Testing the future BGA lobby

[sourisdudesert]

We are working on a new innovative lobby for Board Game Arena : way more simple than the current one, with a "one click to play" button and a "matchmaking" algorithm.

(do not worry if you like the current lobby : it will say as it is)

For those who want to get an early access to this new lobby and give their feedback, please join the following group :

https://boardgamearena.com/#!group?id=1757016

Members of this group will get soon more information about this.

Thanks for your help improving BGA!

[Een]

So what's this new automatic lobby about?
- make it easier to get into a game than today, especially for beginners. Instead of setting up a table, just click a "Play now!" button, wait a little, then play!
- allow to simultaneously request playing for multiple games. Click on as many "Play now!" buttons as you want, then play the first game that launches.
- have per-game preferences allowing to define the options you like best. The automatic matchmaking process will try the options you prefer first, then after some time other options in the order of preferences you specified, until it finds a match.
- automatically group players together by level as much as possible for challenging games!
- be compatible with the classic lobby, so that people who like setting their tables and people who like automation can still play together.

How does it look?
- like the classic lobby, without the tables list!
- you can click the "Show tables being processed" checkbox to display the tables being created on the fly by the matchmaking process for the games you requested.

The link for testing is available when joining the "Automatic matchmaking testers" group (https://boardgamearena.com/#!group?id=1757016).

Please post your comments in this thread rather than as comments in the group, it will be easier to follow and to write without characters limit!

Thanks in advance for your feedback! (of course, this new feature is as beta as it gets, be aware that anything can happen )

[Imay]

I launched Kalah game with the option Number of stones set to : 4 acceptable, 6 acceptable and nothing for 3 and 5.
It created a 3 stones game. it should be 4 or 6

[Jessicannot Sp eak]

will this lobby completely replace the existing one in the future ?

[sourisdudesert]

will this lobby completely replace the existing one in the future ?

The answer is a little bit above : the current lobby will still exist. But this new lobby will be important, so that's why we need your feedback on it. What is your opinion about it?

[Jessicannot Sp eak]

will this lobby completely replace the existing one in the future ?

The answer is a little bit above : the current lobby will still exist. But this new lobby will be important, so that's why we need your feedback on it. What is your opinion about it?

umm the games I play usually have 1-2 tables existing in maximum, and I play real-time only, with usually the same settings and do not vary a lot. so I find no reason to set my prefer settings again as it still can vary in a little degree, which I can choose among existing tables for preferred players and table settings, so now I just use the old one..

[Een]

I launched Kalah game with the option Number of stones set to : 4 acceptable, 6 acceptable and nothing for 3 and 5.
It created a 3 stones game. it should be 4 or 6

It seems that we'll need to add some text in the popup to better explain the option preferences

"Acceptable" means that you agree to play with that value, but only if a table with other values is not found during a long time. So the system will first try other options.

- At first, the system tries to get you into a table (or create one if there isn't any) matching your 'preferred' values for options, or the BGA defaults if you didn't choose a 'preferred' value.
- After a while if no table has been successfully launched with those values, it will try your 'allright' values.
- Then after some more time it will get to your 'acceptable' values.
- It will never get you into a table matching option values for which you selected 'never'.

So if you want 4 or 6 only, you need to set 3 and 5 to 'never'.

If you set 4 and 6 to 'preferred' and leave 3 and 5 blank:
- if there is no table the system will create one with 4 (the first of your preferred values);
- if there is already a table waiting with 3,4,5 or 6 it will make you join, since all those values are ok for you (none is set to 'never').

[Romain672]

Ce que je disais ailleurs :J'ai crée une table d'inventeurs (2joueurs) et une table de lord of xidit (4~5joueurs), et quelqu'un a rejoins la table de lord of xidit en indiquant sur le chat 'Ca ne te dérange pas d'avoir un débutant ?'.
Du coup je me sentait mal et j'ai arrêté le matchmaking : si la partie des inventeurs était rempli, cet autre joueur ce serait retrouvé tout seul.

Après c'est le problème de faire cohabiter les deux systèmes, mais je pense que c'est une bonne idée de laisser les deux.
Peut être est ce juste une question d'habitude et d'ici quelques temps ce ne sera pas un problème de quitter la partie, je ne sais pas...

[sourisdudesert]

Peut être est ce juste une question d'habitude et d'ici quelques temps ce ne sera pas un problème de quitter la partie, je ne sais pas...

... oui, d'autant que le matchmaking étant plus simple, on va orienter les débutants vers ça

[asd123321]

IT is nice to be able to start a number at once, but they are not using our standard restrictions. I got in a Lords of Xidit game I didn't join and I was still in it after quitting it. I had 4 Armadora's started and I was still in after quitting them. With these started the screen flickers as if hitting F5 every little while.