Jonathan Hanson
Composition 1
Ian bickford

kdice

Not many people will know what the title stands for. I'm not really sure myself,

but I do know one thing: it's the name of a very fun , addictive and social internet

game. It's similar to Risk, and has a friend system similar to that of Myspace. If you are

unfamiliar with both, then I'll hopefully have you knowledgeable of the epynonymous

game and perhaps you will be playing it yourself.

kdice is an internet phenomenon based off of another very similar game, called

dicewars. Both are basic adaptatations of the popular board game Risk! Don't get too

confused, though; I'll only explain kdice for now. Once you arrive at the website

www.kdice.com, you can create a free account for yourself and immediately jump

right in to the game. Just find a table that is empty and click on "Sit in"

It is similar to Risk in that you must conquer all of the territories, but the

territories are irregularly shaped spots that correspond with the color you sit at. To

attack another player, you simply click on your own stack (your color) and proceed to

click on an adjacent territory that is of a different color, therefore, your enemy.

Understanding how the game works outside of the dice is just as important as

the individual attacks. You receive an extra amount of dice after each turn, and that

amount is determined by the greatest number of connected territories you have, and is

called a "restack" (for example, if you have five territories connected, when you end your

turn, you will receive five more dice randomly placed on spots you own)

Most of the game is determined by luck itself, as with the restacks, as well as the

dice rolls. The attacks are won by the total amount one set of dice rolls versus the

defended set of dice. If there is a tie, the defender wins and the attacking dice are

reduced to one die, to maintain the spot in question. Also, there is a limit to the amount

of dice on one spot, which is eight. Once all territories are filled to "eights" ther extra dice

per turn are banked to refill the spot. A wise beginning strategy is to keep in mind

multiples of eight, so you won't have any understacked spots. The banking also has a

limit at thirty two reserved dice.

Another implement in the game is a chat box. You can type in a message that is

displayed to everyone in the room in the box. This can be used for friendly

conversation, as well as unfreindly conversation, and even strategic decisions. One fo the

best uses of this device is the query of a truce. You can ask another player if you wish to

quit fighting each other and focus on the other players, a very wise decision that has both

obvious advantages and disadvantages. Some players are strictly against it, and will

ironically counter truce to uphold their ideal.

If you find someone interesting enough who you'd liek to be friends with on

kdice, you can go to their profile by clickng on their name during the game, and send a

friend request, similar to Myspace. In a profile, you can add comments about the player,

as well as check your statistics against theirs.

Other implements on the website are the forum, the top players list, a friend

locator (this lets you see if your friends are playing and at what table( so you can enjoy a

game with them), an ideas page (you can submit ideas to the creator of the game. An

idea can be voted on by other players if they support it, and comments can be made to

edit or discuss the idea) as well as a news page that updates new players, biggest wins

of the day, and top five players.

The kdice forum, also called a message board, is a place where several topics

are discussed about the game, as well as general issues within the game and the social

community of kdice. In order to join in a discussion, you click on the topic name and you

go to a page where you view what someone has posted on the forum. To add your

opinion or point of view, you click on "reply to topic" and you are presented with a white

box where you can type to your heart's content.

When you join kdice, you may fall into an addictive cycle that most players seem

to experience at some point. You start by winning a few games, then a bad start in a

couple will bring you down. But it was so easy to get those points, you start thinking. A

few more games, and you haven't gottne anywhere, but time keeps going, and you've sut

spent an hour and a half accomplishing nothing, even in a silly internet game. It's best to

recognize this early, and understand you may win tommorrow.

What is nice about the game is that if you wish to get that involved, you

eventually develop a personality on kdice. This isn't a bad thing, and most fall into

general categories; you can either be the reserved but very good player, a player who

tends to express their opinions on the forums more often than others, a player who

makes jokes to create an enlightening experience, or a combination of all qualities. As

you play more often, you will recognize names and if you are good enough, you will end

up playing with some very experienced players. These experienced players usually know

one another, and tend to engage themselves in a game more than a newer player will.

What is great about kdice is that you will more often than not meet some great

people, and enjoy the game. You will also read about some issues/controversy within the

game in the forums. It's fairly easy to say that this game attracts a diverse amount of

people from anywhere in the world. If you wish to join, just go to www.kdice.com and

sign up for free. I'm JDizzle787 and if you wish to add me as a friend, I'm most likely

available on the forum. Happy gaming!