Our new member, DARNDICE, has a handful of players she'd like to invite to our group. Players who are active, I am told.
As I have said many times, my goal is to have 50 active family members, but not to worry about every member meeting a minimum quota. I want an active group, not a super group. If folks want to chat and socialize, all the better. If not, no harm there.
I don't want to penalize people for taking a break. Despite the lack of activity from a couple of folks during the last Feast, they've been active in the past, so they're not on the chopping block as of yet.
I notice several names that I don't recognize, players that have zero help points. I'm not sure if they did or didn't contribute to the last Feast. I know some folks don't help with free rolls and scratchers, yet play the Feast and earn points.
If you happen to know which folks on the family never seem to help, or play the Feast, let me know. Send me a private message if you prefer.
I'm not trying to be a jerk, I just don't want to keep a spot filled by a player who never helps or earns Feast points. And if we can get more help for the Feast, all the better.
Tuesday, May 28, 2019
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Memorial Day weekend
A few quick, random thoughts:
Thanks to all for your latest Feast contributions. We're not competing against every family on the planet. From what it appears, they herd families into groups of 100, so there are numerous first-place winners each time. Despite that, it's no easy feat to remain a top 10 team every time they roll out a new Feast every 3 weeks or so. You all amaze me. Thank you again.
To that end, I never expect people to spend money to participate in Yahtzee. Do what works for you. If you're active in any way, that's awesome. That's what I value more than the prize package we win for any one Feast.
I had an inquiry about one of our absent players. Someone who has been active in the past, but isn't at the moment. I have removed "deadbeats" who fill a slot and never contribute in any way, but I try not to be militant. For those who have been active but aren't this week, I am not in a hurry to take away their spot. I don't keep attendance records, or any other stats, so I have to rely upon my memory regarding who is and isn't active. It's not a perfect system.
While addressing the inquiry, I realized something I had never noticed before. We lost Jetguy, who was from Texas, I seem to recall, and was one of our early contributors. He was very kind in his praise of me, and was rather active, I thought. I don't recall him mentioning he was leaving...perhaps he dropped the app altogether. Either way, people will come and go, and he left rather quietly it seems. No big deal, but I'm always disappointed to see a friendly, helpful contributor move on, whatever the reason. I won't get a chance to say thanks one last time, but I appreciate his contributions early on.
Finally, best wishes to all. Safe travels if you're hitting the road this weekend, as I will be. I'll be out of touch for most of the holiday weekend, starting Saturday morning. I'm going camping. This annual spring trip hasn't always been a Memorial Day weekend event, but this marks the 30th year. There's a colorful history to it, and I really need to share some of those tales via my podcast. Maybe I'll do that next week. There are a few great stories that need to be recorded, and probably a lot of great moments that have been forgotten.
Fun facts*:
Thanks to all for your latest Feast contributions. We're not competing against every family on the planet. From what it appears, they herd families into groups of 100, so there are numerous first-place winners each time. Despite that, it's no easy feat to remain a top 10 team every time they roll out a new Feast every 3 weeks or so. You all amaze me. Thank you again.
To that end, I never expect people to spend money to participate in Yahtzee. Do what works for you. If you're active in any way, that's awesome. That's what I value more than the prize package we win for any one Feast.
I had an inquiry about one of our absent players. Someone who has been active in the past, but isn't at the moment. I have removed "deadbeats" who fill a slot and never contribute in any way, but I try not to be militant. For those who have been active but aren't this week, I am not in a hurry to take away their spot. I don't keep attendance records, or any other stats, so I have to rely upon my memory regarding who is and isn't active. It's not a perfect system.
While addressing the inquiry, I realized something I had never noticed before. We lost Jetguy, who was from Texas, I seem to recall, and was one of our early contributors. He was very kind in his praise of me, and was rather active, I thought. I don't recall him mentioning he was leaving...perhaps he dropped the app altogether. Either way, people will come and go, and he left rather quietly it seems. No big deal, but I'm always disappointed to see a friendly, helpful contributor move on, whatever the reason. I won't get a chance to say thanks one last time, but I appreciate his contributions early on.
Finally, best wishes to all. Safe travels if you're hitting the road this weekend, as I will be. I'll be out of touch for most of the holiday weekend, starting Saturday morning. I'm going camping. This annual spring trip hasn't always been a Memorial Day weekend event, but this marks the 30th year. There's a colorful history to it, and I really need to share some of those tales via my podcast. Maybe I'll do that next week. There are a few great stories that need to be recorded, and probably a lot of great moments that have been forgotten.
Fun facts*:
- I am the only person to have participated in all 30 editions of this camping trip, counting this year.
- Of the previous 29 trips, 26 of them have been at the same site. We have used alternative sites three times.
- I could not legally drink beer during the first two camping trips.
- Of the original group that assembled back in 1990, three of those guys have participated in this annual trip with their children.
--Mike
*Facts are not fun
Thursday, May 9, 2019
Did he win it?
Recorded a new episode of the podcast, finally, last night.
After recording, we often go to the nearby Dave & Bastard's for cheap beer and a little game play. I'm highly pissed about the lowered payout for the Pac-Man ticket game. That was my bread and butter, but I digress.
