@roymccoy et al. Isn't another way to say this is that the pool of letters includes two blank (or really what are "wild card") tiles that you can choose to make any A-Z letter? (I think sakamvari was unclear a couple of messages ago; the choices for the blank tile include any A-Z letter, not just those remaining in the pool at the time.)
In any complete game, I am quite sure, the two blank tiles will have been taken from the pool. If one is not played on the board (note the color change of the letter), then it is going to be in the letters left on the rack of your opponent. (The latter rarely happens, I believe, because those wild card tiles are very valuable in game play.)
My caveat is that I play the email game, so it may possibly be different in other game contexts.
I don't believe there is a settable option to have or not to have the blanks. If there is, please educate me.
Sorry this is not a cranky reply. I'll try to be better next time.

@lexulous I agree that the Flash version tile visuals are a lot easier on the eyes. Apart from the things @Dan Mitchell mentioned, I note that the old tiles had some lighter shading, particularly (maybe only) on the top. It gave a sort of three-dimensional look to the tiles. Maybe that was easy with Flash, but harder in code. But if the image for each tile is in a library, maybe it isn't too hard. I think that kind of lighter color, or less saturation, on the top would help. But particularly making the letters more bold and a bit larger to fill more of the square would be nice.
(Is there a technical reason why the old letter images can't just be used? Maybe has to do with using the game on a mobile platform?? -- I have always used the desktop version; I found the phone version on my iPhone Xs was not really usable.) Finally, I do like the new features in V2 a lot; your ongoing changes are making the game asymptotically approaching perfection

@sakamvari Thank you for adding the option to display the posts or not. I eventually found the toggle in the user setting/account to control the display. (Initially I was so excited to see the "x" on the game page that I just clicked it, and then didn't know how to turn the display back on! But I found it....
Again, thank you for making this change.

@lexulous Thank you for updating the player list so it shows just the number of players. Yes, there is a lot to do for you all, but this is one of many recent improvements that lead V2 asymptotically to perfection!

@dan-mitchell @lexulous Yes, good button. But it takes you to forum.lexulous.com/auth/lexcom with gets a 404 (does not exist) message. I imagine that will be fixed very soon, since the button is quite new.
Since, as anyone should know, you can get to the forum by clicking on any one of the messages, the advantage of the button is that you should get to forum home page.
I like the +/- expand contract solution, coupled with the setting to show/not show the forum that is relatively new.

Windows 10, V2, Desktop, FF 90.0.2 and previous....

People have been commenting about jumping tiles, tiles not sticking, etc.
Perhaps some players are not aware that the tile goes to where the mouse points, not where the tile appears to be on the board, during "dragging" the tile from the rack to the board. Often (but not always) the tile lags the mouse pointer during the move, and releasing the mouse button can make the tile "jump" or go back to the rack. The property of the tile's not following the mouse precisely may be a function of many things (slow computer? not my case... -- mouse settings? maybe. Moving pointer too fast? don't think so.)
Whatever, if one doesn't realize that the pointer is controlling, then the tiles may appear to move in unexpected ways.
So I recommend watching the pointer, not the tile, while dragging.

Am I the only one who sees this behavior?

(I think in the Flash version I never experienced this kind of lag...the tile moved with the pointer.)

@dan-mitchell Thank you. (I guess if you click on a message, it is automatically marked as "read.") But to use the button, one just selects a message by clicking on its icon/avatar and then "mark the selected as read..." Or just do the "mark all."

Yes, if both (all) players in a game are using such aids. Same with word finders, anagram tools, etc. It does change the character of the game a bit, but it focuses the effort on making a good, tactical move rather than thinking up a strange word.

Thank you for your response... Looking forward to the updated version.
It would also be good to show who the player is. V1 showed something like "[You] played WORD (23)" or "[Opponent] played WORD (23)" so you know who missed the big-scoring word!

@roymccoy 1) Please note that my response above included "et al.," meaning it was directed to the other people with comments as well; probably that wasn't clear. 2) Like you, I found @sakamvari's wording in his reply to @kathybarathy confusing in the sentences you quoted above, and I tried to clarify it. 3) Yes, the posts have diverted from her original post asking about not getting eight letters on a draw (when there are eight or more in the pool).
4) I apologize for underestimating your expertise and experience, to which I defer. I haven't been playing the game as long as you have (only about eight years under this username), so I surely don't qualify as an expert or perhaps even knowledgeable.

