How does the game allow expel without the 20 second warning?

[Lotsa_Llamas]

I was expelled today when my clock was at -2 seconds. I was expelled almost immediately after the expel warning appeared. I was taking an action when this happened.

[RobertBr]

You were 'clocked'.

The rules of timed games on the site are very simple. If you exceed your time during a move your opponent may (if they choose) expel you.

In a two player game this is entirely fair and reasonable - you lost, your opponent won by achieving a victory condition in the rules.

In a multi-player game a player may also expel you, they are fully entitled to do so. You lose, all of the other players tie for first place. So you will often find a player who is unlikely to win may expel you to improve their result. While players are entitled to do this it can be problematic and cause a variety of odd situations in multi-player games. Unfortunately no-one has been able to propose a better system.

Sometimes an opponent will not expel you, for a variety of reasons. You are not entitled to this (or a warning) and your opponent has been very generous when they do, in the same way they would have been had they pointed out an error and allowed you to take a move back IRL.

Try to only join games where you can consistently meet with time restrictions.

[Meeplelowda]

I was expelled today when my clock was at -2 seconds. I was expelled almost immediately after the expel warning appeared. I was taking an action when this happened.

I understand your question as not asking how were you expelled at all, but specifically how you were expelled with less than a 20-second delay. To answer your actual question, the first time someone tries to expel you, they will indeed have a 20-second cooldown before they can actually kick you. However, review this release note and the thread it links to regarding abuse of the undo move feature in some games which was addressed by adding a sliding adjustment that decreases the time it takes to expel you:

Release 1st September 2022 220901-1000
delay to expel player now decreases from 20s to 0s, if this is still the turn of the overtime player (see viewtopic.php?t=26701 )

Here's a more detailed description of the fix from that thread:

Fix we found:

First expel warning is 20 seconds. Second is 10s. Then 5s, 2s, 1s, and finally no warning at all (immediate expulsion).

Each time the turn of the player is really finished (= another player must play), this goes back to 20s.

Thus, any player who tries to build a "loop" will finally be expelled.

Does this situation apply to your game? I'm not saying you were necessarily intentionally doing it out of spite, but the decrease occurs without regard to intent.

[Lotsa_Llamas]

I was expelled today when my clock was at -2 seconds. I was expelled almost immediately after the expel warning appeared. I was taking an action when this happened.

I understand your question as not asking how were you expelled at all, but specifically how you were expelled with less than a 20-second delay. To answer your actual question, the first time someone tries to expel you, they will indeed have a 20-second cooldown before they can actually kick you. However, review this release note and the thread it links to regarding abuse of the undo move feature in some games which was addressed by adding a sliding adjustment that decreases the time it takes to expel you:

Release 1st September 2022 220901-1000
delay to expel player now decreases from 20s to 0s, if this is still the turn of the overtime player (see viewtopic.php?t=26701 )

Here's a more detailed description of the fix from that thread:

Fix we found:

First expel warning is 20 seconds. Second is 10s. Then 5s, 2s, 1s, and finally no warning at all (immediate expulsion).

Each time the turn of the player is really finished (= another player must play), this goes back to 20s.

Thus, any player who tries to build a "loop" will finally be expelled.

Does this situation apply to your game? I'm not saying you were necessarily intentionally doing it out of spite, but the decrease occurs without regard to intent.

Thank you for answering my actual question. This "may" apply to my situation.

3 player Ark Nova. When I came back to my seet I saw 3 seconds remaining on my clock. Here are the game logs. I know that I did not just stop my play for 6 seconds -- I was rushing thru it. I definately I started my turn before I got the expel warning.

But assuming there was a lag between the players -- which trust me, I know is unheard of -- and assuming that at 2:36:44 I was out of time already and Expel had already been clicked, my expel MAY have happened at the 18 second mark. Either way I own it, I was the one who ran to the restroom in a game against a low KARMA player.

Move 592 :2:33:03 PM
The display is replenished with Sponsorship: Elephants

****** START OF MY TURN

Move 593 :2:36:44 PM
Lotsa_Llamas chooses action card CardsII with strength 5
Lotsa_Llamas advances break token of 2 space(s) and reach the last space of the Break track. At the end of the turn, all players must take a break
Lotsa_Llamas gains 1 xtoken (triggering break)
Move 594 :2:36:55 PM
You draw Angthong national park, Inland Taipan, Federal Grants, Yosemite national park from the deck
Lotsa_Llamas draws 4 card(s) from the deck
Move 595 :2:37:01 PM
Lotsa_Llamas is out of time, so xbb1433 skips his/her turn

[Meeplelowda]

Move 592 :2:33:03 PM
The display is replenished with Sponsorship: Elephants

****** START OF MY TURN

Move 593 :2:36:44 PM
Lotsa_Llamas chooses action card CardsII with strength 5
Lotsa_Llamas advances break token of 2 space(s) and reach the last space of the Break track. At the end of the turn, all players must take a break
Lotsa_Llamas gains 1 xtoken (triggering break)
Move 594 :2:36:55 PM
You draw Angthong national park, Inland Taipan, Federal Grants, Yosemite national park from the deck
Lotsa_Llamas draws 4 card(s) from the deck
Move 595 :2:37:01 PM
Lotsa_Llamas is out of time, so xbb1433 skips his/her turn

It's hard to well why it happened. If move 591 was someone else's turn, then the expel countdown should have been reset to 20 seconds.

[Lotsa_Llamas]

Move 591 was not my turn. 592 was the end of the prior players turn.