[CATAN] Why does the the EXPEL button DISCOUNTS time when a player is ACTIVELY taking actions

[nicoperror]

Good Lord it is impossible to play Catan in this God forsaken site.

The game breaking bugs that prevent you from taking actions are one thing, and I understand that it takes time for volunteers to fix them, but MY GOD the chosen behaviour of the expel button is mind-numbingly stupid. Why does it DISCOUNTS time when someone is actively taking actions while in negative time, instead of ADDING time because hey, SOMEONE IS ACTIVELY PLAYING!?

I'm trying to play 4-players games but people keep spamming nonsensical trades to burn other people's time, and then they SPAM the expel button WHILE YOU'RE PLAYING. Why does it goes 20 > 10 > 5 while I'm taking valid actions?

And why does the red banner get in the way of the action buttons? What is happening? What compels people to think "if I can't win I'm gonna exploit the site's bad design so other people can't win either"? And then I get -20ed again so I can't even use the chat.

Is this the regular state of the site? I've subscribed barely a month ago just to play Catan, and I so regret paying the annual subscription. Catan is literally unplayable.

[Kayvon]

It sounds like you posted to vent rather than get answer, but I'm going to help anyway in case anyone else is curious.

Firstly, this is the site-wide suggestion forum. You'll gain better traction on your discussion by posting in the dedicated Catan game forum. Here, I went ahead and looked up the link for you:
https://boardgamearena.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=587

It's important to understand there are two groups that do different work: BGA employees who work on the site and game developer (usually volunteers!) who develop the games. That matters because it affects how you obtain solutions to the problems you've indicated.

bugs that prevent you from taking actions are one thing, and I understand that it takes time for volunteers to fix them

You got it! You can help speed that along by reporting or voting for bugs. That helps game developers identify which problems are most important.

Why does it DISCOUNTS time when someone is actively taking actions while in negative time, instead of ADDING time because hey, SOMEONE IS ACTIVELY PLAYING!?

That's actually a site design, not a game issue. The site allots you so much time to complete your turn, regardless of how you use it. It doens't measure what you're doing or how you're using it. If you find it's not enough time, the usual advice is to select a slower game speed, which tends to make everyone happy.

SPAM the expel button WHILE YOU'RE PLAYING

The site has a much discussed and very reasonable policy that requires you to exceed your turn time by a good amount and/or multiple times before anyone can expel you. That's a generous policy to allow some leway for occasional excess, but the long-term solution is to choose a better game speed when joining a game. That'll prevent them from expelling you.

Catan is literally unplayable.

I understand this is meant to be hyperbole, but it's extremely discouraging to designers. I've played Catan. Quirky? For sure. Literally unplayable? Absolutely not. Thousands of Catan games are completed every week. The issues you've identified are real, but hyperbole makes a situation worse rather than finding a positive solution.

I hope this helps in some manner. Best of luck with your Catan games!

[Mathew5000]

Please read Kayvon's excellent response above. I have a further comment just on the following point:

I'm trying to play 4-players games but people keep spamming nonsensical trades to burn other people's time

For a case like this, you can click on "configure trade alerts" so as not to be "notified" of trades until your next turn (or until you gain resources, or until the end of the game). This is the best countermeasure to discourteous players who "spam" the table with offers because if you are not "notified" of the trade then your clock does not tick down. Also, of course, red-thumb the players who do that. For more on the "configure trade alerts" option, see the threads referred to here: viewtopic.php?t=46081