to watch or potentially play at, I really missed being able to only view tables, full or otherwise, that had one or more friends at it.

 

- I missed not being able to right-click on someone's name to join their table.

 

Sorry if I'm sounding like a whiner, but at this stage I certainly find the Windows version a lot easier to use and I can't wait until my new laptop arrives in a couple of days so I can install BBO on it!

 

Dave.

[barmar]

To your last point, you can right-click and select "Show profile", and then use the Join button from there.

[stacy]

Fred, the Flash version rocks, thanks for the freedom from PC-client emulators on my Mac. Sorry if this has already been asked and answered, but is there a way to get to Partnership Bidding tables from the Flash client?

[fred]

Hi Stacy,

 

Thanks - you rock too :(

 

Partnership Bidding is not implemented yet. It is near the top of our list of priorities, but hard to predict when it will be done.

 

Fred Gitelman

Bridge Base Inc.

www.bridgebase.com

[fred]

-  Fair enough to make some revenue from advertising; but I could do without ads that blink which are very distracting (actually giving me a headache).  I know I can move my window over to one side to avoid it, but that kind of defeats the purpose of advertising and makes a bit of a mess of my browser for when I open another window.

Sorry but there is not much I can do about this, but one thing you should know: User IDs that have spent BB$ recently will not be shown any ads.

 

-  When declaring, dummy's hand doesn't get rearranged with trumps on the left which is a tad disconcerting.  Moreover, the cards aren't getting arranged in columns like the Windows version which is a much better representation of face-to-face bridge.

 

-  I have a huge personal preference for the bidding to be in the middle of the table (just like face-to-face bridge) and found it a strain keeping track of the auction with it tucked away in the corner.  I generally use picture cards, so in that setting I suggest the easiest way to fix this would be for the opponents' cards to be rotated 90 degrees.

 

Most likely I will change the order of suits at some point.

 

You might want to experiment with some of the options that are available via right click on the table surface in conjunction with resizing the table. It is possible to accomplish most of what you suggest.

 

-  When viewing the main bridge club to find a table to watch or potentially play at, I really missed being able to only view tables, full or otherwise, that had one or more friends at it.

 

Other people have mentioned this too. I expect we will eventually do something about it.

 

-  I missed not being able to right-click on someone's name to join their table.

 

You can do this provided that you "know" the user is at a table. I suggest you try displaying his/er profile - there are a lot of powerful things you can do from the profile popups that are not in the profile popups in the Windows client.

 

Fred Gitelman

Bridge Base Inc.

www.bridgebase.com

[matmat]

I am able to chat to a player in a team match, which I don't think I should be able to do...

[barmar]

This is a minor thing, but annoying nonetheless.

 

Whenever I go to a table and click on "My Results" on the right, the default size of the scoreboard is long enough that the bidding diagram in the little table display always covers up East's name. So I have to resize the diagram area to uncover it.

 

I have my preferences set to use hand diagrams. It looks like the default size may have been set to fit just right if pictures of cards are being used, but it's too big for diagrammers. Could it be conditionalized, or if not set the default to be appropriate for diagrams (people who use pictures will get a little blank space.

[fred]

This is a minor thing, but annoying nonetheless.

 

Whenever I go to a table and click on "My Results" on the right, the default size of the scoreboard is long enough that the bidding diagram in the little table display always covers up East's name. So I have to resize the diagram area to uncover it.

 

I have my preferences set to use hand diagrams. It looks like the default size may have been set to fit just right if pictures of cards are being used, but it's too big for diagrammers. Could it be conditionalized, or if not set the default to be appropriate for diagrams (people who use pictures will get a little blank space.

How about I make it so that it "remembers" your preferred size?

 

Fred Gitelman

Bridge Base Inc.

www.bridgebase.com

[Gerardo]

Please add a "you got invited" sound.

[fred]

Please add a "you got invited" sound.

