[inquiry]

bearmum, on Mar 2 2005, 09:20 AM, said:

I was reporting somebody in a tourney ( not in MBC) and ALL I am asking is a REPLY saying that SOMEBODY has received my report --- and are at the VERY least looking at it --- otherwise WHY should anyone bother trying to report abuse????

Well, many people who report to abuse and other yellows then hound us (at least me) demanding to know "what has been done". As a matter of fact, your earlier post ended with..

bearmum, on Mar 1 2005, 06:31 AM, said:

IMHO the ONLY way that BBO can deal with possible "abuses" is at LEAST to let those who send reports REGULAR updated as to WHAT BBO is doing about them
OTHERWISE  why in the world have a reporting system ?????

Since you were asking for REGULAR UPDATES on what we are doing about reports to abuse, I think you can see why I assume you wanted more than just a "we got your report and are looking into it." Anyone who has ever reported bad behavior of any type to me while I am on line have gotten a direct reply from me thanking them for reporting it, and if they were abused, usually an apology on behalf of the bbo that they were treated in that way, and a promise to try to improve the playing enviroment to reduce such behavior. That is all they here from me on the issue, however.

Ben

[csdenmark]

I happened to read this thread here and I like to encourage more persons suffering from rude behavior to report. I normally report 2-3 persons for table jumping each day and thats only the clear cases. I have the impression from the messages I receive from BBO that I maybe is too eager. I read that as most people dont report but simply accept the rude behavior as something we have to live with even it looks as an increasing problem.

It is a clear problem that rude behavior is processed by the software(sucked into tourney) and that people cannot trust to be on the good side of decent behavior using normal features.

To me the solutions to solve the problems looks fairly simple.

[Rain]

When you email abuse (mostly me), it is very likely that you get a response. It is not weird not to get a response however. Sometimes this is due to time constraint. Sometimes its because I'll rather not reply.

I get claus's email records regularly ;-) like he said. I actually don't think its wrong to report "mild" cases like table hoppers. The answer is that the best solution isn't the current punishment. (Mostly a warning). The best solution is to automatically impose some punishment like we've discussed often. Automated bans for a fixed period of time (I am thinking 30 minutes per board left incomplete, rationale being if user, for whatever reason, can't sit and finish that board, his reason for leaving will prevent him from playing elsewhere too). If user crosses some predetermined threshold, he will be punished with a longer ban.

Difficulties are probably technical ones--how to determine when a board is sufficiently complete? Which boards count? ie, in private clubs, do managers get some say?

[ack_hh]

Rain, on Mar 4 2005, 04:57 AM, said:

Difficulties are probably technical ones--how to determine when a board is sufficiently complete?

I would define "midhand" as "from the first bid up to the last card". I don't
think that this is difficult to determine by the (client) software.

[spwdo]

hi,

And when a dummy played and sit for dont know how many baords and leaves(after saying my last , gtg, etc) can software recognise a good leave ?

However i do feel sympathy for banning those who`s names do come up regulary as beeing leavers.The tournament ban for those that id a lot worked fairly well at the time, i come to think that the % is lowered over time cause i see several same names going offline regulary, when u talk to another td its happens frequently thats user x or y is a know itentional disconnecter.

We discuss not blacklisted names etc, but when u work together u see same red dots .

And yes, in main it once was diffrent but over time bbo attracted more and more numbers from sites where abuse wasnt so active to say the least if it even excisted.

Some of these users have never heard/seen the way things are done /done like on bbo.
Too bad is that some ppl need more then a warning to understand what they do is wrong.And yes it can be very annoying trying to form a table. some leave for tourneys(not as much as before) the vast majority leaves after a bad baord/bid/card played from partner.

Regards

M

[hotShot]

ack_hh, on Mar 4 2005, 06:41 AM, said:

Rain, on Mar 4 2005, 04:57 AM, said:

Difficulties are probably technical ones--how to determine when a board is sufficiently complete?

I would define "midhand" as "from the first bid up to the last card". I don't
think that this is difficult to determine by the (client) software.

It is not that simple! If a board is finished the next one is dealt immediatelly. If the dealer e.g. has a clear pass, he might have bid, faster than you can leave the table.

So make it after the first bid,a player actually made.

What about the dummy, he is not expected to play any card until the game is over, i think it is the best moment to leave while you are dummy. This way another player can take your seat, and the next board can start without delay. So it should be appropriate to leave.

