There are many things people have figured out about the game that are known to regular players but perhaps not to newer ones.

Guessing:

Pluralisation is not necessary in the vast majority of cases.
The "s" at the end of the word is auto-filled in to you. "Cat" is perfectly fine for "Cats" and so on. This does not work for pluralisations that change the word though such as "copies" (the "ies" rather than "ys" ending)


When guessing it is not necessary to use spacing.
For example if you guess "dogtreat" rather than "dog treat" it will be accepted. Not using spacing improves your guess speed while giving a big advantage to those longer phrases (eg. thecowjumpedoverthemoon).


1 letter in 6 and 2 in 11 are allowed to be wrong and will be auto-corrected for you.
This is commonly used by regular players to draw something a bit more difficult. An example of this is someone drawing "lumber" when the word is "number". Quite handy in that situation seeing as numbers are not allowed. This can become more complex with some players, making their draws look like nonsense.
A tip here is to guess what you think it is even if, to you, it seems like absolute nonsense. It could come out as something completely different!
            Another helpful use of this is typing a word that will be correct for multiple words. For instance if I type "Curtain Rong" and the word is "Curtain Rings" or "Curtain Rod" it will auto-corrected and I will win that round. There is many combinations that will apply to a spectrum of answers, another very useful one is "climbeng" for "climber" and "climbing" (the "eng").


Look at players avatars.
Regular players will often incorporate peoples avatars into their drawings (birds, cats, sleep-deprived green dudes, penguins etc). Not saying every bird with be a certain avatar but just be aware that a drawing of a bird might have nothing to do with birds! (confusing I know but you will get the hang of it).


If you are typing an answer and you mid-type realise that it is something else, don't backspace what you have written.
Just hit enter and type out your new answer. This could shave off a second or so, which could be a valuable amount of time.


Some symbols that are allowed (re: RULES) are;
"" This represents an ear and may appear slightly differently from person to person. This symbol indicates "sounds like".

"(+ -)" Usually appearing at the end of a word this means "ion". May be used at the end of "mention" etc.

"~" This symbol may be drawn beside someone avatar to show that a guess they made is close to the right answer.

"" This symbol means "on".

"" This symbol means "off".

"" This symbol means "in".

"" This symbol means "out".

If you see what looks like a candy with a swirl in the middle showed at the end of a word it's usually a mint, indicating "ment".



General Tips:

You may mute another player at any point by typing "/mute playername". For example if you wished to mute me you would type "/mute Hero Of Time".

Some moving avatars (.gif) can be very annoying to people and in some circumstances may cause some lag issues. Some avatars might plain just annoy you. To block someone's avatar simply click it once!

Badges:

Top 100 win white medal
Top 25 win blue medal
3rd wins the bronze medal
2nd wins silver medal
1st wins gold

A blue "+" indicates that member has been recognised as a valuable member of the community. The reason a player has been recognised appears at the top of their "reviews" page.

A blue circle with a star in the middle indicates that player is a member of the community. Membership costs a small amount of money and lets you start the month with 2,500 points. It is also a way to show your support of the site.

A gold star represents two things:
1- Donated 10 dollars to the site
2- Had a friend join the site using their referral link. (this also gives a boost of 250 points)



As you progress in rank you unlock new things. I have catalogued what you receive at each rank and it is detailed below.


  0- Blue and Black
  1-
  2- Orange
  3-
  4- New Pen Size
  5-
  6-
  7-
  8- New Pen Size
  9-
10- Teal
11-
12- Red
13-
14- Green
15-
16- Purple
17-
18- Yellow

Okay so xsketch has changed a little bit since the last rules post by KellyKellyMoore so I thought I'd make a quick post to explain them for new comers.

"You're not allowed to use letters, numbers or symbols."

This is perhaps the most disputed rule due to the nature of symbols etc.

Letters:
During the summer the site got an update. During this update a button that used to be available ("Hint") was removed. The hint button allowed the user to hint the word count, first letter or nature of the word (thing, verb etc). When this was removed we received no instructions as to what was allowed to be hinted.
For this reason, and the way people were playing, we decided to allow the user to hint the first letter and the letter/word count.
Personally, I disagree that both these hints should be allowed, but the community has decided to accept it. I suggest to anyone reading that does use both these hints to try without them or just one of them (and please please attempt to draw the word before using the hints. Many regular players will abstain from guessing your draws if you hint first).

So that is the reason the FIRST letter of the FIRST word is allowed.

Numbers:
Numbers are NOT allowed. This makes some drawings difficult but also encourages you to think outside the box. Ways to combat not using numbers would be to show a dice or something similar. In a math drawing I usually replace numbers with little incomprehensible squiggles that work a treat.
Using numbers will not help, if you use them you will be warned out and lose double the points you would if you had passed.

Symbols:
As Kelly explained in the previous blog, this rule is referring to direct symbol replacements. Eg. $ for dollar, € for euro, @ for at.
This is not allowed, however, the dollar symbol may be used to show something is valuable (again it is more fun if you attempt to do it without using the symbol).

