Change the bonus. Instead of giving a multiply by 2 for words of 7+ tiles I suggest the bonus is given as 5 points for each tile from the 7th tile. Thus a 7 tile word will have a bonus of 5, 8 will give 10, 9 gives 15 and so on. The bonus should be added AFTER any multiplying tiles.
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Idea: The longest words will get higher bonuses.
It could be discussed whether the bonus sould start at 6,7 or whatever tiles and the value of the bonus could also be altered, but I think my proposal would work quite well.
Something like this: [word_value_incl_multipliers + ((word_lenght - (WL-1)) * 2)] where WL is the wordlenght from where you want to give the bonusses (WL=1 would be fine in my opinion)?
Klaashaas gives correct formula. I would transcribe it a bit. Variables used: TWS(Total Word Score) IWS(initial Word Score) WL(Word Length) SB(Start of Bonus, ie. character number from where the Bonus should start) and BV (Bonus Value)
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Formula will then be:
TWS = IWS + ((WL-(SB-1))*BV) -------------------------------
My proposal was SB=7 and BV=5, Klaashaas proposes SB=1 and BV=2. ---------------------------------------
The last proposal means that each player gets a bonus of 2 for every tile used. This will encourage going for longer words, but I dont think the bonus is high enough to make it attractive to leave the corners searching for longer words in the center.
Little Golem