a big beef about online Scrabble

I love Scrabble. I don't know if I've ever mentioned it, but I do love Scrabble. A. Lot. So imagine my joy when Facebook added the Scrabulous application. Now, I don't mean to sound arrogant, but I *am* pretty darn good at Scrabble, on my own steam. So there I was, happily playing along, when all of a sudden, people who I'd previously played have suddenly quadrupled their previous scoring ability! People were using obscure words that I am absolutely 100% sure that they would at the very least have HAD to look up in the dictionary.

But wait. No. It's better than that. There are even BETTER cheats available online. Anagram solvers are bad enough, but there is actually a site where you can go and plug in the letters on the board, plus the tiles you have in your hand, and it will scan the dictionary and give you all the possible options, plus the point values.

Let it be said that I do NOT use online cheats when I play online Scrabble. There's no challenge and no real glory that way. For all of you who have been going around 'kicking ass' at Scrabulous because you've discovered these wonderful cheat boards, you may score 450 points and improve your playing stats, but there are lots like me out there who prefer to 'lose' with the measly 286 we earn all on our own.

Comments

Tanya said…
You know I really don't understand where the fun in cheating is. Sure a persons stats might look great but how much pride can one really have knowing they are cheating. My stats may not be the best but I feel quite happy knowing that no matter what the score it was me that made the effort, not some computer.
ticblog said…
You know, I think the big reason I am so upset is that it never even dawned on me that maybe these people were cheating. I feel really stupid for being so naive. Kudos to the ONE person who had been cheating who finally told me why she was scoring so high. Now I'm suspiscious of everyone, you know? It has really ruined it for me. From now on if i suspect someone is using an online cheat I'm just going to keep passing my turn.
alphonsedamoose said…
Cheaters seem to need the accolades they get with high scores, even if they know they are not true. It is an ego thing. Plus it seems to be the way of the world now. I am so cynical.
ticblog said…
No, I'm not actually accusing anyone, because who knows - maybe some of my scrabble buddies are geniuses and actually use words like "ecglame" in polite day-to-day conversation. Somehow, I'm just not buying it though, you know? I'm just feeling very much 'cheated' in the literal sense of the word - I play for the fun of it. I can't imagine it's much fun maintaining all those cheat boards. You gotta be pretty hard up to cheat at Scrabble. Like I said though, if I suspect, I'll just keep passing my turn since really, there person cheating isn't playing a game with me anyways...
fmartell2 said…
I have wondered the same thing... HOW can people come up with such high points! Now I know!!
Carol Kerfoot said…
I'm just jokin ya! I can't play scrabble anymoe cause it actually hurtz my brain. I'll confess to usin the dictionary...cause let's face it I CAN'T spell! LOL
Smiley Eyes said…
Hey, I think I know why.. you are very schooled in your words. I have heard you talk a million times and you use some big words.

Maybe they felt compelled to one up you ? LOL!!

It is a tough world out there with those gregarious people which make them irascible !

Now don't think my comment is aspersion or anything.

You can't help it if you are a sesquipedalian , quintessentialor a largess !
ticblog said…
touche, Tammy LOL!!!!
ticblog said…
OK - I had to pass a turn yesterday because these were my tiles: ZUUIIII. I don't think there are any tiles left in the bag, and thee are no spaces on the board... ARGH!!!!
Babzy said…
Did Smiley just call you a lard ass? Did I ever tell you about Carol's resume. She put down that she was a candystripper at the hospital. I'm sure I told you. I tell everyone. She's right. She can't spell but she has other assets. For example she has an awesome sister.

I used to wonder how my Mom came up with such unusual words but she mentioned some kind of feature available right on the scrabble site to find obscure words.

Mom's fun is in playing and winning. In her mind she is being clever and innovative and using all possible resources to win.

I don't use anything but my own persistence in finding a word that works. I don't have a huge vocabulary like some folks.

My fun is in playing and having a close game but I only pretend to care who wins. Mom enjoys playing and really rubs it in when she wins. It makes me chuckle.

It depends on why you play scrabble. If you're competitive and winning is the goal then you need to lay out the rules ahead of time. You will eventually find a suitable opponent.

If the reason you play is to connect like I do with Mom, then enjoy the interaction. I'll get off my soapbox now. ha
ticblog said…
I am jokingly competitive, but really, I just love playing. Tammy is right - I am a sesquipedalian, no doubt about it. Love words, love semantics, love letters... It isn't about the win - it's about the game. And I'm willing to play a cheaters game, if someone says, let's play a cheater's game. Otherwise, it's a one-sided challenge, kind of like a dirty fight where the big strong body builder with rings on all his fingers takes a sucker-shot at the pencil neck. The pencil neck should at least be given a machete or something, you know?
ticblog said…
And yes, you have told me (and everyone else) (on numerous occasions) about Carol and her candy stripping days. Tell me, did she put little feather boas on the candies before peeling them?
ticblog said…
And for what it's worth, I actually have a dictionary and thesaurus in my bathroom for my personal reading enjoyment.
Catmoves said…
I'm fond of Crossword puzzles and Wild Thing gets me the hard to solve big books of them. Many, many new and esoteric words in them. Maybe some of the unnamed people have been doing them?
OTH, most societies are predicated on the premises of winning at all costs. It's sad, but there you are.
alphonsedamoose said…
Have you ever played Boggle? It is a terrific word game.
ticblog said…
YES!!!! I LOVE Boggle, Moose!!! I play online, which sometimes messes me up because they have pop-up ads that fly across the screen right over the playing tiles and I have to close it before I can see all the letters!!!! lol
ticblog said…
Catmoves - if there was a period of 'growth' and their vocabulary expanded at what could even remotely be considered a 'natural' as opposed to the 'exponential' rates I have been experiencing, I suppose maybe I could blame the new words as having come from their own newly-broadened knowledge base. But call me cyncial - I'm pretty confident not everyone likes to read the dictionary like me. lol

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

Unless otherwise noted, writing and watermarked images on this blog are copyrighted to Hope Walls.