Why do some people not block with the robber in the first few rounds?

[jess_]

Recently I was in a game where someone would complain in the chat every single time someone used the robber on one of their spaces -- sometimes complaining that you should only use it on the person in the lead but then, when they were in the lead, they still complained! I gave them a personal thumbs down because it was so irritating to have them give commentary on everyone's moves and constantly complain. Using the robber is just part of the game!

The whining and complaining about the robber is laughable. Honestly, I wish there were an option to turn off chat. It doesn't add anything to the game. I don't need to know if you have "0" resources that I'm asking to trade for, just reject the trade. Done. Nine times out of ten, the chat is used to cry "Seriously??" and "Is this two against one??" Maybe the majority of players are 12 years old, but if that's not the case then people need to grow up. There's no rule that says one has to steal from the lead player...as others point out, there are many strategies when it comes to stealing/robber placement. If it's obvious I'm not going to win the game then you can be sure I will try and secure second place by going after the player who is threatening that position.

All that said, "friendly robber" (not stealing from those with only 2 points) is a nice way to play. I just don't see too many people doing it so you could end up wasting a turn if you do it and then they go after you on the next roll. But hey, you can always cry "WHY ME???".

well said.

[jeannette 1]

But I'm guessing the people who do it usually are just kind people!

Exactly : we can chose to play a king way, only by trading and building , instead of anoying other people.
Harrassing and trapping others is just a way of thinking I don't get in real life, I don't do it in games.
And being bullied and robbed is not fun : not surprising if some people abandon the game.

[Miss game play]

Recently I was in a game where someone would complain in the chat every single time someone used the robber on one of their spaces -- sometimes complaining that you should only use it on the person in the lead but then, when they were in the lead, they still complained! I gave them a personal thumbs down because it was so irritating to have them give commentary on everyone's moves and constantly complain. Using the robber is just part of the game!

The whining and complaining about the robber is laughable. Honestly, I wish there were an option to turn off chat. It doesn't add anything to the game. I don't need to know if you have "0" resources that I'm asking to trade for, just reject the trade. Done. Nine times out of ten, the chat is used to cry "Seriously??" and "Is this two against one??" Maybe the majority of players are 12 years old, but if that's not the case then people need to grow up. There's no rule that says one has to steal from the lead player...as others point out, there are many strategies when it comes to stealing/robber placement. If it's obvious I'm not going to win the game then you can be sure I will try and secure second place by going after the player who is threatening that position.

All that said, "friendly robber" (not stealing from those with only 2 points) is a nice way to play. I just don't see too many people doing it so you could end up wasting a turn if you do it and then they go after you on the next roll. But hey, you can always cry "WHY ME???".

the 0 things is helpful if you need to steal a recourse, i know they don't have it
but then people lie so people don;t steal from them so depends on the person

[Miss game play]

also irl it's more talkative game. that's how you get a better trade or know if you can trade etc

[desertman]

In my opinion this is a strange "understanding" of fair play. In the 25 years that I played Catan with friends on "in real" we never did this, we always used the robber for our own advantage.

[fredpaul]

I can see advantages to both ways of playing: robbing right from the start vs. robbing/blocking only players with 3 or more.

The upside of waiting until 3 is that the game unfolds quicker....some people don't want to play 50 or 60 minute games. The downside of waiting is that some players will load up on development cards or build massive road systems and then claim that they only have 2 vp (so don't rob me). Also, the person who reaches 3 vp first becomes a target.

The only downside of robbing at the beginning is that the game can develop very slowly and if you are a target of the robber, one of your resources can be cut off and it's game over for you. For instance, if your hay or ore or sheep are blocked, no development cards can be purchased and if 7 is not rolled, you simply become frozen in your ability to build roads or settlements. At the beginning it's likely that you only have a single source (single hex) for many of you resources.

I have played both ways....and both have their merits.

[Fusselkopp]

Our house rules are: No robbing until everyone has had one turn, so the game gets going a bit quicker, and I generally do that here, but I don't expect anyone else to.

The complaining in the chat is really a pain in this game though. 7 is the robber number because it's the most likely dice roll result, so there is a lot of robbing going on! If you can't deal with that, the game isn't for you.

[Cos-]

Here on BGA, when I play with strangers, I usually just use the robber whenever it comes up even at the beginning of the game, because it's hard to know what other people will do. Sending a chat message when it's not someone else's turn doesn't usually work - usually they don't see it until it's their turn.

However, when playing with people I know, either on BGA or in real life, there is some real value to some sort of robber delay house rule, because of this:

If a 7 is rolled early in the game, and the robber blocks a key resource for one player, and then no 7s are rolled for several rounds around the table, then that player is effectively out of the competition right from the beginning. Which makes for a much less interesting game if it's a three player game, because it becomes kind of a 2 player game. An additional problem is that it can cause the game to start out with generally fewer resources for everyone in the first few rounds, which makes it harder to trade, and can be mildly frustrating. It can make the game be longer, too, though many people don't mind that part of it.

A common house rule is, don't put the robber on anyone until they have 3 points. That _does_ prevent the above situation from happening, but as others here have pointed out, it does have some flaws.

What about this house rule: Until _every player_ has either 3+ points _or_ a development card, you may only place the robber on 2's, 3's, 11's, and 12's? I think that would be enough to prevent the problems I described above, while still being generally fair, and not interfering too much with use of the robber.

[vamoscosmos719]

In my opinion, you should always use the robber to your advantage.

If you see though that somebody doesn't try to use the robber to steal a card, I would try to play along with it. Cause if try to ignore people's intentions and use the robber to steal card, you're going to get attacked later in the game

[Miss game play]

In my opinion, you should always use the robber to your advantage.

If you see though that somebody doesn't try to use the robber to steal a card, I would try to play along with it. Cause if try to ignore people's intentions and use the robber to steal card, you're going to get attacked later in the game

that is just bad form retaliation and they deserve to be blocked. because guarantee they're ones to have tantrums