I am so annoyed by this 3 points robber thing

[jigglypuffan]

i don't care of that unofficial rule , but now if i say i don't want to play with that everyone put robber on me..

if i said nothing but choose to play robber , people then all go on me..

its so annoying, people force other player to play with a rule that is not even existing in the rule..

i literally lost fun to play catan because everyone always get mad if i play robber.. i always try to use robber on 2 persons at start so no one feel targetted..

but people choose if you play robber and they don't want , you get targetted for that.. its really not fun , i use to like to play catan but im tired of this robber friendly tihng..

the best way to stop this annoying would be to have a option in setting , rubber at 3 point yes or no .. so i could choose no and everyone would agree on playing without the ''rule'' .

[aCatNamedVirtute]

Well, you could just honor the rule (it does make sense btw., robber is too strong in early game) and you would have fun playing again. That's what i love about Catan, it's not only a game, it's also about human nature and being nice to each other actually helps you win sometimes.

[jigglypuffan]

i completelly disagree

[euklid314]

Well, you could just honor the rule (it does make sense btw., robber is too strong in early game) and you would have fun playing again. That's what i love about Catan, it's not only a game, it's also about human nature and being nice to each other actually helps you win sometimes.

I also fully disagree. If it is asked before the game if the game is with friendly robber and one player says "normal game" or "no friendly robber" than it is a normal game. If the other players then try to "punish" this decision this is very toxic - which is in the human nature. And here I agree, Catan is a game that very much involves human nature and diplomacy.

[aCatNamedVirtute]

You are ofc right about the toxicity. It should be discussed and be agreed upon how the game is played. I am just saying that it's not a bad rule and OP could have more fun if he plays by said rule.

[Sandpiper Nolo]

Well, you could just honor the rule (it does make sense btw., robber is too strong in early game) and you would have fun playing again. That's what i love about Catan, it's not only a game, it's also about human nature and being nice to each other actually helps you win sometimes.

The rule doesn't make sense at all, unless it's supplemented with other rules -- like "two hidden development cards counts as a victory point" or "four consecutive roads counts as a victory point" or "two places to settle counts as a victory point".

[E l a y z a r e n]

As I understand you, I wrote a draft saying that I propose to play without a friendly robber, and they bully me for it... I don’t write anything - after the robber’s move they bully me and write “YOU ARE NOT PLAYING BY THE RULES.” Previously, they at least asked if everyone agreed to play with this “option”, but now everyone thinks that THIS IS THE RULE

[jigglypuffan]

As I understand you, I wrote a draft saying that I propose to play without a friendly robber, and they bully me for it... I don’t write anything - after the robber’s move they bully me and write “YOU ARE NOT PLAYING BY THE RULES.” Previously, they at least asked if everyone agreed to play with this “option”, but now everyone thinks that THIS IS THE RULE

exactly , before it was asked .. now its not even a question for people , if you don't want to play with this unofficial rule you are targetted.

[Ashli-Wiedmer]

I personally like playing Friendly Robber, but I agree that it can become toxic quickly.
I feel like for what it's worth, it should be noted that Friendly Robber IS an official variant added to the rulebook in an extension game(Traders & Barbarians) that "may be combined in any Catan scenario" according to their website. I copied and pasted it below directly from the rulebook.

Also, from their website:
"The Friendly Robber - Are victory points on face-down cards also taken into account when determining next to which player I may place the friendly robber? No. Only visible victory points are considered."


"The RULE CHANGE:
When a *7* is rolled or a knight card is played, the robber
may not be moved to a terrain hex that is adjacent to a
settlement of a player who only has 2 victory points. If, because of this rule, the robber has no valid terrain hex to
move to, the robber moves to (or remains on) the desert hex
In this case, a resource card may not be taken from any player who only has 2 victory points.
When using this rule, you still lose half of your resource cards
when a "7" is rolled and you have more than 7 resource cards.
WHAT IT IS ABOUT
Who hasn't experienced the frustration of having the robber
moved next to one of your settlements early in the game? Not
only may you lose a resource- the robber blocks crucial
resource production until a *7* is rolled or a knight card is
played. The "Friendly Robber" variant protects you from the
robber until you have more than 2 victory points
Tips for Playing this Variant;
This variant should always be used when playing with family
members, particularly when children are participating in
the game"


I do wish it was possible to have the variant option available to set as a game option so those who want to play with it can, and those who don't want don't have to without the fear of getting targeted.
My take on it currently is that whoever is the "owner" of the table for the online game, should get to set the rule, the same way as I would expect of the owner of a physical game. I set the "house/variant" rules for my games, and I let the owners of the games set them for their games. If we don't agree in person, we pick a different game.

[noerealgamer]

As I understand you, I wrote a draft saying that I propose to play without a friendly robber, and they bully me for it... I don’t write anything - after the robber’s move they bully me and write “YOU ARE NOT PLAYING BY THE RULES.” Previously, they at least asked if everyone agreed to play with this “option”, but now everyone thinks that THIS IS THE RULE

exactly , before it was asked .. now its not even a question for people , if you don't want to play with this unofficial rule you are targetted.

There should be a way to report when people target you because of this silly friendly robber thing. A lot of people play friendly robber and I'm fine to play it IF someone requests it BEFORE the game actually begins. But I really dislike that people are treating it as a real rule in the game and it makes newbies think it actually is in the original rules. Kinda wish there were a setting one could choose if one wanted to play friendly robber...