Equate-Master FAQ

Equate-Master

FAQ

Q. How can I find other people to play Equate with me?
A. Equate-Master won't help you with that, but the Equate web site has a Player Registry for just this purpose.

Q. Where can I get more information about Equate in general?
A. A good place to start is the official Equate homepage.

Q. How does Equate-Master keep track of our score?
A. It doesn't. All Equate-Master does is keep track of which tiles are left, and randomly pick from them when you ask it to. You must keep track of your own score.

Q. How do I tell Equate-Master what I played, and where?
A. You don't. All Equate-Master does is keep track of which tiles are left, and randomly pick from them when you ask it to. It doesn't care who is playing or what you do with your tiles. However, your opponents do need to know what and where you play, so be sure to tell them. Most people use a coordinate system to describe where their play went, with alphabetical columns and numerical rows.

Q. I haven't received an answer after sending a command to Equate-Master. Should I send it again?
A. Generally you should get a reply from Equate-Master within a few seconds, certainly no more than a few minutes. If you don't get a reply right away, it could mean that the server is temporarily unavailable. Try sending a Help command just to test it--if you get an answer from that, then your other email probably didn't make it and you should send it again, otherwise just wait a few more hours until the server becomes available again.

Q. Can two people with the same email address play together in the same game?
A. Yes! All sensitive information (in particular the tiles you receive) are in the body of your email, so your same-email partner will not see them unless s/he deliberately tries to. Just be sure to put something in the subject header so that you can tell who's to read which email.

Q. I don't have a playing board--can I still play?
A. Not very easily. You really should go out and buy a game.

Q. I accidentally sent two Draw commands--now I have too many tiles. What can I do?
A. You'll have to return the extra tiles. Of course it's on your honour, but to be fair you should return the second set of tiles--don't pick and choose the ones you like best. For more on using the Return command, send the command "help return" or read the online docs.

Q. I received too many (or too few) of some tile.
A. This is the most common complaint I get. I can assure you it is NOT a bug with the Equate-Master code. I've gotten these complaints for years and years, and not once has it turned out to be a bug. Most of the time the problem is that a player picked up a tile they were never issued, or used a blank but forgot to tell the other players it was a blank. Occasionally it's because a player returned a tile they didn't own (see the questions below about the Exchange and Return commands).
When you run into this situation, stop the game, email all the other players and have everybody send the "Get Log" command. You will each get back a log of all your commands for this game, including the tiles you were sent in response to Draw commands. Re-enact the game turn by turn, making sure it matches the log. (If you included lots of detail in your Subject line while you played, that will make this re-enactment much easier, since your Subject line is listed in the log file.) Eventually the mistake should become apparent. If it doesn't, consider just starting a new game.

Q. When I sent a Draw command I got back something I didn't expect, like a word or something else really strange.
A. You probably used a Exchange or Return command earlier in the game (you or your opponent) and did it incorrectly. Anything you return gets added blindly to your game bag, even if it isn't a valid tile for your game, or if it's a tile you didn't actually have. See the next question for what to do about it, and the following question for how to properly use the Exchange command.

Q. Okay, I know I screwed up while using the Exchange command, so now there are some extra tiles in the bag that shouldn't be there. What do I do?
A. Sorry! I used to offer to fix these kinds of situations myself by pausing your game while I manually fixed things up. But I'm too busy and can no longer do that. I'd suggest you start the game over. Or you could alert your opponents, and all agree amongst yourselves that the next person to draw such-and-such a tile will ignore it and draw another.

Q. I don't understand how to use the Exchange command.
A. The Exchange (and Return) command is tough to get right at first, but once you figure it out it's easy. Please re-read the instructions first, then remember these pointers. Essentially you need two things:

In the Subject line, you need:

your Game ID
the Exchange (or Return) command
the number of tiles you're returning
for example: [EQ01-123-12345] Exchange 5

In the Body of your email, you need a single line:

start the line with "Tiles: "; that's the word "Tiles", a colon (":") and a space
on the same line, list the tiles you're returning, separated by spaces and/or commas
you must list exactly the same number of tiles as you specified in the Subject line
for example: Tiles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Q. I keep getting told my Game ID is wrong or missing.
A. You probably typed it wrong. You shouldn't be typing it to begin with! Every email Equate-Master sends you has your Game ID in the Subject line, so just Reply to the last email. That way your Game ID will already be in the Subject line exactly right.
If for some reason you really do want to type it, make sure you type it correctly. Equate-Master is pretty stickly about the format of the Game ID. It must be enclosed in square brackets ("[" and "]"); it always starts with two letters ("EN" for English Scrabble, "PL" for Polish Scrabble, "EQ" for Equate and "UW" for Upwords); after the two letters it has two digits, a hyphen, three digits, another hyphen, and five digits. Besides those firsr two letters, all the rest are numbers. Don't type the letter O or the letters I or l, they should probably be the numbers zero and one.

Q. I have a question that isn't answered in this FAQ. How can I get more help?
A. You can't, sorry. I used to answer emails, but I've gotten too busy so I no longer support Equate-Master in any way. Please do not email me--I will not answer any emails asking for help, and I will not be making any bug fixes (I don't think there are any bugs anyway) or adding any new features for the foreseeable future. Please read over this FAQ again and take a look at the sample game. Besides that, you're on your own!

