Frequently Asked Questions
HOW DO I PAY MY ENTRY FEE?
Please be kind to your Tournament Directors and enter the tournament early. Running these tournaments online is much harder than doing it live and early entry makes it much easier. Using Venmo, follow these steps:
- Open Venmo on your smart phone.
- On the bottom right, touch the blue circle $/pencil icon.
- In the Pay box enter the tournament’s treasurer username
- Send your payment to: @MMesich (phone: last 4-digits 8286
- In “What’s it for” enter: Backgammon Tournament [the date]. Also mention if you’re entering either or both of the side pools.
I Don’t have Venmo. How do I get it?
You must use Venmo to enter the tournament. It’s really hard to keep the accounting straight if we use multiple payment methods. You wouldn’t expect us to take a credit card at a face to face tournament, would you?
WHERE IS THE ONLINE TOURNAMENT HELD?
We meet and communicate online with an application called Discord. You can go there by following this link. Twin Cities Backgammon Tournament. When you go there for the first time, Discord will ask you to set up a free account. After that, just log in normally. Please don’t create duplicate accounts
HOW DO I JOIN THE TOURNAMENT?
When playing live in a physical space, we're looking for the "room" where the tournament is. We do the same thing online, except it's a "virtual room". We meet to play the tournament using Discord on the Twin Cities Backgammon server. There you will find text and voice channels for our tournaments. In the #tournament chat you will see the most recent texts from everyone.
We have also set up several Voice Channels. Click on the Tournament voice channel. This is the "virtual room" I was talking about. This is where everyone congregates before the tournament starts. We all check in so the tournament director knows each of us is here and ready to start. Also, after you've completed your match, come back to the Tournament voice channel so you can hook up with your opponent/victim.
We have also set up several Voice Channels. Click on the Tournament voice channel. This is the "virtual room" I was talking about. This is where everyone congregates before the tournament starts. We all check in so the tournament director knows each of us is here and ready to start. Also, after you've completed your match, come back to the Tournament voice channel so you can hook up with your opponent/victim.
How do I connect with my opponent?
Right click on your opponent’s name and click “Call” to talk with them privately in Discord. Our you can call them on the phone if you like.
Where do we play our match?
The default site to use is Backgammon Galaxy. This plays in the browser with nothing to download. With the current stress the server has been under, please use the Casual Clock settings:
You may also agree to play at other sites such as Gridgammon, Backgammon Studio Heroes, GammonSite or Safe Harbor Games.
You may also agree to play at other sites such as Gridgammon, Backgammon Studio Heroes, GammonSite or Safe Harbor Games.
How do I report my results?
In the #Tournament chat at the bottom, below everyone else’s entries, there is a box that starts with a (+) and in grey text it says “Message #tournament”. When you type in that box and hit enter, your message is broadcast for everyone to see. If you want to make sure specific people are notified that you said some, you use the @ symbol to get them to pay attention. Enter @Directors and then tell us what happened, example: @Directors Spence defeats Mochy
I DON'T HAVE A MICROPHONE ON MY COMPUTER. CAN I TALK USING MY PHONE?
You sure can, but you need to have a Smartphone. You can download the mobile app from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store. Here is a tutorial on using the Discord mobile version: How to use Discord on Mobile Device - Quick and Easy for beginners
I'M NOT AN ONLINE GURU. IS THERE A TUTORIAL OR SOMETHING FOR THE DISCORD APP?
There sure is. Here is a good one. How to Use Discord App - EASY Discord Tutorial. If you don't like that one, you can search YouTube for one that you'll like better. Try searching for "discord tutorial for beginners"
How do I change my picture and be cool like April and Michael?
The little picture next to your name in the chat window is called an Avatar. In the lower right corner of the Discord screen is your current avatar, your username, a microphone, a headset and a gear. Click on the gear to open up your user settings. Click the [Edit] button to change them.
How can I edit my display name to add my Backgammon Galaxy Username?
It’s easier to find each other in Backgammon Galaxy if we know each other’s username. In Discord, your display name is called a “Nickname” to distinguish it from your Username. To change your nickname, right-click on your name and select “Change Nickname” (ctrl-click for a Mac)
OMG, BACKGAMMON GALAXY SOUND EFFECTS ARE SO ANNOYING. HOW CAN I MUTE THEM?
Click the 3 bars on the left side of the Backgammon Galaxy board and click "Sound Effects" - OFF.