We'll have two tournaments tomorrow, one of the variable-length all-games freerolls like above, and a new format: a skill-based fishing tournament. 1000 BTM (1.0 BTC) of prizes for the all-games one, and 1250 BTM for fishing:

    1000 BTM proportional based on winnings
     250 BTM to the single highest jackpot

There's a tournament-wide spend limit of 500 BTM, so it's important to think about going for the highest jackpot prize by playing risky & big, vs. grabbing a share of the much larger proportional pot. Times are all EDT (GMT-0400):

    Thursday, March 15, 12:00 Noon: Variable-time Freeroll
    Thursday, March 15, 5:00 PM: Skill-fishing Semi-Freeroll

I'm calling it a semi-freeroll because having the 25+ BTM bankroll needed can be gotten from soldier statues, though not as trivially as the 5-10 BTM bankroll needed for the first one. So a good strategy if you're not into making any deposits is to play the first freeroll with soldier gifts, and then use the almost-certain winnings to enter the second tournament. Make sense?

This morning's tournament results, 9 players participating:

Results for Variable-time Freeroll - 1000 BTM in Prizes

For All non-PvP Games:
    For the BTM 500 full Proportional pool by Winnings:
        izme won BTM 133
        TinaCapra won BTM 112
        SupaDupaJenkins won BTM 58.52
        Lucky won BTM 44.71
        Bitdrago won BTM 35.83
        Stripes won BTM 34.52
        Caeruleus won BTM 32.60
        Kayla won BTM 25.48
        Doris won BTM 22.35
    For the BTM 200 2-way Proportional pool by Winnings:
        izme won BTM 108
        TinaCapra won BTM 91.44
    For the BTM 300 Top-3 pool by Highest Jackpot:
        izme won BTM 100
        TinaCapra won BTM 100
        Lucky won BTM 100

Next tournaments are (All times EDT):

  Wednesday Mar 14, 3:00 PM, 1 BTC Total Prizes
  Thursday, Mar 15, 12:00 Noon, 1 BTC Total Prizes

Next three freeroll tournaments, all times are EDT (GMT-0400):

  Wednesday Mar 14, 10:00 AM, 1 BTC Total Prizes
  Wednesday Mar 14, 3:00 PM, 1 BTC Total Prizes
  Thursday, Mar 15, 12:00 Noon, 1 BTC Total Prizes

We had 5 players for today's first tournament, and 8 for the second one.

And today's second tournament:

Results for All-Games Freeroll - 1000 BTM in Prizes

For All non-PvP Games:
    For the BTM 500 full Proportional pool by Winnings:
        Mari won BTM 112
        Stripes won BTM 103
        ramona won BTM 79.01
        Caeruleus won BTM 66.58
        Emperatorzs won BTM 62.62
        Kayla won BTM 38.64
        razz won BTM 36.93
    For the BTM 200 2-way Proportional pool by Winnings:
        Mari won BTM 104
        Stripes won BTM 95.51
    For the BTM 300 Top-3 pool by Highest Jackpot:
        Emperatorzs won BTM 100
        Stripes won BTM 100
        Mari won BTM 100

Today's first tournament:

Results for All-Games Freeroll - 1000 BTM in Prizes

For All non-PvP Games:
    For the BTM 500 full Proportional pool by Winnings:
        Emperatorzs won BTM 152
        Stripes won BTM 142
        Hypatia won BTM 137
        Caeruleus won BTM 67.31
    For the BTM 200 2-way Proportional pool by Winnings:
        Emperatorzs won BTM 103
        Stripes won BTM 96.52
    For the BTM 300 Top-3 pool by Highest Jackpot:
        Hypatia won BTM 100
        Emperatorzs won BTM 100
        Stripes won BTM 100

The first two tournaments will be today, all times are EDT (GMT-0400):

All-Games Freeroll (1 BTC in prizes): 12:00 Noon
All-Games Freeroll (1 BTC in prizes): 4:00 PM

I've just completed the Tournament system in Dragon's Tale and wanted to discuss it here. It's probably the most significant addition to Dragon's Tale since the Mentorship system.

