BGA seems way quieter.

[toughcrowd]

Back with a new account after a long layoff because I cancelled my old account after not agreeing with a moderation.

Anyway, to the point, I'm finding it hard to find a table for most games. It seems like BGA isn't creating a welcoming atmosphere for gamers.

Also found plenty of people used to like chatting when using my old account 2+ years ago. While playing with the new account I haven't got anything other than "gg". Not even a "glhf" lol. Are people too scared of being moderated?

It could just be an outlier experience from a small sample size so I'm in interested in other people's experiences.

[wdspider]

I wasn't here 2+ years ago; however, the tables are much quieter than I was expecting when I joined. I'm undecided on whether that's a good or bad thing. *shrugs*

[Strode]

There are many more games here which spreads out the players. And if you're not playing the highly popular games (Ark Nova, Wingspan, 6 Nimmt, Ticket to Ride, etc.), it can be tough.

[p99999]

Sorry if this is obvious, but signing up to tournaments is a great way to ensure you get to play less popular games on a relatively frequent basis - albeit turn-based rather than real time. (Huge shout out to the organiser of the regular Metro tournaments, who helps me get my weekly fix!)

[Skankityspence]

My experience is that in-game chat has always been quiet. But fear of moderation has never entered my mind. Why would people be scared of that?

As more games get added, the more spread out players are. Which means some games may be harder to find players than others and those populations could ebb and flow depending on if there are updates or not.

Like someone else said, a good way to get into games is tourneys. Or be willing to play turn-based. You can search for a turn-based game and eventually find matchups later.

[katmk]

Your post has really got me thinking and I went on a bit of a numbers hunt. Sorry, not sorry, for the huge nerdiness to follow.

tl;dr version - There are a lot more games to spread players over, but probably more players too.

___

The long version:

According to the BGA round-up email, they released 142 games in 2024. I'd guess it was roughly the same the year before. That means the games library has grown by a third since you were previously around. This is already a much bigger pool of games to spread people over.

In the absence of other official numbers *, I thought I would use Arena players as a proxy for activity / player numbers.

Catan, unarguably one of the most popular board games of the modern era, was released on BGA in the second quarter of 2022. Its first season saw 5,732 players and has grown steadily to the point that for the past year, it's had four seasons of over 10,000 players each.

Azul shows a similar pattern, but even moreso - from 8,000ish to a steady year's worth of 16,000+ players.

My most-played game, Copenhagen, got its full release to the site one season before Catan. It got a peak of 838 players in the following Arena season, but has seen steady drop-off since. Last season, there were 210.

Akropolis, released in the first half of 2023, also showed declining numbers in the Arena - 1,136 to 778 in season 18. However, season 19 saw a boost to 958, presumably because the release of the Athena expansion gave it a fresh hit of publicity.

I'd theorise that the overall number of players are increasing, as shown by the most popular games' increased player counts, but the more niche titles have to fight for attention against a steady stream of novelty, sometimes accompanied by some serious industry buzz (I'm looking at you, Harmonies).

My personal experience (having joined around the time you took your leave) is that the chat has always been pretty quiet, but I specifically sought out communities that foster friendliness and as a result, have made some lovely connections. My own playing style has switched to majority turn-based now, and I can think of only one situation that I couldn't get a table for a game I was interested in (and I've tried over 300).

___

* Although if anyone knows of easily accessible historical figures, I'd love to see them!

[toughcrowd]

Cheers katmk, that's really informative and well reasoned. Some good advice too with the suggestion of exploring different playing modes. Thanks for the feedback.

[nik592]

Also found plenty of people used to like chatting when using my old account 2+ years ago. While playing with the new account I haven't got anything other than "gg". Not even a "glhf" lol. Are people too scared of being moderated?

I'm curious - do you initiate chat and not get a response? Or are you expecting your opponent to initiate chat? There are several threads on the "rudeness" (not saying you said that, but it has been said by others) of those who don't say anything during a game, of which I tend to be one. I've explained my POV several times on this, just to present the other angle. But I know personally I will respond to a person who chats in a way that invites chat - I typically ignore things like "glhf" because people seem to say this by rote and it comes across to me as insincere. But if a player comments on something that happens in the game that's unusual (for example), I will respond and sometimes that leads to a bit of back and forth.

The impression I get from those who complain about the lack of chatting doesn't seem to be that they tried to chat and the other person just ignored them (for the most part, very occasionally people have said this), it seems to be that their opponents don't say anything. Which also implies that apart from things like "glhf" (which in my opinion doesn't stimulate an ongoing conversation, even if it is sincere), they are also not saying anything. If that is the case, why is the onus on opponents to be chatty, but not those who would actually like to chat?

[katmk]

I'm glad it was helpful! I did just go down a rabbit hole with it.

@nik592: This is an interesting take on glhf etc.

I usually (not always but mostly) will at least start a game with the pre-programmed "Good luck and have fun", partly because I think it's no more insincere than saying "good morning" to someone but also in order to gauge whether further comments will be unwelcome. I don't want to put my casual asides about the game to someone who doesn't want to receive them.

[nik592]

I'm glad it was helpful! I did just go down a rabbit hole with it.

@nik592: This is an interesting take on glhf etc.

I usually (not always but mostly) will at least start a game with the pre-programmed "Good luck and have fun", partly because I think it's no more insincere than saying "good morning" to someone but also in order to gauge whether further comments will be unwelcome. I don't want to put my casual asides about the game to someone who doesn't want to receive them.

I will respond more to a greeting type comment - "Hi/Hello/Bonjour/etc." - than one of the pre-programmed options. I know the pre-programmed buttons are there to overcome language barriers, but if all you have to do is click a button, then it feels a bit hollow to me. Besides, if you use the pre-programmed button to overcome language, what happens if they respond with the same - then you still have to figure out if language is workable anyway. If you start just talking in your own language, at least they can respond that they don't speak yours immediately. Additionally, most people understand greetings in other languages, even if they don't speak anything else.

The other point I usually mention is that I've seen many players who will play against me in 4-5 games in a row (Arena based, with quick turnaround between games) and say "glhf" every time without acknowledging that hey, I've seen you before. That makes it feel less like an acknowledgement and more like a rote process - it's like they played the game with me last time, but didn't actually see me at the table. People have defended that by saying that they don't pay attention to who their previous opponent was, which is fair enough, but I also happen to think my position is.

I also don't say gg as a rule, because I only say gg when I think it is earned - a close game, a game well executed by my opponent. Saying it every time cheapens its worth (in my opinion).

I will say that as a rule, I don't like small talk. Good morning is different as it's an acknowledgement, but I will say I see Good morning as equivalent to Hi as equivalent to eye contact and a smile, but I know there are those in the world who think that if you don't actually speak, it doesn't count as a greeting. I don't usually ask people about their weekends - in fact, I don't even necessarily think to do so. Coming up with conversation in a casual setting is excruciating for me, because I worry about what my choice says about me, or how it will be received. For example, if I bring up the weather, does that make them think I'm boring and/or bored, since that's the default, I don't know what else to say? If I ask them about their job and they're unemployed or hate it, will that just make them feel bad? People will tell me I'm overthinking things (and I realise I am), but it's how my brain is wired.