Board Game Arena

During this pandemic, I've been playing on this site with friends. We would chat (using Discord) and we rather not have the timer on. So I've been creating games by inviting friends, but when I tried to change the timing, it won't let me if anyone joined the table. So I usually quit the game and start another one and tell them not to join the table until I changed the setting. But quitting the unstarted game in this manner seems to be fraught with problems as games have lingered and often I find myself in games I did not want.

So what is the correct procedure to play with friends and turn off the timer?

You should be able to change your time settings and mode before clicking "Open table to players".
It's also possible to use "Friends only" mode, by choosing this option instead of manual or automatic lobby, in the menu at the top right of the lobby page. But this doesn't only remove time limits and penalties, it sets the game to "Training mode", which means that elo is off. https://boardgamearena.com/forum/viewto ... =5&t=15237
(This is from what I've read, but I never used this, so if there's an error in what I said, please correct me.)