In February 2013, Apple Inc. released a new update to their operating system: iOS 6.1.1. A side effect of the shiny new features and bug fixes was that forums on Bootleggers stopped working. Now, nine times out of ten a user can refresh the page when using Safari and the forum will then work. But not always! There are various other issues, such as BB codes being a pain to type and things such as the toolbar not functioning correctly. Sky and BSF2000 have attempted to fix some of these bugs but have been unable to! Many people consider Bootleggers to be a forum with a game attached, so having problems with accessing the forums does take away many aspects of the game for a lot of users. However, a larger number of players never plays on an iPad so they have no issues or worries. For those of you that do play on apple devices there is a possible solution: Puffin!
The app called Puffin is a free to download web browser, primarily designed to allow apple users to watch flash videos. The flash version of the browser comes with a trial period but this timer can be extended by adding more users via an invite code. Having used Puffin for a month now, my biggest shock was to discover that the forums work almost perfectly.
The downside to this app is that forums appear in solid white the first time you click on one, but if you scroll down the forum then appears fine. However, it is impossible to see the numbers of pages on forum posts with more then one page, so it isn't perfect! Another aspect to note is that clicking on links takes almost a second, rather than being instant as it focuses in on the link button instead of just pressing it. This also makes it interesting to play Keno! When playing Keno it takes a full second to select every number, so it is no longer a quick set of clicks and you are off. Additionally, it discourages you to reset your numbers and reselect, an aspect which has both helped and hindered me. But it is a start to access forums, including crew forums, which makes it preferable!
Mobile phone users also struggle to use Bootleggers to its full capacity. Leading an OC, for example, is almost impossible. It is harder to copy and paste a users name into the right OC box and creating forum topics on mobiles can be challenging. iPhone users work similarly to iPad users except that they cannot use Puffin as it is an iPad only app. At this point there are no known fixes for viewing forums easily on the iPhone, but the iPhone is more reliable for it then the iPad. One option on the iPhone is to refresh the page until it works, but this is not actually a fix to the issue as every time you go to the forum you will need to do the same thing.
For Android users, there have recently been some minor tweaks in the operating system which make the game more accessible. Whilst forum posts can be difficult (sometimes you post a reply on one topic and it appears on another), and clicking on the right forum thread can be equally challenging at times, remember that you are playing a complex game on a mobile is incredible! However Android users have the joy of using Opera, another web browser. Opera is also available to download on iPad’s and iPhones. Opera does work on the forums very effectively and is another option to allow ease of use for the game.
The biggest challenge that mobile phone users face, sometimes without even realising it, is that mobiles tend to use a dynamic IP pool, which means that Family Accounts becomes a page to check on a very regular basis to ensure that you do not cheat whilst playing Bootleggers by mistake! But this depends greatly upon your mobile network or country, and this only affects a few users.
The casinos are also very interesting. From personal experience, I know for example that the Slots don't load any images. However, money is deducted or added to your account so you don't lose anything other than the enjoyment of knowing your spins! For Keno on Android, a quick tip is to press the numbers in rapid succession before the page reloads and it tends to load multiple numbers at once. Every time I click on a link on my Android the page re-loads. After three or four clicks the page fully refreshes. So trying to play Keno becomes impossible as four numbers in the page has reloaded. But if you press all of your selection before the first loading page has happened then it tends to select seven or eight of your numbers. Playing Roulette is impossible on Android.
But there are some tips for making playing Bootleggers easier on these devices. For example, on an Android it is possible to change the keyboard to allow a ‘swipe’ system for symbols and numbers. Many users have found it easier to use BB codes on Androids than iPads! A similar app is available on iPhones to change your keyboard into something usable. However, there is no easy fix to leading an OC. The best advice which can be given is to join an OC when on your mobile device as often as possible rather than to lead one!
Between using a combination of phones and tablets, Bootleggers is almost a completely operational site when compared to a computer. But only almost! There are things which need to improve to accommodate the advanced technology. The biggest suggestion that can be made to improve things is a mobile app. Topics discussing this subject are created in the forums almost daily! Many users believe it is almost impossible to create, but it is not as hard as may be thought at first.
If you consider the complexity that goes into a MMORPG app and consider the text based system Bootleggers uses, there must be some kind of compromise. Even if the app was to not allow access to all features, it would still be a massive improvement on the current system! For example, disabling Kill features and some of the less used aspects of the game would simplify the task. Many games around the world use an app and the majority of them are vastly more complicated than Bootleggers. If it isn't possible for BSF2000 or Sky to code then there are thousands of app developers in the world that could create this for them.
It is likely it would have to be a free app, meaning that the coder wouldn't need a percentage of sales, but a flat one off payment instead. Another upshot of this is that then Bootleggers would appear in app stores and Market places which would increase the user base!
The more ways people can access and discover Bootleggers the better. But an app is well overdue and in the opinion of this humble writer should be a higher priority than many of the other suggested fixes in this game. Imagine the app allowing in app purchases of points, the money which would be brought into this game for BSF2000 would be tremendous! We can only wait and hope whilst we continue to struggle on a website that has neither a mobile page or an easy fix to allow for easier playing!
