What are the computer requirements of the online game?
-
A PC running Windows, it must be version 95b or better, 98, ME or XP.
- A PC running Vista, assuming it doesn't have it's own issues .
- 32MB RAM Minimum
- 800x600 HiColor display (will run with higher resolution)
- Internet connection configured to allow this game access to the Internet
- 5MB of hard drive disk space
-
If you're running an Apple Macintosh see the download page.
- WebTV is NOT supported and NOT available.
I would like to play online. What do I do?
-
You must have a National Mah Jongg League, Inc. Membership ID.
-
If you are not a member and would like to become one click
here.
-
If you are a member, follow the instructions on the Subscribe page.
I do have a National Mah Jongg League, Inc. Membership ID, but I cannot find it.
What do I do?
-
Call the National Mah Jongg League, Inc. (212) 246-3052. They will
be happy to help you out.
How much does the game cost?
-
You must have a National Mah Jong League, Inc. membership.
You can sign up with them by clicking
here.
-
For a one year subscription from April 1 to March 31, see the Subscribe page.
(Same as National Mah Jongg League, Inc. fiscal year)
What payment options are available?
-
When submitting credit card information, you are required to provide:
- The type of card
- The card number
- The expiration date
- Your full name as it appears on the card
- Your complete billing address
-
When submitting payment via personal checks
- Checks must be drawn from a U.S. bank to be accepted.
- Additional payment instructions are provided during the
subscription process. Click here for the Subscribe page
How do you protect my credit card information?
-
Your personal information,
when subscribing to the game, is protected with Netscape's SSL (secure
sockets layer) encryption technology. SSL is the current standard for
Internet commerce.
-
We do not record your credit card information.
Which version of Mah Jongg are we playing?
-
The rules used for this on-line game adhere to the official National Mah Jongg League, Inc. mah jonng game rules.
How can I get the official rules for this game?
-
If you wish to buy a copy of "Mah Jongg Made Easy" click
here.
How do I obtain the game?
-
Follow the instructions on the Subscribe page.
How do I receive updates to the game?
- You need not be
concerned with this. As revisions are made to the game, your computer
will be automatically updated when you play.
What if I have already gone through the initial start up and I want to simply
play again (and again, and again)?
-
Double Click the "Official NMJL Mah Jongg" Shortcut on the Desktop.
What
is Rank and how does it work?
- First, your rank is NOT your score.
Also, your score is not your rank, but they are related. If
your rank is 60%, this means that 60% of the players have a worse
average score than you and 40% of the players have a better average
score than you.
- The
idea of a rank system is to be able to tell quickly and easily how you
are
doing relative to the other players. When you make a Maj, you get a
score as per
the standard scoring of the NMJL. This is covered on page 22 of "Mah
Jongg Made Easy"
If you lose a game, you lose score as per the standard scoring. The
online game provides
these numbers in Options for you to see but not other players. If your
total score was
shown in the waiting room, it would not be very helpful. Here is an
example of why.
Say a player wins more than they lose and plays 20 games winning about
10 points per
game. This means that the total score would be 10*20 or 200 points. Say
another player plays
about the same but plays 2000 games. This means that the total score
would be 10*2000 or 20000
points. Now both players are about the same as far as skill level goes
but
this is not reflected in
the total scores. Ok, maybe we could use the average scores to compare
players. In this case, both players would have an average score of 10
points/game and so this is a good comparison.
So if you were used to average scores, this would work but you must
first play enough games (100)
for the average score to make sense. Also, most players would not be
able to make sense of
the numbers. Is 9.2643 a good average? Is -10.432 a bad average? About
the only thing that
can be said, is that if you have a positive average you win more than
you lose and if you
have a negative average you lose more than you win. Better than total
score but not very
helpful. Ok, so why not place all the average scores in order and rank
them? So if you had
12 players you would have something like -12.23, -10.32 -9.99, -5.43,
-4.44, 0.023, 0.99,
2.32, 4.42, 6.63, 9.45, 12.42. These are from lowest to highest average
scores. And now you would rank them 0 thru 12. This means that if you
have a 4, then you are 4th from the bottom.
This is starting to get there, but now you MUST know the number of
players at that instant
to make sense of it. Not very pratical. So the last thing to do is
convert your rank to
a percentage. So in the example, 4/12 * 100 = 33.33%
This is a very easy number to glance at and know how you are doing
relative to other players
at that INSTANT only. Please note: Rank is computed at the end of every game and
not just the game you are currently playing.
- Okay,
how do you use rank? If you want to play with players of about the same
skill level (not speed)
as yourself, then play with players of about your same rank. If you
want
to have a better chance of winning, then play with players of lower
rank. If you want a challenging game, then play with players
of higher rank. If you want a game that is 10 minutes or less, then
you need to be in the Timed room.
