Board Game Arena

I set up a friendly real-time game (no timer, no elo) but my opponent went afk after it was clear that he was in a losing position.

Despite no penalty given to me, I don't exactly want to quit and put a win in their records. And it's not like being prevented from playing another game is an issue because given my schedule the next time I can play a game is in more than 12 hours.

This exact scenario has happened before and I discovered that after 3hrs of inaction the game is just abandoned, but I cannot confirm whether this is what happens or what the exact time is set to. I just reloaded the page after 3 hrs and found the game abandoned.

Can I get some clarification on what happens if all players are inactive in a friendly, untimed, real-time game?

And yes I did red thumb the player.

IIRC, a real time game (friendly or otherwise) will time out after ~four hours of no action, and a turn-based game will time out after ~40 days of no action. (I thought that was in the FAQ but failed to find it there. Will look further see if I can find an authoritative source.)

I suggest setting friendly games up as turn based rather than real time, as it makes very little practical difference other than not taking up your single real time slot.

https://boardgamearena.com/bug?id=78071 suggests removing real time as an option for friendly games. You may wish to review other people's comments, add your own, and/or vote for it.

charliec247 wrote: ↑28 June 2025, 11:57 This exact scenario has happened before and I discovered that after 3hrs of inaction the game is just abandoned,...

That sounds about right for real time. And now you know why BGA stopped people playing Elo games with no time limit. Unfortunately there is no way to really deal with this, but its comparatively rare among players who realise they are signing up for friendly games.

RobertBr wrote: ↑29 June 2025, 13:48 And now you know why BGA stopped people playing Elo games with no time limit.

At the time that that feature was removed, it was limited to friends only. As I've said before in response to this reasoning, if you have friends who disappear because they're losing a game with you and refuse to finish it out, then get better friends.