rcall - The Glass Bead Network

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Player Info

Currently 4.95/5 Stars.

rcall

Pawn Magister

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76% to the next rank

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78% (soft) to next rank

"I'm a writer and avid gamer living in Utah."

Current Games

Game #3960 in "Great Cavern"

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Players: rcall, garron

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Web Logs

Two Fronts: A Tournament Sneak Preview

As you've probably noticed, this game competes on two different fronts. The way a player chooses to balance those two fronts is a nice opportunity to express some personality, as well as being a bit of strategy unique to the Glass Bead Network among online games.

The first front is the score. The first person to run out of beads in their hand is the winner. That brings with it some additional points toward your rank as well as the honor of naming the game. I'm finding lately that my first impulse is to focus on this part of the game, trying to find big plays like this one about movies or this one about animals which swing the tide of the game. I know that when I'm on the receiving end of that kind of play, it feels like a bit of a blow.

That kind of blow can, sometimes, make me more focused on the second front: play quality. Most of the points available in a game come from this front, since highly rated plays get bonus points down the road. It's entirely possible that you can lose a game but still end up with more points toward your rank. For that reason, I'm always on the lookout for a place to get a creative linkage or two in.

It seems like I'm most likely to shift focus to the second front in situations where I'm getting stomped on, though, and don't have much of a prayer of winning. One of the things I really enjoy about playing is that I know that even if I'm getting beaten up really badly, I don't have to run out the clock in a perfunctory manner and be a good sport about it. I can still do something creative that, while it may not get me the win, may actually help me more down the road. That keeps every game fun for me, no matter the score.

We wanted the upcoming tournament, the details of which you can expect to see very shortly, to reflect these two fronts. To that end, we're planning to have a final round which will include not only the people who have won the most games, but also some people who have consistently had highly rated plays.