Re: Player was able to abandon game in arena once time run into red
Posted: 02 April 2026, 03:33
I'll give an example of a recent game I had. I carelessly started a game that has the potential to require a LOT of thought involved. It was a bad idea because of what I have going on in my life. I generally play games that are not overly thought-intensive because I find them low stress and enjoyable.
In this particular game, My opponent played a very difficult opening that had me completely stumped. And every time I tried to figure out a good opening sequence or myself, I found that I couldn't even think straight. So, I kept postponing.
I ended up not finding time to give the game the careful thought needed to avoid playing myself into a losing position in the first 4 moves. This happened despite my using ALL FOUR vacation jokers. I now have none left for the year. And I still ended up making a bad/losing move very early. In a game in which I take great pride in not doing that.
So, given all that, if my opponent had gone into the red, yes, I would have immediately terminated the game. Why should I give my opponent extra thinking time after I wasted vacation jokers and make hasty sloppy moves all in an effort to not have a clock violation myself?
I don't know what anyone else's circumstances are. But I have noticed that when a player goes into the red on clock once, it usually happens one or more times later in that same game. I am generally forgiving of this, usually saying something in the chat, "Hey, everything okay? Please stay within the allowed clock. Thanks."
But if it continues to happen anyway, yeah, I'm cancelling the game (If it's early). If it's mid-late game and I am obviously going to win, no, I am not going to cancel the game. Nor should anyone be expected to. If it's mid-late game and I am losing or possibly losing, well, as I said, I'll probably give a verbal warning, but if it happens a second time, the game is being abandoned. Maybe I wouldn't be losing if I took extra time like my opponent is.
If someone is having internet issues (we can see whether the person is still logged in or not), I'll usually give a grace period consistent with the time it takes to power cycle an internet device.
But all of these grace periods and friendly warnings are optional and voluntary. Nobody is obligated to give people extra time, and it's bizarre to expect to get extra time, when there are (I'll be repeating this for probably the tenth time) several ways to avoid this:
1) Make moves within the allowed time.
2) Play on the slower settings in real time
3) Play turn-based.
4) Play friendly mode.
In this particular game, My opponent played a very difficult opening that had me completely stumped. And every time I tried to figure out a good opening sequence or myself, I found that I couldn't even think straight. So, I kept postponing.
I ended up not finding time to give the game the careful thought needed to avoid playing myself into a losing position in the first 4 moves. This happened despite my using ALL FOUR vacation jokers. I now have none left for the year. And I still ended up making a bad/losing move very early. In a game in which I take great pride in not doing that.
So, given all that, if my opponent had gone into the red, yes, I would have immediately terminated the game. Why should I give my opponent extra thinking time after I wasted vacation jokers and make hasty sloppy moves all in an effort to not have a clock violation myself?
I don't know what anyone else's circumstances are. But I have noticed that when a player goes into the red on clock once, it usually happens one or more times later in that same game. I am generally forgiving of this, usually saying something in the chat, "Hey, everything okay? Please stay within the allowed clock. Thanks."
But if it continues to happen anyway, yeah, I'm cancelling the game (If it's early). If it's mid-late game and I am obviously going to win, no, I am not going to cancel the game. Nor should anyone be expected to. If it's mid-late game and I am losing or possibly losing, well, as I said, I'll probably give a verbal warning, but if it happens a second time, the game is being abandoned. Maybe I wouldn't be losing if I took extra time like my opponent is.
If someone is having internet issues (we can see whether the person is still logged in or not), I'll usually give a grace period consistent with the time it takes to power cycle an internet device.
But all of these grace periods and friendly warnings are optional and voluntary. Nobody is obligated to give people extra time, and it's bizarre to expect to get extra time, when there are (I'll be repeating this for probably the tenth time) several ways to avoid this:
1) Make moves within the allowed time.
2) Play on the slower settings in real time
3) Play turn-based.
4) Play friendly mode.