Galewind Games and browser capabilities

[vinylweatherman]

***ADMIN NOTE: removed from another thread (derail) - but restored here.***

You like having problems, don't you?

It's so weird so many people still use IE as their browser. As a webmeister I now know why they're hated by so many. Well I mean even more than I knew beforehand..

Their javascript engine is just horrible..
I'll shut up now

*spits at IE and bing*

I do have an xbox though, even though it broke down on me once, and when a game is loading, and the sound is off, it's like someone is drilling a hole somewhere

shuts up again...

OT: good luck with the baptism SlotMonster! And I hope you get to accept more than just UK Players soon

It's a case of familiarality. I have tried others, but quickly get lost when trying to find how to do certain things. I have also found that software (Microgaming for example) ONLY uses IE for the lobby, regardless of any other browser that is installed and registered as the default.

I also have this expectation that IE is less likely to run into problems with Windows since both come from the same company, and should at least be compatible with each other. I also can never get Flash to work in Firefox, the plug-in is there, but displays a black box instead of the Flash content. If the website uses Flash, the user has no choice but to install the Flash plug-in, even though Flash is rapidly being discredited as a "reliable" method of including video content in websites. The Flash issue is what makes iPad such a problem as a platform, as so many websites just don't work on it unless they are specifically engineered as "iPad friendly". This lack of multi platform compatibilty is what keeps Microsoft in such a dominant position. Other standards are better, but this doesn't help if the websites you visit don't use them.

[binary128]

When Slotmonster asked me to try out the games, I kept getting "unsupported browser" issues. I had everything updated, and am running XP and IE 8. At the time, no cause for this could be found, and Slotmonster assured me the site should work fine with XP and IE 8.

More recently, and down to a completely different issue unrelated to casinos, I might have found the problem. It's pretty obscure, and is documented as a "corrupt user agent string" by Microsoft. It is caused by badly coded browser plug-ins, and other installed software that adds it's abilities to this string.

VinylWeatherman,

Would it be possible for you to to go to Galewind Software's Corporate Web Site, select the Products page, and then click the "Launch Demo Casino" button?

I would like to see if our product also causes for you this problem (if it still exists in your browser).

Indeed, I would be very interested in knowing of any problems you experience, in any browser you have available to you, with our product.

Thank you very much in advance for your help.

[I sincerely apologize for the derail. However, the opportunity for problem investigation presented itself, and I naturally became concerned. My best wishes, SlotMonster, with your Baptism by Fire.]

Chris

[vinylweatherman]

VinylWeatherman,

Would it be possible for you to to go to Galewind Software's Corporate Web Site, select the Products page, and then click the "Launch Demo Casino" button?

I would like to see if our product also causes for you this problem (if it still exists in your browser).

Indeed, I would be very interested in knowing of any problems you experience, in any browser you have available to you, with our product.

Thank you very much in advance for your help.

[I sincerely apologize for the derail. However, the opportunity for problem investigation presented itself, and I naturally became concerned. My best wishes, SlotMonster, with your Baptism by Fire.]

Chris

Galewind demo works fine, but since I have already fixed this problem, this is to be expected.

A better test would be to check back when this problem is known to exist, and see how the site copes. There is more about this issue in the Microsoft knowledge base, which is where I found both the cause and solution, as well as understanding more about the issue.

[DiamondGeezer]

Chris thanks for that link I took a look around and you have a very handy product on your hands here. Also I was majorily impressed to see you are available for real money at Pinnacle . Being the casino of choice of the world's most respected Sportsbook is no mean achievement .

For all you players who prefer to play without a bonus and like fast payments then Pinnacle is a great option (sadly no US currently). From sportsbetting I've had super fast payouts and their reputation is absolutely first class, serious bettors keep HUGE balances here.

I was looking around and saw the RTP reports which were very well presented. Couldn't help noticing this which is fits in well with the VP discussion earlier. A good illustration of how variance can affect casinos aswell as players:




Anyway do keep up the good work you have an excellent product.

[binary128]

Galewind demo works fine, but since I have already fixed this problem, this is to be expected.

A better test would be to check back when this problem is known to exist, and see how the site copes. There is more about this issue in the Microsoft knowledge base, which is where I found both the cause and solution, as well as understanding more about the issue.

