unending catan game

[lettucewacker]

can someone come to game 596512555 and get me out of this ?

[nik592]

Nobody except you and the other players at the tables (and maybe some of the admin team, who aren't likely to be online RIGHT NOW) can do anything to affect the table. If you gave a bit more info, people might be able to suggest things to help, but what exactly is the problem?

[lettucewacker]

well the other players have gone into team play, blocked all the possible moves and are refusing to end the game... seems like it will need a moderator.... but i can't do anything, sorry to bother

[euklid314]

well the other players have gone into team play, blocked all the possible moves and are refusing to end the game... seems like it will need a moderator.... but i can't do anything, sorry to bother

Obviously the opponents are stalling a real time game at 7 VP and do not try to go to 10 VP. lettucewacker is pinned in
and cannot exceed 6 VP himself - not even theoretically.

If the opponents were aggressive, just report them. And simply quit the game, take the Elo loss and Karma hit and move on. It is not worth the time and nerves to stay in such a game.

[euklid314]

The game went on for 2 hours (real time, fast time settings) and had 700 moves. Clearly a way of passive-aggressive behavior, stalling the game.

Edit: The behaviour is systematic for that player. He has 2nd accounts (or helpers) and he always team blocks their opponent when the opponent starts as 3rd player. With other starting constellations he offers to collectively abandon the game (which is usually accepted because it is before the first move). Since he can trade ressources with himself he is usually successful in blocking the oppont in with max 4 or 6 points.

Luckily this behavior is reportable and the player will lose his Elo (and a lot of Karma) because of moderation.

[nik592]

While it's not great that players will do this, I'd probably agree with euklid314's initial suggestion - quit and move on. Red thumb the players so you don't meet them again. If you have enough evidence to indicate what they were doing (eg. whatever was in the chat), report them. But at the same time, BGA has never had live moderation for games, and is unlikely to (for the amount of people it might need to facilitate that).

[Jellby]

The "other" solution, next time it happens to someone, is to keep playing and hope they'll get tired or time out at some point, so you can expel them. But then it becomes a staring contest.

[JohnnyCyclops]

The other “two” player accounts in that game no longer exist. Says it all.

[nik592]

I looked into the two accounts yesterday (they still existed even a while after the game ended), and there was also a third account that looked like it was another shill/helper - I also can't find it this morning. So I'm assuming there was either a report or someone with power saw this thread. Either way, better for everyone.

[Meeplelowda]

Edit: The behaviour is systematic for that player. He has 2nd accounts (or helpers) and he always team blocks their opponent when the opponent starts as 3rd player. With other starting constellations he offers to collectively abandon the game (which is usually accepted because it is before the first move). Since he can trade ressources with himself he is usually successful in blocking the oppont in with max 4 or 6 points.

This is why we can't have nice things. I'm happy this seems to have been swiftly dealt with, but sorry it had to be dealt with at all. I shouldn't be surprised because....humans. But I'm still disappointed.