Bring back Turn Based "No Time Limit + Friends Only"

[dschingis27]

Guys, I think you really don't need to argue why you like games without time limit. Everyone including admins can understand that. The question is why you need Elo at the same time and there have been some good points made about that.

But whenever I read here sth simple like "No time limit is my favorite mode.", "Learn new games without any pressure", "I enjoy the flexibility.", it comes across as ignorant as all of this is still possible.

[Cyborg91]

Reading the many messages and the few arguments and responses of the platform, I think that
we
players playing only turn-based with no time limit, only with friends, although loyal players, although paying for some of us the subscription to support the platform and remunarate the authors and publishers of games, although having brought our real friends and families on this platform to be able to continue with those who are distant,
are not (or no longer?) BGA's preferred marketing target.
Indeed we are not the ones who generate the most traffic on the site. And it is the traffic that gives financial value to internet sites...
So I think they are trying through their choices to encourage players to connect more frequently.
Vision a little fatalistic on my part, I admit!
We will see if BGA retains or not the different very good solutions proposed through the previous pages.

Please, BGA team, don't ignore us!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A la lecture des nombreux messages et du peu d'argumentations et de réponses de la plateforme, je pense que
nous,
joueurs jouant uniquement en tour à tour sans limite de temps, uniquement entre amis, bien que joueurs fidèles, bien que payant pour certains l'abonnement pour soutenir la plateforme et rémunérer les auteurs et éditeurs de jeux, bien qu'ayant amené nos vrais amis et familles sur cette plateforme pour pouvoir continuer avec ceux qui sont distants,
ne sommes pas (ou plus ?) la cible marketing privilégiée de BGA.
En effet nous ne sommes pas ceux qui génèrent le plus de trafic sur le site. Or c'est le trafic qui donne de la valeur financière aux sites internets...
Je pense qu'ils essayent donc par leurs choix d'inciter les joueurs à se connecter plus fréquemment.
Vision un peu fataliste de ma part, je l'avoue !
Nous verrons si BGA retient les différentes très bonnes solutions proposées dans les pages précédentes... ou pas !

S'il vous plaît, BGA, ne nous ignorez pas !

[favouritefoe]

Has there been an official response to this point? I think it's a real shame the option for no time limit has been taken away, but maybe I'm missing something. So it would be really interesting to understand the official reason.

[cigma]

Has there been an official response to this point? I think it's a real shame the option for no time limit has been taken away, but maybe I'm missing something. So it would be really interesting to understand the official reason.

The reason given by sourisdudesert you can find in this former thread: https://boardgamearena.com/forum/viewto ... 6&start=20

[Virgil Prane]

Guys, I think you really don't need to argue why you like games without time limit. Everyone including admins can understand that. The question is why you need Elo at the same time and there have been some good points made about that.

But whenever I read here sth simple like "No time limit is my favorite mode.", "Learn new games without any pressure", "I enjoy the flexibility.", it comes across as ignorant as all of this is still possible.

Why do you need ELO? We don't but it's helpful in determining like skilled players. But if you actually want to have these metrics worth anything, arbitrarily deciding only games that happen under fast time limit matters, back fires.

How does a ELO system benefit, if me and all of the players like me (it's actually a decent amount of people judging by metrics on Yucata or other platforms, or even these active thread, and previous locked threads),

ultimately play their next 100 competitive games unranked / outside the system? Or next 500 games? That's basically the conclusion of going the track of "you can still play without a time limit under training".

How do people who don't want to play competitively and are using a "training" mode to figure out a game, benefit from being wrecked by the old masters who have been forced out of the ranking system in order to play games at an enjoyable pace?

It's just boneheaded. This regression in the system of BGA removing, Turn Based "No Time Limit + Friends Only" makes the competitive pool limited by a time preference, and not skill, while throwing new players to sharks. Sharks who might not even want to be playing against folk who are training.
Also, how would they even know if someone's new if they don't mention it, if everyone in that space's records aren't represented?
Training mode no longer is for figuring out games, it's just where people who want to play games at their own pace go.
Just cascading problems with this change.

[ldpaulson]

So I feel like something should be done even though I couldn't care less about the change. Mainly because the mishandling of this situation makes me worry about what will happen when something I do care about gets broken.

This is an understated point that should worry everyone.
We're talking about a change that is "fixing" something that wasn't even broken.

I don't know this site for long (2020) but I discovered it because Covid made me look for ways to keep playing with friends. And it was such a joy to learn new games without any pressure. Some of my friends play everyday, some don't. Others completely go offline for 2 weeks while they are on vacations. And that's a beautiful thing.

It didn't took long for me too buy the year subscription, because I wanted to support the work this guy have done for the community, and I never stopped since then, but this change is really giving me a sour taste in my mouth, and I'll be more aware of other changes until my premium expires because maybe next time I don't feel so motivated to support this website.

Yes.

I especially concur with the point about friends needing to step away for days or weeks at a time due to family or work obligations -- or vacation. Some reasons people need to be away aren't always connected with offline fun. It's more stress to be worrying about whether or not you're looking at BGA with enough regularity to avoid a penalty/penalties while a family member is hospitalized or home and requiring nearly constant care/supervision (elder care/childcare). People have lives and obligations away from the computer. And away from BGA. Shocking, but true.

We play with friends because they are our friends and because we know there will be no explanations needed when/if they need to step away. We're there, holding space for them in a game and will welcome them upon their return, no matter the circumstances.

And that is why the turn-based "no time limit -- friends only" option needs to return.

Please.

ldp

[LoudLibrarian]

BGA, we are waiting! We have asked and asked for this to be returned to us. Why are you not fixing this? We have voted!
Many of us are posting again and again! We are emailing you! We are mad! We want this corrected!
BRING THIS BACK!!!!

[dschingis27]

I especially concur with the point about friends needing to step away for days or weeks at a time due to family or work obligations -- or vacation. Some reasons people need to be away aren't always connected with offline fun. It's more stress to be worrying about whether or not you're looking at BGA with enough regularity to avoid a penalty/penalties while a family member is hospitalized or home and requiring nearly constant care/supervision (elder care/childcare). People have lives and obligations away from the computer. And away from BGA. Shocking, but true.

We play with friends because they are our friends and because we know there will be no explanations needed when/if they need to step away. We're there, holding space for them in a game and will welcome them upon their return, no matter the circumstances.

And that is why the turn-based "no time limit -- friends only" option needs to return.

This doesn't show anything. It just shows that you want the possibility to play games with no time limit. And you could even play for Elo if you are such good friends and your friends can be sure that you not kick them in a regular ranked TB game. Again, as i said before, there is no need to justify why you need a no time lime mode, the question is why there needs to be Elo. Some good, some bad arguments have been given for this. But the things from this post are not even arguments.

[Peter D Switzerland]

Why do we "need" ELO? That's the wrong question ... why do we "want" ELO is a better question.
You don't need chocolate and other nice treats, but you may want them and object if someone takes away that option.

Most of the games on BGA are somewhat competitive. When a group of friends play together (in various sub-sets), they are engaging in a gently competitive activity. ELOs extend that competitive element from the single game to an extended timeframe across many playings of a given game.

In our group of friends, we enjoy the dynamics of ELO shifts as we have runs of good fortune, get relatively better at games and so forth. And we want that along with the other features that suit our availability and style of play.

[Jellby]

In professional sports, rankings are usually calculated from "official" matches, either in regular tournaments or otherwise arranged, but always following some regulations and constraints. You're always free to have other matches with experimental or more relaxed rules, but they usually are not counted for the rankings. Similarly, there's an argument for why some settings (like solo or NTL) should not be counted for ELO.