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Play Sites
I play on FIBS and GamesGrid, and my experience is you get what you pay
for [FIBS is free; GG isn't]. The GG client is far superior, the play
is faster, and, unlike FIBS, it provides much information regarding the
match histories of potential opponents (including their drop rates. GG
also uses Snowie to resolve matches that remain unfinished for too
long. You can also list your preferences, and see the preferences of
others.
People are friendly on both servers. On GG I've had only one dropper
during the year and a half that I've played there. I've played on FIBS
for about a year, and have had maybe 10 to 15 droppers.
To my mind, the biggest difference between the two servers -- and I've
never seen anyone else comment on this -- is that many people on FIBS
are strangely reluctant to accept matches. To my knowledge, I am not
known as a difficult, rude or slow player (I use an anonymous nickname
on FIBS but not GG, where I use my real name), yet it's gotten to the
point that when I log onto FIBS I give myself 5 minutes to get a match
with someone of roughly my rating (I like to play within 100 points, up
or down) before I leave and move over to GG; otherwise I'll find myself
waiting around forever. My rating on FIBS currently is in the 1730's,
and I'd say that 3 out of 4 people of roughly my rating that I challenge
won't agree to play. I have no idea why. Also, unlike GG, where, once
you've challenged someone to a match and they don't want to play, they
let you know by hitting a "decline" button, on FIBS there is no such
button. Therefore, if the person you've challenged doesn't want to
play, he/she will usually ignore you. A very few people are polite
enough to go to the trouble of chatting with you, and saying that they
are not going to accept the challenge.
Also, I prefer to play matches of 7 points or more. I state that as my
preference on GG, and have no trouble getting such matches. On FIBS
most people seem to want to play 5 points max, and most challenges I get
are for 3 points. Often times, if I challenge someone to a 7 point
match and they are willing to accept, they nevertheless will reply that
they prefer to play a 3 or 5 pointer.
I also find that on FIBS I'm by far most frequently challenged by
players who are at least a couple hundred rating points below me, and
hardly anyone who's rated higher than me. I've tried a few times, and
no one 100 points or more above me has ever accepted my challenge. This
is not the case on GG, where I've had matches with top players, such as
Kit Woolsey, Kent Goulding, and Walter Trice, for example.
By way of comparison. I've played on GG for about 1 1/2 years, and on
FIBS for 1 year. During the last year I've logged onto FIBS and GG with
roughly equal frequency, yet I've played less than 1300 games on FIBS,
but over 3500 on GG. That's the direct result of GG being a faster
server, and the fact that I have relative difficulty getting matches on
FIBS.
I probably have stated matters more negatively than they deserve. I am
not dissing FIBS. I *do* consider it a great place to play, and I
continue to log in there looking for matches, and I play there when
someone gets around to accepting a challenge. But I consider GG an even
better place to play, and well worth the money. If you want to check it
out, you can play there for free as a guest. That will give you a feel
for the software, and so on. Some people, of course, are more reluctant
to play a guest than another rated player, but you should have no
trouble finding matches. I liked the experience so much that I became a
member after only a few days.
And, just so the point doesn't get lost in my negative comments -- which
I emphasize are only by way of *comparison* to GG -- I do recommend FIBS
as well.
Bob Stringer
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Play Sites
- Arkadium (Michael Volpatt, Oct 2003)
- BG Room (Stanley E. Richards+, Oct 2007)
- Backgammon4Money--Announcement (Will Edison, Dec 2001)
- Best value (Kenny Lee Smith+, June 1998)
- Club Games (Ashton Haze, Sept 2005)
- Club Games (Tomawaky+, May 2005)
- Comparison of rakes (Raccoon, Dec 2006)
- Comparison of rakes (Raccoon, July 2006)
- Comparison of rakes (Hank Youngerman+, Oct 2005)
- Comparison of rakes (Daniel, Aug 2005)
- DailyGammon (Dan Wittkopp+, July 2004)
- DailyGammon (Scott Steiner+, Apr 2004)
- DailyGammon (Phil Vanicek, May 2001)
- FIBS vs. GamesGrid (Bob Stringer, May 2000)
- FIBS--Financial support (Kit Woolsey, Aug 1997)
- FIBS--Original announcement (Andreas Schneider, July 1992)
- FIBS--Top Tournament Performers (Osman Guner, July 2003)
- FIBS--Your worst fears (Richard Greenberg, Nov 1995)
- Fair Backgammon (info, May 2006)
- Free online tournaments (Ricardo Hui+, Mar 2009)
- Friendly play site (Ian Dunstan+, Feb 2006)
- GameDesire (Maciej Mróz, Sept 2004)
- GameSite2000--Announcment (GameSite 2000, Jan 2000)
- Games4Dollars (Info Team, Apr 2004)
- GamesGrid vs FIBS (Jim Cochrane, Jan 1999)
- GamesGrid--Announcement (CyberArts Inc., June 1996)
- GamesGrid--Comparison to FIBS (Ken Arnold, May 1997)
- GamesGrid--Second version (Ken Arnold, Sept 1996)
- GamesGrid--Update (Ken Arnold, Mar 1998)
- Gammon Empire--Announcement (Jerry, Nov 2004)
- Gammon11 (sirkaber, May 2006)
- HigherGames--Announcement (Michael Gilbert, Dec 2003)
- ItsYourTurn--Announcement (Tom Buhrman, Sept 1999)
- Ladbrokes.com (mccm1976, May 2006)
- Link to review of play sites (cindybel+, May 2006)
- MSN Gaming Zone--Overall experience (Mark Ferrante+, Nov 1997)
- MSN Gaming Zone--Thoughts (Gregg Cattanach, Dec 1998)
- MoneyGaming.com (max+, July 2005)
- NOBS (Lou Poppler+, Aug 1996)
- Overview (chinaski+, June 2008)
- Overview (Alan Webb, Jan 1999)
- PiranhaGammon (Piranha, Dec 2007)
- Play site wish list (Perry Gartner+, Dec 2012)
- Play65/GammonEmpire (Butch Meese+, July 2005)
- Play65/GammonEmpire (Daniel Murphy+, Dec 2004)
- Play65/GammonEmpire vs. TrueMoneyGames (oneprime+, Feb 2005)
- Play65/GammonEmpire--Are they the same? (Tony Yarwood+, Aug 2005)
- Play65/GammonEmpire--Review (Tom Keith+, Sept 2005)
- Play65/GammonEmpire--Withdrawal symptoms (David Warmind+, May 2007)
- Play65/GammonEmpire--Withdrawal symptoms (Erik Sorensen+, Apr 2007)
- Playmaker World--Announcement (Michael Crane, Nov 2001)
- Playsite--Announcement (Seth Tapper, Mar 1997)
- Ratings comparison (Daniel Murphy, Aug 1999)
- Richard's Play-by-E-mail Server (Richard Rognlie, May 1997)
- TrueMoneygames--Announcement (TrueMoneygames Info, Apr 2002)
- VOG (Glenn+, Feb 2000)
- Where to play for money (mginat+, May 2006)
- Where to play for money (Victor Zanfer+, Apr 2005)
- Yahoo Games (Steve Fiete+, Mar 1998)
- Yahoo Games--Ratings (Neil GoBlu+, July 2000)
- melBG--Announcement (David Kinston, Dec 2000)
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