To celebrate, a public real-time chat was held with Bill Kendrick,
creator of Bill's Games.
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virginia
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is there anything we players can do to help you with the site
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Bill-Kendrick
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virginia - Not more than you all do already! But thanks! :)
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Danielle
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How old are you
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Bill-Kendrick
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Danielle. I'm 24. (I'll be a nice even 25 in May)
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Moochie
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What's your favorite WebTV game?
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Bill-Kendrick
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Moochie - Admittedly, I get stuck playing Solitaire for 15-20 minutes
whenever I go onto the site to make sure it's working ok. :) I also
really like WordScram. I guess I'm typical, cuz I like all of the
popular ones. (I like WebSame too :) )
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virginia
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how many hours week do you devote to developing the site
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Bill-Kendrick
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Virginia - The time I spend on the site varies. I'm currently 'living
off of it,' which is stretching my bank account to the limit, especially
with the holidays and lots of gift-buying... so I have a lot more time
nowadays, without work to interfere. ;^) I spent a LOT of time during
the last week packaging the site up... All of the games are going to be
'mirrored' by "WorldGate," a company that makes devices similar to
WebTV's. They asked me to become a 'Content Partner.'
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virginia
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i just played solitare -what is the average number of moves to clear the
board
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Bill-Kendrick
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Virginia, as to the number of average moves, I've never surveyed it, but
it's probably in the 150-250 range. We'll say 200 even, just to pick a
single number ;)
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bluj
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My favorite is Solitaire. I'll spend hours trying to beat my last score.
Very seldom happens
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virginia
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are you from california
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Danielle
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Are you dating?
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Bill-Kendrick
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Virginia. Yes, I was born in northern california, about 45m north of
San Francisco. Danielle, yes I'm dating. Planning on marriage. We
already have babies... two black cats. ;)
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virginia
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are most of your players web tv fans
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Bill-Kendrick
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virginia, from the survey I took early this year, and from a few samples
of access logs to the site, I think about 60% of all traffic on the site
is WebTV users.
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Danielle
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Is this your job?
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Bill-Kendrick
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Danielle - at this point, yes, it is kind of my job. I plan on eventually
making "Bill's Games" an official company. Bank account,
salary, etc.
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virginia
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they say if your work is your play you have it made -- old saying
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virginia
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have you though about a weeky or monthly chat like this
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Bill-Kendrick
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virginia - regarding doing regular chats. Yes, I considered it about 20
minutes into today's chat. This is lots of fun (and, admittedly, a bit
of an ego boost), so I might do it monthly or so...
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Tiger
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That'd be grrrreat!!! I miss the old chats.
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Bill-Kendrick
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I'm considering seeing if WebTV does a "Content Partner" deal
similar to WorldGate. Having copies of the entire site running 'closer'
to WebTV Networks might help a lot...
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bluj
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Bill, my lowest score in Solitaire was 115. Is it possible to get lower?
Do you know what the lowest possible score on Solitaire might be.
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Bill-Kendrick
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bluj - I could calculate it. It would be somewhere around 110 (assuming
ALL of the cards are instantly available to be dropped into the stacks)
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bluj
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Thanks Bill, I guess my 115 wasn't so bad after all.
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virginia
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my daughter in law had a problem with an older computer downloading.
but they have a new computer no problems. she loves bills games
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jaykay
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Hey Bill, just wanted to let you know how much my wife and I love your
Solitaire game.
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Bill-Kendrick
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Thanks jaykay... I'm glad you two enjoy it. Can you believe I wrote most
of the entire program in the span of two evenings!?
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jaykay
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She wants to register acomplaint about slowness tho
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Bill-Kendrick
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jaykay - I understand. The server can be very slow when the site's being
accessed a lot. Especially in the evenings. That's precisely why I'm
running the chat room somewhere else. :) Upgrading the software
on the site (which will happen "Real Soon, Now") will help a lot, I think.
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reebug
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Virginia, I once cleared the board in under 85 moves...was I surprised !
