From: davidt@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (David Teo)
Newsgroups: rec.games.netrek
Subject: Re: Borgs and Borg Servers
Date: 2 Sep 92 20:38:13 GMT
Reply-To: davidt@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (David Teo)

Purple haze wrote :-

>> I have improved my GF robots further and they are nearly finished,
>>unfortunately I have lots of difficulty finding a borg server at T-Mode
>>as and when I want to test it.
>If during borg hours servers are having problems getting tmode perhaps
>this means something...

Purple haze misunderstood me.  I'm not implying that most people hate
borgs or the reverse.  I find that in the popular servers, it really
doesnt matter very much if it is borg hours or not.  Popular servers
tend to remain as popular, even during borg hours.  Not-so-popular
servers tend to be the same.  One thing I've learnt when I was the
server god for grit is that people do choose the server to play in not
so much because of that fact that it allows borgs or otherwise.  They
play because other people play there and that's that.  Most people would
rather play in a borg server in T-Mode than in a Non-borg server without
T-Mode. 

Yeah and believe me, this message goes out to all the server admins:-
Once in a while, there will always be a couple of players who will
complain about borgs on your server.  This will ALWAYS ALWAYS be the
case!  :) haha come to think of it, this will also be case even if you
bless your server.  Any comments about that?

Furthermore, you must know that most of these people do not hate borgs,
per say.  They are just pissed off because someone with a borg spoiled
their game.  They will be just be as pissed off if the same guy spoiled
their game with a blessed client.  Except that in the former, they can
blame it on something.  

Problems :-

1)  Most people do not know how to acquire a borg binary(ies).
2)  Most people do not know how to use a borg effectively even if they have it.
    (Being the author of a public borg, I know this)
3)  Most people do not know that borgs can be fun sometimes.
    (It's a different set of fun if you know your borg and you are able to use
     it effectively, however, it is also fun (in a different way) to
play without
     a borg).
4)  Most people prefer to win in an relatively easy game than to lose in
a challenging one.  (Borgs can make a game challenging for non-borg
players and if the team with the borgs loses, oh what a shame! :) )

Solutions :-

1)  Someone ought to compile list of public borgs, where to obtain the
latest versions, a brief summary of their capabilites and so on.

As for my borg, you may obtain it from :-

grind.isca.uiowa.edu
/unix/netrek/binaries

I have the sun, next, and the dec versions.  The help file is included. 
Just make sure that you rename gfborg4.xtrekrc to .xtrekrc and place it
in your home directory.  There are certain alternatives to that but you
need to read the help file for that.

2)  Many borg authors (including myself) are guilty of that.  One of the
reasons why the Pig Borg is so popular is that it is relatively easy to use.

3)  Before you reject my 3rd point above and throw it out the window,
let me ask you this question, "Have you driven a Borg lately?...." :)

4)  Server admins (To anyone who dares to try (or even bothers to)) :- 
Set up your blessed client check for some teams and allow the other
teams to use borgs.  In this way, if the non-borg players want to vent
their frustration and if they still insist that they can kill any borg
with both hands tied behind their back, give them a chance to prove it. 
If the borg team wins, well it just goes to show how people can
overestimate their own abilities to delude themselves.  However, if the
non-borg team wins legitimately........

THEY ARE GOOD! and the borg players are pigs, scums, clueless pile of
worthless junk! :)  (Sounds good to you?)

The above comments are all mine and mine alone! :)
Newsgroups: rec.games.netrek