I don't believe there is any confusion about any of the other rules. If you have a query, post on this blog and I will try to help you out.


A note to regular players:

This is directed at no individual and many of you conform to this.

PLEASE do NOT guess on draws with blatant rule breaking in them.
All this does is encourage those who break the rules and causes new players to get the wrong idea on what is and isn't allowed.

If a drawing has obvious rule breaking please press the warn button and do not guess it.

Thank You.




If people are breaking the rules and no moderators are online you can go to either of the sister sites, "GPokr" or "KDice", and look in the rules section for a moderator list.
The list will show which ones are online and where they are. They will be happy to help you out!

Hi, everyone! I have seen many discussions lately about the rules, and exactly what they are, above and beyond the basic ones that are posted. Most are common sense. Some are a little "sketchy" and might need some explaining. I'm going to paste an old discussion here as well as add a few new things to it.
Other than dealing with the trolls who come to the table just to be 12 yr old idiots, one of our main issues is what is allowed to be written on the board and what isn't. Here is a rundown on many of the things that I see people doing that really aren't supposed to happen.
Symbols for letters and words are not allowed. These can range from "hieroglyphics" (doing a little pic for each letter) to signs for an entire word. An apple is a symbol for A. It's against the rules to do that. Anything like that should be grounds for a warning. If you use a $ sign for the word dollar, against the rules. If you use a $ sign for something like diamond ring? Along with a picture of that ring? Not so much of an issue. You drew the ring. They don't get it. You drew a hand. Still don't get it. Ok, maybe a dollar sign will help them to see it's a diamond. You're showing that it's expensive, not replacing the answer with a symbol. There is also the "ment" and the "ion" for word endings. I have been guilty of using this myself. I think that if no one is getting your draw, or they are only half way comprehending it, perhaps use this as a last resort, NOT in the beginning or just because you can. There will always be the question as to what's a symbol and what's not. There are so many different ways to draw things, and most of you are so good that you don't need any type of symbols..the people drawing AND the guessers are all good here. Give them a chance to guess your draw first.
As for the dashes and parenthesis, etc..they are not against the rules, although perhaps they should be. For now, we will leave the rule that you may only write in the first letter of the first word. (The only reason this is allowed is because the hint button lets you do that anyway.) That having been said, as I said before, the people here are good. Give them a chance to guess your draw before writing in the blanks and dashes and brackets. It IS after all, a drawing game, not a word game. Make the dashes after you draw, if no one is getting it. You'll find the game will get much more interesting. I realize that there are some words that just seem to require using these techniques, but try and keep it to a minimum.
I'm sure I left something out, and everyone is welcome to comment, but please no huge arguments or really negative comments. There will never be 100% agreement on this, so the advisors and Ryan have to take the lead and let you know what's ok and what's not.
I would also ask that some of the more seasoned players try to help the new ones with this. Don't warn them out on their first draw, explain it to them, and give them a second chance. Maybe link this topic. Most of you are really good about helping the new ones already, and we appreciate that.

Howdy Yall! I wanted to let everyone know I am now a moderator for the site, and am here for you all. Hopefully my capacity as a mod will be much the same as it was before. I enjoy explaining the game and its rules to the new players, I like to help people with ideas on what to sketch, and I like making friends here. I hope for the impossible, that no one will need to be banned, and will strive to keep as many people at the site, playing and having as much fun as possible.

I look forward to playing with all of you real soon.

PM325

First, I am a mod, and I am watching sketch every day, even if you don't see me. I read this every day, and get rid of or personally warn those who do wrong. I agree we need more because I am not a mod 24 hours a day. That has been taken care of, you just don't know it yet. =) If you need me, I am also at pokr. My email and my yahoo is on my profile. Contact me anytime. So many complaints about mods and yet I very rarely have anyone email me or IM me or come to pokr and get me. As for the symbol thing? NO symbols. This has always meant NO symbols. An apple is a symbol for A. It's against the rules to do that. If you use a $ sign for the word dollar, against the rules. If you use a $ sign for something like diamond ring? Along with a picture of that ring? Not so much of an issue. You drew the ring. They don't get it. You drew a hand. Still don't get it. Ok, maybe a dollar sign will help them to see it's a diamond. You're showing that it's expensive, not replacing the answer with a symbol. You guys can debate this till you turn blue. There's always gonna be questions as to what's a symbol and what's not. There are so many different ways to draw things, and most of you are so good that you don't need any type of symbols..the ppl drawing AND the guessers are all good here. Give them a chance to guess your draw first. As for the dashes and parenthesis, etc..they are not against the rules, however as I said before, the ppl here are good. Give then a chance to guess your draw before doin all that. It IS afterall, a drawing game, not a word game. Make the dashes after you draw, if no one is getting it. You'll find the game will get much more interesting. So...for the sake of less confusion, I am here by saying that hieroglyphics for letters are officially not allowed. How's that. Don't go nuts gettin mad if someone draws a + or = or something like that. It will take awhile, and no need to go warn crazy. Definitely warm on the hiero. though. OK? Hope this clears things up. Older players, help the new ones out. Hope you guys have fun...=)


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