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Boggle/Big Boggle FAQ

Table of Contents

• Section 1:What Are the Boggle Games?
  1. What Is Boggle?
  2. About the Gameshow Hosts
  3. Where to Play the Games
  4. A Description of the Games
  5. Common Problems Encountered in the Game
  6. GalaxyNet/StarLink/StarChat Game Features

• Section 2:Controlling the 'Bot and the Channel
  1. BogBot Commands/Game Commands
  2. Channel Operators/Game Masters
  3. General Channel Rules (For Everyone)

• Section 3:Problems
  1. Reporting Bugs and Problems

• Section 4:About the Authors
  1. Who Are They?
  2. Contacting the Authors

• Section 5:Other Points of Interest
  1. Other Points of Interest

Big Boggle is similar to regular Boggle except it uses a 5x5 matrix and all the words must be of length 4 or greater. Big Boggle is currently only available at the Qnet site.

The Gameshow Hosts

Where to Play Boggle

The newest network for the games is StarLink, organised originally by a group of women. StarLink differs from many other IRC networks in that it does not allow any sex or software piracy channels. This is still a relatively new network, but quite friendly and reasonably free of lag. You can access a StarLink server at tasman.worldweb.net. New players to Boggle might consider starting on StarLink or GalaxyNet, as they are much smaller and tend to be friendlier than the EFnet.

The most common location is on the group of IRC machines known collectively as the EFnet. Most client software for the IRC comes with a list of EFnet server sites to which you can connect. An example of an EFnet server site is irc.bu.edu. EFnet tends to be quite crowded, lagged, and prone to netsplits.

An alternate group of machines form a network known as the Undernet. On the Undernet, netsplits, hacked channel operator privileges, and such like are relatively uncommon due to the structure of the network. Your same client software for EFnet will also work wonderfully well for the Undernet. Some common Undernet sites are ca.undernet.org or us.undernet.org.

A standalone machine exists at irc.qnet.com for playing the games. Qnet never has any netsplits or hacked ops and the lag tends to be rather evenly distributed across the player base. This is currently the only site running Big Boggle. This site, the Undernet, and EFnet are maintained by Mach.

You're not sure which network you're on? A quick and easy way to tell is by using the /lusers command. If it comes and reports to you that there are over 25 000 users connected on 70+ servers then you're connected to the EFnet. If there are fewer than 30 000 but more than 15 000, you are likely on the Undernet. Qnet never has more than 70 people online at a time and a /motd will tell you that you are on Qnet. GalaxyNet does not usually have a lot of people but it will report that there are several people connected to x number of servers, where the number of servers is under 30. To change servers, type /server machine_name, where machine_name is something like irc.ucdavis.edu or irc.qnet.com.

A Description of the Game

As an example, in the board:

        a b c d
        e f g h
        i j k l
        m n o p

• 3 letters: fab, fin, abe, lop, ink
• 4 letters: fink, mink, glop

Most people prefer to play a version of Boggle that is a little more challenging, saving the three-letter words for times when they are playing alone. If you see several people on the Boggle channel, chances are that they will want to be playing with words of four or more characters each. We did introduce a 4+ version of Boggle, Big Boggle, but this only runs at one site. Until it is more widespread, please respect the wishes of the majority.

Scoring for Boggle is relatively simple. You score 1 point for each 3-letter word. For each additional letter, add one more point to your score. Thus, for example, if you find the word fab in the above matrix, you score 1 point for fab. If you find mink, you score 2 points, and so on.

Common Problems Encountered While Playing

Q) The board doesn't line up correctly.
A) Make sure you type:

    /set continued_line + 
    /set indent off

Note that these are the default IRC settings. In general, if the board is "off by a character" you can set continued_line to nothing or to + or to ++.

Q) I *still* can't see the board properly.
A) Try (on GalaxyNet/StarLink) bog show long board instead. Q) The board scrolls off the screen. What can I do?
A) The best solution is to use IRC windows. You need VT100 emulation to use this feature (you have VT100 if your screen has an inverse bar at the bottom of the screen above where you type). With multiple windows, you can /msg bogbot to show you the board in one window which won't scroll, while you play in the main window.