How a Tournament works is an Organizer (usually an eGenesis employee, but not always) puts up a prize pool of at least 1 BTC, and divides that into prize hoppers of at least 100 Bitmill each (a Bitmill is 1/1000 BTC.) Here are some examples of prize hoppers:

  * 500 Bitmill to the player with the highest winnings in Dynasty Fire
  * 2 BTC to be split evenly among the 5 players with the highest jackpots in any fishing game
  * 1 BTC by lottery to the player that finds the most Bitmill in plants. Each Bitmil that you find is one lottery ticket.

If a tournament consisted of these three prize hoppers, then the Organizer would need to put up 3.5 BTC to fund it and put it on the calendar. Tournaments are posted automatically to the Dragon's Tale website.

Organizers can set rules for the tournament, and this is where things get interesting. Organizers will usually set several of the following limits:

  * Number of spins (wagers) that each player can make during the Tournament
  * Total amount each player can wager during the tournament
  * Amount of time the Tournament lasts. This can be a range like "Random length of time, 10-20 minutes."
  * Must hold a ticket of type X to participate
  * Must be at least Level X
  * Must be a part of one of these Mentorship families: ..., ..., ...
  * Spin and Wager limits per game, or game set.

So with a complex prize structure and bet limits, tournaments essentially change luck games into skill games. To play smart, you need to monitor how others are doing, which prize hoppers have a high reward vs. the amount of competition, and balance long-shot vs. slow & steady play.

Often I'll set up tournaments with no entry fee and very low bet limits (1 Bitmill, 100 spins) but with larger prizes (1 BTC). So the expected cost is, say, 5 BTM to do 100 x 1 BTM spins, but if 10 players are participating, 100 BTM average prize per player. I call these Tournaments "freerolls" because it's easy to get enough free Bitmill from soldier statues to participate; having a large bankroll gives no advantage.

As always, Dragon's Tale has no "playthrough requirements" or other nonsense - any Bitcoins that you receive or win are real, and you can withdraw them immediately, gift them to friends, or continue to play.

Dragon's Tale is a free download, with native clients for Windows, Linux, and OSX: http://www.dragons.tl

I'll use this thread to announce freerolls and other tournaments.

Although really simple to play (click on a cow and say how much you want to bet), this is a pretty deep game: Initially you'll be able to perform just a few of 30 possible cow-tipping techniques. As you witness others tipping cows, you'll learn "facets" of those techniques. When you know at least 5 facets of a technique, you'll be able to perform it yourself, and teach it to others.

With higher bets, there's a greater chance of performing more exotic techniques including pile drivers, complex flips and backward falls.

Dragon's Tale is a free download with native clients for Windows, OSX and Linux. We'll even give you some free Bitcoins to get started. (Real, free, with no "playthrough" requirements or other nonsense.)

Is the inside front cover, or back cover still available? If so I'd like to buy one of them for Dragon's Tale.

Also, not sure if it fits the content of your magazine, but I'd love the chance to show you the game (and even provide numbers) for an article.

Ok, try to grab me next time you're online - I play "Di."

When you say "start from scratch" - does it want you do do the bench quest again (find 8 benches), or is the counter on "Kick a bench 20 times" on the seals quest resetting?

Dragon's Tale and Seals With Clubs have teamed up to give away a total of 30 BTC this coming Sunday and Monday. This event costs nothing to enter, and you'll get to explore both games. Here's how it works:

In Dragon's Tale, find the Seal, just southeast of where you enter the game. Click on him to start the Seals With Clubs challenge. All of the challenge items are very low-stakes, and can be completed with the free Bitcoins available from Soldier Statues.

Some of the things you'll be doing include digging for coins in a garden, growing Jastaberries, sharing drinks with a friend, and finally, withdrawing some of your winnings. When you've completed the challenge, you'll be asked for your Seals With Clubs username, and entered into your choice of freerolls which will take place on Seals With Clubs on Sunday, Jan 15, 3:00 PM EST and Monday, Jan 16, 9:00 PM EST. Each freeroll tournament will have 15 BTC in prizes.

You'll need accounts on both games of course:
Dragon's Tale, the Gambling MMORPG
Play Bitcoin Poker at Seals With Clubs

We've just released a special game that will only be around for the holidays - come help decorate the Dragon's Tale Christmas Tree! Each time you click an Ornament, you'll have a chance to select how much you wish to gamble, from 10 Bitmills (0.01 BTC) up. The higher you bet, the greater chance of a rare ornament. Red ornaments are the most common, then Blue, then the Origami shown on the lower branches. There are 15 possible ornament types, and with each one, a jackpot (except for lumps of coal.) When the tree is fully decorated (no lumps of coal), the star at the top will light.

