Time Zones & Timeouts

[Bhadrika]

Just started playing in Tournaments, and noticing the impact of Time zones and player order.
I played in a 4 player game with 3 in the US and one European, so the US-following-US folks burned WAY less time than the US who followed the European. (They were nice about it, though -- I put up a note about how my clock was running while I slept every night, and I was playing as soon as I could each morning.)
More recently, I played a 2-player Ticket to Ride (#686132971), and again with a European opponent slept through much of my Thinking Time. I actually dug into the log after to see if it was just my perception (after all, 6pm for me was midnight for them....). But from what I could see, yes, I had ~81 hr to their ~68, but looking just at hours outside of 12a-8a local time for us each... and I had 39 hr, while they had 46.
(And then, at 2am my time, they skipped me, quickly solo played to the end, and thus won with fewer points than me, even with the 15 pt they got during the solo play. But that's a separate issue.)

I know times zones are what they are, time zones don't necessarily indicate when a person is active & playing and I LOVE playing with people from all over the world...
But it seems to me it ought to be possible for a person to include in their profile a limited (6-8hr) INactive period. Of course one MIGHT still play during those hours, but your thinking time clock doesn't run during it.

Thoughts?

[Meeplelowda]

But it seems to me it ought to be possible for a person to include in their profile a limited (6-8hr) INactive period. Of course one MIGHT still play during those hours, but your thinking time clock doesn't run during it.

Thoughts?

Some tournaments have playing hours set when you clock runs and outside of those hours your clock never runs (even though you are still allowed to move). It is incumbent on the participants who enter the tournament to make sure those playing hours are compatible with their own personal habits, i.e., that the 6-8hr inactive period they would set in your scenario falls within the 12-hour quiet period of the tournament.

If the tournament doesn't have playing hours set, it is incumbent on the participants who enter the tournament to make sure the total time for each round is long enough that their individual habits are irrelevant.

If a premium player can't find a tournament compatible with their preferences, they are free to make their own tournament in which they can set it exactly as they wish. For the tournaments I create, the playing hours are either noon to midnight or 1300 to 0100 in my local time depending on how night owlish I feel.

[nik592]

If the tournament doesn't have playing hours set, it is incumbent on the participants who enter the tournament to make sure the total time for each round is long enough that their individual habits are irrelevant.

Or you do your best at entering tournaments with enough time and bear the risk that you may be booted if your opponents aren't the reasonable type. Or you look for tournaments without the skip option enabled (this is only new, so there may not be many of these yet - and as Meeplelowda says, you can create your own since you're premium).

[BananaHarambe]

Another tournament tip: Choose games simple enough that you can make moves on your phone and make moves on your phone throughout the day.

If you are restricted to playing on a computer to see everything that might be limiting your ability to play in tournaments.

Find games that suit your free time and lifestyle.

Also, for tournaments, try adjust to the fixed time limit format by learning how many moves you need to make per day to complete a game, assume the clock is on you more than average and play within that pace.

For example, a 2p game with about 20 turns is something I host with 7 day duration and everyone does fine. That’s 4-5 moves per day required against a relatively fast player.