Question about reputation penalty for being skipped

[ollie_ollie_ollie]

Hello.
I'm relatively new to BGA and loving it so far. Having originally been nervous of playing strangers online, I've found almost everyone I've played with to be fantastic, so thank you to all of them.

I did have one experience which wasn't so positive though and wanted to check my understanding of the rules around what happened. I was playing a game of real time backgammon on a very fast setting, so it was only 11 seconds added per turn. I've played a lot of Backgammon in the real world and a fair few games on here so I'm comfortable at that speed. On this occasion though my daughter was asking me lots of questions while I was playing so I was a bit distracted and went into the red. As soon as that happened the other player skipped and the game ended. I thought that was a bit off given I was clearly still playing and only a couple of seconds over, but I totally understand why that mechanism exists, and I think it's implemented very well. The thing that concerned me though is that I got a notification saying I'd quit on a game and would receive a 10 point reputation reduction, but it would be waived because it was my first one. Does that mean if the same happens again I would lose 10 points even for just a couple of seconds over? That seems a little harsh, particularly because people seem to go into the red quite regularly, but are given a fair chance to catch up by the other players.

[SiRan90]

Pretty much. Most people will be fine with a short overrun but there will always be the possibility that someone will skip you (particularly if they are losing and their Elo matters to them so much).

Saying that, if it does happen you will make up a 10 point rep loss pretty quickly and most people won't stop you from joining a game unless it's below 70.

[Meeplelowda]

Does that mean if the same happens again I would lose 10 points even for just a couple of seconds over? That seems a little harsh, particularly because people seem to go into the red quite regularly, but are given a fair chance to catch up by the other players.

If someone goes in the red, expelling them is not automatic. Their opponent has to choose to do it. I wouldn't do it immediately if I can see that you've been playing regularly, but some people jump at the opportunity to do it.

Also, the first time they try this there is a 20-second countdown before they can actually complete it. So that means in order to be kicked someone has to go to zero time, not move for however much time it takes for their opponent to decide to expel them, and then not move for an additional 20 seconds. There is a feature that going into the red several times on the same turn will reduce the 20-second countdown, but the first time your timer hits zero it works as described.

[bopeepsheep]

the first time they try this there is a 20-second countdown before they can actually complete it. So that means in order to be kicked someone has to go to zero time, not move for however much time it takes for their opponent to decide to expel them, and then not move for an additional 20 seconds.

The trouble with this is players who know that's how it works and exploit it to drag their turn down to 0:00 or -0:05 each go, because they know they cannot be kicked. Just had a game of Catan abandoned by a player who appears to do this quite often. You can't report for anything when they do this, only red thumb them.

[Meeplelowda]

The trouble with this is players who know that's how it works and exploit it to drag their turn down to 0:00 or -0:05 each go, because they know they cannot be kicked.

The release note from 1 Sept. 2022 that I alluded to says:

delay to expel player now decreases from 20s to 0s, if this is still the turn of the overtime player

So yes, they get the full 20 seconds on the next turn. However, going down to 0:00 is not "exploiting." When someone takes a while to act, a message appears saying "This player is not playing: what can I do?" If you click on it, it say:

Is a player not playing? You can:
First, remember that each player has the absolute right to think for the entire allotment of their thinking time.
Try to contact this person via the chatroom.
You may be disconnected from the server and the other player(s) may be waiting on you: refresh the page (hit F5) to check.
If a player is definitely not there, you just have to wait until this player's thinking time is over.
As soon as your opponent is out of time, you can skip their turn.
DO NOT quit the game by yourself: you would get a penalty for leaving and the other player would not.

That first sentence ends the discussion. Their allotted time is whatever the time setting is for that game, plus 20 seconds if they complete their turn because that timing is built into the framework. You are free to red thumb people who take the whole time when it does not seem necessary, like when they only have one legal move or something, but that's all you can do, other than join the chorus of people asking for even faster settings than the fastest current setting. Taking your entire time is no more an exploit than kicking someone who is out of time (even when you're losing).