How do I get people to play with me?

[tsloper_admin]

How do I get people to play with me?


We're starting off with how to get random people to join you. Then we'll discuss how to get a friend to join you in NMJL Online. 


How to get unknown person(s) to join you (Public table)

To get people to join you, the first thing you need to do is let people know you're looking for players. Send a chat! Maybe even make an invitation on social media! Then create a table so people can join you. Let's discuss how to do both of those things right now... 

How to send a chat and create a table:

You can open and close the Chat box by clicking or tapping the Chat button at the top of the Lobby screen. 

Type a friendly message indicating you're looking for players. That message is visible to everyone in the Lobby who has their Chat box open. Wait for responses a while before typing another message. Another player might respond with a chat, or might create a table you can join. 

If no one responds to you right away, everyone may already be in a game, or some people may have walked away from their computer temporarily, so don’t be afraid to send out another chat after a while.

Chatting may be the best way to find players to join you. If you want, you can also create a Public game table and leave it open, hoping to entice someone to join you. Don't add bots at this point. A bot-free table might entice better. 

Click the New Game button. That brings up the Create New Table dialog box. 

Check the settings; select the ones you prefer. (See description of table Game Settings in Join a Public table and make new friends!)  Notice that the table needs to be set to ‘Public Game’ instead of ‘Private Game.’ Click or tap on Create. Because the table is public, now other people in the Lobby can see your new table.

Now it's a matter of waiting. You may have to wait quite a while. 

For more on the above, see Join a Public table and make new friends!

...But there's another way to go, which is to invite one or more friends to join you. 


How to get one or more friends to play with you (Private table)

First, contact your friend(s) by phone or text or email. Make sure they're on NMJL Online and in the Lobby. Create your table as described above.

It can be a Private table if you don't want any random people joining you. 

In the Game Setup screen, find the Room Code at the right side of the screen, above Add Bots.

Send or tell your friend(s) the room code. Your friend(s) enters the code in the Room Code box in the lobby, and then presses the Join button next to it.

Stay in external conversation with your friend(s) until they show up in your Game. 

And now you and your friend(s) are together. You can continue conversing using the Chat feature. If there are empty seats, you can fill them with bots (AI players). 

Click or tap Add Bot, select a bot type, and repeat as necessary until all four player seats are filled.

The different Bots are:

Beginner:  Does not consider multiple hand options; eager to make exposures; moves seem random.
Advanced:  Tries to play as well as possible.
Cagey:  Prefers not to expose jokers.
HighScorer:  Prefers to make hands worth more than 25 points.
Open: Avoids Concealed hands.
Gardener:  Prefers to make hands with flowers; is more reluctant to discard flowers.
Defensive: Pays close attention to others' exposures so as not to throw a win.

As you might expect, the Beginner is the weakest player, and Advanced is the strongest.

Once you have a player seated in all four seats, you may click or tap Start Match to start the game!

For more on the above, see Start a game with your friend(s).