[v3.04]

[Disclaimers: Neither Nate Hekman nor the Equate-Master programme are in any way affiliated with or endorsed by the Equate trademark owner, Conceptual Math Media, Inc.]


Q.	How can I find other people to play Equate with me?
A.	Equate-Master won't help you with that, but the Equate web site has a Player Registry for just this purpose.

Q.	Where can I get more information about Equate in general?
A.	A good place to start is the official Equate homepage.

Q.	How does Equate-Master keep track of our score?
A.	It doesn't. All Equate-Master does is keep track of which tiles are left, and randomly pick from them when you ask it to. You must keep track of your own score.

Q.	How do I tell Equate-Master what I played, and where?
A.	You don't. All Equate-Master does is keep track of which tiles are left, and randomly pick from them when you ask it to. It doesn't care who is playing or what you do with your tiles. However, your opponents do need to know what and where you play, so be sure to tell them. Most people use a coordinate system to describe where their play went, with alphabetical columns and numerical rows.

Q.	I haven't received an answer after sending a command to Equate-Master. Should I send it again?
A.	Generally you should get a reply from Equate-Master within a few seconds, certainly no more than a few minutes. If you don't get a reply right away, it could mean that the server is temporarily unavailable. Try sending a Help command just to test it--if you get an answer from that, then your other email probably didn't make it and you should send it again, otherwise just wait a few more hours until the server becomes available again.

Q.	Can two people with the same email address play together in the same game?
A.	Yes! All sensitive information (in particular the tiles you receive) are in the body of your email, so your same-email partner will not see them unless s/he deliberately tries to. Just be sure to put something in the subject header so that you can tell who's to read which email.

Q.	I don't have a playing board--can I still play?
A.	Not very easily. You really should go out and buy a game.

Q.	I accidentally sent two Draw commands--now I have too many tiles. What can I do?
A.	You'll have to return the extra tiles. Of course it's on your honour, but to be fair you should return the second set of tiles--don't pick and choose the ones you like best. For more on using the Return command, send the command "help return" or read the online docs.

Q.	I received too many (or too few) of some tile.
A.	This is the most common complaint I get. I can assure you it is NOT a bug with the Equate-Master code. I've gotten these complaints for years and years, and not once has it turned out to be a bug. Most of the time the problem is that a player picked up a tile they were never issued, or used a blank but forgot to tell the other players it was a blank. Occasionally it's because a player returned a tile they didn't own (see the questions below about the Exchange and Return commands). When you run into this situation, stop the game, email all the other players and have everybody send the "Get Log" command. You will each get back a log of all your commands for this game, including the tiles you were sent in response to Draw commands. Re-enact the game turn by turn, making sure it matches the log. (If you included lots of detail in your Subject line while you played, that will make this re-enactment much easier, since your Subject line is listed in the log file.) Eventually the mistake should become apparent. If it doesn't, consider just starting a new game.

Q.	When I sent a Draw command I got back something I didn't expect, like a word or something else really strange.
A.	You probably used a Exchange or Return command earlier in the game (you or your opponent) and did it incorrectly. Anything you return gets added blindly to your game bag, even if it isn't a valid tile for your game, or if it's a tile you didn't actually have. See the next question for what to do about it, and the following question for how to properly use the Exchange command.

Q.	Okay, I know I screwed up while using the Exchange command, so now there are some extra tiles in the bag that shouldn't be there. What do I do?
A.	Sorry! I used to offer to fix these kinds of situations myself by pausing your game while I manually fixed things up. But I'm too busy and can no longer do that. I'd suggest you start the game over. Or you could alert your opponents, and all agree amongst yourselves that the next person to draw such-and-such a tile will ignore it and draw another.

Q.	I don't understand how to use the Exchange command.
A.	The Exchange (and Return) command is tough to get right at first, but once you figure it out it's easy. Please re-read the instructions first, then remember these pointers. Essentially you need two things: In the Subject line, you need: your Game ID the Exchange (or Return) command the number of tiles you're returning for example: [EQ01-123-12345] Exchange 5 In the Body of your email, you need a single line: start the line with "Tiles: "; that's the word "Tiles", a colon (":") and a space on the same line, list the tiles you're returning, separated by spaces and/or commas you must list exactly the same number of tiles as you specified in the Subject line for example: Tiles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Q.	I keep getting told my Game ID is wrong or missing.
A.	You probably typed it wrong. You shouldn't be typing it to begin with! Every email Equate-Master sends you has your Game ID in the Subject line, so just Reply to the last email. That way your Game ID will already be in the Subject line exactly right. If for some reason you really do want to type it, make sure you type it correctly. Equate-Master is pretty stickly about the format of the Game ID. It must be enclosed in square brackets ("[" and "]"); it always starts with two letters ("EN" for English Scrabble, "PL" for Polish Scrabble, "EQ" for Equate and "UW" for Upwords); after the two letters it has two digits, a hyphen, three digits, another hyphen, and five digits. Besides those firsr two letters, all the rest are numbers. Don't type the letter O or the letters I or l, they should probably be the numbers zero and one.

Q.	I have a question that isn't answered in this FAQ. How can I get more help?
A.	You can't, sorry. I used to answer emails, but I've gotten too busy so I no longer support Equate-Master in any way. Please do not email me--I will not answer any emails asking for help, and I will not be making any bug fixes (I don't think there are any bugs anyway) or adding any new features for the foreseeable future. Please read over this FAQ again and take a look at the sample game. Besides that, you're on your own!