Expel Timer Needs to Be Adjusted

[booksfr]

I don’t know if this is the right place for this, but in other games like TTA, you’re able to escape being expelled once someone hits the button so long as you are making actions. In this game you cannot and it is infuriating.

Twice now, I’ve gotten to the last ten minutes of an hour+ game and been expel spammed on the last/second last turn when doing combo actions and despite me walking through the turn (so not absent) these sore losers have been able to expel me mid-action. I have never encountered this is any other BGA game.

The most maddening part is that it happens in this game that takes such a significant time investment and has multiple parts to each step. If any game should allow you to escape expelling so long as you are acting it is this one. Notable times it has happened to me here it was as I was placing a sponsor building if that matters.

What gives??

[KeithHendricks]

The expel timer should be eliminated, as no matter why it was implemented, it mainly serves as a spite machine, a kind of bear trap for players to spring on lagging game leaders in order to protect their rankings. It creates a bad customer experience, as it is a bad feeling for one to invest a few weeks in a turn based 7 player Caverna only to have someone throw the table into the air in round 10.

Instead of expelling players, one should be given an option to give a player a “time demerit” or something like that. Games would be preserved from “spite demolition,” and one could also see how many time demerits someone had before joining a game with them. Penalization should be in kind like this, with a player getting the option to directly penalize just the offending player, not destroy an entire game, which affects the experience of everyone at the table. Time demerits could also affect the ability to create or join tables.

[booksfr]

yes! thank you!

I also was frustratingly expelled on a recent-ish turn-based ark nova game that I didn't mean to enter (started as real-time and guy had to leave, thought he was proposing abandon but he had proposed turn-base) and wasn't able to complete as I was camping in an area without service.

the time demerit suggestion is a great alternative. ESPECIALLY, again, on these big time investment games. I have also noticed with ark nova that a person is able to spam the request abandon button when s/he feels a person is taking too long but hasn't gone below their limit as another irksome tactic. this also is not something I think you can do in most games. I know for sure in Werewolf that a person can only request to abandon once for at least five minutes. for this game, i have seen the same person spam that button within seconds.

[GTSchemer]

The expel timer should be eliminated, as no matter why it was implemented, it mainly serves as a spite machine, a kind of bear trap for players to spring on lagging game leaders in order to protect their rankings. It creates a bad customer experience, as it is a bad feeling for one to invest a few weeks in a turn based 7 player Caverna only to have someone throw the table into the air in round 10.

Instead of expelling players, one should be given an option to give a player a “time demerit” or something like that. Games would be preserved from “spite demolition,” and one could also see how many time demerits someone had before joining a game with them. Penalization should be in kind like this, with a player getting the option to directly penalize just the offending player, not destroy an entire game, which affects the experience of everyone at the table. Time demerits could also affect the ability to create or join tables.

The main problem with this is that it would be rife for abuse. If you are unable to expel a player who may go absent for minutes or hours, they could simply wait until a time when you are offline, then turn around and give you a demerit once you finally stop waiting for them to make a move.

It would be nice if the expel timer were longer, like 60 seconds, and without the constant ticking sound. However, that is not up to game developers.

A much larger problem is that many players do not even use the "Are you still there" auto-translated message -- or even say in chat "Keith you may need to refresh". This means you might not see it is your turn on your screen, and no one even told you before trying to kick you.

[booksfr]

I have found one of the bug/suggestions for this topic and the leading alternative is to make kick player a unanimous decision from other players like request to abandon. i also love this suggestion. but yes, a longer expel time period would also be helpful in longer games like this.

[Jellby]

I also was frustratingly expelled on a recent-ish turn-based ark nova game that I didn't mean to enter (started as real-time and guy had to leave, thought he was proposing abandon but he had proposed turn-base) and wasn't able to complete as I was camping in an area without service.

That's indeed annoying, but it's only your fault. You should have read the message before clicking "yes", and once you realize you may not be able to play in time, you could have used a time joker to give you 4 extra days (you could have used multiple jokers for up to 16 days).

[booksfr]

That's indeed annoying, but it's only your fault.

of course. all of these scenarios boil down to being my fault. but that doesn't mean i don't wish and see value in allowing for expel alternatives, especially in longer, time commitment games. and it doesn't mean i don't roll my eyes at that guy who wanted us to delay the end of ark nova via turn based for his schedule but then expelled me the moment he could.

[xKOSMICZNYMICHALx]

I would like to either add faster option or punish breaching time more. It is very annoying, most of my games are about 12-17 minutes and most of players i play against are playing for about 20 minutes. But there are players who will use every single minute making the game very long despite the fastest time option available. I had a game where i used 6 minutes of my time and my opponent used more than 30 without going red at any point. It was miserable experience and i just forfeited the game very early. If you aren't able to play as fast just play with more time, as simple as that.

[booksfr]

I would like to either add faster option or punish breaching time more. It is very annoying, most of my games are about 12-17 minutes and most of players i play against are playing for about 20 minutes. But there are players who will use every single minute making the game very long despite the fastest time option available. I had a game where i used 6 minutes of my time and my opponent used more than 30 without going red at any point. It was miserable experience and i just forfeited the game very early. If you aren't able to play as fast just play with more time, as simple as that.

you played a full ark nova game with just six minutes of thinking time? that is insane. i don't even know how you'd enjoyed it at that speed. I mean kudos for you and your brain optimization, but I think you are the most extreme of outliers unless you have another username and are talking about other games.

ETA I just looked at a half dozen of your recent games, you're playing an average between 12 and 13 minutes which I think is much more relatable. still faster than your opponents, but much smaller gap to 20 minutes.

[MaddenMan]

I agree it needs to be adjusted. It's WAYYYYYY too long between turns.