Beginner's Guide
How do I get into a game
This server allows people on the internet to play against other people on
the internet. The rules used are pretty much the standard Scrabble rules,
with a few modifications to cater for the computerisation.
The first major issue is: who do u play against ? Well, there are always
lots of people waiting to play games. You can simply join a game that has
been set up.
In order to join a game, you click on 
and a list
of games will be presented to you. The top part of the page contains a
search engine to modify the way the list is displayed. The default settings
are normally sufficient for a new user. Below this search engine is a list
of games. Each game entry consists of the name of the game, followed by a
list of the names of people already in the game. Note that any game listed
here hasn't begun yet - the other players are waiting for more people to
join before they start the game. If you click on the name of the game, you
will be joined to that game. After joining the game, you have to wait for
the game to be started. This depends on the other players so there is no
time frame. However, if you had entered an email address during
registration, you will be notified when the game starts.
So, now what ?
Relax, put your feet up. Do some work or study or whatever it is you do. But
check your email regularly. When you get a message saying that the game has
started, then it is time to get back into action. Do not, however, reply to
the message - it is automatically generated and the reply wouldn't be read
by anyone.
How to play
If you get an email message saying that it is your turn then you can finally
play in the game. You fire up your browser and get to your NETScrabble
control panel. You should automatically see a list of games that you are
participating in on the right-hand side of the screen. If you dont, click on
and the list will be generated. Click on the
game you want to play a word in and the board for that game will be
displayed. BOOKMARK THIS PAGE before doing anything else !!!
Besides the board there will be lots of other information about the game on
that page. The comments section allows you to send comments to other
players. The distribution section shows the total distribution of tiles as
well as the number of tiles already used. The history section shows all
words played thus far and the dictionary allows you to check up the meaning
of a word through another site.
Your letters are displayed together with the scores for each person in the
game. If you are using a Java-capable browser, you will be able to
drag-and-drop tiles to move them around in the tile rack. Once you know what
word you want to play, simple enter it into the box, select the orientation
of the word and click on the position of the board where the word starts.
Make sure to enter the complete word that you are making eg. if you are
making "TAILS" and "S" is already on the board, then you must enter "TAILS".
If you want to use a blank, you must precede the blank letter with a # eg.
to make "TAILS" with a blank instead of a "I", you would enter "TA#ILS".
The server will put the word on the board, add up your score, and inform the
next player by email that it is his/her turn. You will not be able to play a
word until it is your turn again, which you will be informed of by email.
Also, you will not have all your letters until it is your turn.
How to Make a New Game
Any player can create a new game. To do this, click on
. Fill in the details indicated and click on the
button at the bottom of the form. You have to enter a name for the game. The
rest of the parameters can be left at their default values until you're more
familiar with the game.
After creating the game, you will be automatically joined to it. The game
will become part of the "Joinable Games" list and other players can join.
This is another waiting process. Each time a new player joins the game,
you will be sent an email message. When you feel that enough people have
joined (i hope 4 is enough) you click on 
and
the games that you have created will be listed. Just click on the one you
want to start and the server will start the game and send email to the
first player.
How to Change your User Information
In order to change your user information (that you filled in during
registration), you click on 
and the info will be
listed. Your statistics for previous games is listed at the top and this
cannot be changed (obviously). The bottom of the page contains a replica of
the registration from. Here you can change any information and click on the
button at the very bottom to update the server.
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