Backgammon NJ: Game Center FAQ



  • What are the system requirements for Apple's Game Center?

    • Device
      • iPhone: 3GS or later
      • iPod touch: 2G or later
      • iPad: all
    • Operating system
      • iPhone and iPod touch: iOS 4.1 or later
      • iPad: iOS 4.2 or later

  • How do I play online matches with Game Center?

    1. In order to play online, you must:

    • In Backgammon NJ, set "Enable Game Center" to "On." To access the Online Play settings, tap the arrow button at the upper left corner of the screen.
    • Create an account on Apple's Game Center.
    • Log into your account and connect to Game Center on a Wi-Fi or 3G network.
    • To receive invites from friends, you must:
      • Set "Allow Game Invites" to "On" in your Game Center account settings.
      • Turn on Game Center push notification Alerts in your device settings.

    2. There are two ways to play online using Game Center:

    • Invite a Game Center friend to play a match with you.
    • Let Backgammon NJ automatically match you with a random player (Auto-Match).

    3. To set your Online Match option:

    1. Select Advanced Options (tap the arrow button at the upper left corner of the screen)
    2. Select Online Play
    3. Select Online Match

  • I can't connect to Game Center, start an online match, invite friends, or be auto-matched with a random player. What can I do?

    There are many issues to consider when playing online:

    • Check that your router, firewall, or other software is not blocking access to the ports required to run Game Center.
    • Public Wi-Fi spots will most likely be behind a firewall. Thus, it may be difficult to play online at these locations using Wi-Fi. Try using the 3G network if you're not able to connect using Wi-Fi.
    • Internet connectivity is highly dependent on the reliability of your Wi-Fi or 3G connection. If either you or your opponent have a weak connection, it may cause your online match to lag or disconnect.
    • There could be an issue with Game Center. Try fixing the problem by doing the following:

      1. Run the Game Center app
      2. Select the "Me" tab
      3. Tap your e-mail address
      4. Sign out of your Game Center account
      5. Sign back into your Game Center account
      6. Run Backgammon NJ and set the Online Match option

    • If the above solutions don't solve your problem, please contact us directly with detailed information about exactly what is occurring in your situation and what solutions you have tried. The more detailed the information that you provide us, the easier it will be for us to resolve potential issues.

  • When I try to create a new Game Center account, it puts me in an infinite loop between entering my country and date of birth so that I'm not able to complete the account creation. What can I do?

    As far as we can tell, this is caused by a bug in the iOS, as Game Center account creation is handled by the iOS (that is, Apple), even when the login/account creation window is launched from our app.

    If you've encountered this problem, try doing the following:

    1. Run the Game Center app
    2. Select the "Me" tab
    3. Tap "Create New Account"
    4. After you have created your account, run Backgammon NJ
    5. Under Advanced Options: Online Play, set "Enable Game Center" to "On"

  • I can't invite a friend or receive an invite from a friend. What can I do?

    Make sure that both you and your friend have the following options set:

    • Set "Allow Game Invites" to "On" in your Game Center account settings:

      1. Run the Game Center app
      2. Select the "Me" tab
      3. Tap your e-mail address
      4. Tap the "View Account" button
      5. Set "Allow Game Invites" to "On"
      6. Tap the "Done" button

    • Turn on Game Center push notification Alerts in your device settings:

      For iOS 4.X:

      1. Run the Settings app
      2. Select "Notifications"
      3. Set "Notifications" to "On" if it isn't already turned on
      4. Select "Game Center"
      5. Set "Alerts" to "On"

      For iOS 5.X:

      1. Run the Settings app
      2. Select "Notifications"
      3. Select "Game Center"
      4. Set "Notification Center" to "On" if it isn't already turned on
      5. Set "Alert Style" to "Alerts"

  • How do I add a friend to my Game Center friends list?

    To add a Game Center friend, do the following:

    1. Run the Game Center app
    2. Tap the "Friends" tab
    3. Tap the "+" button at the top of the screen
    4. Enter a Nickname and send a friend request
    5. Friends will show up in your list after they accept your request.

  • I can't add a friend to my Game Center friends list because the "+" button is missing from the "Friends" tab in the Game Center app. What can I do?

    If the "+" button is missing from the "Friends" tab in the Game Center app, this means that your device has Restrictions turned on. To enable the ability to add friends, do the following:

    1. Run the Settings app
    2. Select "General"
    3. Select "Restrictions"
    4. Enter your password
    5. Under the Game Center section, set "Multiplayer Games" to "On"
    6. Under the Game Center section, set "Adding Friends" to "On"

  • What settings are available for online play?

    Information about online play settings can be found here.

