[morecharac]

I don't use either microphone or camera with my computer. The new icons for using it are inconvenient.

It should be possible to either close or shrink the column. If I drag it shrinks the wrong part of the image.

Maybe move these to the right of Messages/Accounts etc. as in interim solution so that when I drag to resize they are what disappears instead of what I find useful.

Or tell me how to close them without changing anything else.

[diana_eva]

morecharac, on 2021-March-23, 10:15, said:

I don't use either microphone or camera with my computer. The new icons for using it are inconvenient.

It should be possible to either close or shrink the column. If I drag it shrinks the wrong part of the image.

Maybe move these to the right of Messages/Accounts etc. as in interim solution so that when I drag to resize they are what disappears instead of what I find useful.

Or tell me how to close them without changing anything else.

Normally those boxes should only show in tournaments where the club manager (or the host) activated video chat.

Today we were trying out this new setting and it was inadvertently activated for tournaments which did not have it enabled intentionally.

We fixed this problem meanwhile, so from now on you should only see them for tourneys with video.

We will consider a way to minimize or drag that video component away without affecting the rest of the BBO elements.

[A2Bob]

After clicking both audio and video off, the whole box should be made to disappear.

[westwind3]

Please Please , give a way to close down this thing , it is a total nuisance

[meadowsmsm]

I would really appreciate if you would have an option to disable the column for video/chat. I found the motion of the video very distracting. There was no sound which was a relief. It also shrank my screen so that I could not look at played hands during the game when I was dummy. Many of us play with complete strangers and not at our own clubs in a variety of locations so there is a need for an option to not be on audio/video during a game.

[sekica]

Video chat looks very pretty. Well done developers! However we cannot use it at present as it facilitates talking at the table during bidding and play which can be very disruptive and enables passing unauthorised information and therefore cheating. I presume it is introduced for the social aspect of the game as it would be nice to see your bridge friends, especially now when face to face clubs are closed.
Would it be possible to add an option to start video chat at the end of the round when there might be some time left for a chat?

[BBKeith]

All these negative comments about video/chat!
Have you forgotten that you used to play at a table with real people and see and talk to them!
I think its great - bring it on!
Not only is it more natural - it stops the cheats.
Cant wait for it to arrive!

[morecharac]

BBKeith, on 2021-March-27, 05:35, said:

Have you forgotten that you used to play at a table with real people and see and talk to them!

Yes. Some of them I never want to see or hear again, other than to read their names in the ACBL disciplinary files.

I certainly don't want the things I actually need to see being blocked by something I'm not likely to ever use.

[mycroft]

Welcome it very much is. Not sure if I'll like it (especially as my camera is blocked or nonexistent on any computer I actually play BBO on, and I wonder how it works with square monitors) but welcome it is.

"It stops the cheats" - ha ha, what a laugh. That's definitely "two drink minimum" territory. At least if it's not "screens-style w/overhead camera", which it won't be. All that will happen is the winks and stares, and leading questions and ask-and-pass showing a hand worth balancing opposite and ... come back, *and* you can't see my screen. Oh but if you're distractable, and not staring at the camera all the time, of course you're looking at your phone under the table...

[pescetom]

mycroft, on 2021-March-27, 12:10, said:

"It stops the cheats" - ha ha, what a laugh. That's definitely "two drink minimum" territory. At least if it's not "screens-style w/overhead camera", which it won't be. All that will happen is the winks and stares, and leading questions and ask-and-pass showing a hand worth balancing opposite and ... come back, *and* you can't see my screen. Oh but if you're distractable, and not staring at the camera all the time, of course you're looking at your phone under the table...

The ideal would be "screens-style w/overhead camera", but even just screens-style with self-alerts is a good compromise: social audio-video when not actually playing, real bridge when actually playing, unless you cross the rubicon of planned collusive cheating.

The rub is that it won't be, as you say, unless some RAs and organisers pick up courage and recognise that screens and self-alerts are the way to go online.

One thing the platforms *could* do is to record (at low fps) your screen, and let TD (or even another player) see it on request.

[0 carbon]

Ideally, it should be integrated with the table - ie, next to their hands.

[mycroft]

In real life I implement a program that does that "record" thing. It's - nontrivial, if you're not doing the "zoom record" kind of thing. And I'm reasonably certain that's nontrivial either, unless that's your business.

Professional e-gamers are required to install anti-cheat software. Even with permission to install it, the damage it can cause to proper use of the computer outside of that game (as well as the privacy issues with "give Blizzard a complete directory listing (complete with hash signatures) and process report", never mind "we won't tell you what it records") is enough that I wouldn't want it on "my" computer. Buying a computer solely to play BBO seems like too much effort for too much paranoia.

[pescetom]

mycroft, on 2021-March-27, 21:28, said:

In real life I implement a program that does that "record" thing. It's - nontrivial, if you're not doing the "zoom record" kind of thing. And I'm reasonably certain that's nontrivial either, unless that's your business.

Professional e-gamers are required to install anti-cheat software. Even with permission to install it, the damage it can cause to proper use of the computer outside of that game (as well as the privacy issues with "give Blizzard a complete directory listing (complete with hash signatures) and process report", never mind "we won't tell you what it records") is enough that I wouldn't want it on "my" computer. Buying a computer solely to play BBO seems like too much effort for too much paranoia.

I can imagine it is non-trivial, but doable nevertheless. I was just thinking grant BBO or whoever power to record the screen for one session, not some black box program that can do whatever it wants. When I tell Google Meet or Skype to share my screen with others, am I putting any other aspect of my privacy at risk? I always assumed not (of course Google have my browser history and Microsoft have my data, so I'm screwed anyway, but that's another matter).

[mycroft]

Depends on what you allow them to share.

I have a two-monitor setup, for instance. I could share my screen just fine, and have discord, or the encyclopaedia of card combinations, open on the other one. If you allow full-system screen sharing, anything else you may have (like your desktop, if it shows) comes along with. If you don't, what do you know?

But really, screensharing and/or recording (which Google Meet doesn't do, grumble because my work uses it), if it's not your core competency, isn't something you should be playing around with.

[hrothgar]

BBKeith, on 2021-March-27, 05:35, said:

Not only is it more natural - it stops the cheats.

No, it doesn't

Don't get me wrong, I've used video chat a bunch over on Real Bridge. There's a lot that I really like about it, especially when it comes to alerting and disclosure. But cheating is still trivial(assuming that you want to do so)

[elarson]

The solution to problems with Video Chat is to allow the Director control, Director should be able to mute screens if a lot of background noise. Players don't mute themselves while playing, this should be a automatic, as soon as the cards are dealt, all should be muted. Director having joined a table should be able to self mute also if phone rings, dog barks etc.... Also need to be able to REMOVE the video by editing the tournament as one could with the voice option. Will not use it again until some of these items are implemented and it is way too expensive, a $6 per player tournament ends up paying BBO approx $2.50, then sanction fees of .25 to ACBL leaving $3.25 per player to pay directors and cover rent.... ridiculous ratio of expense to profit... wait.... there no longer is a profit if adding video