why is the time limit so long?

[brimerbrimer]

The allowed time limit seems to be 3:30, plus another 9 seconds per turn.

I've played a few hundred games of Can't Stop and from what I've seen, players typically have more than 3 minutes of time left in their bank when the game is over. It's generally a fast-paced game, not involving deep enough strategy to need much time to think.

So here's the issue. How many times have you been playing a game that's moving along at a great pace, when at some point it all comes to a grinding halt because one of the players decides he has something better to do, and doesn't take his turn? The other 2 or 3 players have to sit and watch his entire clock run down (it takes forever!!) before we have the option to skip his turn. These other players are basically held hostage during that whole time: not able to continue, not able to quit without penalty, not able to play a different game.

Shouldn't the initial bank of time be closer to one minute? Has anyone ever legitimately needed all that time (other than beginners, who get more anyway)?

[T72on1]

I agree. Fast paced games like this don't need that much time, at all.

[fafa-fr]

Hi,

Has anyone ever legitimately needed all that time (other than beginners, who get more anyway)?

Of course yes! Among the milions of Can't Stop games played here, of course there has been people that had occasional internet connection problems, very important phone calls, important things to deal with in life (a child that hurt him/herself), ... The initial time can be used for such cases. (I'm obviousy only speaking of things that can be dealt with in 2 or 3 minutes.)

So I think the question shouldn't be "Could we remove this initial bank of time that is never used for legitimate purpose", but rather "Do you think that this initial time is too often used illegitimately, and should be reduced, even if the downside is that it happens sometimes that a player gets a penalty for a two-minutes unavailability.".

My personal answer is:
No problem, if it's not too often (say no more than one game out of ten), I can wait two or three minutes. But if it happens on a third of my games, then I think the initial time is unfortunately abused by many players, so I think the only solution is to reduce this "just-in-case" initial time, even if a few players will get a penalty. (A penalty once in a while due to an occasional problem is not a big deal.)
There could be a special time setting like "super-fast", with less initial time and less time per move, and with a warning saying something like "High risk of penalty if you have a connection problem or whatever, use at your own risk!"

[frogstar_A]

2 minutes would be plenty

[aussie19]

I agree just played a bloke who had three choices ten,ten or ten pondered that for over a minute. he finally chose ten.

[Cattle Baron]

I agree, I do enjoy the game but the time seems to drag on.