  • When I select Auto-Match, how long does it take to find a match with a random player?

    When there are many players looking for auto-matches, it usually takes a few minutes or less to find a match. This is more likely on weekends when many players are online. When there are few players online, it could take up to 15 minutes or longer to find a match. You can use the app normally while you wait for a match. Feel free to play against the computer, look at your stats, or do anything else that you would normally do in the app if you weren't playing online. As long as you're running Backgammon NJ, it will notify you when an online match is found for you.

  • If I select Auto-Match, who will I be matched with?

    You will be matched with one of your Game Center friends if he/she happens to be looking for an auto-match too. Otherwise, you will be matched with a random player.

  • If I start an online match, will I lose my current offline match?

    No, you won't lose your current offline match. Your offline match will be resumed after you complete your online match.

  • If I abort or disconnect during a match, will it affect my ELO rating?

    (Important Note: Aborting a match is different from resigning a game. If you resign a game, you concede the win for the game. If you abort a match, you don't concede the win for the match. Aborting a match makes Backgammon NJ evaluate both players' current positions in the match and award the appropriate ELO points to each player. More details below.)

    Yes, aborting or disconnecting during a match will result in a partial change to both your and your opponent's ELO ratings, depending on each player's current equity in the match.

    For example, if your opponent decides not to complete the match when you are winning, you can select "Abort Match" from the Advanced Options menu. Doing this will abort your online match, give you a positive partial ELO change, and give your opponent a negative partial ELO change. After you abort the match, you'll see the partial ELO change in the final online match score window. Similarly, if you or your opponent disconnect or quit the app before your online match is complete, the partial ELO changes will still occur, even if you do not see the final online match score window showing the changes.

    This means that you can play online worry-free! ;)

  • When I decline an Auto-Match with a certain player and then turn Auto-Match back on, why do I sometimes get matched with the same player again?

    For each auto-match, the Game Center server matches 2 people together. If everyone is matched up, that means there is at most 1 person waiting for an opponent at any given time. If you decline a match with Player A and then turn auto-match on again right away, it will continue to match you with Player A until:

    1. A different player becomes available by finishing an online match and searching for another auto-match, or
    2. Someone new starts looking for an auto-match

    If you want to increase the likelihood of being matched with a different player, it's best to leave auto-match turned off for a while. This will give time for Player A to find a match with someone else that isn't you.

  • Is there a way to prevent myself from being auto-matched with certain players?

    No, there currently isn't a way to prevent auto-matches with certain players or create block lists. Block lists are difficult to implement at this time because auto-matches are made by the Game Center server (not us), and we're constrained by what Game Center allows us to do. In the future, block lists may become more feasible if Apple adds functionality to Game Center to facilitate them.

    In the meantime, try to relax, enjoy the game, and remember that no matter what the outcome of the match is, both players will always gain or lose the ELO points that they deserve. Read more about how this works here.

  • Why doesn't the online ELO rating leaderboard show my current ELO rating?

    When viewing the Online ELO leaderboard, view Today's leaderboard to see more up-to-date ratings. The current version of Apple's Game Center is unable to effectively display downward fluctuations. As a result, only the highest ELO ratings achieved are displayed for each time period. Viewing Today's leaderboard will display ratings from today and will be more up-to-date than viewing leaderboards for longer time periods. Your current Online ELO is displayed in Backgammon NJ under Advanced Options: Online Play.

    It's possible that Apple will update Game Center in the future with functionality that will allow the leaderboard to display current ELO ratings.

  • Are the leaderboards for the iPhone and iPad versions of Backgammon NJ separate?

    Yes, there currently isn't a way to combine Game Center and leaderboards for different apps. If you're using the iPad version, you can only play online against users who are also using the iPad version. The same is true for the iPhone version. The leaderboards are also separate. Thus, you will have different iPhone and iPad stats for both the online ELO Rating and Matches Completed leaderboards.

  • Is there any additional information that I need to know?

    • Online matches are standard backgammon games with the doubling cube enabled.
    • During online matches, the following game features are disabled: equity, status meter, hint, move tutor, cube tutor, auto finish, ability to view/modify RNG seed, manual rolls.
    • If the Automatic Bearoff option is set to "Best Move," it will default to "Greedy" for online matches. If you don't want to play in Greedy mode for online matches, you must set Automatic Bearoff to "Off."
    • In the final online match score window, the "Opponent ELO" displayed is from before the match. The "Opponent ELO" displayed in this window is for information only and doesn't include the points gained or lost by the opponent after the match.

  • Is there a forum for Backgammon NJ users?

    Yes, visit our new User Forum to discuss the game with other Game Center players.
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