What
is an Exit Percentage and how does it work?
- If
you exit a game abnormally, i.e. not using the "Back to Lobby" button, your exit percentage increases.
The exit percentage is calculated based on all of the games played in a season, so if someone
exits abnormally a lot, then stops doing that, over time and more games played, his/her exit percentage will go down.
- The
idea of an exit percentage is to keep track of how often a player exits a game abnormally. The higher
the exit percentage, the more likely the player is to exit a game abnormally.
Note: Occasionally a player will encounter a problem that forces them to exit abnormally.
This is accounted for by not displaying exit percentages lower than 1 percent.
- So,
how do you use the exit percentage? You must evaluate another player's exit
percentage and decide for yourself if this person will be fun to play with.
What is Completion Percentage?
- Completion Percentage
is defined as (Total games won + Total games lost + Total wall games)/(Total games played) X 100.00
What
are the differences between the waiting rooms - No Score, Timed, and Official?
- No Score: Room
- no score and no rank kept
- No time limit per game
- Contains practice tables (where you can practice the on-line game with "computer" players instead of
"real" players)
- Timed Room:
- Ranked
- Time limit per game (from 6 to 14 minute time limits depending on the table chosen)
- Offical Room:
- Offical
- No time limit per game as per the Offical rules of the NMJL
- Scored and Ranked
Note: In the official National Mah Jongg League rules there are no time limits for games.
What is the Timed room and how does a time limited game work?
When a game starts one must first click on the box by their name (see Instructions page).
A player agrees to 3 things when a time limited game starts:
1) That they are ready to start the game.
2) That the player agrees to the other 3 players and would like to play with them.
3) Since this is a timed table, that the game will not last longer than the time limit as selected by the table number.
It is a players responsibility to make sure they agree to the above 3. Once the game starts, if a player says anything about the speed or pace, this means THEY made a mistake and did not select the correct players to play with. (See 2 above).
If a player makes such a mistake, they should simply complete the game and NOT make the same mistake again. They should NOT complain or harass the other player as it was their choice.
Another point is that ALL games in ALL rooms and at ALL tables play at exactly the same speed. This means that if one is worried about the time limit of a game, one should select a larger time limit or no time limit in the Official room.
What
is my "Net" time and why is it high?
- A
net time is a measurement of the time it take for a message to go
from the game server to a player's computer and back in seconds. When
you are in the waiting room and you type /p in the chat box, the system
will tell only you your net time in seconds. When you are playing a
game and type /p in a chat box, all 4 players' Net times are shown.
- The
following are some of the reasons that net times can
be high.
When your computer connects to the game computer, it first connects to
your ISP (Internet Service Provider). It then connects to another
machine in your ISP's local network and continues with this until it
connects to the Internet. Once it connects to the Internet, it connects
to machines which cause the connection to work toward the game machine.
This "routing" is done to make the connection fast and doesn't have to
do with geography. Finally, the connection is made to my ISP, which
then connects to the game server. This sounds like a lot of connections
and you are right. There are generally about 15 machines involved in a
typical connection. So why are some net times high?
- If a player has a slow machine or one with low memory or that is
running another application, it can cause the net time to be high. This
can be caused by anti-virus software also.
- If a player has a slow modem or a bad phone line or other hardware
problems this can cause a high net time.
- If your ISP has a slow server or congested server or a router problem,
then your net time will be high.
- If one of the 10 or more routers or servers in between has congestion or
a hardware problem your net time can be high. This can be caused by
something as simple as rain causing a local problem.
- If there is a hacker attempt on one of the machines in the connection,
this can cause a high net time.
- If there are is a power outage in one of the machines, then the
connection will have to be rerouted and so the net time will be high.
- If there is a hardware failure.
- ...
I think you get the point.
How can one tell if the problem is just some connections or is it the
server that is the problem?
First make sure you are able to get to the web site. (This page is on
the web site). The web server and the game server are on the same
machine.
When you are in a game and you do a /p, are ALL of the players net
times above 1.0?
If this happens consistently over several tries, then it is an
indication that the problem may be with either the game server or the
game server connection. In this case and this case only, you need to
send an email as per the support page and let me know.
This needs to occur in more than one game also. If this is not the
case, then some of the players have a slow connnection, due to many
many reasons.
As an example, if an ISP for some reason has a connection problem in
getting to the nmjl.org game server, then ALL of the ISP's players may
have this problem. Since it is the ISP that may have the problem, I
can't do anything about it.
Okay, so what can be done about it?
Most of the time the problem is much bigger than just this game and
it will resolve itself in due course. If you have a consistent problem with
high net times, you can call your ISP and see if they can determine the
cause of the problem.