VinylWeatherman,

Re: "... since I have already fixed this problem, ..." I suspected that this may be true. Ah well. As I mentioned, a problem solving opportunity presented itself, and I wanted to jump right on it.

Based on admittedly little data, if a visitor going to my web site, or to the site of my current deployment, were to encounter this problem, or any problem really, their solution is, I suspect, to simply go away. I understand that. I would probably do the same.

Unfortunately, with Google's Chrome having reheated the Browser Wars, such that Chrome, Firefox and Opera are now releasing version updates every 14.3 minutes, trying to keep up with all of this is proving to be a monumental, and at times frustrating, task.

BTW, I did a bit of investigation in the Microsoft knowledge base. The "256 character user-agent string" problem appears to be specific to Microsoft's .NET versions 1.1 and 2.0 web sites. Although our servers run on the Windows platform, we are not using .NET web sites.

Thanks for your help.

Chris

[binary128]

Chris thanks for that link I took a look around and you have a very handy product on your hands here. Also I was majorily impressed to see you are available for real money at Pinnacle . Being the casino of choice of the world's most respected Sportsbook is no mean achievement ...

DiamondGeezer,

Thanks for the compliments.

LOL, Well, the cat is now out of the bag. I think that I have been very careful to always use the phrase "my current deployment", but here you've gone and popped the lid off that can.

As you indicate, with the wager volume that is available at Pinnacle, you can be sure that Galewind has to have absolute, unwavering, no-doubt-about-it, 100% confidence in every little aspect of every single part of our product, from game play to Help files, to, well, everything. When there is $100K on a Craps table waiting on a single roll of the dice, well ... any excuse, about anything, sinks like a lead balloon.

You can perhaps also understand why we don't really have a lot of "Vegas Glitz" in our product. For a Sportsbook player, it's "Just give me the damn game, give me the damn cards, make it damn fast, and don't bother me with any confusing go-here-go-there buttons or any silly prompt bullshit."

That's also why we don't have that "Don't you want to enroll now and enjoy the excitement of real money play?" crap every 27 seconds in the Play-for-Free product. Or forcing you to first sign up just to check out the Play-for-Free. I'm just too old for that garbage.

Not only is it extremely annoying, but I find it downright insulting. I mean, I don't care whether I'm going to put down a nickel a line in Gems of Isis, $10 a hand in Oasis Poker, or $500 a round in Baccarat, it's still insulting.

So anyway, I think we've done a pretty good job there.

BTW, If you really want to see variance in action, click the "Other" tab located over to the right of this run chart. Right now the only game in this "Other" game group is Keno, so you are seeing month-to-month Keno returns here, ranging from 93.2% to 102.54%. (The total Actual RTP for Keno since it went live - about 12 million games - is 97.43%, versus a Theoretical RTP - averaged across all 10 picks - of 97.48%.)

A few other things in which you may be interested.

1. On this same page, just a little below this chart, is a link titled "More Information on RTPs". If you click on this link you will go to the page for which I asked Casinomeister member's critique in my Return to Player - Critiques Requested thread.

2. If you click the Games link in the top right header (Games | Cashier | Lobby | FAQ), and select any game from the list of games, you will see a list of game-specific statements. Towards the bottom of this game-specific list you will see a statement labeled "Game Malfunctions". Clicking on this link will bring you to a page for which I also asked Casinomeister member's critique.

3. And finally, the sad truth. On this Pinnacle page, near the top left, is a large orange rectangle containing the words "PLAY FOR FUN - NO DOWNLOAD". If you click this, you launch Pinnacle's Play-for-Fun Casino. At the top center of this popup Casino is a bright red button labeled Help. This Help button exposes everything we have to offer; game returns, certifications, game instructions, links to game strategy guides, the absolute works. Why the sad truth? Fewer than 15% of the people that enter the Casino ever click on this Help button.

Again, thanks very much for your compliments.

Chris

[jetset]

Congrats on picking up Pinnacle as a licensee - that's an impressive coup!

[vinylweatherman]

DiamondGeezer,

Thanks for the compliments.

LOL, Well, the cat is now out of the bag. I think that I have been very careful to always use the phrase "my current deployment", but here you've gone and popped the lid off that can.

