Race for the Galaxy redundancy elimination

[tobylongbeach]

There are several unnecessary and annoying redundancies in the way the game is programmed on board game arena.

1) If a develop phase comes up and you have no development cards in your hand or no development cards that you can afford to develop, you still have to click "I Choose Not to". This should be automatic, the game should check to see if that is even an option for you before forcing you to click on something.

2) If a settle phase comes up and you have no planet cards in your hand or planet cards in your hand that you can afford to settle, you still have to click "I Choose Not to". This should be automatic, the game should check to see if that is even an option for you before forcing you to click on something.

3) Produce phase bonuses of placing good(s) on windfall world(s), either from picking the produce role of from cards you have layed down, the program requires you to click "I pass" even when there are no windfall worlds or none that do not already have a good on them. This should be automatic, the game should check to see if that is even an option for you before forcing you to click on something.

I don't like being forced to lie or pretending like I have a choice when I don't. Most of the time when I can't take advantage of a phase, it is not by choice. That is why it is annoying.

I have played hundreds of games of RftG on here and it comes up at least once a game. Its kind of annoyingly sloppy programming.

[sunrise]

Although automation would require fewer clicks from the user, I respectfully disagree that this is sloppy programming.

In terms of 1 and 2, if the game automatically passes for you when you don't have development cards or planets on hand, your opponents will know since that phase ended immediately for you. That's not information that they should be getting. When you play in person, someone may be able to read your reactions and deduce that you don't have those cards. There is the possibility of being misread or bluffing. Although it may not have a huge impact on this particular game, there are situations where it could be advantageous to know that your opponent doesn't have certain types of cards.

3 would be possible since it doesn't give anyone any extra information.

Personally, I prefer having to click to end the phase. I feel like I'm making the decision. I can follow what is happening in the game better, and I can use the time to think. For a simple game like "Can't Stop", automation is possible (i.e. when you have to viable moves). For a more complex game, I think consistency in the interface and game behavior is important. If you don't like being forced to lie, "I Choose Not to" and "I Pass" can be renamed to something else like "end phase". I'm not sure if that would be satisfactory for you, since you would still have to click, but at least it's not implying that you have a choice.

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Edit: As a middle-ground, it might be possible to add a count-down of say, 5 seconds in situations where you can't do anything. That way, the player can still easily follow what is going on, and it's fewer clicks for the user.

[sourisdudesert]

Hello,

In most of the case I tend to agree with Sunrise point of view. We are doing board games adaptations and not video games. If we start doing such automation, then we can start programming various help functions for players (and why not AI), and at the end you don't know where to place the limit.

Cheers,

[cjtsparhawk]

Also.. I think the system should not allow you to play two of the same card. I didn't notice I had played a certain development already since it got scooted down the screen on me. I just didn't get the points for it at the end. I should not have been allowed to play it in the first place... if I had been playing live every other player would have been like.. "um.. you GOT one of those already dude..."

[Phelan]

Also.. I think the system should not allow you to play two of the same card. I didn't notice I had played a certain development already since it got scooted down the screen on me. I just didn't get the points for it at the end. I should not have been allowed to play it in the first place... if I had been playing live every other player would have been like.. "um.. you GOT one of those already dude..."

The system should already be stopping that from happening... If it happened, it's probably a bug. Please post about it in the bug section of the forum, including the game number.