Chat during/after a game.

[crg123]

With so many options to play games online against a bot I'm confused by silence on here.
After a game, if I win or lose (most of the time its lose) I'll say something. Generally its "Thanks for the game" and if it was an interesting one or close or the other play made a come back I'll congratulate them or make a comment about it.

But so many times I'm playing a game, not on real time but on turn based. I'll get the notification that the game has ended implying someone else had the last turn and nothing is said. I just find it odd. If you want zero interaction just play a bot no?

Love to hear peoples thoughts.

[nik592]

Personally, I feel like saying thanks for the game (or gg, or gl hf at the start of a game, or whatever), just because you should say "something" at the end of every game, makes that phrase devoid of meaning, and rather pointless. That is my personal opinion, but that's why I don't do that. I'm not necessarily opposed to chatting, but I don't tend to initiate it or really push it to happen.

If a game was interesting/close/well played by my opponent, I will generally say gg wp. However, I also won't chat about a game hours after it's ended. Mostly because I've had that happen to me, and the game that ended 8 hours ago is long gone from my mind, and it's mostly just confusing to me and I have to go figure out what that game was and put my mind back there. I personally don't like that, so I don't do it to others (about 1 hr after finish of a TB game is my limit on responding to chat).

So this is just how I feel, but I respect that others may feel and act differently. Providing they're not insulting me or being otherwise rude or offensive, I'm not particularly worried either way. I don't judge someone as doing something wrong because they messaged me 4 hours after a game ended. I do think it's a touch strange when a player plays me 3 times consecutively and says gl hf as if by rote at the start of each one without noting the fact that we're now doing the same thing for a third time. But I don't really judge them as doing anything wrong (it does add a little weight to my own position, that saying them at the start of every game makes them a bit disingenuous, but I'm not going to say anything to my opponent or red thumb them). To each their own. That said, I feel like I am then free to interact in ways that feel comfortable to me and shouldn't be judged as anti-social for doing so.

[PurplePrimula]

If I could completely disable the chat window, I would.

That does not equate to me preferring to play a bot. I want to play with different people who have different styles and different strategies and varying levels of skill, and in that way learn something about the game I'm playing. But I don't need to be having conversations with them, especially since I play turn based games. If I wanted to do that, I'd go somewhere else.

[Jellby]

With so many options to play games online against a bot I'm confused by silence on here.

I don't care if there are thousands or sites where I can play "games" against a bot. Can I play thousands of different games (both classics and new, party and euro, abstract and wargames...) in those sites? Do they have the games I like? Is their interface good enough? Are those "bots" any interesting to play against?

If you want zero interaction just play a bot no?

IF you want zero interaction and IF the bot can play as good and as bad as a real person, then yes... provided such a bot exists. I doubt it does for e.g. Ark Nova, Scythe, Obsession, Watergate... (just to name a few)

But not having any interaction as a norm does not equate not wanting any interaction. I generally don't say anything in chat, but I appreciate the fact that I can communicate with other players, and sometimes do.

If you can program a bot that behaves as a real person -- that includes making moves in the game, but also making mistakes, sometimes writing something in the chat, or responding accordingly, taking time to think, sometimes running out of time, or expelling me if I do, rage-quitting or conceding occasionally, etc. -- then I'd be happy to play against it. But you'd have to program not one, but thousands of them, with different personalities, styles and preferences. After all, except for a few players whom I'm pretty sure I know offline, how can I be sure they're not such bots already? (Cf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_test)

[crg123]

The response to this are awesome. Thanks peeps.

100% agree with the thought that a standard gg wp etc etc can seem like a token gesture. I normally say thanks/congrats because I mean it.

[Retired Actuary]

I say gg/gg wp when my opponent played well, otherwise I don't say anything. I don't think I want to disable the chat window, however, because having my profession in my user name has led to lots of interesting conversations.

[Cos-]

I find the chat feature useful to have, but in rare cases. I play turn based games where I don't assume the other people are there live while I'm there. Is there a reason to pass a message to the other players? Sometimes, yes, but usually, no.

For example, I leave a message when I'm going to be traveling and am going to be slower than usual making moves for certain dates, so if they're used to seeing me move within a few hours and then I start taking all day. If someone was really good at a game, I may compliment them on that. On Photosynthesis, where it's harder to find people who really know what they're doing, if I have a challenging opponent (regardless of who wins) I tell them I enjoy that, and if they respond, I may ask for a rematch. And if someone's running over time I might ask if they're still there and wait a few more hours before I give up and expel them. I've also sometimes asked about the game mechanics on games I'm new to, or of I'm not sure if I misunderstood a rule when I see something happen I didn't think should happen - like, why did the game let you do that move? So, situations like that do come up where it's very good that we have a chat feature.

But for most games, no point to the chat. I was just looking to play this game because I enjoy this game. Most of the games on BGA aren't available to play online elsewhere. Even though some are, given that I'm already playing lots of games here, it's easier to just play those games here too rather than bouncing around between different sites. And even when there are bots available, I don't expect them to be interesting players, and it's easier to play against people anyway, so what's the advantage of looking for the bot options?

I don't find a perfunctory "gg" to be meaningful, and I'd feel silly & awkward doing it myself. If I really do think it was a notably good game, I'll say more than that. And if I don't, I won't say anything.

[Cos-]

Unfortunately, though, there is one huge bug in the chat that makes it partly as if we don't have chat available: On turn based games, if someone else sends a message, if I don't deliberately open the chat box to check if anyone said anything, I very often don't get the notification that there's a message until the game ends. Even if they sent the message days before, and I've made a bunch of moves on that table since then, no notification until it's ever.

It's so bad that I've learned to interpret the BGA website's message notification sound as telling me one of my turn-based games just ended.