The tree keeps track of the total value of Ornaments displayed. Every time a new high-water mark is set, the tree's life renews for one week, so it's possible to keep the tree alive past Christmas.

It's also possible to plant a private tree by donating one Bitcoin to the Faucet, located behind the Palace. Private trees can be admired by everyone, but can only be decorated by you and designated friends. So far, three private trees have been planted.

Also, eight special holiday drinks have been released: Enjoy a Sugarplum Float, warm up with a Gingerbread Latte, or sip a Candycane Daiquiri.

It's been a while since I posted - Dragon's Tale is now up to 43 unique games in it's 3D multiplayer world. (92 games counting variants.)

Our latest game is analog checkers, also known as Kanivan Tak. Pieces move the same distance as in normal checkers, but they're not limited to 45 degree angles. Players agree on a wager amount, with the winner taking all. Like most 2-player games in Dragon's Tale, there is no house rake.

We've also just released Treefalls, a seemingly straightforward game where you pick leaves from any of the trees around the world. Most trees pay 95%, but every week one species secretly pays 105%, while three species only pay 85%. By clever play, you may be able to identify the magical species and play it repeatedly. More details are provided in-game at the Department of Herbal Resources.

Another recent skill game is Qing Vases, where you try to arrange vases on shelves so that identical vases form straight lines. In Qing Vases you are able to influence which vases change from play-to-play. In the variant "Ming Vases" you don't influence which vases change, but can control how many change per play. Finally, the Han Vases variant is an almost pure-luck game that plays fast, and tends to have long winning streaks. (There is some debate on whether Han Vases is pure luck, or can be played as a skill game.)

If you've never explored Dragon's Tale, download the client and join us. There are usually some friendly mentors around to give a tour, and direct you to some free Bitcoins to get started.

Kanivan Tak:


Qing Vases:

2 BTC for each of 2 slots for Dragon's Tale.

I paid 50 BTC based on $250 for ~800k impressions, or a CPM of 31 cents or so. Even given the size of the ad, that should be a fantastic price. Here are the full stats:

Number of Clicks: 204
Unique IPs: 177
Conversions: 2
Net Income: 0.391 BTC

A conversion was defined as having made any sort of deposit. We did have ~66 new players in that time, who collectively played for 159 hours. 23 of these players have played for > 1 hour, and 6 of those have been online in the last 24 hours. I've noticed (but haven't formally checked this) that new players don't deposit right away - they tend to play for quite a while using free Bitcoins, even doing some withdrawals initially.

So, this ad campaign definitely wasn't a success, but whether it was a total waste remains to be seen. I'd be glad to share future conversion info on this group of players. Also interested to see how other advertisers fare.

I'll bid 50 BTC to advertise Dragon's Tale.

Have you tried Dragon's Tale? It's a 3D gambling MMORPG where all the games are novel - no clones of existing casino games. There are 35 game types so far, plus variants.

http://www.dragons.tl

It does not use your computer to mine while you play.

It's been a while since I talked about Dragon's Tale in the Bitcoin forums, and since the Bicoin community has grown so much lately, I thought now would be a good time to introduce it to new members.

Dragon's Tale is the Disney World of gambling. It's a 3D MMORPG where every object that you can see is a game of some sort, from the buildings to the plants. In most MMORPGs your character advances by fighting - in Dragon's Tale you level up by gambling. You can grow crops, race beetles, feed ducks, or even put on a fireworks show for friends in the game. We have 35+ games, all novel: about half of these are games of chance, and half are games of skill. We'll even give you free Bitcoins to get started, no strings attached. (As in, none of the playthough nonsense that every other online casino uses - when you get a gift from any of the Soldier Statues throughout the game, it's yours to play or withdraw.) Of course I hope you'll love the game and bring some Bitcoins of your own to play.

Dragon's Tale is by my company, eGenesis. We're the guys behind A Tale in the Desert. It is built entirely around Bitcoins, and has native clients for Windows, OSX, and Linux.

Check out the website and Wiki for downloads and more details: http://www.dragons.tl

Looking forward to seeing everyone in-game,
Teppy ("Di")