Type:
    /window new             - create a new irc window

    /bind ^I next_window    - That's carat-I, not control-I!

       Tab will now switch windows.

       An inverse ^^^ denotes the active window.

       Use tab to select the upper window.

    /join #boggle           - Join channel in the upper window

       Use tab to select the lower window.

    /msg bogbot show board  - Shows board in lower window

       Use tab to select upper window, play!

Type /window kill to destroy a window.

2) Boggle can be switched between 'hard' and 'easy' modes. Hard mode is defined as a game where all words must be at least four letters in order to count. "bog hard mode" issued during the course of a game will cause BogBot, if in 'easy mode' to only allow 4+ letter words in the following games. 'Easy' mode allows players to use 3-letter words and can be activated by using the 'bog easy mode' command.

3) Boggle has 2 sets of statistics. One set, the 'indy' set is generated when a player plays a Boggle game alone. A 'group' set is maintained for games involving at least two players. In addition to the regular scores and wins (for both types), BogBot also stores the percentage of words found. "bog show top indy percentages" will show these for single-player games, etc.

4) BogBot shows all words found by the 'bot and by the players. It is not restricted to only 256 characters or so. In addition, the bot will only display words that it found itself in excess of 4 letters, regardless of the mode of the bot. This is to encourage the '4+ letter culture.'

* help 
    This provides the current list of commands to which BogBot will 
    respond.  This command might be disabled due to people flooding
    the 'bot with help requests.

    
* show board 
    Sends a private message to you with a copy of the current board
    in play.  This board is all on one line and works with IGM and
    80-column text-based IRC clients.

    
* show long board
   Send a private message to you with a copy of the current board
   in play.  This board is sent one line at a time and provides an
   alternative for those who don't use IGM or can't get the regular
   show board to work.
    
* show scores
    Displays the current points accumulated by the players for the current
    game.

      
* show top wins
    Will send you the list of the 10 players with the greatest number of
    wins.  On StarLink/Galaxynet, this list is of the
    top ten high scores generated while playing with at least two
    people.

    
* show top scores
    Will send you the list of the 10 players with the greatest number of
    points in a single game.  On StarLink/Galaxynet, this list is of the
    top ten high scores generated while playing with at least two
    people.
      

* show stats nickname
    Will send you a summary of a given user's number of wins and highest
    score.


* show top indy scores
    On GalaxyNet/StarLink, this command shows you the top scores generated
    while players were playing alone.
    
* show top indy wins
   On GalaxyNet/StarLink, this command shows you the top number of 
   individual wins.

   
* show top percentages
   On GalaxyNet/StarLink, this shows the ten players who have found
   the highest percentage of possible words while playing against
   other players.

   
* show top indy percentages
   On GalaxyNet/StarLink, this shows the ten players who have
   found the highest percentage of possible words while playing
   alone.

   
* free channel
    Will remove +m, +i, +s, or +k modes in case the channel
    gets stuck in one of these modes.

    
* hard mode
  On GalaxyNet/StarLink this instructs the bot to no longer
  accept 3-letter words as of the next game.

  
* easy mode
  On GalaxyNet/StarLink this instructs the bot to once
  again accept 3-letter words as valid answers of the
  next game.

    

People are granted operator status on EFnet/Undernet/Qnet by Mach (mock@irc.qnet.com). For GalaxyNet/StarLink/DALnet, you need to contact Eingang (hoyle@ifi.unizh.ch). Usually, operator privileges are granted to people who have played the games for awhile so that their behaviour can be evaluated.

We do not find it amusing if people are constantly asking us for operator privileges for the games. Being an operator is not just a status thing, it is also a responsibility. If you just want to be an operator because you think it is cool, please do not even bother to ask. In fact, in general, operator privileges are granted automatically to people deemed capable of assuming the responsibility for managing the channel.

We cannot stress the importance of operators behaving appropriately. With so many games running, it is impossible for the game administrators to monitor all the channels all the time. As such, we rely on the operators to enforce the rules, particularly the rules regarding language and conduct on the channel. The games are designed to be family-friendly. If you are an operator or would like to be an operator, please be sure that you are also committed to this.

