Scrabble



  • All us tech geeks have seen computers do amusing things before, but
    personally I've yet to see a computer do something quite as amusing as
    what I'm about to describe.

    Today I was wondering just how well a computer could play scrabble. So
    I download a scrabble program from the net, set the computer player to
    "genius" level, and start playing. Here's how the game went:

    1) I have the first move and I play "TED", which gives me a measly 8
    points.

    2) Not surprisingly the computer then makes an awesome move by playing
    all of his seven tiles to make the word "DEAFENS". This simultaneously
    makes a combo off of my T, E and D as well as giving the computer a
    "bingo" for an extra 50 points since he played all 7 of his available
    tiles on one turn. This monster move gives the computer a total of 73
    points! ON HIS FIRST TURN FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!

    3) I continue on to play "HEFT" for a not so impressive 10 points.

    Well, there have only been 3 words played, the score is now 73 to 18,
    and it looks like the computer is already beating me into the
    ground. Now, here comes the punch line. As if the comp weren't already
    whipping my ass badly enough, it decides to rub it in by playing the
    word "OWNED" for another 41 points! That's right, OWNED!

    Here's a screen-shot as proof:
    http://www.rutski89.com:31597/upload/Picture%208.png



  • LOL



  • The real WTF would have been if it only had the letters for 'PWNT' available and used them. :-D



  • Ouch.



  • Great story - plus I love what you've got for your next turn I, I, I, N, P, R, R - good luck with that combo!



  • [quote user="Xanatos"]Great story - plus I love what you've got for your next turn I, I, I, N, P, R, R - good luck with that combo!
    [/quote]

    Actually, he could do PRINTED with NE and ID for 14.  Not great, but better than his first two moves.

     



  • [quote user="codemoose"]

    [quote user="Xanatos"]Great story - plus I love what you've got for your next turn I, I, I, N, P, R, R - good luck with that combo!
    [/quote]

    Actually, he could do PRINTED with NE and ID for 14.  Not great, but better than his first two moves.

     

    [/quote]

    Shows you my level of competence with scrabble! 

     



  • [quote user="Xanatos"][quote user="codemoose"]

    [quote user="Xanatos"]Great story - plus I love what you've got for your next turn I, I, I, N, P, R, R - good luck with that combo!
    [/quote]

    Actually, he could do PRINTED with NE and ID for 14.  Not great, but better than his first two moves.

     

    [/quote]

    Shows you my level of competence with scrabble! 

    [/quote]

    My former roommate had the vocabulary of a doorstop but beat me regularly by playing defensively and maximizing multiple word combos.  That was a WTF.




  • Aren't you happy there are no punctuation marks or numbers? Else it would surely have come with another 7-letter word "OWNED!1".

    Btw, where did you get the program from or what is the program called? Please, don't tell me it's "scrabble"! :) 



  • Nevermind, found it finally. Available at [url]http://www.gamehouse.com/gamedetails/?game=scrabblegh[/url] in case anyone is interested.



  • My dad plays online Scrabble. I'm pretty sure I've heard "deafens" from him before in some list. I think the six letters d,e,e,a,n,s or maybe e,e,a,f,n,s form one of the choice "roots" or "stems" or whatever they're called.
     



  • This sort of thing happens all the time with computer scrabble games. They are very good at picking up multiple combos. The problem is that they have a very liberal view of the rules. I what is an Id, or a Ne? If you mean Identification or North-East, they are both abbreviations, which are specifically disallowed by the rules of scrabble!

     And what is "Os"? "Us" spoken by a New Zealander? Even "Ta" would be unlikely to be accepted in our family.

     
    OH, I forgot that rules in general are ignored by the current generation. Sigh.
     



  • [quote user="robbak"]

    This sort of thing happens all the time with computer scrabble games. They are very good at picking up multiple combos. The problem is that they have a very liberal view of the rules. I what is an Id, or a Ne? If you mean Identification or North-East, they are both abbreviations, which are specifically disallowed by the rules of scrabble!

    And what is "Os"? "Us" spoken by a New Zealander? Even "Ta" would be unlikely to be accepted in our family.

    OH, I forgot that rules in general are ignored by the current generation. Sigh.

    [/quote]

    That's why the players should agree on a specific dictionary to use for challenges - whether it's the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary or not.  Actually, the OSPD does list "id", "os", and "ne" - so they'd certainly be allowed in my household.  Granted, most people won't use them in everyday speech, but, IMHO, part of striving to be a great scrabble player is learning more of your language - and using it to slaughter your opponents.

    I do agree with your points about the computer picking up the good combos, and, unfortunately, the ignoring of rules by Generation Z, or whatever the hell they're called these days.  And that's a pretty sad WTF. 



  • > what is an Id;

    That would be the primative "I want" part of your psyche... but fair enough on Ne... unless you are a Monty Python fan ;-p



  • [quote user="raluth"]

    > what is an Id;

    That would be the primative "I want" part of your psyche... but fair enough on Ne... unless you are a Monty Python fan ;-p

    [/quote]

    Ne is Neon on the Periodic Table. "Ni" is the word uttered by the Knights Who Cannot Stand The Word "It".



  • I coulda sworn that they said "Nic" instead of "Ni" but that's purely up to interpretation.  Anyone have a subtitled version??

    Plus, the back page of the scrabble instruction manual (in my version at least) has a collection of all the allowed 2 letter words.  Quite a lot of them.  Music apparently counts, as Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti  are all in there (unless I spelled them wrong).


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