'Casual' or 'Competitive' Option

[epinema]

Is it possible to add a marker on tables for 'Casual' vs 'Competitive' games. I just want to play some relaxing Hanabi but twice I have been berated by people for not instantly grasping their strategies... IN TEACHING GAMES; one time a guy sent me to a 40-point strategy thread on BGG.

I just want to play a relaxing game and unwind without every single thing being hinted at 'between the lines,' which to be honest, to me, feels like pre-arranged cheating and as it's an algorithm where more or less every is pre-decided, why am I even bothering to play a game? I'm not talking throwing games but games where you can try new things and organically evolve a strategy.

[Ankeszu]

"Competitive" may be not the best word for cooperative game.

As for what it is now on the site and can help a bit - there is a possibility of adding description for a table, I encountered "chill of gtfo" and similar ones in Hanabi tables. Also Karma can be used as first indicator of players attitude (I suspect that a person which sent you to the guide on BGG has low Karma?).

Reading between the lines in Hanabi is useful but it should rather come with experience. Game of people with very different experience is usually frustrating for all players - so I'd suggest to try avoiding Experts and Masters.

[Liallan]

I feel for you. I won't even try to play that game here, and if I ever did, I'd make sure it was all beginners. I think it's one of those games that is difficult to play with experienced people who have their own way of doing things, and also one that plays better when you know the other people and how they play. In fact, when this game came here, I really questioned it. (Also, as a general rule, I'm not fond of co-ops, and I get picky about who I will play them with, and I won't play Pandemic with anyone. )

I agree that if there's higher level players on the game, it's probably not one you want to jump into. And maybe you can put your own invite out and put a comment on it that you want friendly play.

(And what does gtfo mean?)

[RicardoRix]

Yeah, I guess it's a lot down to personal preference, Hanabi is a great game but for me it's only playable with family. Discovering and making up some joint principles between players is a bit part of the game, bigger than the actual winning. You can only do this with people you can talk too, trust, argue with and get on with, you also need to give it your full attention. I don't see how you can get that from a browser interface and strangers.

The games on BGA with unknown's have been very frustrating, you have to know what it is you want to get from playing a game. 3 player Peurto Rico is another game variant I will not be playing on BGA.

[Shaq Jenkins]

Unfortunately, you will encounter some rude people in cooperative games like Hanabi, Saboteur, and Secret Moon. They get extremely upset if you don't play the way they want you to. This is also the reason why people who play cooperative games tend to have more red thumbs on average.

I've played Hanabi and Saboteur in person and really enjoyed them. Social dynamics are important in cooperative games, and they're not as fun when you can't interact with the other players. I tried playing Saboteur on here, but it was too hectic and hostile.