Board Game Arena

Hello! I'm hoping this is a quick ask. Is there a way to create an additional table (i.e. I already have a table looking for players) in such a way that it's not open for players to join immediately? I have two friends that I want to play the same two-player game with, and if I create an additional table, it's available for anyone to join for a few seconds until I can send the invite. I'm guessing I'm just doing something wrong. I'm playing on PC. Thanks for any responses!

BryTheBeav02 wrote: ↑25 October 2023, 01:01 Hello! I'm hoping this is a quick ask. Is there a way to create an additional table (i.e. I already have a table looking for players) in such a way that it's not open for players to join immediately? I have two friends that I want to play the same two-player game with, and if I create an additional table, it's available for anyone to join for a few seconds until I can send the invite. I'm guessing I'm just doing something wrong. I'm playing on PC. Thanks for any responses!

Are you creating tables starting from the Play Now page above? If so, if you use manual or friends table creation you can invite friends and wait for them to join before opening the table.

You can probably do it from the new lobby as well, and I'm sure someone will tell you how to do that.

Thank you for the reply. The Play Now screen seems to limit the tables I create to Friendly, Tournament, or Arena when playing Turn-Based with friends. My friends and I like playing for Elo. This is my biggest hang-up with the Play Now interface. I could be totally missing something, and if I am I would love to know how to configure a turn-based game with friends from the play now screen that was X moves per day.

If you use the Play Now interface, you can change the game speed to turn-based, and then invite players at your leisure.

With this interface, the turn-based table should not start until it is full, or until you click the button start.


Please be aware though, if you play with the same players repeatedly, that's not what the elo system is for, since you're only comparing against your friend. As a simple example, this is a common elo rating abuse scenario: 2 players keep playing each other, and one of them repeatedly wins -- that one player is gaining an artificially inflated rating so they appear high on the BGA elo chart.

Likewise, playing elo-rated games with a friend would be against BGA policy if the 2 players always team up against the strangers, and it's not a team game.

GTSchemer wrote: ↑25 October 2023, 20:49 Please be aware though, if you play with the same players repeatedly, that's not what the elo system is for, since you're only comparing against your friend. As a simple example, this is a common elo rating abuse scenario: 2 players keep playing each other, and one of them repeatedly wins -- that one player is gaining an artificially inflated rating so they appear high on the BGA elo chart.

If they're only playing against each other, they can still compare ELO in that group. Yes, it's not valid against the wider BGA community, but if they only play amongst themselves, then that doesn't really matter. If they move to play in the regular BGA community, their ELO will become adjusted over time naturally.

That said, deliberately allowing one player to win so another can get an inflated ELO is another matter, but I didn't get the impression anything like that was going on here. While I get how ELO is supposed to work, and why some people get annoyed at people who only play in a small group, if people aren't deliberately abusing the system, then I think they're free to enjoy it as they please. And I doubt anyone will reach the high levels of ELO playing in a small group unless they're deliberately trying to manipulate their score.

BryTheBeav02 wrote: ↑25 October 2023, 20:33I could be totally missing something, and if I am I would love to know how to configure a turn-based game with friends from the play now screen that was X moves per day.

There are at least two ways to do this, but I'll go through one.

From the Play Now page:
1) Set the left column to Simple Game, the middle column to Turn-Based, and the right column to Manual.
2) Click the button under the game you want to set up (it will either say "Play now!" if no other tables are waiting for players, or show a table icon with a number next to it).
3) An area will open up that says "Create a new table." Click the "Create" button on the right.
4) On the "Configuring a new game table" screen that opens up, set Game mode to "normal mode."
5) Set game speed to one of the turned-based speeds of your choice.
6) If you select a "Fast Turn-based" mode, you will also have to choose playing hours (which will be shown in your time zone).
7) Configure any other options available for that particular game.
8) Select the number of players that will be in the game.
9) After all this, click the "Invite a friend" button and, well, invite a friend. If they are offline, it will ask if you want to send an invitation by email.