Improve Matchmaking by otionally restricting players to have similar "active times"

[madmat3001]

I recently got into playing round based games on BGA. One think that irks me, is how sometimes the players in a game can be so out of sync that it takes days to complete just a single round, not to mention the game.


Example:
P1 is usually active from 18:00-22:00
P2 from 13:00 to 18:00
P3 from 8:00 to 13:00
and P4 from 22:00 to 8:00

P1 would make their move on Day 1 at 18:05
P2 theirs on Day 2 at 13:05
P3 on Day 3
P4 on Day 4
and so on

Nobody to blame but unlucky match making. ( I realize this example is extreme, but the problem it shows is real. I've seen it.)


My suggestion:

https://boardgamearena.com/bug?id=59343

Essentially, when we create a new game table we already have options to filter the players by karma, language and skill level. I suggest we add another possible filter that restricts possible players by their active time. The creator would set a time range that suits them (e.g. P1 above would chose 18:00-22:00) and could demand that the players that join the table have historically made a certain percentage of their moves within that time period.

This is certainly not perfect, but should improve on the current situation.

[FSKFSK]

There already is a feature to set playing hours in turn-based games.

Some games work great in turn-based mode (7 Wonders), some don't.

[madmat3001]

There already is a feature to set playing hours in turn-based games.

Some games work great in turn-based mode (7 Wonders), some don't.

How does that affect matchmaking though?

How does the system know if a player is suitable for my game with playing hours set to be from 10:00-18:00 UTC?

[Silene]

How does the system know if a player is suitable for my game with playing hours set to be from 10:00-18:00 UTC?

You can choose your preferences about playing hours in advanced settings. If they agreed to your hours there, they can be matched with you.

[madmat3001]

How does the system know if a player is suitable for my game with playing hours set to be from 10:00-18:00 UTC?

You can choose your preferences about playing hours in advanced settings. If they agreed to your hours there, they can be matched with you.

So I would immediately limit the possible player pool for my game to players who know about that feature and have their playing hours set up? (BTW, I can't find that setting. The "advanced" tab in my settings menu only allows for custom CSS...)

[Silene]

it's in the arena-settings for the specific games. or wasn't this about arena?

[madmat3001]

it's in the arena-settings for the specific games. or wasn't this about arena?

I didn't specifically mean for it to be about arena, but I imagined it would be used for that as well.