From: Jonathan Tisdall <jtisdall <at> C2I <dot> NET>
Date: 1 dec 1999
Subject: Re: Play Shogi at the MSO site

As far as I know all of these issues are being addressed, it is just that
we have an emormous number of things to do at the same time. The best
people to send suggestions to are the zillions group, and probably Jeff.

The xiangqi program is much stronger than the others, but that might be
because there are far fewer good players testing it?!

I think the site even as it is now would be quite nice if people arrange to
meet there so there is some company. The chat and message boards are I
believe, working quite well, and this is a nice feature, especially for
those games that don't have such nice e-lists.

jt

At 10:16 1.12.99 PST, you wrote:
>>I logged on to the site, now... how do I find players and how do I find
>>those
>>that have comparable skills ( 9k or 8k levels)?
>
>In order to make yourself visible to other players who are online,
>you have to "Host a table" and "give your table a name." If neither
>you nor any other player online does this, you will never see each
>other. I complained about this to Jeff Mallet, programmer for
>Zillions of Games, which is the company that set up the MSO server
>(I believe.) He agreed with me that the system is bass- ackwards,
>but two months later, it's still the same. His email, by the way,
>is jeffm <at> zillions-of-games <dot> com
>
>This server has no ranking system in place as yet.
>
>>I tried the robot game and beat it easily.   Is there a way to up the skill
>>level even further  (past expert)?
>
>The robots are IMO very weak. If you play their version of "Mini
>Shogi," you may find a bug in the program. The board is 5x5, and
>each player has a column of 5 squares for placing pieces in hand.
>But last i played, it was apparently illegal (although the rules
>make no mention of this) to get more than 5 pieces in hand!
>The robot will deliberately sac its pieces, just to turn its
>remaining pieces into unstoppable (uncapturable) juggernauts.
>I wound up being checkmated by the opposing King! Amusing, but
>I doubt that this has been fixed either.
>
>>What has been your experience with this site so far?
>
>Overall, disappointing. Another irritant is the bizarre notation
>system, which uses roman numerals!!? Maybe if some people from
>this list send their opinions to Jeff Mallett or somebody at MSO
>(But beware- the email info@MSOworld might not connect to
>anything), maybe some improvements will finally be made.
>
>>By the way - excellent graphics!!
>
>Yes, beautiful plumage... :-)
>
>David
>
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