Auto-start + spectators chat + many little things (May 8th update)

[J-Effe IV]

English below.

J’ajoute ma voix aux autres qui désirent pouvoir utiliser la fonction de discussion en tant que spectateur. Plusieurs jeux s’y prêtent bien, de même que le mode tour par tour. Le fait de pouvoir discuter favorise la socialisation et rend les jeux plus agréables, et accessibles à ceux qui ne les connaissent pas. Je pense qu’il serait plus sage de laisser par défaut les spectateurs discuter, mais de donner la possibilité à l’admin de la table de l’empêcher.

Pour l’auto-start : je ne suis vraiment pas fan à cause du auto-join, on se retrouve à lancer une partie avec des joueurs dont on ne désire pas nécessairement la présence, sans pouvoir les expulser, ce qui peut être très désagréable. //

I chime in as I also would like to keep the chat functionality for the spectators. It works well for several games in real time, as well as for any game in turn by turn. To be able to discuss as a spectator helps with the social aspect, makes them feel part of the groups even if they are not in the game, and can make the game more accessible and enjoyable for them. I believe it would be wise to leave spectators able to discuss by default, and leave the option to the table admin to restrict it.

Regarding the auto-start : I really am not a fan, especially due to the auto-join feature. We end up launching games with people we do not necessarily want to play with without being able to kick them, which can be really annoying.

[LuckOtheIrish]

I strongly dislike that our options have been removed. This takes away our ability to decide and filter our tables easily. In addition, if I want to have my friends come and chat, I should have the option to allow that. It was stated that “in real life you wouldn’t want someone to disrupt your game [sic]”. If they are a friend, I absolutely want them to stop by and say hi. If I’m busy and focused, it is very easy for me to say so. I don’t even have an option for that. Furthermore, the problem arises because the fix needs to be with red thumbs. If I had given a red thumb, there were glitches that allowed them to still chat at my tables. Give me a choice to say “no” to someone, instead of making a general rule for all. Instead of the ‘x’ being a red thumb choice, let it be an expel button. Then, I can have friends in my room who can chat if I wish, and expel those who are being a nuisance. The problem ultimately comes from so many new people joining and a lack of expectations for them. When the community was smaller it was easy to manage poor behavior. Maybe you should consider creating these negative effects (auto table start and spectator chat disabled) for those without accounts.

[Wreckage]

And in real life, you would not want to let anyone come and start discussing around your game table while you are focused on your game.

Many people play games at conventions, this alone proves that most people do not want isolation while playing board games.
I appreciate the efforts made by BGA to improve the site. However all these latest changes are a huge mistake, imo.

Auto-start: If you want to make any game adjustments, it is very frustrating to be constantly interrupted by changing pages.

Spectator chat: This has got to be the most annoying new change. If you see a table with 7 friends it now takes 3-5 minutes to say "hi".
There are 7 programmed phrases in the chat window of every table. Is the next step to only allow these preset phrases? The only people who would want this change are those who don't have friends on this site.

[Caninski_Jen]

So that autostart thing?

That pissed me off enough to seek a place to complain about it.

I play quite a it of Hanabi on this site, and I'd like to know who I'm playing with, whether they know Finesses if thats an issue, I want to know WHY their karma is so low instead of simply banning them from entry (as karma says little of how pleasant a player is), and most importantly I want to know all the players at the table are non-assholes! Also, if the table chief is slow to hit that button, they've probably got a reason for that. If the people think it's taking too long, let them get another table.

Besides, just yesterday somebody entered my table, which triggered the autoplay criteria, but he then declined to start, getting us back to the normal pre-game page. But that loaded slowly, as if the site itself was confused about what was happening. Then they left and entered again, to have the same exact thing happening. I mean this was probably not on purpose even if it was *)&%$)* annoying, so just think of what someone with a nefarious purpose could do with that?

Spectators Chat I can see the reasons for - there's probably a few more bored, unpleasant people on the website than normally, and those might interfere with games in a negative way. I have not yet experienced this. In fact I've only once had a negative experience with spectators and that was some three years ago! Does that really outweigh not being able to speak at tables to discuss game settings, being able to ask for a seat in the next game, to just say hi to a friend? Two friends of mine started a game without me just because I couldn't ask them to wait up one minute.

Okay complaining is one thing, how about solutions?

Why not add a tickbox to mark if you want the game to autostart? Shouldn't be that hard!

And normally you could turn off chatty people from outside the game, right? With X's if they did something stupid or annoying? Well why not just turn that around - make spectators unable to speak unless granted permission by those on the table? I mean we know you can toggle between sound and silence with the click of a button, you've offered that for years!

