Win/Loss Ratio

I recently downloaded QuizUp for my iPad. This decision was facilitated by a friend who had been playing the game on his phone, and recommended it as a fun diversion. Of course downloading the game and creating an account is only the first step to playing QuizUp. From there I selected the first quiz and clicked start.

All of this is part of the normal experience, but I was then faced with the screen “Finding an opponent.” I punched the cancel button, went back to the homescreen and hid from the iPad for the next fifteen minutes. This is a perfectly normal reaction to being suddenly thrust into a multiplayer game without warning. Of course in hindsight I should have realized that “Start Game” would have, you know, started a multiplayer game in what amounts to be a quiz game that doesn’t have a single player option.

Playing down

Often when playing a competitive match in any sport we cannot control what level of player we face. In some cases we will face an opponent of equal skill. But in others we will have to battle it out against someone who is higher skilled, or lower skilled.

When playing against a lower-skilled opponent it is important to remember that the skill level doesn’t really mean a guaranteed victory. When a level six plays against a level three, it doesn’t mean that the six can relax and coast his way to victory.

To Program or Not to Program

While perusing through my favorite web comics, I saw this xkcd comic about automation. While I have agree with Randall Munroe's comments on how attempting to automate can go comically wrong, I also believe that it can be used for good. Also, I understand that the comic in question is attempting to be funny, and it is showing the worst sides of programming for a laugh. However I feel that it is an excellent opportunity to explain my thoughts on why being able to write simple automation style programs is good.

Playing against friends

I have mentioned before that one of the ways to improve while playing games is to treat the game as if you were playing a sport. That usually means playing the game to win, without taking the opponents feelings into consideration. However there could be a problem if you are applying this methodology to all games that you play. When playing against friends, going for the win when they are hoping to have fun and enjoy your company can cause issues with your relationship.

When we play games with our friends it is important to discuss how the game is to be played. Is it going to be a serious game, where each player will temporarily put the friendship aside during the game, and then play a cutthroat game where winning at all costs is the ultimate objective? Or are you going to play casually, taking and joking about other things during the game?

A quick discussion while preparing the game that you are going to play can prevent a lot of tension and anger later. If one player plays serious, while everyone else is expecting a fun laid back game can cause confusion and hurt.

There is another concern, and that is for the player who is trying to treat the game like a professional player, and perhaps they are a professional player who is now playing with a friend. Obviously if this pro were to do their best, then the friends, who we assume are not at their level, will be crushed and probably won’t have any fun. The solution is to play casually, but the pro may be afraid that playing casually will hurt their ability to take the game seriously the next time that they play in a tournament.

My solution is to consider finding a way to play the game seriously while at the same time, handicapping yourself so that your friends have a chance at winning. For example, if a high level Starcraft II player were to play against some friends who were in the bronze league, the high level player could decide to not use any of the units that they normally use, but instead purposefully use units that they know have a disadvantage against the units that their friends are creating. The benefits of this include improving scouting, and also learning how to defeat an opponent when you are at the disadvantage. You end up increasing the odds that your opponent will win the match, or at least come close to winning, while at the same time improving your skills for your next serious match or tournament.

The JavaScript length Property

The length property in JavaScript is used to determine how many elements are in a thing. I use the word thing because the length property can be used on almost any kind of variable.

JavaScript - Join Method

join - Concatenates an Array together

Purpose: The Join method concatenates the elements of an Array, and returns a string.

JavaScript

I have begun learning web development. I would like to learn how to spruce up my own webpage at brookspatton.net as well as possibly switch from the Systems Administration career that I am currently in to Web Developer. I purchased a basic introductory course at Udemy called How to Become a Web Developer from Scratch. While the class itself costs $199, I was able to get a coupon for 75% off which made it much more affordable.