The Scrabulous dilemma...

[fajrdrako]

Dear Abby,

My name is Elizabeth and I am a Scrabulous addict. Luckily, some of my friends are also Scrabulous addicts. so that's all right. But the heavy hand of the law has come down and I can't play Scrabulous online any more. Information as to why is here.

So: how do I find a place where I can play the legitimate Hasbro version? I went to the Hasbro site and discovered I can't access it or play it from work - we have the wrong software, and I can't download anything anything here. Ditto for the game on quadplex, the Pogo game is annoying and times my moves, the MSN game won't work without installation, nor will the version at about dot com boardgames. Scrabblon seems to involve the download of something called Networdz.

I tried Scrabble Beta on Facebook and can't get it to work at all.

So - where I can play a version of Scrabble online without needing to download something?

Scrabulous was just about perfect.

Yours,
The Afflicted

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Dear Afflicted One,

I can't help with your Scrabulous woes, but if you are bored - at work? But that's inconceivable! - head over to my journal for some Umbrella Academy and Gerard-related squee.

Yours truly,
A Concerned lj-er

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Thank you, Concerned, I will drown my Scrabulous sorrows by distracting myself with your LJ.

[rosiespark.livejournal.com]

Scrabulous is a rather unfortunate name, don't you think? It sounds like an unpleasant skin condition - a variation on "scrofulous" - and also brings to mind Scabbers, Ron Weasley's pet rat that turned out to be a DeathEater and murderer in disguise...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I agree about the name; but I can see that they wanted some variation on "Scrabble", which is, in itself, a rather odd name. Scrabble for the tiles?

I tried playing Scrabulous on their own site yesterday and it just isn't the same.

[rosiespark.livejournal.com]

Scrabble for the tiles, yes, and maybe also frantic scrabbling in one's brain for words? Those of us who aren't very good at it, anyway. ;)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I guess that's the point - finding words.

I haven't found a good alternative for Scrabulous but it looks as if Wordscraper (is that the right name? yes - I'm having trouble remembering it) will be a decent substitute. Maybe.

[mlleelizabeth.livejournal.com]

I'm not positive, but I think you can change the options on Pogo so that it doesn't time your moves. I know you can with some of the other board games there. I'll have to doublecheck when I get home, though.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Okay, thanks! I thought there should be a way to do it, but I couldn't figure out what it was.

[mlleelizabeth.livejournal.com]

One thing that's important -- don't hit the "play now" button! Or "practice with robots." Those both throw you into a game without allowing you to set the table up with the options you want. What I usually do is click on a room that doesn't have many people in it, then pick an empty table, and a window pops up that lets you set the options for the table. You should be able to change the timed move thing there, as well as several other things. If I want to play the robots and not allow random strangers to join my game, I just make the table private with a random password and play on... This works for all of the board games except backgammon, which doesn't allow you to play against robots. [/pogo addict]

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

don't hit the "play now" button! Or "practice with robots." Those both throw you into a game without allowing you to set the table up with the options you want.

Ah - now I know! Thanks for the tip.

I'll try it your way. You clearly know what you're talking about. As Rose once said: "At last! A professional!"

[mad-jaks.livejournal.com]

*is sad* You were beating me hands down but I was loving it immensely...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I was loving it too! And you were giving me a good run for my money.

Whimper.

[mad-jaks.livejournal.com]

I only just found it! *cries*

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

There's a substitute now called Wordscraper. I'm giving it a try... it isn't quite as much like Scrabble, but the principle is the same. Instead of square tiles, it has round ones.

[mad-jaks.livejournal.com]

Round? *pokes it*

I tried Pogo - I didn't like it much :( everything was too small and fiddly

ETA AND I had to pretend I was American/Canadian on POgo as their Scrabble game isn't available to those of us in the UK

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I didn't much like Pogo either. I'm not sure why but it wasn't fun.

As for having to pretend you were American or Canadian - that's so annoying! I wish websites would be open to everyone. Especially the Torchwood website. I'm convinced that it's closed to non-UK residents because it's full of hot Jack/Ianto sex scenes they don't want to share with the rest of the world.

Spoilsports.

[mad-jaks.livejournal.com]

I don't go there often but if it *was* I'd go there a lot oftener *G*

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's why they're worried about bandwidth...

[dargie.livejournal.com]

pogo.com I've been playing like a lunatic for the last few days.

[dargie.livejournal.com]

Whoops, sorry, I see you already know about Pogo. I don't worry about the timer since I play against robots and they always let me take however much time I want. But I can see how it'd be a problem with a live opponent.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I'll have to figure out how to set it up so it won't time me out. Not that I mind timers, but it's really more fun without them.

Once on Pogo, I'll have to find live opponents.

[dargie.livejournal.com]

I'd be happy to play with you sometimes, but I'm fairly certain you'd wipe the floor with me.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

You're on! (Rubbing my hands and twirling my metaphorical virtual mustache.) As soon as I can figure out how to make it work and how to find you on Pogo.

[dargie.livejournal.com]

Ah well on Pogo, I'm OldDeadGuys2. Probably the best way to do it is to make an appointment to meet. But not tonight as I really am headachy and it'd be a cakewalk for you. We can arrange something via email tomorrow, k?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Okay, shall we make an appointment for tomorrow evening? or Thursday? I don't remember if you're in the same time zone as I am; I never remember where it changes over.

[dargie.livejournal.com]

Thursday would be good, I think. I'm in the Central zone. I don't recall if you are or not. I think you may be. What's your Pogo name?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I'm +5 GMT, which is the same as New York. Eastern Daylight Time - that's probably one hour different from you.

I'll have to check but I think my Pogo name is fajrdrako. I try to keep my name the same, otherwise I'll never, ever remember it.

[dargie.livejournal.com]

Fajrdrako isn't a registered user according to Pogo. And yeah, you're an hour ahead of me.

fajrdrako on Pogo...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I'm sure I had a user name years ago, but there's no way I'd remember what it was, so I've registered again as fajrdrako. You should be able to find me now!

[auriaephiala.livejournal.com]

According to the CBC story (http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/07/29/scrabulous-facebook.html), "Facebook users in Canada and the United States can still access the program from the Scrabulous website".

I hope that might work for you.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Brief moment of excitement and hope followed by disappointment.

I can indeed access the Scrabulous website. But don't have the right Java/Flash/whatever to actually see a game.

But it always worked just fine with Facebook!

Grump.

I will just have to play from home, I guess.

[duncanmac.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear about the lawsuit. Oh well. I guess the "Pogo" ref is the next stop (and many thanks for the advice found in comments here).

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

Dear Afflicted:

Take up mah jong. It's the next big thing. Trust me.

Abby

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

LOL - mah jong is indeed a decent substitute for Scrabulous. Insofar as there could ever be a substitute for Scrabulous.