I've found a home :)
VSG
Probably the main problem was that I'm in Germany which may cause more lag than
perhaps is the norm. Anyway these are my PERSONAL observations.
Free Servers:
Yahoo: Excellent administration (time outs for quitters etc). General standard
of player is average.. Major failing was bad lag. whether due to my ISP or the
Yahoo server I am unsure.
MS Zone: Nice graphics, nice atmosphere, excellent competitions. General
standard average. Major failing was poor administration in rated rooms, namely
Zone server would boot whole rooms at a time and then have the cheek to call it
an abandon on your part which comes up in your "who is".
10 abandons and it used to be the case of 100 points deducted.
Its changed, but not that great a deal. They should accept quitters as FIBS do
or run it similar to Yahoo with time outs and resume options in my humble
opinion :)
FIBS: Of the freebies FIBS was by far the most stable server. General standard
was much higher than that of Yahoo and Zone, however its not for the faint
hearted and unless you wish to type in your moves (13-10 etc) downloading a
Graphical interface is highly recommended. Beggars Backgamon Terminal is my
favorite but I believe W/FIBS is also popular.
Graphics are not wonderful (Xs and Os without an interface) but you are likely
to find top players and witness some excellent matches here. My only gripe would
be chat or discussing the game becomes a chore with each line needing a prefix
("k" for kibitz / "t" for tell) Its frustrating completing a long explanation of
say why you didnt take a counter, to find you ommitted a "k" before the
sentence, meaning you need to repeat it all again.
Of the Freebies however Fibs even without its pretty graphics, comes out clearly
on top. Especially for backgammon enthusiasts like myself :)
There are other freebies.. Funcom, Netscape (TEN) to name 2, however to be
honest i only played in them once and was not that impressed. I believe they
havnt been long in operation mind.
Fee based servers:
Not being a wealthy man I confess to not having become members of all the Fee
based servers, fortunately most offer trial membership for limited periods :)
Netgammon: When I first saw this I was taken aback by the fine graphics,
options, features and very professional layout. It has more features than you
can shake a stick at, too many to list here. General standard was high. I would
have become a fully fledged member if it wasnt for one thing....
Freezes. I played on average 15 games as a trial member, literally 8 of these
resulted in screen freeze due to connection problems, resulting in the need to
log off then log back in again. There are 3 different servers but having tried
each, the problem persisted. Maybe due to the fact im in Germany, I honestly
dont know. If it was stable i would have paid my membership fee straight away.
GameGrid: Came across this one yesterday, as you can derive from the above I
havnt been 100% happy with any of the servers but I think Ive found my
backgammon home, so to speak :)
Now I have only played 6 games in Gamesgrid (It was 5 am in the morning :) ) as
a guest which means no ratings are attributed. And to say Im impressed would be
an understatement.
The very second I logged in "Membership Desk" was there taking my hand and
asking if i wanted a guide of all things :). before I know it a stranger
("Chaser") who was not an official guide was asking if i needed any help. I
thought to myself hmmm what do they want ;) but these people genuinely were
making an effort to see that I felt "at home" and my experience was a pleasant
one. I was very impressed at the overall friendliness of the site.. even in the
lounge there wasnt the childish "soinso is a soinso" rubbish.. it was really a
pleasant atmosphere and i would like to thank "Membership Desk" and "Chaser" (We
had a great game BTW) for their assistance.
Again there were more features than you can shake a stick at and the graphics
options were amazing (3d or 2d boards with any colour you can dream of :) )
And NOT ONCE did I experience any form of lag or any freezing. You can easily
discuss the game as you play.. there are Macros for common sentences and you can
even make your own.. the list goes on.
All round Id place this server at the top of the tree. It costs 80$ per year but
its most definitely worth it. I strongly recommend anyone looking for online
backgammon to check it out on www.gamesgrid.com
There may well be servers I have not mentioned (known about) perhaps others
could comment about them.
PLEASE no flames from Sysops /administrators. These are my PERSONAL
observations, YOU may not have lag on Yahoo or screen freezes on Netgammon..
best advice is for you to try them yourself.
Regards
Alan Webb
PS. Bill Robertie gives lessons on Gamesgrid. Anyone know how much he charges? I
DO know his books have improved my game a great deal.
Rodrigo Andrade
Way to go Alan!!
>PLEASE no flames from Sysops /administrators. These are my PERSONAL
>observations, YOU may not have lag on Yahoo or screen freezes on
>Netgammon..
>best advice is for you to try them yourself.
Yahoo games is in fact laggier than FIBS. It is the slower place to play,
but it's due to the inherent nature of Java technology. The game itself runs
smoothly, but the Java windows take years to load.
Netgammon, however, is lighting fast from where I'm sitting.
>PS. Bill Robertie gives lessons on Gamesgrid. Anyone know how much he
>charges? I
>DO know his books have improved my game a great deal.
According to the Gammon Press catalog, he charges $200 for a 2-hour lesson.
They say that classes can be conducted over the phone if you have a
hands-free set, or a speaker. I wonder who pays the long distance charges...
:-)
And, yes, his books are incredible! They have done more for my game than any
other (well, Backgammon For Winners was my first BG book ever).
As for GamesGrid, GGguide49 (that's me!), or any other for that matter, will
be more than willing to help you any time you need.
See ya on the Grid.
RODRIGO
Casual_Observer
Before you run off and spend your $80 on GG,
go here:
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Network/9886/winfibs.html
Download and use John Fahey's wonderful beta GUI
for FIBS. You may find FIBS alot more
satisfying with this interface.
I have no objection to GG - I just chose
not to spend the $80 to play BG on the net.
When I played there, before it got to be
a pay service - I loved it!!!
Y'all Have a Happy Day,
Richard
> PLEASE no flames from Sysops /administrators. These are my PERSONAL
> observations, YOU may not have lag on Yahoo or screen freezes on Netgammon..
> best advice is for you to try them yourself.
>
> Regards
>
> Alan Webb
Mark
look for me "mhaley" if you have any problems, ill help you work through
them.
mark