Many people ask why we should switch to Collins. However, the question is not *if* we’re going to switch, but most likely, when. Collins is an eventuality, as the TWL dictionary grows and Scrabble expands internationally. Since it’s easier to grow under one dictionary, and players prefer to learn words rather than forget them (and it’s easier to sell dictionaries), Collins *will* happen in the future.
And yes, this is a good thing. Collins is an amazing dictionary worthy of your admiration and support. Here are 5 reasons you should decide to switch to Collins:
1. Switching to CSW allows North American Scrabble to expand globally.
The ability to play Scrabble with Collins fans in North America, travelers from other countries, online opponents from around the world or other players when we decide to travel abroad is a huge plus. One reason why players travel for tournaments and stay in expensive hotel rooms thousands of miles away is to meet different people with different experiences and perceptions, and having a larger, more diverse set of players creates a better experience for all Scrabble players.
2. Switching to CSW makes Scrabble more fun by increasing scoring options and giving players more opportunities to encounter and enjoy words.
For most players, open boards are just more fun. I can’t imagine that most people truly enjoy staircase Scrabble: most people play Scrabble because they love finding and playing words. Being limited in the words you can play by both the dictionary and by the ability to restrict the board is kind of like putting a kid in a playground with handcuffs.
Maybe for TWL advocates, it’s enjoyable to sit with a rack of AEEIOUU or AFGLQRW and exchange, but most players want to play words. Providing more opportunities to play words and score points is simply more fun and allows players to experiment with words more often.
3. Switching to CSW gives players access to more resources.
There are a number of international resources that we cannot access because they are only applicable in the Collins lexicon. Switching lexica would allow us to access numerous resources, such as the Scrabble Players’ Handbook, Xerafin, and other Scrabble resources, as well as provide the community more videos, movies, websites, wordlists, puzzles, and other forms of Scrabble entertainment.
Creation of Scrabble content is a self-perpetutating force. The more people consume content, the more this encourages people to create content (through appreciation and monetization), and the cycle keeps perpetuating.
4. CSW includes many common words missing from the TWL dictionary.
For most word lovers, playing a word that exists in some dictionaries that you can define (but is invalid in Scrabble) can be extremely frustrating. Collins contains many of these words left behind by TWL creators, allowing you to play more words.
5. Collins creates many complex strategic opportunities.
While TWL advocates emphasize the limitations on board control, Collins provides complexity in other aspects. Because of the additional words and hooks, Collins requires more permutation, especially when considering strategic situations such as setup opportunities, preendgames and endgames.
Counter Arguments:
Collins is just an example of experts trying to impose their agenda onto the rest of us!
In reality, there are a large number of experts who actually oppose switching to Collins. This argument largely stems from an unfair sentiment of anti-elitism stemming from long-time lower rated players who claim everything wrong with Scrabble stems from higher-rated players.
“I don’t want to have to learn a bunch of new words!”
Whenever there is an update to the dictionary, most players don’t have a problem with it, so it’s best to just think about this as another update, and it’s not necessary to learn all the new words. It’s a minor inconvenience for a long term gain.
Collins contains so many made-up words!
Even though you may not have encountered them, these letter strings are actually words spoken by someone somewhere in the world, and have legitimate definition entries within the dictionary. English is a global language and is spoken in many other countries outside of North America, and as a result is going to have many words you’ve never encountered before.