Board Game Arena

I play the vast majority of my games in Arena and use what seems to be the most popular time setting of 1 turn per day. I thought I understood that to mean that you start off with 2 days and you get a day added to your banked clock (but not to exceed 2 days total) every time it's your turn.

In other words, your clock would start ticking down from 2 days and, provided you took your turn in less than 24 hours, you'll be back up to 2 days on your next turn. So, if you take more than a day on consecutive turns, you'll start to run out of your banked time and, if you keep doing so, you'll run out of time.

But that doesn't seem to be how it works. I'm in a game against someone who is approaching 2 days without having taken a turn. However, their clock was on 2 days for the entirety of the first day they didn't move and only started counting down after 24 hours. In other words, they allegedly had 2 days to take their turn, then after 24 hours of not doing so, they started counting down from 48 hours. So they really have 3 days to do so.

Why does it say 2 days if it really means 3?

You have 3 days at the beginning, but when it's his turn, a second is gone, and then another one... SO, the real number is 2 days 23 hours 59 minutes and 59 seconds. So, that's why this is marked 2 days

titi-togepi wrote: ↑08 March 2024, 14:26 You have 3 days at the beginning, but when it's his turn, a second is gone, and then another one... SO, the real number is 2 days 23 hours 59 minutes and 59 seconds. So, that's why this is marked 2 days

thanks for the clarification

Thanks for asking your question- the clock system is so confusing and not well explained in the FAQ. I swear I play every couple of hours, sometimes even in the middle of the night, and I can’t figure out why my time shows red for some games. I’m going to have to pay better attention to parameters of games that I join.

Meeple Mama wrote: ↑15 March 2024, 16:27 Thanks for asking your question- the clock system is so confusing and not well explained in the FAQ. I swear I play every couple of hours, sometimes even in the middle of the night, and I can’t figure out why my time shows red for some games. I’m going to have to pay better attention to parameters of games that I join.

I came here to say this very thing. Sometimes I'm in games with people in the same time zone as me (CET) and we all seem to be playing regularly, yet my clock will drop significantly while theirs don't. I'm reluctant to join 2 day tournaments and NEVER join one day ones. Even 3 days can be risky, because I just don't understand how it works.

Panthergirl wrote: ↑17 March 2024, 10:27

Meeple Mama wrote: ↑15 March 2024, 16:27 Thanks for asking your question- the clock system is so confusing and not well explained in the FAQ. I swear I play every couple of hours, sometimes even in the middle of the night, and I can’t figure out why my time shows red for some games. I’m going to have to pay better attention to parameters of games that I join.

I came here to say this very thing. Sometimes I'm in games with people in the same time zone as me (CET) and we all seem to be playing regularly, yet my clock will drop significantly while theirs don't. I'm reluctant to join 2 day tournaments and NEVER join one day ones. Even 3 days can be risky, because I just don't understand how it works.

Tournaments are fixed time limit, you don't get any additional time per turn. Everyone's clock can only decrease. If their clock is decreasing less than yours they are in fact taking their turns even quicker than you on average. Depending on time zones / schedules, the game, and match time limit, it can be almost impossible to not time out during some tournament games. You just have to do what you can and hope the others don't kick you.

Regular turn based is a completely different story, since you refill time whenever it's your move, they're much less sensitive to time zone mismatches.

ErikLevin wrote: ↑17 March 2024, 12:53

Panthergirl wrote: ↑17 March 2024, 10:27

Meeple Mama wrote: ↑15 March 2024, 16:27 Thanks for asking your question- the clock system is so confusing and not well explained in the FAQ. I swear I play every couple of hours, sometimes even in the middle of the night, and I can’t figure out why my time shows red for some games. I’m going to have to pay better attention to parameters of games that I join.

I came here to say this very thing. Sometimes I'm in games with people in the same time zone as me (CET) and we all seem to be playing regularly, yet my clock will drop significantly while theirs don't. I'm reluctant to join 2 day tournaments and NEVER join one day ones. Even 3 days can be risky, because I just don't understand how it works.

Tournaments are fixed time limit, you don't get any additional time per turn. Everyone's clock can only decrease. If their clock is decreasing less than yours they are in fact taking their turns even quicker than you on average. Depending on time zones / schedules, the game, and match time limit, it can be almost impossible to not time out during some tournament games. You just have to do what you can and hope the others don't kick you.

Regular turn based is a completely different story, since you refill time whenever it's your move, they're much less sensitive to time zone mismatches.

OK, good to know. Thanks!

I didn't realize that turn-based counts time differently than tournaments - thank you!