Is arena always 3 players?

[candidecoating]

Playing with more really changes the game dynamic. This is my 4th "season" and they've all been 3p.

[sarahwasagoose]

and friendly robber is enabled by default this season - how ridiculous!

[DVC]

It is utterly ridiculous. I have been arguing this to deaf ears since 2022. When Catan first came to BGA, we had about 2 weeks (till the end of the season) with it set to 4p, which is demonstrably the best way to play the base game. Every official tournament uses 4p where possible. I have gone into the reasons why this is, at length, on other posts.

However, at the first opportunity, the gurus, in their infinite wisdom, immediately set the first full season to 3p, where it has remained ever since. Not even a hint of the “rotation” that we see in many other games. They later “improved” it by getting rid of the balanced spiral number setup and making it random, allowing for double spots, thus adding to the random element and weakening strategy. This change has also remained in place.

And now… Friendly Robber! Is there a conspiracy on BGA amongst the gurus to make the game as bad as it could possibly be? By adding a variant designed for family games and new players? This is supposed to be a competitive arena, but apparently they want kid gloves.

Even worse, this season they had the new option of trying out Cities & Knights, an expansion which most Catan players agree adds a lot of depth to the gameplay. It even makes the game playable with 3, and they seem to be fixated with that, so it might have been a decent compromise. I might actually have started playing Arena again after over 2 years of boycotting. But no, the madness continues.

(Lets out a long sigh and goes to see if Catan Universe has been fixed yet…)

[Katekhon]

The friendly robber enabled is the worst thing they are forcing now in the arena.

[jrgamlieli]

and friendly robber is enabled by default this season - how ridiculous!

This is the worst season of Catan they've ever put on. I couldn't agree more. If only there was some competition for this site I would be out of here.