Premium Member system

[EuroGamez]

So recently a lot of the games I enjoy on here have no live games like ever... WIth so many new premium games each one just seems to see less play and as a free member this just feels like a waste of all the coding and time that went into making those games available.

I wish there was a system where each free member got a few "free" premium games each week/month/day/whatever.
I have helped out on the site and am aware of the system, did translations and made a tutorial. But felt very annoyed when many of those gift points expired before I could even use them.

I am not sure exactly how the royalties system for thsoe publishers work, but surely it can't be good money for them if no one is actually playing their game on here?

Some of the games I enjoy that almost never have open live games:
Carson City, Railways of the World, Fleet, Tigris & Euphrates, and more...

I am not sure if statistics are available, maybe someone can check how many live games these games have on avarage compared to a popular game like Agricola, 7 wonders, etc.

Just feels like the system could definitely be improved. Especially now that there are so many games on BGA, more users will mean more games played, a single person is still only able to play so many games...

[EuroGamez]

Decided to do some basic math and take number of games divided by days since relese and got these numbers:

Agricola: 1017
7 wonders: 4169
Catan: 5400

Fleet: 19
Railways: 22
Carson City: 42
Tigris & Euprathes: 33

SInce number of games include games even from before the release Carson CIty that has been out for a very short time oficially probably shows a lot higher than what is actually the case and it will probably fall significantly over the next 6 months.

Just feel like there is definitly a better system out there can will benefit both players, BGA and the publishers. And it seems no is is looking into it or thinking about it. Hopefully this might at least get a conversation going.

[Ceaseless]

Getting Premium is pretty easy, win a few different games, last I checked it was just 20, and you get a full month's worth if memory serves. Plenty of games remain popular with premium, a game being unpopular doesn't mean being premium is to blame.

[FrankJones]

I have difficult getting games for some of the games I like to play.

I'm not sure I understand what this has to with premium memberships?

[BarnardsStar]

I have difficult getting games for some of the games I like to play.

I'm not sure I understand what this has to with premium memberships?

The common argument goes that if only a portion of the player base can start a game, there will be fewer tables for that game and it’s harder to find a game.

The obvious solution never seems to occur to them.

[FrankJones]

Ah, I see. I think. The games the OP listed are premium games? And that is (possibly) the reason for the difficult finding games?

I have trouble finding games for some games I don't think are premium games.

[nik592]

I don't know if there's any way of being able to tell how many people are premium and how many are not, but I seem to recall when I played outside my friend group (which I don't do much right now, for various reasons), there was usually at least one other premium player at any given (3+ player) table I was on. It was a pretty rare thing to be the only premium member. If the premium member population is a significant proportion of the normal population, then it feels unlikely that there's a bunch of non-premium members itching to play a certain game, and no premium members hosting. As others have said, there are plenty of non-premium games where filling a table is tough because there just aren't people who want to play with you online at the right time. Even turn-based - I've had games sit for 3 days and not find players and close automatically, premium or otherwise.

Personally, I bought a premium membership because I wanted to be able to play whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted (other players being agreeable), and less than $6 a month (even US dollars, which cost more like $10 of my Australian ones) seemed like a good deal for that. I've offered to be the premium host for my friends, and in spite of that, a couple of them have also felt it's worth their buying their own membership so they can play what they want, when they want (and also usually play with their same-IP partner I expect). I know that money can be an issue for people, but I would wonder how many people don't have premium because they can't afford it, and how many are choosing not to, either because they really just want something for free, or they feel that the value proposition isn't worth it (there's been many who've dropped subscriptions due to various grievances - and while they're within their rights to do so, there are obviously other consequences to that kind of protest). BGA does a lot of things I don't agree with either, but I still feel I'm getting $6/month value out of it.

I'm not trying to comment on the OP's situation - that's their business and if they can't afford premium, then they can't afford it. But I think you also get a pretty ok deal for free on here. It's another reason why I think some people choose NOT to be premium, because you can actually do a lot on here without.

[cigma]

I have helped out on the site and am aware of the system, did translations and made a tutorial. But felt very annoyed when many of those gift points expired before I could even use them.

Yes, unfortunately they expire 1 year after you earned them. But when you have collected 100 of them or several times that amount you can immediately redeem them. You don't have to wait till the first premium month is over, redeem all of them at once.

WIth so many new premium games each one just seems to see less play [...]
Some of the games I enjoy that almost never have open live games:
Carson City, Railways of the World, Fleet, Tigris & Euphrates, and more...

I have difficult getting games for some of the games I like to play.

Are you aware of the bell function? Go to the game page and click on the bell Icon in order to get a noticfication whenever someone starts a live table of that game. (Click the bell again to unsubscribe.)

[menettm]

Are you aware of the bell function? Go to the game page and click on the bell Icon in order to get a noticfication whenever someone starts a live table of that game. (Click the bell again to unsubscribe.)

Where is this bell icon on this web page ?
Is it visible to the non premium players ?

[cigma]

Are you aware of the bell function? Go to the game page and click on the bell Icon in order to get a noticfication whenever someone starts a live table of that game. (Click the bell again to unsubscribe.)

Where is this bell icon on this web page ?
Is it visible to the non premium players ?

It's open to all members. But you can't find it for all games, only the ones which have a low player base. Check this one for example: https://boardgamearena.com/gamepanel?game=fleet. Click on "Play" and you will see the bell icon on the left side.