Dictionary Upgrade - Please Read

[admin]

Hi folks -

I've received a lot of feedback on our dictionary so far and I think its clear we're going to need to make a change. The dictionary we're using right now is quite large, but it contains a large number of words which aren't available in most other dictionaries, and also has an unhealthy number of missing, common words.

My plan right now is to switch entirely to a combination dictionary that makes use of both major English-language Scrabble lists - TWL and SOWPODS. Many of our players here also seem to be Scrabble fans so I'm hoping this transition won't be too much of a hassle.

This means I'll be retiring the 15,000 boards currently in circulation, to be replaced with entirely new boards based on the new dictionary structure. This will ensure that everyone starts on the same level, and all puzzle-records will be based on the same dictionary.

I'll make an announcement in a few days on when this transition will take place. Right now I'm thinking the first week of August.

If you have any comments or questions please feel free to post them here.

Thanks for playing!

[elgallo]

I'm all in favor of a complete overhaul to the new dictionaries. I've seen quite a few missing words and I think it would be a great idea to scratch the old game boards and start anew.

P.S. Why is this poll closed? I would like to vote on it.

[anonymuse]

I tend to play Scrabble Blast a lot, so I would prefer the word lists to be more similar.

[MaryinTexas]

Whatever you decide is ok with me. Thanks for letting us play Boggle for free. I don't do too well with the number of words I find, (partly due to slow dial up and partly due to old brain) but I always have fun. Thanks again.

[poslfit]

Hooray! By the way, the current edition of SOWPODS (Collins Scrabble Words) includes all of the current edition of TWL, so it's not necessary to say that it's based on both.

[admin]

I searched for Collins but apparently its copyrighted? At least the versions I found were. I ended up using separate TWL and SOWPODS lists that were available for general use on the Internet Scrabble Club website. After running several test cases on the new boards the results were very favorable so I'm hoping this'll cut the mustard, even if it may not be the official Collins word list.

If you're interested in the specifics, I used TWL06 and SOWPODS from this source:
http://www.isc.ro/en/commands/lists.html

[poslfit]

The SOWPODS list on ISC is the current (Collins) edition, and includes all of the current TWL list.

[admin]

Ah, in that case, what luck! :-)

And yep, I just checked the database and you're right, there's not a single word marked TWL that isn't also in the SOWPODS list.

[admin]

Well the new dictionary is now installed - sorry to spring it on you guys (I know it was supposed to happen August 1st) but running both dictionaries in the background caused a major crash today, so I had to flip the switch early. This means we're now playing on a set of all new boards, with no previous records, using only SOWPODS words.

Happy Boggling!

[anonymuse]

Are you going to reset everyone's points back to zero? or just the records?

[admin]

At this point I don't see any reason to reset individual scores and records. Changing the dictionary really shouldn't affect that aspect of the game, but if it becomes a problem in some way I'll be happy to look into that possibility.

[Wordie]

I think you've got fantastic site and can only imagine how much time you must be devoting to it and to responding to everyone's ideas. Thank you for making this a challenging and fun place to be. The only problem for me is -- perhaps -- spending too much time here!:)

[admin]

Thanks Wordie! The site is still very new (we only launched in April) so all the feedback I've been getting has been enormously helpful in getting things set up nice and proper on Boggled.org. Keep it coming, and happy solving!

[wordox]

this is a really great site ! hank you for all the time spent on this project. It is a pleasure for me to have found this place. I'm getting really addicted :p

keep up the good work and thank you again~

[admin]

Thanks for playing wordox!

- Stephen