Should Real Time be disabled for solo games?

[dwreathall]

I just got kicked off my own solo game because I didn't make any moves while asleep overnight. Didn't realise the game would be cancelled.

Obviously, I now know that if you can't finish a game in one session, use Turn Based.

Which begs the question, what is the point of Real Time for solo games? (other than not to get emails saying it's your turn)

[MasterMystery]

you can change it to turn based during the game so. to get used to a timer etc it makes sense to also have solo real time

[tbhp]

I mean, you could also say "what is the point of playing real time when playing against someone?"

It's just a constraint that both players agree to impose on themselves. Same when you are playing solo, I guess.

[FrankJones]

I always set my solo games to turn-based to avoid this problem.

[Jellby]

Just a note on terminology: you were not kicked, the game was abandoned.

You cannot be kicked from a friendly game (which I assume this solo game was). When you are kicked you have a karma penalty, and somene has to do it.

When a game is abandoned there are no penalties for anyone, the game just disappears as if it never happened. This occurs automatically after some time of inactivity by all players: ~4 hours for real-time and ~4 weeks for turn-based, if I remember correctly. After all, you cannot expect the server to keep tables open forever.

[tbhp]

Just a note on terminology: you were not kicked, the game was abandoned.

You cannot be kicked from a friendly game (which I assume this solo game was). When you are kicked you have a karma penalty, and somene has to do it.

When a game is abandoned there are no penalties for anyone, the game just disappears as if it never happened. This occurs automatically after some time of inactivity by all players: ~4 hours for real-time and ~4 weeks for turn-based, if I remember correctly. After all, you cannot expect the server to keep tables open forever.

It’s not just that. The site seems to call abandoned any game that didn’t end normally, which doesn’t fit the definition of the term. A game that ends in expulsion shouldn’t be called abandoned. Same with a game that runs out of time but where the players were still playing and were clearly intending to finish the game. Only the games that are conceded or that fit the example you say should be called abandoned.

[nik592]

A game that ends in expulsion shouldn’t be called abandoned.

It isn't. Literally says:

Game result cancelled (Someone left this game before the end)

[tbhp]

A game that ends in expulsion shouldn’t be called abandoned.

It isn't. Literally says:

Game result cancelled (Someone left this game before the end)

Oh, I see. I guess I got it confused with when tournament games run out of time and it says the game was abandoned, which it shouldn't.

Also, the phrasing still tends to be problematic in one way or another. In your quote, it says someone left the game which is wrong. They got kicked out. They didn't want to leave the game. It sounds like the site's language is trying to sugarcoat what happened or something.

[nik592]

In your quote, it says someone left the game which is wrong. They got kicked out. They didn't want to leave the game. It sounds like the site's language is trying to sugarcoat what happened or something.

They did leave the game. That's why they ran out of time. It may have been for a reason they couldn't necessarily help, but they weren't playing and ran out of time. They had left the game (perhaps temporarily but still gone for a reasonable amount of time).

Additionally, if someone actually fully chooses to quit the game, this wording also applies.

At the end of the day, the game ended abnormally. This is communicated. I don't need them to spend time arguing over the semantics of exactly what it should say in every single case. There are far better uses of development time.

Same thing applies to your criticism of a tournament game ending due to max time being described as abandoned. I'd argue that abandoned is perfectly reasonable. The players ran out of time and the game had to be abandoned to progress the tournament. But again, allocating dev time to having wording that satisfies everyone (a futile thing to attempt) is a complete waste. There are far bigger issues to be dealing with.

[tbhp]

They did leave the game. That's why they ran out of time. It may have been for a reason they couldn't necessarily help, but they weren't playing and ran out of time. They had left the game (perhaps temporarily but still gone for a reasonable amount of time).

That doesn't make any sense. In turn based leaving your screen doesn't constitute "leaving" a game. You're not expected to be sitting in front of your game the whole time when you're playing turn based.

The person who got kicked out may very well have been looking at the game and thinking about their move at the time they were kicked out. Meanwhile, the players who didn't run out of time may very well have been spending less time in front of their screen overall than the person who did get kicked out.

So, I'm sure you realize there is no link between someone being kicked out and them having "left" the game in any sense of the term, so there is no need to defend the site's inaccurate use of the term. It's clear they know what they are doing, which is attempting to minimize the issue or somehow weirdly trying to put the blame on the expelled player by wording it like they decided to leave the game, when they most likely didn't.

At the end of the day, the game ended abnormally. This is communicated. I don't need them to spend time arguing over the semantics of exactly what it should say in every single case. There are far better uses of development time.

That's communicated by the game was cancelled, a pretty catch-all term.

I think wording matters especially as we know the site has a tendency to sweep under the rug the things that could cause controversy, and I think this is an instance of that. A player got kicked out, call it how it is.

Same thing applies to your criticism of a tournament game ending due to max time being described as abandoned. I'd argue that abandoned is perfectly reasonable. The players ran out of time and the game had to be abandoned to progress the tournament.

That makes some sense but is a bit of stretch. For example, you'd call a house "abandoned" if it has been uninhabited for a very long time. If the house's owners go on vacation and they come back a few days later than what was planned, you wouldn't say the house was abandoned.

Intent also matters to an extent. For example, if a house has been uninhabited for some unknown mysterious reason, you'd be inclined to call it abandoned. But if it has been uninhabited because its previous owners died, you'd just call it vacant. When a tournament game runs out of time, the players didn't want the game to end, so the term abandoned seems off.