[pirate22]

Be i ever so humble-but over the years,my bridge has come along in leaps and bounds.
The main reason is watching good bridge.the fact that some top class players,
have conveluted systems,is not the point,they still have to land the contract.
apart from watching top class events on vu-Graph,i am still starved,
with no ones permission,i have stolen certain handles,and put them on my "Friends"
list,and i am then aware they are playing or commentating..........
overall i would like to add to my list..

But is there a reason? not that if i was Kibbing,i would pester the individual
players with why did you bid that/why did you not double finnese/etc etc/why
take that view ?.
so far i have Roland Waldek-Brolucius-Pelu-Benito Garrozo-Mug,
some choose to remain invisible,their perogative,is there also a reason?
to be invisible...
I and other BBO'ers would like to have a published list,thus derive more
pleasure and learning.
A list compiled by BBO with top players permission.to include "No Chat from
Kibbers" Regards

[Free]

pirate22, on 2013-January-06, 00:05, said:

I and other BBO'ers would like to have a published list

Which other BBO'ers?

[pirate22]

Here is a "First Class Reply" from possibly an "Idiot"
that if you look up his profile explains it all.
my enquirey still holds good,and in the best possible
taste

[barmar]

World class players who would like to recognized have a star, and you can find them in that list.

[Antrax]

...and the post above yours doesn't merit moderation?

[kenberg]

Honestly, I am not sure just what the request is.

As i write this, the Camrose is on Vugraph, with commentary. Seems good. I see that there are other stars on line. Some are watching the Camrose. Some are playing. So I can watch the Camrose, I can watch other stars, or I can play.

I can suggest something that I would find nice on Vugraph. . Have a handy link to their convention cards and/or player notes. Often a commentator provides this link, and if not I can sometimes find it, but having it be always just a click away would be nice, if this can easily be done. Often the commentators speculate on the way a bid is played, and at least some of those times someone, sometimes the operator who is there, can supply the answer. Sometimes not. So it would be nice, if it can be done.

But I did not get the impression this was what was being requested, and I really don't quite get what is being requested.

Quote

I and other BBO'ers would like to have a published list,thus derive more
pleasure and learning.
A list compiled by BBO with top players permission.to include "No Chat from
Kibbers"

barmar notes that there is a list of stars, I assume OP knows there is a list of stars, so I suppose he has something else in mind. But I truly am not seeing what that is.

[Free]

pirate22, on 2013-January-06, 01:17, said:

Here is a "First Class Reply" from possibly an "Idiot"
that if you look up his profile explains it all.
my enquirey still holds good,and in the best possible
taste

It's easy to claim other people want the same as you to make it appear more wanted than just a personal request, but since you're unable to provide names of people who actually want the same as you I think it's quite harsh to call someone else an idiot. The fact that you feel offended by my post just proves my point. Moreover, trying to post an offensive and ridiculous post on my profile (while I have to approve this before it gets visible LOL!) is just proof of who's the real idiot in this conversation. Mister reputation - 8...

[barmar]

Antrax, on 2013-January-06, 10:33, said:

...and the post above yours doesn't merit moderation?

A warning has been sent to the poster. As Free has already replied and quoted it, there doesn't seem to be much point in deleting it.

[pirate22]

Agree some players are listed with stars--but not all starred players are genuine,
the list i have posted are genuine,my main question a lot of top WC players
remain anoyomous -why, which is the crux of my question.
without trawling the teams section--as an instance "Sillafu" The great Benito G
no problem and he openly invites one to his table to kibbitz.
If he can reach out to us why not other WC players.
I must with due deference add "FREE" to my list

[barmar]

pirate22, on 2013-January-07, 10:34, said:

my main question a lot of top WC players
remain anoyomous -why, which is the crux of my question.

Because it's their personal preference. Why do any of us have to justify someone else's wishes?

I think it's like movie stars putting on a wig and sunglasses when they go out in public, so they won't be bothered by fans asking for autographs.

[mycroft]

You know, every time I go to dinner with players at a tournament, EVERY TIME, somebody asks: "I know you're in your time off (or 'here as a player'), but I have a Directing question. May I ask?" Doesn't matter if it's the regional I'm working (or worked yesterday and playing today), or the nationals way down south (where ICE won't let me work) or whatever; it happens every. time. Frequently happens in club games, too, after the round or the game.

I don't mind - especially as they make it clear they know it's imposing; but I don't do this full time. I think if it were 150 days a year rather than 15, I would (as I certainly mind being asked computer fixing questions at bridge dinner).

While I appreciate world class players talking to me, and answering questions I ask (even dumb ones, or ones about the job rather than the bridge), I realize it's the same thing - and they're "on" full time. Were I they, I'd have a "public face" and a "private face" online, too.

[JLOGIC]

If you have a star by your name and you are visible, you get an amazing amount of team game requests. These just pop up (at least on the windows version), so you have to keep rejecting and sometimes people will just keep sending them (or if they don't, someone else will). This may not seem like a big deal, but it is annoying.

Some people are more polite and will ask you via text before sending an invite like "Hi friend, star tms ok?" No doubt everyone would be polite and say no thanks but when you get one of these every few minutes every time you're online eventually you will stop replying to them. This is why many stars have "no team games thx" or something in their profile.

These people are not really bad people (well, the guys who just keep sending invites are, but the ones who ask you nicely aren't), but they might not realize there are dozens of likeminded people who want to play in a match with them and 7 stars. It is overwhelming and impractical to reply to all of them. If you don't want to be rude to these people, an obvious answer is to just go invisible.

