Slog - Comments on To Everyone Who Keeps Emailing Me http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me This is not an acceptable substitute for Scrabulous. People play Scrabulous because they like Scrabble and want to be able to play it online with the same rules with their same friends over an indefinite period of time. People like to brag about scores that correspond to scores people understand from Scrabble. People like to brag about their bingos, just like those which one might achieve in a game of Scrabble. Yes, I realize this is clear copyright infringement, but I honestly don't understand why Hasbro would care. Playing Scrabble online, whether a company-approved version or no, will make people... Copyright 2008 Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:00:41 -0800 Fri, 01 Aug 2008 07:28:03 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by elenchos Yes, giving intellectual property away for free might make people spend more on other associated crap. Or your stock might tank.

I don't know. Has this Interweb business model been tried?

]]> elenchos http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1089808 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1089808 Games Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:06:15 -0800 Comment by Westside forever Hasbro probably doesn't see this as a way to make a few more dollars selling Scrabble related merchandise. But they really, really care if Scrabble enters the public domain because they didn't defend their copyright.

I think they blew it by not buying out Scrabulous and retaining the goodwill of Facebook's users. Corporate America is trying to figure out how to capitalize on social networking and Hasbro could have had it served up to them on a platter.

]]> Westside forever http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1089853 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1089853 Games Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:14:06 -0800 Comment by Fnarf Ugh, ugh, barf, barf. Now the Scrabulous boys have proven that they can write just as horrible a game as Hasbro can.

You're right, though; Scrabulous was the best thing that ever happened to Scrabble, and had 2 milllion people interested in the moribund game again, and made Hasbro millions. Until they killed it. Notice that Mattel (owner of the Scrabble rights outside of the US and Canada) hasn't sued anybody. They're sitting pretty; someone else did all their marketing and programming for them. Pity Hasbro can't be smart like that.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1089855 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1089855 Games Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:14:16 -0800 Comment by University of Chicago People want Scrabble. No frills, no animation, no unfamiliar colors. Just Scrabble.

Then why are so many people e-mailing you with this cheap-shit substitute?

]]> University of Chicago http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1089856 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1089856 Games Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:14:18 -0800 Comment by pragmatic The guys who created Scrabalous already relaunched it with a different name, Wordscraper,story here.

]]> pragmatic http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1089859 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1089859 Games Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:14:39 -0800 Comment by annie You do realize they're giving away the Facebook Scrabble app for free, right? Unfortunately, it's unwieldy and unpleasant to play. Hasbro is still letting people play Scrabble online. It's just that now fewer people will want to do so.

]]> annie http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1089865 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1089865 Games Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:16:14 -0800 Comment by Ziggity I played Scrabble (with a board) more often while Scrabulous was running than without.

What pisses me off is the idea that Hasbro felt inclined to send a cease and desist to these people who had obviously come up with a more popular format of the intellectual property - and then do nothing! They couldn't have appropriated that format? Figured out why it was so popular? Learned a fucking thing about what their customers prefer?

]]> Ziggity http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1089884 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1089884 Games Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:18:53 -0800 Comment by annie @4: They don't play, they just think I care.

@5: Uh, that's what this entire post is about. And no, that's not Scrabulous. It's a new game, and who cares about it?

]]> annie http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1089897 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1089897 Games Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:20:57 -0800 Comment by Mr. Poe I've wanted to buy Scrabble for the iPhone...oh, maybe four times. The whole $10 thing keeps me staring at the screen. It takes about two screen dims for me to go back to scribbling super fast tic-tac-toe in my notebook. It's not as fun. I'm sure people think I'm crazy when they see me doing it. I have pages and pages and pages_

]]> Mr. Poe http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1089920 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1089920 Games Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:24:47 -0800 Comment by leek I agree that I miss the familiar colors and shapes, but you can (and this is the pretty brilliant part) customize your own board and then save it. So you can put exactly the same extra-point spots in exactly the same spot on the board as they are in Scrabble... and Hasbro can't really complain about that, because it's the individual player's decision about how to create their board.


]]> leek http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1089944 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1089944 Games Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:29:10 -0800 Comment by Mr. Poe And yes, I know there is zero thought in tic-tac-toe. Especially when you're the only one playing. The idea is not to think at all and try to prevent yourself from winning on either side. It's fun. IT IS!

]]> Mr. Poe http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1089953 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1089953 Games Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:31:08 -0800 Comment by Will in Seattle Geesh, jump down our throats for trying to help you out ... don't pull an ECB on us, annie.

]]> Will in Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1089961 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1089961 Games Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:32:53 -0800 Comment by pragmatic @8 Oops, I missed that it was a link on the word "This".

]]> pragmatic http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1089971 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1089971 Games Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:36:39 -0800 Comment by LH http://thepixiepit.co.uk/scrabble/

Last time I played, same rules, same colors!

]]> LH http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1090000 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1090000 Games Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:41:43 -0800 Comment by Fnarf I love the idea of Mr. Poe scribbling tic-tac-toe in a notebook really fast. I'd like to see it in a movie.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1090085 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1090085 Games Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:57:50 -0800 Comment by Le Juif @9/11 THAT is why I love you.

]]> Le Juif http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1090096 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1090096 Games Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:00:17 -0800 Comment by Greg I went out and bought a new Scrabble board, plus the official dictionary, because playing Scrabulous got me back into it. But now that Scrabulous has been shut down and I'm not thinking about the game much, they'll probably sit in a closet for 20 years like my parents' board did.

]]> Greg http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1090117 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1090117 Games Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:05:19 -0800 Comment by Occasional isc.ro has a great app for playing Scrabble online. It doesn't utilize your browser and runs in a separate window. After playing a few games, you develop a rating, which allows you to match your skills with players of similar abilities. I think it's a great program that uses very little resources.

]]> Occasional http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1090261 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1090261 Games Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:42:15 -0800 Comment by Jesse Uh, haven't you ever heard of internet scrabble club?

www.isc.ro

]]> Jesse http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1090298 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1090298 Games Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:51:07 -0800 Comment by Gomez Okay. Pay Hasbro for licensing rights to post their game online.

]]> Gomez http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1090512 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1090512 Games Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:58:49 -0800 Comment by kerri harrop I am seriously bummed about the loss of Scrabulous. The Scrabble app sucks. I owe Fnarf an ass whupping on the tiles. I fucking hate Facebook for getting me hooked and now cutting off my supply.

]]> kerri harrop http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1090943 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1090943 Games Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:36:29 -0800 Comment by i have no life Kwitcherbitchen. Register for a character on LambdaMOO and play Scrabble there, or go to Internet Scrabble Club, or attend the Seattle Scrabble Club. I started playing Scrabble online in 1993 without having to touch Scrabulous on Facebook. And yes, playing in a text interface did make my spouse and me buy official dictionaries, study official word lists, purchase game sets, join Scrabble clubs. It just wasn't Facebook.


]]> i have no life http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1091043 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/to_everyone_who_keeps_emailing_me#c1091043 Games Fri, 01 Aug 2008 07:28:03 -0800