I have always thought that I would like to learn to play
mahjong. I bought a little book a few years ago but mislaid it before I could read and digest its contents. I stumbled across this group a few days ago and found a link to a site which had a shareware copy of mahjong. It seems that I have done nothing but play mahjong for the last forty eight hours and my initial feelings have been confirmed. I can easily see myself becoming an addict. As my brain is not as good as it was when I was a kid, I am having some difficulty in learning the scoring system. The purpose of my post is to seek guidance as to what scoring system I should learn as a beginner.
I appreciate that there will be variations of the game played at
different locations and I suspect that there will be many different ways of scoring. Could somebody please point me in the direction of a site which will give me the basics ? I am reluctant to learn the scoring system on the newly acquired software if it means that I will have to "unlearn" it at a later date.
Thanks !!
--
Nigel Evans http://www.bleddfa.demon.co.uk
From: Nigel Evans nigel@bleddfa.demon.co.uk
> [snip] found a link to a site which had a shareware copy ofNigel, if you are going to keep playing that software program, you need to learn the scoring system used by that program. Surely it comes with instructions or rules, or there are rules posted at the homepage of its creator?
If not, tell us the name of the program, and maybe we can help, or read FAQ 9 at http://www4.activision.com/games/dynasty/faq/FAQmain.html to find out what kind of mah-jongg it is, then find a site where the rules are posted (or get an appropriate book for that style of mah-jongg). There's also a list of websites and books (FAQ 4 and 3 respectively).
Good luck! -- Tom
Tom Sloper, Activision
Executive Producer, Shanghai
tsloper@activision.com (weekdays)
Actsearch@aol.com (weekends)
news:rec.games.mahjong
http://www4.activision.com/games/dynasty/faq/FAQmain.html
http://beachsite.com/majexchange/bulletinbd.htm
http://mahjong-nl.com/regels_uk.htm
Check out our Mah-Jongg tile games:
http://www.activision.com/games/dynasty
http://www.activision.com/games/sdp
In article <19991017202247.25436.00000301@ng-ch1.aol.com>, Tom Sloper
<actsearch@aol.com> writes
>Nigel, if you are going to keep playing that software program, you need to
>learn the scoring system used by that program. Surely it comes with
>instructions or rules, or there are rules posted at the homepage of its
>creator?
>
Sorry, perhaps I had not worded my request very well. I have
the rules for the software. I wondered if, perhaps, there was a standard set of rules which applied to most variants of mahjong. I have no opportunity of actually playing the game against human opposition and have no personal contact with anybody who plays the game. I'd like to learn the basics of scoring so, if the opportunity ever arises to play the game "live", I will only have to learn the local changes to the scoring. Many card games have several varieties but are based on the same basic rules. I wondered if the principles of scoring in mahjong were similarly based - one central system plus minor variations.
My posting has coincided with the posting of the FAQ for this group and I'll read that first before asking any more questions. Thanks
for your reply.
--
Nigel Evans http://www.bleddfa.demon.co.uk
Subject: Re: Newcomer to Mahjong
From: tarot@notmenetvigator.com (Alan Kwan)
Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999 10:47:07 GMT
Unfortunately, while the basic rules for playing and claiming tiles for Mahjong are mostly universal and also quite simple, the very place where different local versions differ the most is in their scoring systems, and many scoring systems are orders of magnitude more complex than the basic rules. In fact, learning "local changes to the scoring" often means learning an entire scoring system all over.
There is a central concept, namely, "patterns", in most scoring systems, but not only is the list of patterns all different, the concept sometimes funtions entirely differently. There may be few patterns, or there may be as many as a hundred; they may be merely scoring bonuses for a regular hand, or (with a "minimum faan requirement") they may be a pre-requisite for going out, or (in some systems with lots of irregular hands) they may even be the primary factor in defining how you may go out; they may be the central pillar of scoring, or they may not be very significant.
I think your only recourse is to read Tom's FAQs. If you want to learn a simple scoring system, Hong Kong Old Style is recommended.
On Mon, 18 Oct 1999 09:38:43 +0100, Nigel Evans
<nigel@bleddfa.demon.co.uk> wrote:
"Live life with Heart." - Alan Kwan / tarot@notmenetvigator.com
http://home.netvigator.com/~tarot (hard-core game reviews)
(please remove anti-spam section "notme" from mailing address)
In article <380af74e.9186156@news.netvigator.com>, Alan Kwan <tarot@notmenetvigator.com> writes
>I think your only recourse is to read Tom's FAQs. If you want toThanks, I will read the FAQ's. I'm grateful to those who have
helped.
--
Nigel Evans http://www.bleddfa.demon.co.uk
In article <27kb8CACDwC4EwsU@bleddfa.demon.co.uk>,
Nigel Evans <nigel@bleddfa.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> Thanks, I will read the FAQ's. I'm grateful to those who have
Hi Nigel,
If you are new to mahjong I would suggest you insist in learning the game in its fullness - Find books that offer you the complete rule set of play - all by the individual book itself.
The articles in the following web page "EASYPLAY" might help: http://www.cofatsui.com/mahjzc02.html
Good luck!
COFA TSUI
International Mahjong Rules - World's FIRST comprehensive set of
written rules of mahjong, governing every step of play. (tm)
IMJ Rules on PDF file - IT IS NOW SHIPPING!
internet: http://www.cofatsui.com/mahjong.html
email: imj@cofatsui.com