If you think someone is abusing their operator privileges or perhaps using them to cheat, please feel free to contact the appropriate game administrator with details of the problem.

Channel Rules (For Everyone)

Channel operators are users entrusted to maintain order on the channel as well as to correct errors and notify the administration in the event of errors or mishaps. If you think someone is abusing their operator privileges or perhaps using them to cheat, please feel free to contact Eingang with details of the problem.

Respect

The most important rule for our game channels is that all people on the channel must be treated with respect, be they just regular game players, operators, game hosts ('bots), or game administrators. Treating people with respect means being polite, obeying the rules, and contributing in a positive way to a healthy channel atmosphere.

If you find yourself in a position where you are being verbally attacked, flooded, or otherwise harassed, please ask the offending party to cease. If they fail to cease, make use of the /ignore user@host -all command to ignore any message, public or private, coming from them and report to the problem to one of the game channel operators. Do not bother to respond to the person.

If you have a fight to pick with another user, please do it off channel or in private messages. Respecting other people means letting them enjoy the game without being subject to any personal problems you might have with other users. This would, of course, include any slights aimed at people on the basis of the colour, religion, sex, or age.

Profanity

The games are meant to run in a "family" atmosphere, which means, ideally, no profanity or vulgarity at all. The users on the channel range in age from 10-80+. While the majority of us are adults and can handle language that is a little blue, it would be better to keep such language to a minimum. Going hand in hand with this is a caveat on language of a sexual nature. Vulgar comments or comments of a sexual nature are prohibited. This injunction also extends to the development of categories for any of the games.

The profanity rules do not constitute a violation of the American Constitution regarding free speech. The rules for free speech only apply to printed materials and areas of public congress. With these games, the administrators are inviting you into a private space and therefore are exempt from the rules regarding free speech. If you find their rules intolerable, you do not have to visit their "home."

We recognize that, at times, the game can be extremely frustrating. We would like to suggest that you make use of the following fun and clean expletives to express your displeasure: Krunk! Aaaargh! Ack! Wok?! Eep! Krunkola!

Channel Language

The official language of all the game channels is English. Unless the game category calls for something in a foreign language (in trivia or Chaos), all conversation on the channel and answers submitted to the bot should be English. Derivatives of English, such as Singlish, are frowned upon. The games are open to people from all over the world, so be friendly! Use proper English!

Category Complaints

Please refrain from complaining about the Americo-centric categories. The games have been running for a number of years now and most of the original players who contributed categories were from North America, which does the tilt the balance of play in their favour. Complaining about it, however, does not do anything and just annoys the other players. Instead of complaining, why not check out the category writing FAQ and write your own categories for inclusion in the game? This is a much more productive action than just complaining.

Operators

The operators are on the channel to ensure that the game runs smoothly. Operators are drawn from the pool of regular players. Asking an operator to op you is pointless and futile. If you are a regular IRC user, you probably already know how annoying it is to be constantly asked for access on a channel. If you are interested in becoming a channel operator, check out the FAQ on how to become a operator and apply!

Game bots and Errors in the Game

The game bots are programs, albeit programs with some degree of sophistication. The game bots have no idea of what is really right and what is really wrong. All they can go by is what was programmed into them by the category writer. Therefore, when the bot claims that the answer is "Aplpe" instead of "Apple," there is not much point in abusing the bot about it. Often channel operators will fix your score in such cases. If not, you yourself can report the problem using the "/msg botname /note answer x in category y should be answer z" so that it will be eventually fixed. Please do not bother to message one of the channel operators to reset your score. If they are paying attention, they will likely fix your score without prompting.

Flooding

Flooding is defined as the rapid dumping of material to the channel or to other users via private messages, or repeated ctcp commands aimed at another user. Flooding often includes dumping ASCII art pictures to the screen, large pieces of conversations, textfiles, repeated pinging, etc. With the advent of colours in Ircle, mirc, and Pirch, dumping large amounts of coloured text to the channel can also be construed as flooding. We would request that you keep the use of colours to a minimum, since not all clients support colour.

