Skipping players (why is this allowed?)

[FrankJones]

I just had a game of Race for the Galaxy. A game that usually takes 10-15 minutes total. My opponent went offline (for whatever reason, possibly lost internet connection), so I waited 15 minutes and then messaged the opponent to say I Was skipping turn. Then I remembered that we can switch to turn based. So, I clicked that.

But, this system can be improved as well. It did not say what the turn timer would be, and the moment I clicked "switch to turn-based", it was confirmed without showing me the turn timer and asking whether I was okay with that. It seems to default to 36 hours, which is unnecessary. 24 hours is fine. If a player cannot make a move once every 24 hours, that player perhaps shouldn't play turn-based games?

Either way, I did not want to give the player a penalty, especially since the game's outcome was not clear, though I think my position was stronger.

No system is goi to be perfect.

[nik592]

36 hours is likely the buffer it is giving you. I THINK that would put it at 2 turns/day speed, as your buffer is normally 3x turn time. I sort of thought I'd heard it defaults to 1 turn/day speed, but I could be wrong about that. In any case, yes, it would be nice to be able to choose your speed, but I think that must have been considered too difficult - I guess for one thing, should the power to decide that be given to the player doing the skipping? Perhaps yes, but some would disagree. Also, if you selected fast turn-based, then you'd have to enter playing hours, etc. So there could be reasons why they just pick a speed for you. As you say though, no system is perfect.

[FrankJones]

I'm still confused. It also says, "3 turns per day". Is that a maximum or a minimum? Or neither?

[Jellby]

It means you get +8 hours per turn. So that's a minimum, in the sense that if all players take all their allowed time (disregarding the buffer/time bank), the game will progress at 3 turns per day. That's "total" turns, not your turns. There's no maximum for any setting, you can play as fast as your browser/device and opponents allow you.

[FrankJones]

- I guess for one thing, should the power to decide that be given to the player doing the skipping? Perhaps yes, but some would disagree.

Well, considering the player doing the skipping (or changing it to turn based) is doing a big favor by not just takin the forfeit win, yes, that player should be allowed to choose the setting. In my opinion; as you noted, other opinions may vary.

Now, we are on literally the last turn, I am pretty sure it is mathematically possible for me to lose, and the opponent is not moving, even though we messaged back and forth and agreed to try to get the game done with quickly.

And then, if an emergency occurs and I become unable to make my move and I run out of time, the opponent could forfeit ME in a game which I could have simply ended myself already by the same method! I do not think this opponent will do that, but it's possible, and it shouldn't be.

[Todd Bannon]

You lost, the opponent won. It is that simple.

A lot of people have legitimate issues with the way timers work in multi-player games (which are quite hard to resolve) but in a 2 player game clocking your opponent is as legitimate a win as any other winning move. In this case it sounds like your opponent was actually quite generous to you, giving you the opportunity to spot and fix your misplay (which you could have done*) before finally claiming the win they were entitled to.

In terms of why it is allowed. It is because it is an entirely normal practice in competitive games, and was so even before online gaming. If you do not like timers (which is fine as a subjective preference) the site allows you to play without them by changing to 'friendly' mode.

* the correct 'move' in this case was to play a holiday joker, which would have put your time back in the green. If you did not know about this you will find it by clicking on the meeple symbol then going to view current tables, then looking to the top right.

Thanks for the advice on the holiday joker, I was not aware of that option. But my concern in this case was my opponent creating an expectation that my tardiness was OK by allowing the game to proceed. To then skip me on the final turn obviously created an inconsistent and frustrating experience for me and it was somewhat a waste of time. Personally, I have only skipped people that were multiple days late. A couple of hours has never been an issue for me, particularly in a game that takes up to 2 weeks to complete anyway. I certainly wouldn't call out the technicality of tardiness on the very last turn.

Did you have a conversation with the other player? Did you apologize for being over time and confirm that you were going to try to stay on time? You can't just assume that your opponent has agreed to anything without actually discussing it with them.

[BananaHarambe]

You lost, the opponent won. It is that simple.

A lot of people have legitimate issues with the way timers work in multi-player games (which are quite hard to resolve) but in a 2 player game clocking your opponent is as legitimate a win as any other winning move. In this case it sounds like your opponent was actually quite generous to you, giving you the opportunity to spot and fix your misplay (which you could have done*) before finally claiming the win they were entitled to.

In terms of why it is allowed. It is because it is an entirely normal practice in competitive games, and was so even before online gaming. If you do not like timers (which is fine as a subjective preference) the site allows you to play without them by changing to 'friendly' mode.

* the correct 'move' in this case was to play a holiday joker, which would have put your time back in the green. If you did not know about this you will find it by clicking on the meeple symbol then going to view current tables, then looking to the top right.

Does the holiday joker work on tournament games? I've never seem it used in a tournament before, it would be obvious if it did. When I click on the time joker for explanation it says this:

A Time Joker allows you to take more time to play your turns on your current turn-based games, in SIMPLE mode and ARENA mode only. (For example, when you are on holiday or when you are having difficulty keeping your schedule.)
Each Joker is worth 4 days.

Although this will extend any games in progress, it is limited to 4 days and will not affect TOURNAMENT mode.
Be careful of when and how you use them.

Tournament games have fixed game durations to ensure reliable match scheduling so I don't know how a time joker could be used. For example, what if you have a "3 day" game in a tournament and use a time joker for 4 more days? You then proceed to play slowly and the game doesn't finish by 3 days, now what? Do you win because you have more time on the clock?

[nik592]

Does the holiday joker work on tournament games?

I'm pretty sure it doesn't work in tournament mode - in fact, your joker is just consumed, but without applying any time to your clock (so entirely wasted). Hence the warning about being careful where you use it. I've never tried it myself though.