Good suggestion - thanks Gerardo.

 

I will include this in the next version.

 

Fred Gitelman

Bridge Base Inc.

www.bridgebase.com

[barmar]

This is a minor thing, but annoying nonetheless.

 

Whenever I go to a table and click on "My Results" on the right, the default size of the scoreboard is long enough that the bidding diagram in the little table display always covers up East's name.  So I have to resize the diagram area to uncover it.

 

I have my preferences set to use hand diagrams.  It looks like the default size may have been set to fit just right if pictures of cards are being used, but it's too big for diagrammers.  Could it be conditionalized, or if not set the default to be appropriate for diagrams (people who use pictures will get a little blank space.

How about I make it so that it "remembers" your preferred size?

 

Fred Gitelman

Bridge Base Inc.

www.bridgebase.com

That's a reasonable solution. However, I tend to go back and forth between my computer at work and my computer at home. I'm not sure the preferred size is the same. But since this is likely to be better than the current design for most users, I'm not going to complain if you go that way.

[barmar]

I ran into a situation over the weekend regarding convention cards. I was playing in a tourney with a friend, and I was using BBO Flash while he was using BBO Win. I loaded up a convention card that I'd created, and wanted him to review it to make sure he agreed with everything. But BBO Flash doesn't use the check-box style CC that BBO Win does, its CC is mainly text-based.

 

For partnership communication this isn't a big deal. Theoretically we should know the system we're playing, and discuss it beforehand. But what about all the other players? Many tournaments (including ACBL) say "you must post a CC unless you're playing <some default system>". I try to do this, but what good is it if most of the other players (who I suspect are using BBO Win) can't see it?

[fred]

For partnership communication this isn't a big deal. Theoretically we should know the system we're playing, and discuss it beforehand. But what about all the other players? Many tournaments (including ACBL) say "you must post a CC unless you're playing <some default system>". I try to do this, but what good is it if most of the other players (who I suspect are using BBO Win) can't see it?

They can it see it. Convention cards created with the Flash client are rendered using an html popup window in the Windows client.

 

It is a little awkward to display these popups - you have to right click on the name of one of the opponents and then click "Convention card" in the menu that appears. I believe it is the case in the context of a tournament at least, Windows user will receive a notification (in the chat area) that they can view the opponents' convention card in this manner.

 

Fred Gitelman

Bridge Base Inc.

www.bridgebase.com

[barmar]

For partnership communication this isn't a big deal.  Theoretically we should know the system we're playing, and discuss it beforehand.  But what about all the other players?  Many tournaments (including ACBL) say "you must post a CC unless you're playing <some default system>".  I try to do this, but what good is it if most of the other players (who I suspect are using BBO Win) can't see it?

They can it see it. Convention cards created with the Flash client are rendered using an html popup window in the Windows client.

 

It is a little awkward to display these popups - you have to right click on the name of one of the opponents and then click "Convention card" in the menu that appears. I believe it is the case in the context of a tournament at least, Windows user will receive a notification (in the chat area) that they can view the opponents' convention card in this manner.

 

Fred Gitelman

Bridge Base Inc.

www.bridgebase.com

That explains why it didn't work when I told him to click on "Show EW Convention Card" from the Conv menu.

 

Can my partner see OUR convention card that way? What about reviewing the CC before the tourney starts?

[firmit]

I am unable to login - I am using Linux - Debian with Iceweasel (Firefox) - the Flash loads , but I get Connection lost EVERY time. What is that all about? It worked in earlier versions. This also means, I am unable to use BBOTV for vugraph.

 

Any ideas why this happens?

[Gerardo]

Firewrall in place? BBOFlash still uses a permanent connection, using port 3336.

[vang]

same here (Linux - Debian with Iceweasel (Firefox) ). sometimes i an login but i get Connection lost in a couple of seconds. imho, it has nothing to do with firewall, since i have windows machines behind the same firewall (and they works).