WHY WAS I PUT IN TWO GAMES I NEVER ASKED FOR????

[DJVance]

I just joined and became premium. I asked to be in a Railways of the World game.

Next time I log on, I am in one a Railways of the World game but also in Portugal Railways and Ticket to Ride!!!!

*?!? Why am I in games I never asked to join? HOW DO I QUIT?!? There seems to be no option to quit.

Is the system broken or does it always add you to unwanted games? ISn't there supposed to be an ACCEPT/DECLINE option for each game???

*Moderator edit: please use family-friendly language on BGA

[Meeplelowda]

ISn't there supposed to be an ACCEPT/DECLINE option for each game???

It looks like all the games you played before these were real-time and non-Arena in which there is an accept/decline option. You either intentionally or accidentally got in a queue for three turn-based games. There is no accept/decline for those.

These are the Railways of the World game maps that the automatic matching filter says you're open to by default:

Game Map
I'm okay playing with Railways of the Eastern U.S.
I'm okay playing with Railways of Mexico (Max 4 players)
I'm okay playing with Railways of Great Britain (Max 5 players)
I'm okay playing with Railways of Western U.S.
I'm okay playing with Railways of Portugal (Max 4 players)
I'm okay playing with Railways of North America (Max 5 players)
I'm okay playing with Transcontinental Railways
I'm okay playing with Railways of Nippon
I'm okay playing with Railways of Europe
I'm okay playing with Railways of Australia
I'm okay playing with Railways of Sweden

So unless you set the filters to "I never want to play with [map variant]", you can possibly be matched in a game with that map. Alternatively, you can set up the game yourself using manual game creation to specify every setting you want.

[DJVance]

Thanks for the explanation, but I never saw any screen asking me what games I was open to. This site obviously does not have an easy User Interface as a priority, and that's fine, but it's not for me. Diving into obscure/hidden menus is not my idea of fun!

[DJVance]

I looked at all the settings I could find and THERE IS NO PLACE to select these game choices. I just put everything as real time since I do not want to be shanghaied into random games like it did! Where the hell you found those settings, I can't find 'em! Never saw them as they were never presented to me.

I also cancelled my subscription.

I mean, seriously, the turn based interface is soooooooo broken! I've spent more time troubleshooting than playing games!

Not exactly a pleasant experience, is it?

This sums up my experience:

1. Yes, I'd like to play turn based non real time games. How about Railways of the World? OK!
2. Surprise! You're now in three games, including Ticket to Ride (which I never signed up for) and some variation of Railways of the World I never heard of!
3. I check out tech support or some kind of explanation. NO TECH SUPPORT! Only FAQs. So I post here.
4. Someone who must work here (?) shows me a list of preferences attached to me THAT I HAVE NEVER SEEN.

OK, bye. This is the opposite of fun.

[Meeplelowda]

I looked at all the settings I could find and THERE IS NO PLACE to select these game choices.

First, I do not work here.

Second, these settings are found by clicking the gear symbol (common in many UIs to indicate settings) to the left the game thumbnail on the Play Now page (see the link to Play Now at the top of every page of this site). Under "Game Map" it will say "No preferences (Change)" by default. Clicking on "Change" will open up all the options I copied above.

Third, I take this as more evidence that all the time and development effort they put into making the new "intuitive" interface that was supposed to be easier to use was wasted.

[DJVance]

I looked at all the settings I could find and THERE IS NO PLACE to select these game choices.

First, I do not work here.

Second, these settings are found by clicking the gear symbol (common in many UIs to indicate settings) to the left the game thumbnail on the Play Now page (see the link to Play Now at the top of every page of this site). Under "Game Map" it will say "No preferences (Change)" by default. Clicking on "Change" will open up all the options I copied above.

Third, I take this as more evidence that all the time and development effort they put into making the new "intuitive" interface that was supposed to be easier to use was wasted.

Thanks for trying to help. I have attached a screenshot of my browser in the Play Now window. There is NO GEAR ICON as you describe... I'm on the latest version of Chrome.

The interface here is the opposite of intuitive

play now.jpg (205.8 KiB) Viewed 453 times

[Mr_Magic]

If you change the game type to automatic then you should see the gear icons. They control how the Automatic system matches you to game tables. With it set to Manual as it is in your screenshot then you are manually choosing a table to join and so can see the game settings involved beforehand.

I'm guessing at some point you had the game type set to automatic and clicked on a few games which triggered searches for each.

The turn based system does work well, I use it almost exclusively, but it does take a little getting used to!

[cigma]

I'm guessing at some point you had the game type set to automatic and clicked on a few games which triggered searches for each.

Maybe DJVance was lead to a variant of Railways of the World by using Automatic Mode before. But how the system lead him to Ticket to Ride then, I have no idea.

I always use Play now and Manual for my game settings and never had any issues. I recommend using this mode to avoid unpleasant surprises.

[Meeplelowda]

There is NO GEAR ICON as you describe.

As Mr Magic wrote, you have to change the selection in right column from Manual to Automatic in order to see the gears. There is no need for it in Manual because you choose each of these things under Table Configuration when you manually create the table. Whereas in Automatic matching you can tell the system ahead of time what you are looking for.

BGA_game_settings.png (325.92 KiB) Viewed 294 times

[PaulB-UK]

I've joined multiple turn-based games by mistake before. When the game starts you're not directed to it, but the notification will say it's your turn - the lobby will reset and you can click play now again. Not realising I'd joined a game, I thought the search had stopped and kept clicking it and joined several games. Wouldn't explain the ticket to ride game, but might explain how you joined more games than you thought.