[mgoetze]

The "Kibitzers cannot chat to players" option is pretty silly in the MBC, especially when "permission required to kibitz" is off, as I can just pop out of the table, chat to the person sitting there, and go right back to the table. Also, please send a "someone tried to chat to you but your table host is silly" message to the player who didn't get my message.

[paulg]

The purpose of this option, as far as I am concerned, is that it prevents kibitzers chatting to the table, useful even in the MBC. I definitely think it should be kept.

[mgoetze]

OK, I don't mind if people want to forbid open chat to the table. But private chat to the players should be allowed.

[jillybean]

While we are on this topic, we should have "Kibitzers allowed" set as the default when creating a tournament. This is currently set as "not allowed".
I would guess only paranoid players who also ban polish club and psyches ever use this option.

[mtvesuvius]

I highly disagree here. Let me start by saying that I whenever I kibitz I like to chat with friends etc while playing, and whenever I play, I like to be able to chat with kibitzers... However... This option is mandatory to maintain order at a table with a few hundred specs. I've played at tables with 100-300 kibitzers, and I got messages ranging from why I made a certain bid, to asking if I really was 14, to news about someone's divorce. I don't usually mind answering questions, but being told by a random person I have never spoken to before to play faster, or that I misplayed a hand isn't good, and shouldn't be forced upon anyone. Basically, in smaller settings it isn't necessary, however for larger crowds, it makes things much more pleasant for the players, and also makes it so that someone cannot accidentally chat you while playing, something that happens a lot.

I get plenty of "faster pls" or "????" messages when I am thinking or brb as well. I remember once I chose to take a squeeze line instead of a simple finesse, while having like 80 specs. I got 5 messages informing me I took a bad line, and was bad at bridge. Honestly I really don't care what someone who can't be bothered to put a name or country has to say about my bidding or play. Of course they could have left the table and came back after telling me this, but it actually requires a conscious effort to do so.

Barring kibitzers from chatting to the table (intentionally or by accident) is also very useful, just imagine playing while seeing something resembling a JEC match chat? Yuck.

Kibitzers allowed for tournaments is nice, although at least recently I've been seeing a lot more evidence of cheating (or just really really lucky opponents). Perhaps I'm just being a sore loser/paranoid, but in a few ACBL games recently I encountered some really weird bidding/play.

[matmat]

Why fix something that's not broken? If I were to make a change to the chat options to table, I would add one more option -- allow chat to table from friends only.

[gwnn]

I want to add a big fat minus to this suggestion!

[mgoetze]

Hey Adam,

mtvesuvius, on 2011-January-10, 20:44, said:

I highly disagree here. Let me start by saying that I whenever I kibitz I like to chat with friends etc while playing, and whenever I play, I like to be able to chat with kibitzers... However... This option is mandatory to maintain order at a table with a few hundred specs. I've played at tables with 100-300 kibitzers, and I got messages ranging from why I made a certain bid, to asking if I really was 14, to news about someone's divorce. I don't usually mind answering questions, but being told by a random person I have never spoken to before to play faster, or that I misplayed a hand isn't good, and shouldn't be forced upon anyone. Basically, in smaller settings it isn't necessary, however for larger crowds, it makes things much more pleasant for the players, and also makes it so that someone cannot accidentally chat you while playing, something that happens a lot.

those just sound more like arguments for allowing longer enemy lists to me.

Always allowing chat from friends would be good.

[jillybean]

Allowing chat from friends is a great idea. It should be allow chat from friends of any player, not only the table host.

[mtvesuvius]

mgoetze, on 2011-January-11, 05:18, said:

Hey Adam,



those just sound more like arguments for allowing longer enemy lists to me.

Always allowing chat from friends would be good.

Of course I can enemy these people, but I generally prefer just not to have the problem in the first place... And accidentally chatting to the table happens quite often. It isn't so terrible when it's some comment about what they had for dinner 2 weeks ago, but when it relates to the hand being played, it is quite annoying. Obviously most of the time it is an unintentional, and I don't believe someone should be blacklisted for doing something like that once. There should clearly be other solutions as well to a problem like this.

I agree on the chat from friends, and I think it should be friends of all four players. This should be done in addition to, not instead.

[Fluffy]

forget about allowing chat from friends, it violates privacy towards who is your friend and who isnt

[mgoetze]

Yeah Fantoni is gonna be real surprised he can chat to my table and others can't.

[gwnn]

Agree with Fluffy, I think that's an important principle.

[mycroft]

private messages from kibitzers that can see every card at the table is, of course, opening yet another cheating method. Needless to say, limiting it to "friends" will only make it worse.

It would be nice to allow, provided everybody at the table knows. But by and large, having "kibitzers allowed to talk to table, but not to players" is the right thing in an untrusted environment.

[mgoetze]

If you are worried about opps cheating against you in the MBC... what can I say. You live in a different world than I do.