Board Game Arena

I have played 3 Catan games. Even though I am actively playing with no delays on my side I am always going into penalty time because by the time I tried a Player Trade, wait for players to refuse then switch to a Maritime Trade as my last option. Now, I am running out of time "tick tock" sounds and now players can kick me out. Even though I am playing as fast as I can each turn.

Concerns:
1. The timer doesn't give enough time play Player Trades and Maritime Trade on a turn.
2. If I am in the lead with the most Victory Points players could kick me out of a game as a way to keep me from winning the game.

Solution:
1. Increase timer amount for all Catan games? - Not a great solution.

2. Catan is too long a game mainly because I spend a lot of time refusing Player Trades when I do not possess the resource that the other player desires e.g. my opponent is making multiple trade offers wanting brick when I have no brick to give. A Catan game would play a lot faster if the site auto refused when players do not have the resource requested by a trade then timers would not go into penalty time as often.

Cobaltinus wrote: ↑22 June 2022, 23:51 A Catan game would play a lot faster if the site auto refused when players do not have the resource requested by a trade then timers would not go into penalty time as often.

That reveal infos, that's not good.

Play with more time. The time control is set by you using site wide features not by the game.

Maybe have a secondary timer for trades? So the main clock is paused during trade, and a trade timer kicks in?

RobertBr wrote: ↑23 June 2022, 07:47 Play with more time. The time control is set by you using site wide features not by the game.

Thank you for your reply.
Difficulty with what you suggested: If I am the creator of the Catan game then yes I could increase the timer setting, but when the Catan game is created by someone else then I would not have control over the playing timer - Am I correct?

The playing timer is set at game table creation and cannot be changed once the game is in progress? - Am I correct?

Rukus McUallas wrote: ↑23 June 2022, 16:32 Maybe have a secondary timer for trades? So the main clock is paused during trade, and a trade timer kicks in?

Thank you for your reply. I like this idea.
Especially since as the Player Trade initiator I have no control over how long an opponent takes to respond either accept/refuse or counter. A trade timer would fix this issue

A trade timer would be helpful if an opponent goes offline before responding to a trade. This happened in my last Catan game, I started a Player Trader and two opponents responded quickly, but the third opponent though the site indicated the player was online failed to give a response. Eventually, I realized that the player had gone absent and cancelled the trade, but a lot of time was wasted.

If there was a separate trade timer then opponents failing to respond would be less time consuming and annoying for other players.

Settlers of Catan is one of my favourite board games, but a BGA Catan game gets boring because games go a long time with nothing to do between turns. Anything that can be done to make game play faster would be appreciated.

Cobaltinus wrote: ↑24 June 2022, 15:51

RobertBr wrote: ↑23 June 2022, 07:47 Play with more time. The time control is set by you using site wide features not by the game.

The playing timer is set at game table creation and cannot be changed once the game is in progress? - Am I correct?

Then create the game yourself... if you already know how this works the complaint seems pointless! If this is because its a premium game then I know that is a frustration for non-premium players but it doesn't stop you checking the timing before joining the game, and you could always get a premium membership.

Cobaltinus wrote: ↑24 June 2022, 16:11

Rukus McUallas wrote: ↑23 June 2022, 16:32 Maybe have a secondary timer for trades? So the main clock is paused during trade, and a trade timer kicks in?

Thank you for your reply. I like this idea.
Especially since as the Player Trade initiator I have no control over how long an opponent takes to respond either accept/refuse or counter. A trade timer would fix this issue

A trade timer would be helpful if an opponent goes offline before responding to a trade. This happened in my last Catan game, I started a Player Trader and two opponents responded quickly, but the third opponent though the site indicated the player was online failed to give a response. Eventually, I realized that the player had gone absent and cancelled the trade, but a lot of time was wasted.

If there was a separate trade timer then opponents failing to respond would be less time consuming and annoying for other players.

Settlers of Catan is one of my favourite board games, but a BGA Catan game gets boring because games go a long time with nothing to do between turns. Anything that can be done to make game play faster would be appreciated.

A little addition. The trade timer should not be sanctioned, if people don't react to a trade offer. It should just be automated.

I agree that it is difficult to play when the timer runs down so fast . . . yes, you can create your own table with the timing adjusted to your taste, but shouldn't the default option be set to give enough time for normal play?

It's not just trading -- everything seems awkward in this user interface. It seems to take several clicks just to take a basic turn, and god forbid your internet is slow! I don't blame the site or the game adapter for this--I absolutely get that adapting a board game to online play is hard, especially something as interactive as Catan, and I appreciate that this adaptation exists at all!

But since it's difficult to play the game in this way, I think it would be a good idea to add a little extra time allowance in the default options.

it all depend on you if you want to trade long. I just give it a max time and then cancel. So never out of time..

An extra timer for trade.. please not.. game is already long enough here