If the problem is with your ISP and they are not willing to help
rectify the problem, then you might want to consider a new ISP.
If it is determined that the problem is with the nmjl.org game server
or its connection, then please email me and let me know and I will do
what I can.
What does DNS Lookup problem mean?
- DNS
(Domain Name Services) is a standard part of the Internet since the
beginning of the Internet. If the DNS Lookup fails, it can only happen
for a couple of reasons.
- Your ISP (Internet Service Provider e.g. AOL) DNS server either
failed or was too congested and failed. This is most likely NOT the
case
as you are viewing this page and a DNS Lookup of www.nmjl.org or nmjl.org is
required to be able to do this.
- There is something on your computer that is blocking the game
from doing the DNS Lookup of nmjl.org. Here are some examples:
- Antivirus Software is blocking the game or www.nmjl.org
- Firewall is blocking the game or www.nmjl.org
- Internet Security software is blocking the game or www.nmjl.org
- You are not connected to the Internet when you start the game,
not likely as you got here but may be.
- Here is an example that has nothing to do with computers.
Pretend you have bought a car to take you to the store. You
start the car and it takes you to the store, nice. Then you have some
concerns about the security of your house and so you have some stuff
done to help with the security (like locking the garage door). Then you
start your car and it stops and says, "not on road". So you
call the car manufacturer and say that the car doesn't work because you aren't
getting to the store anymore. You say every time I start the car it stops and says "not on road".
The manufacturer says the car is running just fine but can't get
on the road and that you will have to get the car on the road so it can get to
the store. You ask the car manufacturer how to do this and he says, I
don't know what has been done to stop the car from getting on the road
and so it is not possible for me to tell you how to correct it. Of course,
you could just unlock the garage door and open it, but how is the
manufacturer to know what type of door or lock? You have to determine how to
get the car past the lock on your garage.
- Okay, the bottom line is that something is blocking the DNS process
and this has NOTHING to do with the game or if it is working correctly
or not. You MUST find what is causing the DNS Lookup to fail and fix
it. I will help as I can but as this is on your computer it will be
very difficult.
Here are some examples of making configuration changes to resolve DNS Lookup problems:
How can I configure my XP firewall so I can play?
How can I configure my Norton firewall so I can play?
How can I configure my XP firewall so I can play?
For players that have upgraded Windows XP to SP2 and have their firewall
on by default, here is how to configure it:
Please note -- this should NOT be required in theory.
- Click Start
- Select Control Panel
- Click Windows Firewall
- On the General tab, see that the first setting is "On (recommended)" and "Don't allow exceptions" is NOT checked.
- Click the Exceptions tab
- If any of the Mah Jongg programs listed below are in the
"Programs and Services" list, make sure the checkbox is checked.
- If any of the programs are NOT in the "Programs and Services" list, click "Add Program..." and add them to the list.
- The 3 programs are StartMaj.exe, MajUpd.exe and MahJongg.exe. (You can browse in C:\Maj to find them)
If any of this is wrong or needs an update, please let me know via the support page.
How can I configure my Norton firewall so I can play?
- Go to Norton Firewall and click on "configure"
- Click on "Programs".
- Scroll down in programs and see if StartMaj, MajUpd and MahJongg are listed. If they are, all you have to do is change to "permit all". If they are not listed, do the following:
- Click on "Add"
- Go to Local Files and arrow down to "Local Disc C"
- Click on "Maj"
- Highlight StartMaj (follow prompt)
- Highlight MajUpd (follow prompt)
- Highlight MahJongg (follow prompt)
If any of this is wrong or needs an update, please let me know via the support page.
The game won't start -- why?
There are no simple answers for this question since each person's situation
is unique. I will explain the most common reasons for this problem.
- You have a very slow connection.
Please be patient.
- You are not connected to the internet.
Please make sure you have established a connection to the internet before starting the game.
- (Error 10060 or 10061) You are connected to the internet, but
something is blocking the game, either a firewall or a virus protection program, or even both. You will have
to determine what is blocking the game and reconfigure/change settings so the game is allowed through.
Here is a list of what can be blocked.
1. The programs StartMaj, MajUpd and MahJongg all in the C:\Maj folder
2. The ports 4000 to 5000
3. The domain nmjl.org
Here are some examples of making configuration changes to resolve blocking problems:
How can I configure my XP firewall so I can play?
How can I configure my Norton firewall so I can play?
A Maj is called with a Joker Exchange, which is illegal, what do I do?
One cannot exchange their own exposed joker for Mah Jongg with a tile that is discarded by another player. This is an illegal Mah Jongg, but the online system allows it.
Since this is an illegal Mah Jongg, just disagree with the Mah Jongg and if all 3 disagree the hand will go dead.
