Most players with a high ELO are the laziest and worst out there.

[thg0724]

This game has been out for about 2 decades now. The game designer and publisher are well aware of tournament play and know about blocking strategies. Have they done anything about it? Even said anything negative about it?

They designed the game such that no route could be played by all the players playing. Getting in someone's way is part of the game. That seems to me to be speaking on the topic (not negatively).

They have also done things to change the focus. They published 1910 which awards a bonus to the player who completes the most tickets, making it harder for a player who does not focus on any destinations to win the game.

They have also designed and published variants like Europe which make blocking less effective (stations). I think Europe is less interesting for a couple of reasons, but the primary one is that stations mean almost any block can be overcome; there's less strategy.

[DrakeStorm]

players who have a 300-400 ELO because they are NOT good players.

This statement is actually true. 600+ ELO gets in the range of good players.

They win because they pick the shortest routes possible, usually with very small points and spend their entire game ruining the routes of their opponents.

I have not noticed this at all with 300-400 ELO players (at least in Arena mode). They usually try to keep as many tickets as possible, connect to cities they may need, and draw more tickets in hopes of getting a lucky draw. Usually doesn't work against good players, but every once in a while it does. It is the same strategy people in the 100-300 ELO range use. The only real difference is 300-400 ELO players make a better route to accomplish this.

It’s the laziest way to play the game

This is just a weird statement. Lazy how? Not physically since that is probably the same for all players, everyone has to click to draw cards, and click to play cards, etc. And it probably isn't true mentally, since it actually takes more thought to try to complete your tickets quickly and use all your cards efficiently, all the while trying to get longest and if necessary stop your opponent from completing a ticket. What is more lazy mentally is just connecting up major cities and drawing tickets in hopes of getting ones that are complete or close to complete.

remember that the objective of the game is to complete the most routes and try to have the longest continuous path.

This is the biggest flaw of the whole argument. As people have pointed out, that is not the objective of the game. If that were the case, the rules would be different. Days of Wonder/Alan Moon could have very easily made a game with that as the main objective - just give less points (or even zero points) for laying track and more points for completing tickets and longest train.

And in fact they did try this out to some extent in USA 1910. They added a 15 point bonus for most tickets completed (I think it is in other versions too). The result was no top players would play because the game became way too random and less skill driven. And if they did play, they would just be forced to block more if they wanted to win consistently, rather than draw more tickets due to the high randomness.

So it seem one problem is the definition of fun. To me (in TTR) it seems the good players equate fun to being efficient, and the people making posts like this equate fun to randomness. Each is fine, just don't come onto a message board and try to dictate what fun is.

[Kaladry]

Heh, I understand you. Unfortunately most of the people replying to your thread are of the type you described and don’t like to be insulted or think they are wrong.

[Earthboundia]

I hate to play with most players who have a 300-400 ELO because they are NOT good players. They win because they pick the shortest routes possible, usually with very small points and spend their entire game ruining the routes of their opponents. You can’t even really get back at them by doing the same, because they often only have routes that need two or three very small connecting pieces.

It’s the laziest way to play the game and it reminds me of the school yard bully who punts the basketball over the fence because he is not a good player and no one likes him. Those people really make it hard to enjoy a nice, quick game of any kind. I wish there was a way to avoid them permanently, as apparently unsportsmanlike behavior is not an offense worth reporting.
Is it the ELO that they want? Do they need the internets recognition on their “skill” at a board game advertised for 8 years old and up? Do they brag to their friends about who they kick ass at this online game and have a super awesome ELO?

But wait – before you all bash me because blocking is a real strategy – read the paragraphs above again and remember that the objective of the game is to complete the most routes and try to have the longest continuous path. Nothing about the players I described above even remotely resembles the way the game was intended to play. Blocking a route, either accidental or intentional, IS part of the game. Players that are good, adapt and find alternative routes. Lazy players collect cards just to mess with their opponent and it is not fun to play with someone like that.

In most games, higher skill levels means less and less strategies become available that can win you the game reliably. In a game like TTR there are already relatively few at the start. Blocking is a fully legal and viable strategy even if the players are who do it deliberately might not be the nicest people (to put it politely) but that doesn't mean they are in the wrong. They just want to win no matter the cost.

Based on your problem though, you would probably prefer later TTR games rather than the original, where the tickets are far more balanced but obviously that isn't available on BGA. If you don't like people blocking you might also want to consider playing more Euro'ish games in general where there is less direct player-player interaction.

[ExaltedAngel]

don’t like to be insulted or think they are wrong.

So just like you?

[choo choose a name]

Blockers are like people that thrive on making themselves look better by putting others down, its a poor way to go through life

[cigma]

I don't enjoy playing with unskilled and lazy players

I understand you don't like to play with players using these strategies. Some others feel the same like you and maybe you can start a group of "TTR friendly players" to find each other and play happily together.

But why do you call the first group of players "unskilled and lazy"? As thg0724 correctly pointed out, the object of the game is to score the highest number of total points. How does working harder for the same result make you the better player? If they found an "easier" way to reach this goal, I'd consider them the more skilled players (in TTR or any other game).

[Jellby]

And the fact that "most players with a high ELO" are using that "lazy" strategy, seems to mean that's a winning strategy for the game. If you don't like that... maybe you don't like this game, or maybe the game is broken.

[tchobello]

I prefer USA to Europe by far because of the 'blocking' possibility.
I mean 'be careful because you might get blocked as there are no stations here', not 'I'm gonna block someone'.

The only thing a bit annoying is 'luck' is very involved in the 3 destinations you draw first.
I'd like to use the Europe 'draw' instead where you get a long destination.

It might help also preventing the hoarding element where players keep 2 small destinations, draw all the time and play 6-road only right at the end of a dull game.
Anyway, 1910 expansion is another way to make people play earlier and I hope it's gonna be released here.

[MadManMark]

Heh, I understand you. Unfortunately most of the people replying to your thread are of the type you described and don’t like to be insulted or think they are wrong.

"Most?" Just curious which people replying are the exceptions? Are you one, someone who enjoys being insulted?

At least she "only" said that people who actually play to win games are bullies and that throw the basketball over a fence if you tried to play pickup with them. She didn't go all Godwin's Law on us, comparing them to Hitler or Pol Pot; glad she kept her rant in perspective

I wonder if she gets upset with people who are focused on capturing the king when they play chess, too, instead of leisurely moving pieces around the board to "explore the board" and trying to stay out of the opponent's control diagonals, etc.