Hi there - New to Green Felt - Enquiry regarding game completion times

Having recently moved from Linux running Aisleriot (Solitaire games application) to Mac OSX and missing access to Freecell, my enquiry to the "do no evil" engine directed me to Green Felt for which I am immensely grateful. I am really enjoying the experience.
There is just one thing puzzling me. How do Freecell players manage to complete a game in a mere 4 seconds as listed in the scores list?
Thanks a lot.

Comments

  • Practice and power moves and touch screen devices (aka tablets)
    Here’s a video of the fastest player on the site—3bc (who has not been a regular of late):

    An a couple of mine:

  • And two more recent ones:

  • Very impressive! Thank you.

  • Some games are completed in a few seconds on the first try!! Some people just have to be top of the list at any cost, kind of spoils it for those who don't cheat. but that's human nature I suppose.

  • Hi @garyinsooke what do you mean by “cheat”? Can you explain your interpretation or point to the rules that are bring broken? Thanks.

  • garyinsooke you might find this thread of interest to you in regards to cheating, Thanks fingsaint for comment !
    https://forum.greenfelt.net/discussion/comment/17383#Comment_17383

  • one more hint that works for me I don't focus on times , or what place I finish in , I don't have some of the computer technical skills some have on here, those are the ones you see getting real low times , basically I just play for fun , and focus on my game. I enjoy playing these games because it is an escape from everyday twists and turns that life throws at you , so solitaire games is an escape for me. Have Fun , Enjoy the games.

  • I play for percentage rather than time. Power moves aren't listed somewhere that I know of.....I do use one I discovered for one or two games but always wonder if I'd figured it out eventually or not,,,,so whatever..

  • @garyinsooke: Yes, once every two or three days I complete a game in less than ten seconds the first time I finish. Which is not necessarily the first time I start it because I often hit Replay if I make a misstep along the way.
    For the game of the day, I login by one of several other user names at first, play the game until I’ve discovered and mastered a low time. Then log out, repeat, repeat the fast performance, and log in under my main avatar. If you consider that cheating, you’re welcome to your opinion.

    But if you consider it cheating, I’d be curious what you think of most if not all competitive endeavors in our world. Is it also cheating that Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps or Shaun White practice their sports? Or the people who compete in the Van Cliburn Piano Competition or the World Memory Championships or The Annual Air Guitar World Championship Contest?

  • The only difference would be that, unlike elite athletes, greenfelt players don’t have to undergo drug tests. As @Kate! Of ‘who changed the paradigm’ fame will attest. ;)

  • False analogy alert!

    Michael Phelps et. al. don't get to swim/run a particular distance X times and then submit their fastest time to the sanctioning body as their "real" time. A pianist does not get to play their selected piece X times on video and submit the one with which they are most satisfied to the judging panel. They certainly train and practice long and hard, but when it's time to compete, they get only one chance to win.

    Heck, some folks believe that using the Undo button is cheating - and I used to be one of them! Then I started playing 40 Thieves and changed my opinion very quickly.

    However - logging in to practice and then logging in under a separate user ID to subvert the scoring system and record a bogus score as your "first" score - that's lying, pure and simple, and that's not an opinion.

  • Hmmm, I disagree. I think that your opinion misinterprets lying @OldDudeInKyotoFu , as @DeusExMachina is clearly open about his methods and process.

  • Also, any one could do the same if thry wished to do so. I use redo and undo liberally. as I have said before. I am never as fast as @DeusExMachina

  • but i do well enough

  • Just enjoy the games boys and girls,in your own way and in your own time.We have had these debates often enough in the few years I have played on this site and I am sure this will continue,as usual,without resolution.Play on.

  • wise words @graeme :)
    I’m sure the solution is to agree to disagree gracefully

    And on that note, I would like to acknowledge the generosity of @DeusExMachina in sharing his solutions and videos to greenfelters who are interested in speedy resolutions to free cell games

  • Hello fingsaint.Despite the help and advice given,including,as you say,DeusExMachina's excellent input,we will continue to have this problem,and,most of the time,after all this,those who complain about cheating tend to vanish into the ether never to be heard of again until the next new entrant who doesn't understand the game either.I think I'll have a cup of tea and an aspirin.Enjoy your game.

  • Some fine and valid points, @OldDudeInKyotoFu. You’re right, of course that in most competitions you get only one attempt. The field side of track and field is ripe with counter examples where the competitors get multiple throws or jumps and the best one counts.
    But that all misses the point that I was trying to make with my analogy. All other things being equal, people who practice a sport, skill, or performance will generally perform better than those doing the same thing for the first time, and practicing a skill is generally not considered cheating.
    Unless, that is, the competition’s rules don’t allow practicing. Which, as you point out, is the case here with the game of the day. I started gaming the system in the manner I described above because it was clear that others were doing likewise in some fashion. But that doesn’t justify it.
    My take is that limiting the leaderboard to a player’s first score doesn’t make sense on two counts:
    1. It’s unenforceable. There are just too many ways to game the system.
    2. I’m more interested in a person’s best performance than their first performance. This is, of course, a subjective preference. (I should specify “best _legitimate, unaided _performance; I have no interest in the achievements of those who use technology, steroids, etc. to gain an unfair advantage).

    Pondering this has led me to post a feature request (coming shortly): an option to have the Leader Board show either 1st Score or Best Score. If and when that’s implemented, I will gladly play entirely under my primary user name (although confess II’d miss coming up with new funny names;-)

  • Oh, and thanks for the kind words @fingsaint & @lasso.

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