Kicking players out of games

[Tig bear]

so, i do kick people who are out of time, but in very specific circumstances, if we are near the end of a game id be willing to wait but on turn 2? gone, if you send a message saying you are having trouble sure i will wait but complete silence even if you come and move a few times with no sorry, i might kick, if you are late to play i will go look at your profile and if i see you are in hundreds of games and missing you times in loads of them day after day you are gone, only a hand full of penalties in the last week, i will wait

i also feel like playing within the time limits agreed to before hand makes them part of the rules of the game, in person you wouldn't agree to a house rule then be ok if people violated it, you wouldn't be ok with people taking extra turns in a game or drawing more cards than they are allowed to so why would you be ok with them violating an agreed upon time rule?

try playing a game where you have 10 seconds to name as many James bond films as you can and 5 seconds in tell the other players yo are off to the loo and try all your "your just a looser trying to get a win" excuses then

[Yitzi]

When I do it, it's usually because the player has either (a) been apparently AFK for the past few minutes (in which case there's no reason to think that giving them a few more will help any), or (b) wasted a lot of time on a move that should be obvious (often, they only had one legal move). If someone takes a while to make decisions, I usually give them a bit of extra time, but if they waste their time and mine with no possible game-related reason...the only legitimate possibility there is that they had a real-life reason, in which case they should provide some sort of explanation in the chat.

[Indubius]

Agree with a lot of the comments here, but I think they all miss the essence of the main issue:

BGA is gamified/designed to sow discord/disgruntlement to the point that the point of playing the game in the first place is occasionally but still way-to-often lost and taken over by BGA rules that have nothing to do with the game designer’s game. (e.g., why should taking advantage of another player reaching end-of-clock be a strategy in the game?)

Suggestions to help with this: 1) Implement text notifications as #1 priority, 2) for players out of time give the player 15 minutes in order to keep playing, 3) stop making the other players the bad guy by pushing them to skip the player out-of-time, and 4) create "Good Sportsmanship" or "Good BGA Citizen" counter for: a) communicating, and b) playing on time. Players who are helped by their opponents can also give "Good BGA Citizen" points.

Players are incentivized NOT to talk/chat for fear their words may be misinterpreted. This too defeats the point of playing the game. In fact, the opposite would be promoted; to include the necessity of having two people try to work it out well before there is a ban or moderation.

The very idea that BGA does NOT want players complaining about moderations/bans on the forum is unjust. It hides judgements of the moderators from scrutiny. Suggestion: Provide a "Shouting Room" forum. That would be far more acceptable than censorship.

I never WANT to kick someone from the game for non-play, but when I necessarily do, I have observed a pattern regarding the odds of my dice/playing-pieces immediately start working against me. It last for a while then goes back to normal. This malignant feature implemented by BGA coders is just evil. Please become distinguishable from a Casino in Las Vegas.

STOP coding the games as if BGA rules are more important than the players, or the community or anything else for that matter.

Additional Ideas: Playing hours that are relative to the player's time zone. Allow players to see if the other players are online during the game, regardless of friendship relation. (Allows for communication.)

[Polgara75]

I'm write about this tonight. I have been playing on bga for many years but lately it also happens to me to see or suffer the kickout in an anomalous way and always, ALL the times, whoever kicks out is losing.
They're not getting bored, they don't want to lose Elo, especially if they're good or strong players

[Ze Monstah]

If you didn't go out of time, then there wouldn't be any way to be kicked out by (what you call) "so*e losers".
And you would simply win 100%, like in any normal game.

I don't understand this fuss...
Suggestion: Red Thumb the ones who dare to kick you out; or better yet, simply try to play within the time limit, so (what you call) "s**e losing voodoo kickers" wouldn't win against you in this unnatural way.
I personally don't mind when I'm being kicked out so hard, that it makes my head spin right 'round, right 'round; even when/if I'm losing and regardless of the reason for the time-out: bad internet, emergency, etc.

In conclusion: IT IS YOUR FAULT THAT YOU GET KICKED OUT, NOT THE KICKERS'.

[Jellby]

BGA is gamified/designed to sow discord/disgruntlement to the point that the point of playing the game in the first place is occasionally but still way-to-often lost and taken over by BGA rules that have nothing to do with the game designer’s game. (e.g., why should taking advantage of another player reaching end-of-clock be a strategy in the game?)

Not everything is about playing a game and winning/losing. Part of the point is enjoying your time and doing what you want to do. Kicking out someone out of time is not "taking advantage" of anything, it's deciding that you have something better to do than waiting for someone who cannot or will not stick to the commitment.

If I create a turn-based game with 24 moves per day, I expect it to be played relatively fast, and be finished in a couple of days (depending on the game). If someone joins the table and plays twice in a day... well, I feel entitled to kick them out as soon as they run out of time, If I wanted that, I'd have created a 2-moves-per-day table. Maybe next time they'll read the settings before joining and not waste my time. I don't care about the win/loss status of the game.

2) for players out of time give the player 15 minutes in order to keep playing

15 minutes in real time? No, please. 15 minutes in turn-based? Maybe, but it won't help when the player is sleeping. Just warn them when they have 15 minutes left, then they have 15 minutes to keep playing.

3) stop making the other players the bad guy by pushing them to skip the player out-of-time

Also, don't log who is kicking out (for 3+ player games), and allow kicking out several players who are out of time simultaneously.

Additional Ideas: Playing hours that are relative to the player's time zone. Allow players to see if the other players are online during the game, regardless of friendship relation. (Allows for communication.)

Don't you have the green/gray online icon for that?

[Grimwold]

Agree with a lot of the comments here, but I think they all miss the essence of the main issue:

BGA is gamified/designed to sow discord/disgruntlement to the point that the point of playing the game in the first place is occasionally but still way-to-often lost and taken over by BGA rules that have nothing to do with the game designer’s game. (e.g., why should taking advantage of another player reaching end-of-clock be a strategy in the game?)
(...)

Just to be clear ...
If you invite me to play a boardgame IRL and I came.
We are roughly 60% completion of the game we are playing, and suddenly, without a word, I got up, leave your house, go back to my car and go ... somewhere.

You are saying that you will keep the board on your table for hours (days ?) waiting for me to come back and continue the game. Even if I'm ot answering your phone call and/or message ?

At no time, you will think "let's wrap it up" ?



I'm all about making all players happy.
If a player doesn't want to play anymore, why shouldn't I grant their wish and kick them out ?

[ulib]

Does anyone know why you are now automatically expelled 20 seconds after you run out of time?
I understand people get annoyed if players just vanish or need ages to play. It is your right to do expel people but until a few days ago it was the decision of the other players. No it happens very fast automatically.

I have waited several times not expelling the other player and all for a good reason: sometimes internet connection broke and they need some time to connect again. Or some important stuff in real life (answering the door for a parcel delivered or important phone calls). I have switched to a turn based game too several times and most times we could finish the game. But now you have to be really fast switching to turn based.

[Jellby]

Nothing has changed there. As soon as you run out of time, some other player can start kicking you out, and 20 seconds later kick you out for good. Some players, in some circumstances, may wait longer, others don't, and it's their right.