Bot Commands

Most of the commands that can be issued to the game bots on a channel can also be sent to the bot via a private message. Repeatedly issuing "show scores", "show categories," etc. on the channel can be annoying. Use the /msg command instead to accomplish the same thing.

Idling

Idling on the game channels is not permitted except by the game administrators and the game show hosts ('bots). Most of the channels have a restriction on the number of users allowed on at a time. If you are idling there, you are probably preventing other users from playing.

Cheating

Cheating often depends on the game being played. In general, however, the use of scripts to provide answers to trivia questions, solve Boggle boards, or provide Chaos category answers would be construed as cheating. There are some scripts around to help you play the games, such as the Boggle script and the IRC Game Machine (IGM). These scripts do not store answers of any kind, and thus are permitted. In a game such as Acro, cheating would include collaborating with other players on your acryonym expansion, using multiple nicknames or logins, or exchanging information about authorship of acronyms for the purposes of gaining points. For all the games, using multiple logins or multiple accounts to play is considered cheating. Cheating does not make the game fun for other people and, if you are caught, can be embarrassing and will result in a ban from all of the games.

Revealing Answers

In the trivia games, there are moments when it is inappropriate to reveal the answer to a question, especially during the final round and during a steal. Please pay close attention to the status of the game before typing your answer.

Giving Up

In the trivia games, it is possible to say "we give up" and have the 'bot go on to the next questions. The 'bots all ignore repeated "we give up" commands from the same user for the same question; so only say it once. Secondly, it is better to have a concensus on the channel before giving up; try asking if it is OK to give up before issuing the command.

Finally, if you have any complaints or questions about the channel guidelines, please contact one of the channel operators first and then one of the game administrators (See the game FAQs for information on contacting game administrators). We do want the games to be enjoyable for everyone.

It happens occasionally that a word is not found by the 'bot in the board. More often than not this is because of a failure in the 'bot. If you believe it is because the word is not included in the word dictionary, please send some e-mail to Eingang. Please note that proper nouns should properly be excluded from the dictionary as they are not valid for the game of Boggle.

As of June 1st, 1997, StarLink/GalaxyNet bots feature a new dictionary. This dictionary is 105, 000 words and excludes proper names, acronyms, abbreviations, and Roman numerals. With so many words, it's unlikely that your word isn't in the dictionary.

For a problem with one of the operators or with users on the channel, please send e-mail to Eingang including the names (user@host & IRC nickname) of the participants, details of the problem, location of the problem, and any actions that have already been taken.

More information can be obtained from their home pages. Mach's home page is located at http://phobos.cs.ucdavis.edu:8001/~mock/. More information about Eingang can be found at http://www.interpac.net/~eingang/.

Contacting the Authors

Gigi44^ has slaved over her editor and her paint programs to bring the GalaxyNet and StarLink game players the "Ein-Gang Pages", in which you can find pictures and short paragraphs about all your favourite players. The page is located at http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Realm/1936.

Eingang moderates an on-topic mailing list devoted to the games on her networks. Announcements of upcoming tournaments, machine problems, game upgrades, new games, etc. are sent to this list. To subscribe to the mailing list, send an e-mail to majordomo@venom.co.uk with "subscribe ircgames" in the body of the message. To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to majordomo@venom.co.uk with "unsubscribe ircgames" in the body of the message.

Sker has provided us with a bang-up script to help make your game playing easier when you're using a UNIX-based IRCii client. This script simplifies play on #riskybus (and variants), #acro, #chaos, and #boggle! Check it out at http://www.dimensional.com/~sker/game4irc.html!

For Windows users, check out Dwight Duensing's IRC Game Machine (IGM), which provides an interface to all of our games. (His WWW page seems to be missing so the latest version here in .zip file format is stored here at http://www.interpac.net/~eingang/Games/Information/igm.zip.)

If you have a page or resource that should be added here, contact Eingang!

Michelle A. Hoyle
Boggle/Big Boggle FAQ, updated February 19th, 1998