Board Game Arena

Hi all. I'm relatively new(ish) with using BGA with any kind of consistency. I personally prefer to play games with a lot of turns per day, if I wait too long in between turns I often lose the momentum of what I'm trying to do.

However, I have found (with a lot of frequency) that people in drastically different time zones jump into games with many moves a day but then don't end playing more than 1 or 2 moves a day because they are asleep when the rest of the players are awake.

First, any suggestions on how to deal with it? Just know that's how BGA is and get over it? Or is there any setting to restrict people to a particular time zone when setting up games?

Thanks!

You can define a 12-hour period of playing hours for any "fast" turn based games (8 moves/day or more). However, people have to choose whether they join those, and there's nothing to force them based on their timezone (wouldn't work anyway, since we might have different timezones, but if I play in my morning and you play in your evening, our time online may align anyway). If they go over their time limit, you can kick them out, but that ends the game (more or less) and you have to go find a new table. Personally, I'd prefer to keep playing, unless a person has disappeared for days at a time, but it's up to you.

The other downside of setting playing hours is I assume you play in a reduced pool of players, but it might depend where you're from. I almost never see what I would consider a good set of playing hours for me, so I don't think I'd have many players looking to play at the same time as me, or maybe they just don't play fast turn based.

nik592 wrote: ↑08 February 2024, 03:46 You can define a 12-hour period of playing hours for any "fast" turn based games (8 moves/day or more). However, people have to choose whether they join those, and there's nothing to force them based on their timezone (wouldn't work anyway, since we might have different timezones, but if I play in my morning and you play in your evening, our time online may align anyway). If they go over their time limit, you can kick them out, but that ends the game (more or less) and you have to go find a new table. Personally, I'd prefer to keep playing, unless a person has disappeared for days at a time, but it's up to you.

The other downside of setting playing hours is I assume you play in a reduced pool of players, but it might depend where you're from. I almost never see what I would consider a good set of playing hours for me, so I don't think I'd have many players looking to play at the same time as me, or maybe they just don't play fast turn based.

I somewhat recently tried using playing hours for a fast turn-based game (8 moves/day). Given that it's a 12-hour window, there seems no ideal way to set it. If you have it begin in the evening after work, then it extends past bedtime through the next morning. If you have it begin in the morning when you wake up, it extends through the work day. I mean, I suppose many people *do* play at work/school, but I don't want having to do so baked in.

But the interesting thing is that it took just as long as the next slowest turn-based setting I'd used for previous games, 4 moves/day with no playing hours. So I'm not sure I see the advantage unless you really ramp it up to 12 moves/day or more.

Meeplelowda wrote: ↑08 February 2024, 04:30 But the interesting thing is that it took just as long as the next slowest turn-based setting I'd used for previous games, 4 moves/day with no playing hours. So I'm not sure I see the advantage unless you really ramp it up to 12 moves/day or more.

As has been explained to me 4 turns/day is really 1/turn/player/day in a 4p game or 2 turns/player/day. I typically get on here at least 5 times a day - over breakfast, a couple of times through the day when I take breaks from work (at least 2 but may be more), after work and before bed. So potentially that's a lot more than twice per day. But that doesn't matter much if my opponent(s) only login twice per day, and if they take a turn just after I log off for the night, that's likely a good 8-10 hours I'll run my clock down daily. Which is well more than the 6 hours regained per turn (or less on a fast game) if I only get the opportunity to earn that once per day. I did try an 8 turn per day game once and it ran a little too tight for my liking. My opponents may have felt it ran too slow and I agree it didn't seem noticeably faster than my 4 turn/day games. But to play faster games, the time zone does have to suit you - sure you're probably not online and available all of those 12 hours, but if you are for even 8-10 of them you're probably fine.

MethBear14 wrote: ↑08 February 2024, 02:17 Hi all. I'm relatively new(ish) with using BGA with any kind of consistency. I personally prefer to play games with a lot of turns per day, if I wait too long in between turns I often lose the momentum of what I'm trying to do.

However, I have found (with a lot of frequency) that people in drastically different time zones jump into games with many moves a day but then don't end playing more than 1 or 2 moves a day because they are asleep when the rest of the players are awake.

First, any suggestions on how to deal with it? Just know that's how BGA is and get over it? Or is there any setting to restrict people to a particular time zone when setting up games?

Thanks!

I have the same issue. I would love to play more often, f.e. at the weekend and finish a game within 2 days but more often than not I am forced to keep playing after the weekend, when I do not have time. I would second time zones, than 24 moves per day would really be 24 moves in a certain time frame and there would be a realistic chance of finishing within 2 days. That's why I prefer 2-player and I check which country the other player is from and what reputation they have. I also avoid players that have a lot of games going on at the same time as they tend to take longer to make their move. Or best, arrange a game with someone you know.

orangeorgreen wrote: ↑24 August 2024, 12:46 I would second time zones, than 24 moves per day would really be 24 moves in a certain time frame

24 moves per day (and 16 and 8) already have time zones (well, playing hours), so they are 24 moves in a certain time frame. The problem is people ignore it.