@roymccoy 1) Please note that my response above included "et al.," meaning it was directed to the other people with comments as well; probably that wasn't clear. 2) Like you, I found @sakamvari's wording in his reply to @kathybarathy confusing in the sentences you quoted above, and I tried to clarify it. 3) Yes, the posts have diverted from her original post asking about not getting eight letters on a draw (when there are eight or more in the pool).
4) I apologize for underestimating your expertise and experience, to which I defer. I haven't been playing the game as long as you have (only about eight years under this username), so I surely don't qualify as an expert or perhaps even knowledgeable.

@roymccoy et al. Isn't another way to say this is that the pool of letters includes two blank (or really what are "wild card") tiles that you can choose to make any A-Z letter? (I think sakamvari was unclear a couple of messages ago; the choices for the blank tile include any A-Z letter, not just those remaining in the pool at the time.)
In any complete game, I am quite sure, the two blank tiles will have been taken from the pool. If one is not played on the board (note the color change of the letter), then it is going to be in the letters left on the rack of your opponent. (The latter rarely happens, I believe, because those wild card tiles are very valuable in game play.)
My caveat is that I play the email game, so it may possibly be different in other game contexts.
I don't believe there is a settable option to have or not to have the blanks. If there is, please educate me.
Sorry this is not a cranky reply. I'll try to be better next time.

@randy-fauske Lexulous is a fascinating game for many reasons. Including learning new words, working out advantageous strategies, etc. What is the poinf of, say, bridge? Or even chess? The critical point, I believe, is that, as in any game, the players know and abide by the rules, whatever the particular game rules are. But there are some, I gather, that may not want to abide by the rules....

Yes, if both (all) players in a game are using such aids. Same with word finders, anagram tools, etc. It does change the character of the game a bit, but it focuses the effort on making a good, tactical move rather than thinking up a strange word.

@dan-mitchell Thank you. (I guess if you click on a message, it is automatically marked as "read.") But to use the button, one just selects a message by clicking on its icon/avatar and then "mark the selected as read..." Or just do the "mark all."

@mapmakere where is the "mark as read" button? (I see the "mark unread" "inbox tray" button....)

@dan-mitchell @lexulous Thank you! Perhaps there has been a change made. However, during the previous discussions of the "failure" of the "Visit Forum" button, I was already logged into the forum. And I ended up on the "nonexistent "vote" page.
After logging in and out (or refreshing) Lexulous, the game, the behavior was still the same, as I noted previously.
However, after testing with my wife's computer again (and she is not a forum user) the link took her to a page asking if she wanted to register, etc.
So I returned to my computer, logged out of the forum, and back to the game page. Clicked on the "Visit Forum" button and got to the forum home page. so with Firefox it works properly. When I tested Chrome, I was also logged into the forum, so that may have been the issue in both browsers, accessing the server.
Thanks for your help in solving this! I have appreciates all your comments about the game for some time.

@dan-mitchell @lexulous Yes, that is true re Firefox. But the "incorrect" link on the button is probably just what I used to call "an error between the keyboard and the chair."

So maybe it is just my computer?? I just tried with Chrome and the button points to the same ../auth/lexcom link. I don't normally use Chrome, and I don't see, at first thought, how the two browsers are sharing something...
If you just put the mouse pointer on the button and look at where it links (at the bottom of the browser page, as I am sure you know) you must get the correct forum.lexulous.com link...Right?

And my spouse's computer (Win 10, desktop, Firefox) works exactly as mine does, i.e. the ../auth/lexcom link. So it is a bug somewhere along the line.

@thatguythere202 @lexulous Windows 10, Firefox. Just reloaded page, link on button is still ../auth/lexcom and gets to an error page... May be a cache issue? (Shouldn't be with a reload.) actually it is the https://forum.lexulous.com/2974/vote page, with a (Lexulous) message that "2974/vote" not found. Curious.

@dan-mitchell @lexulous Yes, good button. But it takes you to forum.lexulous.com/auth/lexcom with gets a 404 (does not exist) message. I imagine that will be fixed very soon, since the button is quite new.
Since, as anyone should know, you can get to the forum by clicking on any one of the messages, the advantage of the button is that you should get to forum home page.
I like the +/- expand contract solution, coupled with the setting to show/not show the forum that is relatively new.