As you indicate, with the wager volume that is available at Pinnacle, you can be sure that Galewind has to have absolute, unwavering, no-doubt-about-it, 100% confidence in every little aspect of every single part of our product, from game play to Help files, to, well, everything. When there is $100K on a Craps table waiting on a single roll of the dice, well ... any excuse, about anything, sinks like a lead balloon.

You can perhaps also understand why we don't really have a lot of "Vegas Glitz" in our product. For a Sportsbook player, it's "Just give me the damn game, give me the damn cards, make it damn fast, and don't bother me with any confusing go-here-go-there buttons or any silly prompt bullshit."

That's also why we don't have that "Don't you want to enroll now and enjoy the excitement of real money play?" crap every 27 seconds in the Play-for-Free product. Or forcing you to first sign up just to check out the Play-for-Free. I'm just too old for that garbage.

Not only is it extremely annoying, but I find it downright insulting. I mean, I don't care whether I'm going to put down a nickel a line in Gems of Isis, $10 a hand in Oasis Poker, or $500 a round in Baccarat, it's still insulting.

So anyway, I think we've done a pretty good job there.

BTW, If you really want to see variance in action, click the "Other" tab located over to the right of this run chart. Right now the only game in this "Other" game group is Keno, so you are seeing month-to-month Keno returns here, ranging from 93.2% to 102.54%. (The total Actual RTP for Keno since it went live - about 12 million games - is 97.43%, versus a Theoretical RTP - averaged across all 10 picks - of 97.48%.)

A few other things in which you may be interested.

1. On this same page, just a little below this chart, is a link titled "More Information on RTPs". If you click on this link you will go to the page for which I asked Casinomeister member's critique in my Return to Player - Critiques Requested thread.

2. If you click the Games link in the top right header (Games | Cashier | Lobby | FAQ), and select any game from the list of games, you will see a list of game-specific statements. Towards the bottom of this game-specific list you will see a statement labeled "Game Malfunctions". Clicking on this link will bring you to a page for which I also asked Casinomeister member's critique.

3. And finally, the sad truth. On this Pinnacle page, near the top left, is a large orange rectangle containing the words "PLAY FOR FUN - NO DOWNLOAD". If you click this, you launch Pinnacle's Play-for-Fun Casino. At the top center of this popup Casino is a bright red button labeled Help. This Help button exposes everything we have to offer; game returns, certifications, game instructions, links to game strategy guides, the absolute works. Why the sad truth? Fewer than 15% of the people that enter the Casino ever click on this Help button.

Again, thanks very much for your compliments.

Chris

If you have seen what happens after clicking "help" in other softwares, you should consider 15% "pretty good". Most "help" usually just tells you what you already know, and NOT what you hoped to find when you clicked on it. Your "help" gives no indication of what's there, and only players who click it, or hear about it, are going to know that it tells them a good deal more than they expected to be there. I suspect players are more likely to look for the paytable, and having found it, be satisfied they have all the casino is prepared to reveal to them. For many games, players already know how to play, and don't see the need to click "help" to learn, say, how to play Blackjack.

[binary128]

VinylWeatherman,

Well, I can't argue with that. I'm already on record as describing online Casino documentation as pablum. (Simmo's RTP paytable is one of the noted exceptions.)

If you've been to the Products page on our Corporate web site, and launched the Play-for-Free Demo, you may have seen that our Help system is context sensitive. That is, if you click Help in the Lobby, then you get the Lobby help. If you click Help in Blackjack, you get the Blackjack help. And like that.

I don't know. I like our Help system. Actually, I'm kind of proud of our Help system. If you spend any time browsing it, I think you'll see why. It's fast, compartmentalized, context sensitive, and has a lot of good functional information. Plus, I think it is well written.

But I can't argue with your fundamental point. Players have been conditioned to view online Help as pablum.

Ah well. What are ya gonna do?

Chris

[binary128]

Congrats on picking up Pinnacle as a licensee - that's an impressive coup!

jetset,

Thanks.

BTW, our Casino has been at Pinnacle Sports as Galewind Software for over 4 years, and for an additional 3 years before that under a different company name.

Chris