A great solution would be, if a player who bid or played a card at a certain board, cannot sit at another table until this board is finished at that table. This "mini ban" would just hit table hoppers, and if a board is not finished at the other table, because they don't find a replacement, the "mini ban" will be longer.

[Brandal]

One thing I have noticed in Main Bridge,
is that when we are 4 norwegians playing
at the table we rarely experience the
constant leaving and having to find new
partner or opps.

When I play with someone and just accept
two random opps from "anywhere" we see
that it usually takes almost an hour and 8-10
boards to have the table "settle".

I'm guessing it is like this with people from
other countries too?

Are we being less patient/tolerant with foreigners
and/or people we don't know?

[helene_t]

We are probably nicer to people from our own country than to foreigners. In a familiar group, you can be held responsible for your behaviour. Of course, four people online from the same country is not a familiar group, but maybe it feels more familiar than a table with four different nationalities.

But maybe it's something else. If four Norwegians are playing at the same table it looks as if they chose that table deliberately and already planned to stay there for a while.

Other than table-shopping, I think people at BBO behave very well in general. I have seen very few flames on this forum and I've only enemy-listed a single player (who was someone who harrassed his/her partner).

[Brandal]

helene_t, on Mar 4 2005, 08:05 AM, said:

If four Norwegians are playing at the same table it looks as if they chose that table deliberately and already planned to stay there for a while.

This is sometimes the case,but I would say just
as many times there are one at least who is
"randomly chosen".

We have all kinds in Norway too,didn't mean to
say otherwise

[Rain]

I mostly play with people I already know, mostly singaporeans. It used to be easier to find "friends" when the community is smaller. Harder now, depend on fate? :>

Once you get to know someone more, and choose to play at same table, its harder to just leave table for whatever reason. You *know* the person you let down will chase you down or something. And if you're in the same country, more possibility of real life homicide or whatever! =P

[Brandal]

Rain, on Mar 4 2005, 05:38 PM, said:

I mostly play with people I already know, mostly singaporeans. It used to be easier to find "friends" when the community is smaller. Harder now, depend on fate? :>

Once you get to know someone more, and choose to play at same table, its harder to just leave table for whatever reason. You *know* the person you let down will chase you down or something. And if you're in the same country, more possibility of real life homicide or whatever! =P

I will never report anyone for leaving my table
in Main,it is mildly annoying but not rude.

I will report if I or anyone at my table is
verbally abused.

I agree that in tournaments it is a big problem
when people just leave after a disagreement
or something like that.

Frequent tournamentabusers should be punished
with bans that get longer the more frequent.

[ducky_rh]

Just a side note: I suggest never showing one's email address in one's profile. Why? The other day I reported a particularly obnoxious tournament participant, to the TD at the time, and later to BBO by the obscure and cumbersome email process.

Now, I have never had a serious virus on my computer in several years of constant internet use, but within an hour of the tournament incident, I received an email containing Backdoor.Zincite.A and W32.Mydoom.M viruses, which devastated my computer. I cannot, of course, prove any connection, but the coincidence is obvious. And I do not wish these viruses on anyone, even my very few "enemies"...they are extremely nasty.

I was able to remove the viruses, but a week later I am still trying to clean my computer and get everything to work right.

Needless to say, I removed my email address from my profile immediately.

[ack_hh]

ducky_rh, on Mar 6 2005, 11:09 AM, said:

Just a side note: I suggest never showing one's email address in one's profile. Why? The other day I reported a particularly obnoxious tournament participant, to the TD at the time, and later to BBO by the obscure and cumbersome email process.

Now, I have never had a serious virus on my computer in several years of constant internet use, but within an hour of the tournament incident, I received an email containing Backdoor.Zincite.A and W32.Mydoom.M viruses

I doubt that there is someone taking note of the e-mail addresses
in the players' profiles.

Most likely one of the recipients' computers is infected, or it was pure coincidence.

One should never open e-mails containing strange addresses, subjects, or attachments.
An up to date virus scanner protects against these well known viruses.

[jdulmage]

Rain, on Feb 27 2005, 08:01 PM, said:

I don't think reporting people who leave is the most efficient way to deal with this. Best is some automated punishment like banning from playing if they leave halfway or something. Hard to code I think.

considering how it is almost impossible to determine if somebody disconnects due to ISP issues or just leaves.

The way I look at it, who cares. Just get a sub in for the person and all is well. This is one of the reasons why playing bridge in person/real life is far better than online.