Catan stealing mechanic

[WALLPERS]

Hi All,

I'm pretty new in Catan but I'm already disappointed by this steal/robber mechanic...
The thing is when you play game for 3-players and you are been stolen twice more often you do have not many options to do... I had game where I've been stolen 9 times vs 5 times in total for my opponents (moreover 2 time they stole each other because I had 0 resources)

So, I don't say thay played party or smth... I say that the game should have more mechanics.. to maybe reward the most stolen player with some additional resource, victory point, or smth.

Currently, I see that I can use only knights to protect myself...but just imagine that you got stolen 1 important resource + your most profit area blocked and you need to collect 3 other resources to draw a development card and only in next turn to be able to pay back... This feels so unbalanced, unfinished and unfair that I do not understand why this game is so popular..

But maybe I miss smth ?

[euklid314]

See Catan as a game where it is your goal to maximize your winning chances but the dice will make the final decision.

This aspect occurs very similar also in the game of Backgammon where you can make the optimal move each time and still lose some games. This might be frustrating if you play like a world champion and lose against a much weaker opponent, but on the other hand it is fascinating that you can (sometimes) beat a much superior player. This aspect makes Catan very appealing for many as a family game since you (your children,...) can win even with suboptimal play. Only on the long run the better player will win more...

If you do not want to accept the huge (and "unfair") luck factor of those games then playing Catan or Backgammon is not the right choice.

[WALLPERS]

Mostly agree, but how do you feel, the card similar to longest/largest path/army but for been stolen x8/x9/x10 times = 2 victory points
Total victory points could be increased till 11 as well.
Would it make game better ?

In my opinion, this would force people to steal smarter but not just dominate one player for some reason..

[KP1024]

The stealing mechanic is here to make the game close. In theory, the player who is ahead will get stolen from more often. If you are getting stolen from a lot, it probably means the other players thought you the most formidable opponent. Now, they may be wrong about the state of the game, and that's where kingmaking is a problem in Catan, but the mechanic itself isn't unfair. Anyway, giving points to players who got stolen from would make more games boring with one player winning big, and BGA doesn't implement house rules anyway.

[Guudys]

Getting stolen from is a part of Catan and it's always been like that. If you don't like it, you should probably play other games. Catan can be a very mean game. If someone wants to steal from you and block your production on the 8, they will do it. They can do it regardless of how far you are in the game.
Most of the time, the person that is ahead is getting targeted but it can happen that some people like to target one person in particular just as a payback for when you blocked their road or something.

See this game of Catan I played when it got added to BGA in Alpha : https://boardgamearena.com/table?table=249322655
We're all players that have played the game many times before so we can evaluate who is ahead pretty easily. I got stolen from 16 times, against the other opponents 7 and 5 times, and still ended up winning. It's because my opponents could see that I was so far ahead they tried to slow me down no matter what. Now, couple that with the person that got stolen from the most with a bonus like +2 points, then that would have meant that I would probably have won in even less turns.

Catan is a race and the robber is there to try to slow down whoever is ahead. Finishing the game on 10 points but then someone else is like "Ah no, sorry, I was stolen from the most so now I'm on 11 points cause you add 2 points, ahaha too bad.", what a terrible feeling!

All in all, I'm defending Catan and I truly don't like the game but I don't think adding a "catch up" mechanism like that to the robber would do any good. There's already a friendly robber rule that some player like (cannot target someone that has 2 points, or less that a certain amount of points, or the player with the least amount of points). You could maybe ask in the suggestion sections of the website, for Catan, to add this variant.

[Karaboudjan]

Please pay also attention to the resources. When you are the only player who is on a (good) straw spot, maybe even the 6 or 8, and everyone is in need of straw, you get robbed a lot.

Especially in the first moves everyone is usually looking for one certain resource (brick and wood to get along, straw and sheep for settlements or development cards). You will realize that good players keep track of who has what and evaluates the chances to exactly steal what he needs...

[Buffal0]

Thank you for posting this. It seems lately if you roll a 7 and actually move the robber to gain resources people are outraged and taking it as a personal attack. I've been playing for many months but over the last month this behavior is occurring more and more. I come to play by the rules and have fun. I get so discouraged when people become angry in the chat over moving the robber when a 7 is rolled. Sometimes I go for the person in the lead but other times for a specific resource. That is my game play choice and shouldn't cause someone to become irate.

Please pay also attention to the resources. When you are the only player who is on a (good) straw spot, maybe even the 6 or 8, and everyone is in need of straw, you get robbed a lot.

Especially in the first moves everyone is usually looking for one certain resource (brick and wood to get along, straw and sheep for settlements or development cards). You will realize that good players keep track of who has what and evaluates the chances to exactly steal what he needs...