Time zone filter option at turn-based game table

[nightwalker04]

I hope BGA adds a feature to filter for time zone when creating and joining turn-based games. So that the length of the game is more controllable for games that require decision making during other players turn. For example, leeching power in Gaia project etc.

[GTSchemer]

I would love this.

Technically I think you can put a note on the table, but most people won't even see that (e.g. if they use the new lobby system instead of Play Now).

[Jellby]

Once again, time zones would achieve (almost) nothing. People in the same time zone can play in the morning, evening, or in the middle of the night. Some log in once per day, some stay all day (or night) logged in and playing. Not to mention that people "lie" about their countries, they can also "lie" about time zones.

What you can do, at least in the "old" lobby, is choose the playing hours of the table, for fast turn-based games. Whether other players will notice or care about them, that's a different question.

[Murlock22]

A filter of time zones would help, of course; dont know why you can say it would "achieve almost nothing"
I dont want to play a turn-based game with players in three different time zones; Its a mess (america/europe/asia)

[GTSchemer]

"Play hours" as a guideline would be really helpful, since people have different schedules. As long as you can avoid 3 widely separated time zones/schedules, it's well worth it.

I recently played a US / UK / China game and it was MISERABLE since one of us would inevitably go to sleep shortly before a minor decision came up, and the other 2 would waste most of their day.

[nik592]

Possibly, but playing hours already exist for some turn-based games, and from what I've heard, there's a decent proportion who simply ignore it and accept the games anyway. Much like those who accept a 4/turns per day game, and then disappear for 2-3 days without explanation.

I'm not saying it won't help at all, but I think the point is it may not help as much as some might think. And for those who argue restricting around timezones, that's definitely not the way, as not everyone in the same timezone plays in the same pattern of time.

[Mathew5000]

I hope BGA adds a feature to filter for time zone

Someone makes this suggestion on the forum every few weeks (either for tournaments or non-tournament games). But obviously such a time zone filter would create more problems than it solves. Just because you go to bed at 10pm every night, don't assume that everybody in your time zone does too!

In principle, a good system of "playing hours" would be a much better solution for this issue:

https://boardgamearena.com/bug?id=13703

viewtopic.php?t=13337

But in practice, BGA's implementation does not always work optimally, for three reasons:

1. People sign up for games/tournaments with playing hours that are not suitable to their availability. Perhaps the playing hours were not brought to their attention, or they did not understand what the playing hours mean, or they were confused about which time zone the playing hours were expressed in. In another thread, Jellby proposed that you should not be able to sign up for a game outside the game's playing hours, which is a good idea. Another idea is to have a pop-up warning/explanation on sign-in, e.g.: https://boardgamearena.com/bug?id=57379 e.g.: https://boardgamearena.com/bug?id=29609

2. Playing hours are only available for "fast turn-based games". I don't understand the rationale behind not allowing playing hours for all turn-based games. see: https://boardgamearena.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=176800

3. Playing hours are required to be a twelve-hour period. Why not allow the game creator (or tournament creator) to set playing hours for other lengths of time, such as 18 hours or 5½ hours: https://boardgamearena.com/bug?id=59394

[Hteph]

1. People sign up for games/tournaments with playing hours that are not suitable to their availability. Perhaps the playing hours were not brought to their attention, or they did not understand what the playing hours mean, or they were confused about which time zone the playing hours were expressed in. In another thread, Jellby proposed that you should not be able to sign up for a game outside the game's playing hours, which is a good idea. Another idea is to have a pop-up warning/explanation on sign-in, e.g.: https://boardgamearena.com/bug?id=57379 e.g.: https://boardgamearena.com/bug?id=29609

2. Playing hours are only available for "fast turn-based games". I don't understand the rationale behind not allowing playing hours for all turn-based games. see: https://boardgamearena.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=176800

3. Playing hours are required to be a twelve-hour period. Why not allow the game creator (or tournament creator) to set playing hours for other lengths of time, such as 18 hours or 5½ hours: https://boardgamearena.com/bug?id=59394

All good suggestions, I wish there was a clearer display of the expected playing time for the fast turn-base, because apparently people of a certain country have a difficulty to understand that other countries exist and willy-nilly joins games with, for them, awkward playing times. (I even had one muppet demanding that the playtime to change to accommodate his hours better).

I have tried to add it to the free text field, but that made no difference at all, perhaps individual from that certain country can't read, but I prefers to believe that the warning/reminder is not displayed enough.

If there was a way to set a playing time preference perhaps this problem (that has happened in my last ten fast turn game except one) would go down, a bit.