[ArcLight]

The new software looks very nice, and is probably safer and easier for BBO to maintain.
But my partner and I dislike some of the features.

1) As Dummy I can't see the opponents hands. I like to see how they card so I can form an opinion of them and make notes to help me decide if I want to play with them in the future. With the old version I could see both opponents hands, now I can't. This causes me to lose interest in the hand.

Suggestion - have an option the host can set that allows dummy to see the opponents hands. I'm not worried about cheating, and this would be at the hosts discretion.



2) Its rather annoying looking at player profiles now. I can no longer mouse over them. I have to click on them and the box stays up and I have to close it. If people want to sit at my table its much slower to look at their profiles too, as I have to one by one click on them, then close them.

Suggestion - Please implement a better was of looking at potential players, such as a mouse over feature.



3) Its difficult to see who is kibitzing. I can no longer hover the cursor over the corner box, I have to navigate to another screen

Suggestion - implement a mouse over area like the old BBO had where I can easily see who is kibitzing.



4) The sounds were better with the old software. It was clear when it was my turn to bid. Now I'm sometimes not aware that everyone is waiting on me.



Adding a mouse over feature and allowing the Dummy would be great enhancements.

[lgkc1]

I echo everything he said but would like to throw in a few more thoughts:

1. I REALLY miss having all the online players available in an alphabetical list so I can find my beginner students and help them out.

2. When I am dummy, I want to see how my students or mentees are playing dummy.

3. When I pull up a player's profile, it disappears before I can fully read it.

4. There are no sound effects when it is your turn to bid or play or they are so soft I can barely hear them.

I am not trying to be a jerk, but did you ask any ordinary players to test this out before you sprang it on us? Or did you just implement what worked best for BBO. Because I see no reason for all these changes. I find very little to be an improvement and a lot that is definitely worse. Are these changes mainly to save BBO money? I am not a computer programmer or know anything about how these websites work, but unless there is a big profit motive in these changes, I see no reason to force what I view as an inferior version on us.

[StevenG]

ArcLight, on 2017-March-04, 23:10, said:

2) Its rather annoying looking at player profiles now. I can no longer mouse over them.

You can set profiles to mouse over. It's hidden deep in the Options menu. Options->More options->Advanced options. It does still stay on the screen a long, long time though.

[1eyedjack]

ArcLight, on 2017-March-04, 23:10, said:

4) The sounds were better with the old software. It was clear when it was my turn to bid. Now I'm sometimes not aware that everyone is waiting on me.

I can't remember the sounds in the old software but I certainly agree that the sounds in the web version can be improved. The single simple act that would make it a whole lot better is removing the swish sound when a card is played, so that the only time a sound arises is when it is your turn to act.

[1eyedjack]

lgkc1, on 2017-March-04, 23:47, said:

did you ask any ordinary players to test this out before you sprang it on us?

For some years new members have had no choice BUT to use the web software. And the web software was up and running some years before even that.

There was an announcement that the windows software was being revoked several months before the act. Not that that was an invitation to challenge the decision, but the idea was to give time to get used to it before being compelled.

[1eyedjack]

lgkc1, on 2017-March-04, 23:47, said:

3. When I pull up a player's profile, it disappears before I can fully read it.

You can "pin" the profile to the screen until you are ready for it to go, and then unpin it.

[ArcLight]

StevenG, on 2017-March-05, 03:44, said:

You can set profiles to mouse over. It's hidden deep in the Options menu. Options->More options->Advanced options. It does still stay on the screen a long, long time though.

It stays open too long to be practical. If I want to get a quick look at profiles I have to X them out because otherwise they stay up too long.

A feature that closes the window faster (say 0.1 seconds rather than what it currently is) would be appreciated.

[ArcLight]

1eyedjack, on 2017-March-05, 04:56, said:

For some years new members have had no choice BUT to use the web software. And the web software was up and running some years before even that.

There was an announcement that the windows software was being revoked several months before the act. Not that that was an invitation to challenge the decision, but the idea was to give time to get used to it before being compelled.

I have always used the old interface because I didn't like the new one. I realize BBO had good reasons for shutting down the old version.
Now that I'm forced to use the new version I really dislike it, but with a few small options it would be acceptable. I listed those above: see the opponents hands as dummy, mous eover window closing when moving the cursor off of it, better sounds. Nothing hard to code here, its already coded.

[1eyedjack]

ArcLight, on 2017-March-05, 07:00, said:

I have always used the old interface because I didn't like the new one. I realize BBO had good reasons for shutting down the old version.
Now that I'm forced to use the new version I really dislike it, but with a few small options it would be acceptable. I listed those above: see the opponents hands as dummy, mous eover window closing when moving the cursor off of it, better sounds. Nothing hard to code here, its already coded.

No beef with your main points. I was only answering your point about it being sprung on us and whether the users had any opportunity to try it out.

[barmar]

1eyedjack, on 2017-March-05, 04:58, said:

You can "pin" the profile to the screen until you are ready for it to go, and then unpin it.

Also, it will stay open as long as the mouse is over it.

[661_Pete]

I take issue with the suggestion that dummy be allowed to see all four hands (if that was ever the case). For obvious reasons. Not that I'm accusing anyone of cheating, but we all know it happens. No reason to make it even easier!

[mycroft]

My problem is not the cheating (and you can check the carding patterns with a quick review after the hand, if you want to); it's the way about 8 tricks in, dummy would type "wdp" or "clm" because *he* knows that everything's going to work now.

Lovely, my falsecarding to try to convince declarer about the bad break, or to hide who has the topper, just got preempted. I'm so pleased.

And yes, this used to be a regular occurrence.

[xoxojo]

I just experienced the new profile. It is terrible. The add on the side drives me crazy and I can't remove it! It makes it hard to count the cards, which we all know is a must in bridge! I cannot see any scores when playing solitaire! Why? When I played in a common game, I could barely see the bidding icons as my eyes are bad. Why? I am so frustrated! The original format was so much better.