Board Game Arena

It is all in the details. How and when does the opponent concede?

There are some Master-level players (I play Azul and Carcassonne, both 2p) who concede the moment their winning chances go down to 0%, and not a moment earlier. This I can understand (although one time one of these Masters conceded a game to me when they were 100% winning - they just had miscounted the points - but this, of course, is not my problem )

However, when somebody is in a hopeless position, plays it out and then decides to concede 2 tiles before the end just to avoid the discomfort of seeing the final point difference, I view it as rage-quitting. Since the "concede" button is available, the player is well within their right to use it as they please, so I don't get offended or anything - a win is a win is a win and I'll take it. However, it does seem like a waste of time to me: either concede early or play it out and try to find the best moves anyway.

In Azul specifically, I don't witness a lot of conceded games from opponents, neither in simple games nor Arena. And most of the time when they do concede, it is immediately after seeing the runout of round 5 and realizing that the game is unwinnable, which seems like an OK moment to concede.

Personally I do not like it when BGA players concede... It feels rude to me, especially when a player quits in the final moments of the game. The few times that this has happened to me in a game has been without any communication whatsoever, so it definitely feels like poor sportsmanship to me. I would prefer somebody communicate before just disappearing.

Never even had the idea to concede. I like to play till the end to improve or try different ideas for the next time.

Once playing santorini i had the game lost so i offer the winning move to the other player he doesnt take it and deliberately made the move to avoid win. Once again i made a move that gives him the oportunity to win and once again the guy refuse it, so the game became in a fun play of me trying to force him to made the winning move and him avoiding it.

In my experiences, the ability to concede a game is mostly used by inconsiderate gamers and poor losers. It is a detriment to the community and the experience. I refuse to play again with most persons who abruptly concede.

It can feel a bit abrupt when someone conceeds. You're busy concentrating, andf then the bubble is suddenly popped, there can be a tinge of disappointment.

In a ten minute game, I don't think there's an issue with wasting anyone's time.

The solution, as others have said, is if you want to concede, let the other person know in the chat.

Personally, I have never conceded a game, and have never welcomed by the receiver of a conceded game.

There's only a couple of times I will concede
1) When something unplanned happens at home and I need to leave. I have moved more into turn based games, so this rarely happens.
2) When I'm utterly lost at a game and need to figure it out more.

It's a practice I don't like to engage in. I figure I can always learn from the way the other player plays the game if I'm getting beaten badly. It's actually helped in some of the games I play.

I think an easy way to reconcile this is issue is communication. If you want to concede or are wondering if you should, just ask. I think it's always a better practice to explain what's happening then just abruptly doing something your opponent isn't expecting.

Couldn’t the concede function be set up as a propose/accept function, such that all players must agree to the game end before it can happen without penalty?

SquashEngineer wrote: ↑16 April 2023, 22:10 Couldn’t the concede function be set up as a propose/accept function, such that all players must agree to the game end before it can happen without penalty?

Sounds like a good idea to me. I wonder if it's been suggested in the bug/suggestion list.

On a related note, I was wondering if the remaining player(s) still obtain the full ELO after an opponent has conceded the game. The FAQ only mentions what happens if a player is kicked out of a game (due to their time running out and another player clicking to kick them out).

Toastcrumbs wrote: ↑19 April 2023, 16:45 On a related note, I was wondering if the remaining player(s) still obtain the full ELO after an opponent has conceded the game.

Conceding is only possible in 2-player games, so there's only one opponent and only one remaining player, who gets the full victory in the stats and in ELO.

Toastcrumbs wrote: ↑19 April 2023, 16:45

SquashEngineer wrote: ↑16 April 2023, 22:10 Couldn’t the concede function be set up as a propose/accept function, such that all players must agree to the game end before it can happen without penalty?

Sounds like a good idea to me. I wonder if it's been suggested in the bug/suggestion list.

I opened just a few days ago a suggestion for mutual agreement to concede (see https://boardgamearena.com/bug?id=85504).