Why complain about "slow" players in a strategy game?!

[merlin they them]

I just finished a game playing against someone who kept telling me and the other player to hurry up. This person also said they could have finished a whole game in the time they waited for us. They even throw in how we're barely paying attention and scrolling on social media and we could have scored more points if we'd played differently.

After all this, they lost. That's frickin' karma.

This is a strategic game that requires thought. Why play this game at all if you want to have 5 second turns?

Also, the whole point of the turn timer is to give people time to think. I get that it can be frustrating if every single turn ticks down to zero, but once in a while, that's okay.

[cosmosis]

I encounter this more in Terraforming Mars than any other game. Had some arena games against players who said they needed to leave halfway through too (don't give in to that). I feel like it often happens when the other person realizes they're falling behind.

[Peach 2d]

It happens. I notice my own play speed varies in real-time games. Some games are pretty straightforward and there's little question about the overall strategy and sequencing, and then I play fast.

It also happens that somehow I end under huge pressure in the game. Imagine playing a plant strategy and getting ongoing plant destruction, getting hit with other hate cards giving production reductions, or the opponent building a big development lead. At those points, I want to gather my thoughts and see how I can adapt and still get decent development, still position for milestones and awards, consider what this means for game length and so on. It's adding insult to injury when people inflict a couple of hate cards and then write stuff like "hurry up", or otherwise complain about play they consider too slow, especially if you're nowhere near the bottom of the clock.

My approach: I never accept "Fast" as real-time play option. I can understand that some people simply want a fast, rapid-fire game. I don't play those games and accept that it makes sense for me to avoid matching up with people who have those expectations. Other than that, I only set up "Normal" time settings games. I play more turn-based anyway.

[dizinovi]

Why complain about having a "terminal" disease in a world where everyone dies eventually? Perhaps people want certain things to happen sooner rather than later and vice versa. Suppose every other player played slower than you by about the same factor you are slower than the complainer you are complaining about. Would you be annoyed? Would you complain? You already complained about a player faster than you, publicly. Maybe the complainer gets as annoyed by you "thinking" and that includes taking 10 seconds between making your second action and confirming turn end, or making 1 action leaving yourself with no actions you could or should do, yet taking 20 more seconds to skip action and then taking a whole minute to pass once it is your turn again (just spitballing here, you might not be that slow but some players are), as you get annoyed by somebody getting vocal about having zero tolerance for who they deem time-wasters. And I promise you, no thought is required for playing this game, especially when it is your time to make an action. Also your ELO tells me all your thinking time is spent on finding a worse move rather than a good move, which means you don't really care about learning the game or winning, so why are you sweating it when it's time to make a decision in the first place? You out of everyone should play instantly, as you have probably spent no time learning what leads to victory, so the quality of your actions is basically random regardless of thinking time behind them. And of course if you want to learn the game by playing and through trial and error only, instead of watching very good players making Youtube video game reviews and guides prior, again; faster play = more trials per minute = more learning.

[Mars4ever]

My approach: I never accept "Fast" as real-time play option. I can understand that some people simply want a fast, rapid-fire game. I don't play those games and accept that it makes sense for me to avoid matching up with people who have those expectations. Other than that, I only set up "Normal" time settings games. I play more turn-based anyway.

That's a good point, it depends a lot on the game. I prefer the fast timing in simple games as the "push your luck" genre where you just have to chose whether to stay or leave. In that case if someone takes a minute to decide, it's annoying, but TM it's complex! Sometimes it can happen to have 8 blue action cards on table and 20 cards in hand thanks to AI central and others drawing engine, so it needs some time to decide what to play. And in that case I find the 600 elo player that expects me to move in 5 seconds, so I reply "chill down a bit please"!

[Peach 2d]

by dizinovi » 20 October 2026, 10:53
... You already complained about a player faster than you, publicly. ...

No, that's not the point.

The point is that the chat is not really a channel to vent frustration. Merlin's pointing out that people are hassling him with annoying "hurry up" messages and that they're talking down his game. Why not give people some breathing space? If you dislike someone's play style, at least you know that even the slowest game will be over within an hour. If a newbie is playing a poor game, there's no harm saying you have a few tips if they're interested, offer a first one ("that SP city gave very little development and capped your score - happy to offer a few tips if you want?", that kind of thing), and only offer more if they're interested. That may turn the game into a interesting experience for both players. If a faster player doesn't want to do that, why not simply play the game till the end, pocket the win, and mark the player as someone to avoid in the future, privately, so you don't have the hassle of playing them again?

[FrankJones]

Why complain about having a "terminal" disease in a world where everyone dies eventually? Perhaps people want certain things to happen sooner rather than later and vice versa. Suppose every other player played slower than you by about the same factor you are slower than the complainer you are complaining about. Would you be annoyed? Would you complain? You already complained about a player faster than you, publicly. Maybe the complainer gets as annoyed by you "thinking" and that includes taking 10 seconds between making your second action and confirming turn end, or making 1 action leaving yourself with no actions you could or should do, yet taking 20 more seconds to skip action and then taking a whole minute to pass once it is your turn again (just spitballing here, you might not be that slow but some players are), as you get annoyed by somebody getting vocal about having zero tolerance for who they deem time-wasters. And I promise you, no thought is required for playing this game, especially when it is your time to make an action. Also your ELO tells me all your thinking time is spent on finding a worse move rather than a good move, which means you don't really care about learning the game or winning, so why are you sweating it when it's time to make a decision in the first place? You out of everyone should play instantly, as you have probably spent no time learning what leads to victory, so the quality of your actions is basically random regardless of thinking time behind them. And of course if you want to learn the game by playing and through trial and error only, instead of watching very good players making Youtube video game reviews and guides prior, again; faster play = more trials per minute = more learning.

Why the personal attack against peach 2d?

A player in a game is allowed to use the clock time to think. Telling another player to "hurry up" is against the conduct rules of the site, and can be reported and penalized.

Anyone telling someone to "hurry up" (putting aside the fact that this is not acceptable anyway) should not be playing "normal speed" real time games when "fast-speed" is available as an option.

[Yahyra]

I do agree with Frank J, dizi you seem very mad here bro. Everything ok dizi? You want to post a similar thread about slow players? You can probably phrase your opinions less abrasively...