How to play 4 player Arena?

[bloodsloth]

Hi there

Been trying to figure this out for a while. I find 3 player too easy to run away with the game and win. How does one play 3 player arena?
There is a reason most big competitions are 4 player.

Cheers and thanks in advance.

[Codius]

Arena is set to 3p. That's all you get to play this season. Expect it to be that way for awhile.

[Mastomisator]

And why for a long time?
I think Catan (arena) would be more interesting at 4p.

[Stroom]

The decision of game settings is systematically flawed. To become a guru, it depends on the amount of games you play. 3p games are naturally faster. Even if it depends on skill, in a 4p game, it is harder to win so 4p player would probably gain less elo too. So 3p players can also climb in elo better. People who prefer 3p games are more often becoming gurus (note that it does not matter how skilled they are). So it feeds into the cycle and you can't change it unless you change the rules of who decides what arena to play.

[Mathew5000]

And why for a long time?
I think Catan (arena) would be more interesting at 4p.

There was a lengthy thread about this in 2022: https://boardgamearena.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26197

And recently a different thread about Arena using the "random numbers" option: https://boardgamearena.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=32865

It's fair to say that some BGA players prefer 3-player Catan but the best players, and a clear majority of posters in this forum, prefer the 4-player game.

I had a cursory look for any proposals to reform the guru system, and I voted for these:

https://boardgamearena.com/bug?id=100998 (3 votes at present)
https://boardgamearena.com/bug?id=96639 (2 votes at present)
https://boardgamearena.com/bug?id=93577 (2 votes at present)

But even if these proposals get many more votes, that by itself would probably not spark BGA to make changes to the guru system for determining Arena options. I suspect that a direct approach to BGA management might be more likely to work.