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jaykay
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Ever since I bragge to you about a 63 score a few months ago I haven't
gotten close sincjaykay
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virginia
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will you have another websame that is more difficult than the four we
have. ex. one with five colors
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Bill-Kendrick
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Virginia - Perhaps. I'll jot that down. I'm fairly sure the program
will handle it... I'm just not sure how impossible it will be to play
at that difficulty! :)
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virginia
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i have now mastered the most difficult one.
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Bill-Kendrick
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You're welcome, virginia. Thanks for the kind words. Thanks for dropping
in!
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virginia
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bill again thanks for the best game site. besides being fun - it is good
therapy for the mind after a stressful day. thanks again. goodnight to
everyone
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Moochie
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How many games are your site?
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Bill-Kendrick
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Moochie - I forget, off the top of my head! 16 games.
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soflamom
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I love the sames games. Are u going to have champion scores?
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Bill-Kendrick
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soflamom - yes, a 'high score' table for websame is planned.
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soflamom
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Good Bill. This was the first "games" site I found when I got my webtv
and it is still one of the best.
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bluj
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Thanks for the great games, Bill. Keep up the good work. Goodnight.
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Bill-Kendrick
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Thanks bluj. Take care!
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Tiger
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Well, I was wondering about some kind of tournaments or something...I
don't know competitive It'd be fun
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Bill-Kendrick
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Tiger - hrm... tournaments might be an idea. It'd be very hard to do
over the web, I think... But I'll jt it down!
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Tiger
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On tournaments, It could be anything from team games-one on one games...
I'm not sure what I mean...I've just been in the mood for something
tournament style ;)
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Bill-Kendrick
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Well, we're 5 minutes to closing up. Any last requests? :)
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vee
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Just games of websame. Love that game.
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Tiger
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BTW who designed the websame graphics there awesome.
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Bill-Kendrick
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Tiger - Bernhard Trummer. He did them for a Linux game I wrote,
"Gem Drop X"
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Tiger
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well tell him that I said "They're awesome keep up the great work!"
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Moochie
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Good night and continuing success. This was my first chat room
experience. It was fun.
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vee
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Keep up with the great games Bill. Thanks for the past year.
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Shell24
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bill, how did you come up with all of these ideas?
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Bill-Kendrick
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Shell24 - Briefly, well... most games are pretty much ideas that have
been around forever... like Solitaire!? :)
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Shell24
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Bill-is this something you do for a living? What else do you do?
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Bill-Kendrick
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Shell - at this point, I write free computer games (so it's not really a
'job')
http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/x/
I also run WebFX, a fun
graphics tool. It works with WebTV's, too!
http://www.nbswebfx.com/
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Shell24
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Bill-oh, just something you enjoy?
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Bill-Kendrick
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Shell24 - Oh, and yes, at this point I "live off of" Bill's Games.
I did have a job, but resigned when the company went bonkers.
Yes. Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to write video games.
I actually had an offer to work at Atari Games last summer, but picked
love for my girlfriend over love for Atari. :)
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Shell24
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Bill- i checked it out, Cool!
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mary10
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i Guess I'm about a day behind -- The games are worth going into, its fun.
Nice website Bill!
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Shell24
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Bill- where are you from? What state?
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Bill-Kendrick
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Shell24 - I'm from california. You can learn more about ME at:
http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/bill/
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Shell24
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Well, i am from WI. Nice to meet you, i will let you go now. ttyl
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Bill-Kendrick
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Ok, everyone! Thanks for stopping by! I'm considering doing this
regularly (or irregularlly.. definitely again, some time!)
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Bill-Kendrick
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... So, perhaps I'll see you again!
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Bill-Kendrick
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Oh, and shell, this software is my own. It's not all that good, but it
works! And it works with WebTV (and any OTHER web browser), which is a
plus.
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Bill-Kendrick
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Ok, well.. I guess everyone's more or less gone, so... Gnite all! (or,
rather, gnite none!)
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