Friendly robber ruining Catan

[Jontia]

Who is it that makes the decisions as to what rules form part of the arena games? I feel like some kind of campaign is needed to protest the inclusion of Friendly Robber.

Can't see it so far in this thread, but this comes up pretty regularly.

Here's the relevant FAQ link; Gurus
In short, the 100 people who play the most games of Catan each month are the Gurus for Catan.
Each season they get to suggest new rule sets, selected from the standard options you see when creating a Catan table.
Those suggests can be up/down voted by the same set of people.
Which ever option has the highest overall +ve vote (Ups - downs), gets put in a head to head vote against the current format.
Whichever option wins that vote becomes the new arena format.

As mentioned in multiple threads this means gurus are simply chosen by volume of play a simple count of games, not time, not wins, nothing else, you don't even need 100 ELO (based on my experince with some v.small player base games). So a lot of games (and Catan is a poster child because of a large player base) default to settings that lead to quick games. Because people who play quick games can play more games in the same time period.

[Jellby]

https://boardgamearena.com/faq?anchor=f ... renaformat

[EuroGamez]

First time in the Catan forums. I also thing that the "easy start" and "friendly robber" are just very unusual. You'd normally never see anyone play with these. Would be good to makes these modes less normalized. Maybe with the "No" option labaled as normal/standard and the yes (as "optional/variant"). I honeslty have never every seen anyone play with these options before this site. Not even playing with tiny kids. But somhow on here it's like 90% of games.

[twiddly2]

I hate playing Arena and not having control over who I play with. I don't bother playing Arena mode anymore.

I like playing with the FR variant. I'm a paying member and I open tables with both options. Feel free to avoid my table! LOL

You can’t in arena.. it is arena.. so FR in arena is like play bowling with no gutters…

It need to be competition not starters kid activate

[Parténope y Ulises]

Totally agree.

Can you believe a player menace with a red thumb because I used monopoly card and they lost resources with 2 points.

They considered I robbed them with 2 points using the monopoly card.

It is starting to be absurd.

[dannyb463]

How is it that we have been stuck with the same set of arena rules for yet another session?
There is no place in arena for "friendly robber". The problems with this setting have been documented throughout this thread and others.
Worse is the continued play with only 3 as opposed to 4 players. With 3, it's bingo. Typically enough good place to just hope your numbers come up. Just need to look at the number of trades made to know this is true. Entire games with no trades, and even worse, limited trade/counter offers! This is a trading game. There are plenty of "dice games" here. The current settings have turned Catan into the same.

It's unplayable.

[Jontia]

How is it that we have been stuck with the same set of arena rules for yet another session?
There is no place in arena for "friendly robber". The problems with this setting have been documented throughout this thread and others.
Worse is the continued play with only 3 as opposed to 4 players. With 3, it's bingo. Typically enough good place to just hope your numbers come up. Just need to look at the number of trades made to know this is true. Entire games with no trades, and even worse, limited trade/counter offers! This is a trading game. There are plenty of "dice games" here. The current settings have turned Catan into the same.

It's unplayable.

I kind-of assume you know this already, and are just venting... But

Gurus pick the settings.
Gurus are picked by number of games played
So Gurus are people who like quick games
Arena settings are picked to ensure quick games rather than competitive ones.