Board Game Arena

Dear admin,

this afternoon, in three consecutive games, players agreed play with Friendly Robber rules. I asked specifically if including or not 2 dev cards. In these games one of the players broke the rule in a critical moment and finally, the "tricky" player got the victory. No sanctions. Only reward to break an agreed rule. It is annoying. Sorry, but in the third game I was out of myself. Very angry.

I think it is more than urgent to add the friendly robber in the Arena mode. It is very hard to get stars and lose those stars because one player in using this legal vacuum in their own benefit.

Thanks

Partenope y Ulises

The format for arena is predetermined for the whole season. If this season isn't friendly robber, it wont be for the whole season. the Guru's vote for each seasons settings.


Dont assume friendly robber unless the actuall game settings are set that way.

I have been playing Arena and I find it really annoying when my opponents assume an agreement for Friendly Robber without anything being said. Sometimes I say at the outset, "Just to let everyone know, I do not play Friendly Robber." But I shouldn't have to say that. Maybe better wording would be, "Just to let everyone know, the Friendly Robber variant is not enabled here." But I am aware that not everyone speaks English well so I want to keep it simple.

Cross-references: https://boardgamearena.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37381 and https://boardgamearena.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37484

Parténope y Ulises wrote: ↑18 July 2024, 19:49 No sanctions. Only reward to break an agreed rule.

The rule was "no friendly robber". You tried to "break" the rule by deciding something different in the chat. If the other player agreed to that and then broke their promise, you can red-thumb them for personal reasons, but they did nothing against the game rules or the site's terms. But Catan (and other games) is also a game of bluff and trickery, and maybe trusting what others say they will or will not do is not the best idea...

It is very hard to get stars and lose those stars because one player in using this legal vacuum in their own benefit.

To reiterate, there's no legal vacuum. If Arena is set without friendly robber on, the rule is no friendly robber.

I just played a game and did not play friendly robber, I don’t really like the friendly robber for a few reasons, if it is agreed upon or another player initiates it I will always comply with it, but if I roll the first 7 I tend not to play it. This last game that resulted in both players only stealing from me the entire game, neither player stole from the other at all even when they were both several points ahead of me, so basically I got punished for literally playing within the rules, I had alternated between who I stole from when points were equal and then stole from the person with most points later, yet they both only ever stole from me. I have also seen people break the friendly robber rule after it has been agreed and thereby really screw other players over. I feel like it’s actually just causing more problems than it’s worth to be honest, much more straightforward when the standard was no friendly robber imo.

Please do NOT add the friendly robber to arena.

It usually helps the player with the best setup when the others are not able to slow him down.

And I saw people changing their strategy according to friendly robber with not building cities or settlements but "prepare spots" instead. And suddenly they are able to build 2 or 3 settlements in 3 turns.

I would rather raise arena level for Catan to 200 ELO, since I realised that "beginners" just look at the current points concerning the robber, and not realising what one more road or knight could mean, or what a certain port does for a specigic player...

Get arena to four players. None of this friendly robber drama ever comes up in four player games, at least not in turn-based games. People just get on and play the game.

I don´t play FR mode if the first seven is mine. Is it clear???
Thanks.

Parténope y Ulises wrote: ↑18 July 2024, 19:49
I asked specifically if including or not 2 dev cards.

1, Why are you even asking this? Friendly Robber is only concerned with pieces on the board. That’s how the official variant works. It has nothing to do with development cards, played or unplayed.

2, If Arena isn’t set to FR mode, then there is no FR. There should be zero discussion about it. No one should expect it, or ask for it.

3, Arena is currently a joke anyway because it’s always set to 3 players. I won’t participate until they make it 4p, as the game is designed for, and the way all official real-life tournaments are run.

When I play Arena I post this
"hi all the arena setting is Variant: Friendly RobberDisabled if you do not agree please request to abandon the game collectively"

And if someone rolls 7 and doesn't rob, I don't make it my problem