Board Game Arena

I've...honestly had problems a couple times now where I've had lag come in out of NOWHERE and suddenly I can't do anything, leading other players to expel me...even if I manage to tell them "Hey, I'm Lagging". This has caused my reputation to tank through what feels like the fault of life and players with itchy trigger fingers - not simply me playing badly or getting on knowing my connection sucks.

Would it be possible to add something where a buffer was added to the timer if a player's connection went on the fritz or there was some other actual proof of lag (not just having to take a while to take a turn)? Because I don't think the thinking time we're given is enough to allow for lag defense.

Unfortunately for you, that's not really possible. It's easy to purposefully lose connection, and therefore give a player extra time whenever required.
And the second unfortunately, is that the other people expect you to be able to play each move within the time when you join a table.

I would suggest that you either play turn-based games, play in slow time mode, and/or try and get you internet connection fixed. Is it your PC, router, or ISP?