On top of this, you might get some tournament requests (they'll even pay your entry!), you might get some people who just want to ask you a quick bidding problem (which is fine, except when 10 people want that it is not that quick), some people asking who your team is next cycle, etc. Again, none of these people are really being rude or asking unreasonable things of you, but since there are so many of them sometimes it is not just you being a prima donna if you don't want to answer anyones quick question. Again, the obvious answer is to go invisible.

I am almost never on BBO anymore but I usually go invis to kib and visible to play. When I am visible I can then tell people who I don't know who are asking for my opinion on a hand that I am playing. I just ignore team game/tournament requests, I figure if I'm playing and I'm still getting those I don't mind being rude. It really isn't worth the hassle to be visible.

[kenberg]

I guess I am a bit stunned, but then again not really. If you want to bed a movie star, I guess you have to ask her.

When I had about 50 master points we were going to play in a Swiss Event but someone didn't show. I was looking around for a sub and learned that some guy named Peter Boyd was standing around so I went over and asked him. Peter is a very gracious person, as I have learned over the years. He politely declined. I got clued in later.

My other story along those lines came a while later after I was a little more conscious. Again we were playing Swiss, an open event, and after some wins I sat down and saw Peter on my right and Steve on my left. We compared scores afterward and found that we lost. One of the players on my team at the other table was quite upset that we had lost. Ron Sukonek and someone else, I forget now, were at her table. I explained who they were, and she said "Oh. Maybe that's why he looked at me funny when I told him how he should have played the hand".

Anyway, I greatly appreciate the learning resources of BBO in general, and the many individual contributions of you and others in particular.

[mikeh]

I'm not in Justin's league (I know: I am brilliant at stating the obvious) but I echo his complaint about being asked, numerous times, to play in 'ALL STAR TM GAME' by people I don't know. It happens even if I am commentating or playing, and despite my profile stating that I only play with friends.

I have listed a number of repeat offenders as enemies, so as to block them but even so I can't be online for more than 5 minutes, unless late at night, without one or more requests.

I'm sort of used to it in that at many social functions, I get asked for legal advice once people, sometimes complete strangers until we were introduced 30 seconds earlier, know that I'm a lawyer. Either that or they tell me a lawyer joke, and expect me to laugh.

Btw, I always laugh, and always give at least some form of polite answer, but on BBO, perhaps due to it being online, I tend to be a little more clear in my wish. I always say: Please read my profile. Are we friends?

That usually does it, but every now and then the person tells me that they are my friend, or want to be my friend, besides which it is an ALL STAR TM GAME!'

What is funniest is that the player doing the asking never has a star so I have to wonder why they are trying to organize a team game of players they don't know, in which I assume they won't be playing.

[Fluffy]

I wear a star as well and obviously get those messages, mostly from turks but that might be a timezone issue. I don't mind them, and they are useful when I'm teaching a single person as I get some decent opposition for my terrible partner . But I am sure Justin gets rushed a lot more than me just because he is much better know worldwide.

The star opens so many doors (many tournament orgnizators rush to open you the gates of their tourneys if you request for example) so I don't mind some drawbacks as well.

[Free]

mikeh, on 2013-January-07, 13:54, said:

despite my profile stating that I only play with friends.

Some people think that because they mark you as a friend, you become actual friends. Perhaps it's better to just write "Don't ask me to play", because your real friends will know they can ask you anyway. But you still won't avoid the guys who don't even read your profile.

I thought a while ago there was an auto-rejecter for the windows client, doesn't that work anymore?

[barmar]

Yellows also get invited to play frequently. For a little while I had "Don't ask me to play" in my profile. I entered an individual once with this profile, and it prompted nasty messages from some of the players.

[Chick]

Maybe it's time to do away with the Stars entirely. Fred always said no rating system, then implemented one with two levels, Stars and non-Stars. All having a Star does is get you annoyed by team requests and asked a lot of opinions, and make you too arrogant to bother with the lesser rated players.

[Trumpace]

Free, on 2013-January-08, 07:45, said:

I thought a while ago there was an auto-rejecter for the windows client, doesn't that work anymore?

As far as I know it should. I would be interested in knowing if people have tried but haven't been able to get it to work. It is slightly complicated to use and unfortunately, I haven't found time to make it better. But, the tool should be usable.

Details: http://www.bridgebas...ct-invitations/
(note, this threads tracks the evolution of the tool, so it might be better if you read the later posts).

Download from the BBO site: http://doc.bridgebas...ful_Addons.html

(Make sure to read the README file include with the tool)

[fred]

Chick, on 2013-January-14, 06:20, said:

Maybe it's time to do away with the Stars entirely. Fred always said no rating system, then implemented one with two levels, Stars and non-Stars. All having a Star does is get you annoyed by team requests and asked a lot of opinions, and make you too arrogant to bother with the lesser rated players.

Your timing is seriously backwards. The stars were included in our software from the very beginning. My public statements pertaining to rating systems did not start until years later.

As I have said many times, stars are not meant to be a statement about skill (either real or perceived) - they are not a "rating system". There are two primary purposes of the stars:

1) To provide a service to non-stars (ie to make it easier to find successful players to kibitz)

2) To recognize the accomplishments of our most successful players

We do not force our most succcessful players to have stars. In fact, we do not assign stars unless those who qualify explicitly ask for a star.

Of course we honor the requests of those who want their stars to be removed and we sometimes remove stars ourselves when the player in question behaves in a way that we deem to be unbecoming of a successful player. Neither of these things happens very often which suggests to me that most stars are willing to live with the team match invitations and that most stars behave themselves most of the time.

As far as I can tell, the system works quite well except for a relatively small minority of jealous BBO members who think their play is star-worthy but do not qualify for a star under our rules.

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com