Repeated "Red Thumbs Down" warnings for legitimate blocking tactics?

[MalteseFalcon62]

Hi everyone,

Today, I received the notification for the second time that I have reached a 10% "thumbs down" rating from other players.

I am really not aware of any wrongdoing. In the games in question:

I did not use the chat inappropriately (and in this cases not at all).

I never abandoned or quit any games.

I did not slow-play or make opponents wait unreasonably long for my turns.

I suspect the sole reason for these downvotes is my playstyle: when my cards or game situation require it, I block my opponents as effectively as possible to win the game—even with a bad hand. This is 100% compliant with the rules and, in my opinion, a completely legitimate competitive strategy.

I frequently encounter players who complain or even insult me in chat simply because their routes get blocked. Frankly, I find that very inappropriate. If someone cannot handle route blocking in a competitive board game, perhaps a model railway hobby would be a better fit than Ticket to Ride.

Is anyone else experiencing this misuse of the karma/rating system for purely tactical gameplay?

Best,

MalteseFalcon62

[RedWolfe75]

I used to play a lot of TTR on the original mobile app, there is definitely some sort of TTR META where it's rude to block people on purpose.

I view it as an aggressive strategy, and I tend not to do it, because often you just delay the other person slightly, while wasting your trains. But in some instances, dropping a 1 train to completely derail their route is the right move to make. I absolutely see nothing wrong with it, and it's not against the rules.

I never thumbs down people for playing the game within the rules. I only use it for people who drop out of games, take far too long, etc.

If people think doing this is aggressive in TTR, they need to play a few games of Carcassonne.

[Jontia]

If people think doing this is aggressive in TTR, they need to play a few games of Carcassonne.

BGA Carcassonne seems less brutal than other places I've played it. But when you've found yourself with 3 meeples locked into features you can't complete, you totally stop worrying about TTR blocking.

To the OP, sorry you've been getting red thumbs for this, given you've got some sort of formal interaction started with BGA via the warning email, I would see this as an opportunity. Ask BGA themselves if they can review your history and point to instances of behaviour they think is inappropriate. Be polite and engaged, see if a review by a neutral 3rd party can point at anything else, at least you'd know then. And if there's nothing there, it's a clear data point for BGA to ask themselves if they system is doing the job it's intended to do.

[Yahyra]

To the original poster (OP),


Blocking a route is indeed allowed by the rules and, in fact, a dominant strategy to win especially in 2p player TTR.

It is unfortunate that so many folks do not understand this, and instead write here on the forums to complain about it, and give you thumbs down.

Keep doing what you are doing as far as I am concerned. May you enjoy playing fun, competitive games.

[Strode]

Does that warning come with any action behind it, or could you just ignore it?

[Vader300]

I'm sorry that this is happening to you. My suggestion would be to play people rated higher (350-400+). I find that lower rated players are significantly more likely to complain about blocking, as they are more casual players and don't see blocking as a legitimate strategy. Higher rated players likely encounter blocking more and understand it is part of the game and strategy.

[MalteseFalcon62]

Does that warning come with any action behind it, or could you just ignore it?

There is no action behind it, but I feel unjustified offended.

[Barberserk]

The solution is as usual where the power is. In the rules. The only way to avoid the blocking strategy is if the structure, the rules of the game change, to discourage this somehow, to make this strategy pointless instead of a winning one that it is currently, at least sometimes. I avoid doing it and I am frustrated when others do it, but I don't downvote them, I just stopped playing the game for some time, there are other games after all. But yeah if there was some shift in the rules and this blocking strategy became unviable, I would be happy hehe. I think some of the expansions that are out, like the map of Asia with the bonus for connected cities, help towards this direction.

[RedWolfe75]

Does that warning come with any action behind it, or could you just ignore it?

There is no action behind it, but I feel unjustified offended.

Ive found that BGA does little to enforce any rule violations. My friend was accused of kingmaking, and he in turn accused his opponent of false reporting. Things got heated with a few different messages to BGA. Nothing ever came of it, BGA simply never responded.

I reported another user last year for being rude to other players. There was zero followup, just dead silence.

[Vader300]

The solution is as usual where the power is. In the rules. The only way to avoid the blocking strategy is if the structure, the rules of the game change, to discourage this somehow, to make this strategy pointless instead of a winning one that it is currently, at least sometimes. I avoid doing it and I am frustrated when others do it, but I don't downvote them, I just stopped playing the game for some time, there are other games after all. But yeah if there was some shift in the rules and this blocking strategy became unviable, I would be happy hehe. I think some of the expansions that are out, like the map of Asia with the bonus for connected cities, help towards this direction.

This game is intentionally designed to support blocking and blocking is in the spirit of the game. There is a reason why both players play on the same board and double routes are disabled for 2-3 player games. If you consistently get blocked intentionally, that is often a reflection of poor play on your part. If you leave gaps, then that makes it easy to block. The best players are often hard to block because they make their routes and intentions hard to guess for the opponent. So it is up to you to prevent yourself from getting blocked. Not up to the opponent. Unfortunately for those heavily against blocking, TTR may not be the game for you.