I really hate Autostart. I mean I don't like the chatty ban, but I straight up hate Autostart.

I can see this , it was pleasant to read this to be honest and I do agree with you on several facts. I do think autostart can be handy but however if someone is not around , the game started and that person got skipped :s thats not always nice

should be an option ...

whether i dont like is the new update of the chat for spectators disabled ... which is weird, honestly if it is a real competition there should be an option for that.. but in my case i love to say hi and check on my friends what are they playing etc

but if a person is rude and you dont want him/her to speak .. easy solution red thumb so i dont really understand the disabling the spectators chat

[crouik]

I don't get why the spectator chat got completely disabled.

If some people are really opposed at having spectator chat, wouldn't an option for the table creator be enough to please them?

Please consider adding the spectator chat back. If not like before, at least as an option.

[KoenG]

Thanks for trying to make this website a better one with all the updates!

So here is a suggestion (since I too hate the fact that I auto start a game): make an option where you can make use of the auto-start or not.

Thanks in advance

[Jesdebel]

Hey guys-I can certainly appreciate that you're making a great site.

I've been a member for a couple of years and met some fantastic people and really enjoy the community that I am a part of. We meet regularly, we chat, we enjoy one another's company. For this reason, I feel a bit like the kid who loses recess because 1-2 students make bad choices. Instead of punishing those kids, everyone loses recess. It feels really unfair and honestly, it makes me seek different ways to implement chat anyway. However, alternative solutions are just difficult and fiddly and it is frustrating because the BGA chat worked well. Again, if there are some concerns for misuse--then, surely there can be a moderator button. I also feel some frustration because I feel that I've been a premium member since the beginning and yet, I'm being punished for some new, "bored", individuals.

Regarding the table start, surely you can see that forcing someone to start a table when they aren't ready isn't a good idea? They aren't there to accept anyway. It feels like it fulfills a selfish need of the participant and doesn't really consider the table maker at all. Often those individuals that are wanting the table to start cannot create the table because they are not premium. So in order to accommodate those individuals we punish the premium members? Also, it's frustrating because my preferences/settings for the table reset each new table, so even if I wanted to filter out unwanted individuals-it again, becomes fiddly and time consuming. Moreover, the cooperative games need some communication prior to pressing start. IRL, if I had a table of co-op or even a table that is new. I may want to review some material, info, questions.

The removal of these features, chat and table start in the hands of the table creator, makes the game less personal and more automatic. Maybe that is the direction that BGA wants to go? These features remove the sense of community that we have built and the enjoyment of playing with friends. Instead it makes it more robotic, "start" "play" "end". I can do that with an app on my phone. I came to BGA for the people.

[Caffe Latte]

Mutually used to drop by friend table, say hi and ask if there will be another match me to join. Cannot anymore - less fun.
I imagine losers tend to have someone guilty and some of them have found a scapegoat - spectator who said hi and disrupted genius in action...

[ViolentSilence]

So prior to playing on BGA, I used to play online BloodBowl on a site called Fumbbl. Since every game on there had an impact (both in terms of the coach ranking, similar to ELO, and player development) there was a full on division between 'coach' chatting, and between the spectators. The spectators were allowed a few interactions like /applause (if I recall) so they could acknowledge a good play and the coaches would hear an applause sound effect, but there was no direct interaction. That feels right to me, especially in something like the Arena mode on here - let the spectators chat with each other, discuss strategy, rules etc, without affecting the game. Outside of arena, I have to say that player and spectators having a chat with each other at the game table would be quite rude, as it would in a tabletop game. It's rather like someone texting friends while a game is going on. I can justify a wave action (click on a friend, let them know you're watching, and let them decide what to do at the end of the game), but for the most part, I don't feel like spectator chat is a good thing. Honestly, if you allowed every player at a table the option to anonymously veto spectator chat, I think most times someone would take that veto. We already get notifications if friends are online, so maybe that part of the system could be where the fix is implemented? That way, the table talk isn't interrupted.

The idea that someone had about letting the spectators join in with the table chat at the end of the game would seem to fix most of the issues, though I would still like to see a separate spectator room too

[Ankeszu]

Okay, I just started to hate Autostart as well, especially combined with spectator chat mute.

I don't like to play Hanabi in 5players (max of this game). Sometimes I join tables as fourth (because they are requiring 4-5 players) and hope the table starts as 4p table. If the fifth joins, I just quit, that was never a problem... but now it is, as Refusing the autostart freezes the page and despite theoretically showing lobby, my clicking "Quit" button doesn't give any reaction, page is totally non-responsive, regardless of F5. Finally when I managed to quit on another tab, ...I cannot speak, even to say why I quit - especially when the players ask.