We often play this Yahtzee game which has a progressive bonus and a progressive jackpot. The progressive bonus is based upon scoring 100 points in five games. Total score of the dice, not the hand value in a traditional game. If you roll lots of ones and twos and make a full house, your score will be 7 or 8, not 25. A score of 7 or 8 means you won't have a five game aggregate of 100, most likely.
The progressive bonus never gets very high, as it's not too hard to pick off. You try not to let chasing the bonus steer you toward bad game play. If the bonus is at 100 tickets, you don't want to spend your money not winning 60 or 80 tickets during individual games in order to win 100 after five games. It's a delicate balance.
Each game is two rolls, not three. If you get a Yahtzee, you win up to 1,000 tickets. It's a progressive jackpot, so it starts at 500 and goes up a couple of tickets with each game, I assume. It's almost always at 1,000, as it's not easy to get in two rolls. The producer and I have played this game dozens of times, and never hit Yahtzee. We hit four of a kind occasionally, and that pays 296 tickets, but Yahtzee eludes us.
As the producer was playing his fifth game of a series, his aggregate score was 87 after four turns, so he needed only 13 points in that fifth game to reach 100 and receive the current progressive bonus of 114 tickets. A nice little bonus, but not substantial. (It resets at 50 every time it is hit.)
In a rare occurrence, he hits four of a kind on his first roll of that fifth game, and it is sixes. So he will finish with a minimum score of 25 and will win the progressive bonus. And 296 tickets for that four of a kind.
But he has one more turn and a chance at Yahtzee. Will he or won't he get it? There's a 30-second timer to decide what numbers you keep and discard for your second roll. As you'll see, there's no actual rolling involved. I figured I'd better get some video of the second roll, to record history if it happens. Does it? Or does his fifth game end in heartbreak? The video will tell all.
After recording, we often go to the nearby Dave & Bastard's for cheap beer and a little game play. I'm highly pissed about the lowered payout for the Pac-Man ticket game. That was my bread and butter, but I digress.
We often play this Yahtzee game which has a progressive bonus and a progressive jackpot. The progressive bonus is based upon scoring 100 points in five games. Total score of the dice, not the hand value in a traditional game. If you roll lots of ones and twos and make a full house, your score will be 7 or 8, not 25. A score of 7 or 8 means you won't have a five game aggregate of 100, most likely.
The progressive bonus never gets very high, as it's not too hard to pick off. You try not to let chasing the bonus steer you toward bad game play. If the bonus is at 100 tickets, you don't want to spend your money not winning 60 or 80 tickets during individual games in order to win 100 after five games. It's a delicate balance.
Each game is two rolls, not three. If you get a Yahtzee, you win up to 1,000 tickets. It's a progressive jackpot, so it starts at 500 and goes up a couple of tickets with each game, I assume. It's almost always at 1,000, as it's not easy to get in two rolls. The producer and I have played this game dozens of times, and never hit Yahtzee. We hit four of a kind occasionally, and that pays 296 tickets, but Yahtzee eludes us.
As the producer was playing his fifth game of a series, his aggregate score was 87 after four turns, so he needed only 13 points in that fifth game to reach 100 and receive the current progressive bonus of 114 tickets. A nice little bonus, but not substantial. (It resets at 50 every time it is hit.)
In a rare occurrence, he hits four of a kind on his first roll of that fifth game, and it is sixes. So he will finish with a minimum score of 25 and will win the progressive bonus. And 296 tickets for that four of a kind.
But he has one more turn and a chance at Yahtzee. Will he or won't he get it? There's a 30-second timer to decide what numbers you keep and discard for your second roll. As you'll see, there's no actual rolling involved. I figured I'd better get some video of the second roll, to record history if it happens. Does it? Or does his fifth game end in heartbreak? The video will tell all.
Tuesday, May 7, 2019
Feast 3 is complete
I feel like a broken record, but let me say it again: Thanks for contributing to our Yahtzee family. My goal is not to lead the top family, it’s to lead a group that has fun, with or without Family Feasts. Play the games the way you want to play. If you want to spend money and help us finish higher, please do. If you want to rely upon free rolls for your play, no need to apologize. My only criteria for our group is to have members who are active periodically. We’re all busy in life, but it’s not hard to find time now and again to contribute, if you enjoy playing Yahtzee. That’s my goal, to have a group of 50 who actively play Yahtzee.
With that said, we had 11 qualifiers for our latest Family Feast contest. It will take me about a week to send out prizes, but we will have two winners, starting with the grand prize winner. The person next on the list will be the runner up. As always, my Yahtzee wife MysticShores will pick the winner from a random list of numbers that is posted elsewhere. So it’s possible for her to win the grand prize. She does not know which number represents the qualifiers.
The winners will have a choice of the following:
Game of Thrones
Las Vegas
Prince (new prize)
Good luck!
With that said, we had 11 qualifiers for our latest Family Feast contest. It will take me about a week to send out prizes, but we will have two winners, starting with the grand prize winner. The person next on the list will be the runner up. As always, my Yahtzee wife MysticShores will pick the winner from a random list of numbers that is posted elsewhere. So it’s possible for her to win the grand prize. She does not know which number represents the qualifiers.
The winners will have a choice of the following:
Game of Thrones
Las Vegas
Prince (new prize)
Good luck!
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