Board Game Arena

I had an issue where I was booted from a game due to BGA side 503 error. I reported it via the bug system but was told it won't be addressed as it is not a game-specific issue but BGA issue and that I should contact BGA support. This page sends me in circles: https://boardgamearena.com/support

Anyone know how I can contact the support team?

advanced-ecosystems wrote: ↑01 August 2025, 18:15 I had an issue where I was booted from a game due to BGA side 503 error. I reported it via the bug system but was told it won't be addressed as it is not a game-specific issue but BGA issue and that I should contact BGA support. This page sends me in circles: https://boardgamearena.com/support

Anyone know how I can contact the support team?

You use that link. They can't write thousands of different scenarios to match every conceivable problem, so find the one closest to your issue and use that even if it doesn't match exactly.

But for you, I easily found the correct option: Other ("Moderation, technical problem,")>>Technical Issue>>Disconnected

Meeplelowda wrote: ↑01 August 2025, 18:50

advanced-ecosystems wrote: ↑01 August 2025, 18:15 I had an issue where I was booted from a game due to BGA side 503 error. I reported it via the bug system but was told it won't be addressed as it is not a game-specific issue but BGA issue and that I should contact BGA support. This page sends me in circles: https://boardgamearena.com/support

Anyone know how I can contact the support team?

You use that link. They can't write thousands of different scenarios to match every conceivable problem, so find the one closest to your issue and use that even if it doesn't match exactly.

But for you, I easily found the correct option: Other ("Moderation, technical problem,")>>Technical Issue>>Disconnected

In this page it says:

"If you are experiencing technical difficulties with the whole website, do the following test before.

If the test is a success, but you still have difficulties, please write to us."

But how?! No submenu I've clicked on actually contains a contact email

advanced-ecosystems wrote: ↑01 August 2025, 19:31

Meeplelowda wrote: ↑01 August 2025, 18:50

advanced-ecosystems wrote: ↑01 August 2025, 18:15 I had an issue where I was booted from a game due to BGA side 503 error. I reported it via the bug system but was told it won't be addressed as it is not a game-specific issue but BGA issue and that I should contact BGA support. This page sends me in circles: https://boardgamearena.com/support

Anyone know how I can contact the support team?

You use that link. They can't write thousands of different scenarios to match every conceivable problem, so find the one closest to your issue and use that even if it doesn't match exactly.

But for you, I easily found the correct option: Other ("Moderation, technical problem,")>>Technical Issue>>Disconnected

In this page it says:

"If you are experiencing technical difficulties with the whole website, do the following test before.

If the test is a success, but you still have difficulties, please write to us."

But how?! No submenu I've clicked on actually contains a contact email

Click on the really big button below where it says write to us that says "I did the test and everything was successful."

advanced-ecosystems wrote: ↑01 August 2025, 18:15 I reported it via the bug system but was told it won't be addressed as it is not a game-specific issue

You were told correctly. When you filed a bug report, you filed it as "about a game and it happened at this table #", but the game itself has no control over a 503 error (or a "Server not available" error). That's would be a site issue.

You can still file it as a bug by choosing the other option, "about the website in general" so it'll be sent to BGA employees rather than the unlucky game developer, who is probably a volunteer.

Kayvon wrote: ↑02 August 2025, 00:21

advanced-ecosystems wrote: ↑01 August 2025, 18:15 I reported it via the bug system but was told it won't be addressed as it is not a game-specific issue

You were told correctly. When you filed a bug report, you filed it as "about a game and it happened at this table #", but the game itself has no control over a 503 error (or a "Server not available" error). That's would be a site issue.

You can still file it as a bug by choosing the other option, "about the website in general" so it'll be sent to BGA employees rather than the unlucky game developer, who is probably a volunteer.

I'm not the developer for the game in question by the OP - Terraforming Mars - but I do "maintain" the game as an assistant to the developer (Victoria_La) by acting as an admin and moderator of the bug report forum. (I have some programming skills, and I know the game of Terraforming Mars very well.)

And yes, I am a volunteer; I do it purely to help people with a game I like very much and that I am capable of helping maintain.

And, yes, at times I feel very unlucky, because we are deluged by 503-error (or similar) bug reports, and it is very frustrating. I have no idea why the BGA site even lists that category as an option for people when filing a game specific report. There is literally nothing we can do. And some people get very irritated about it and occasionally even rise to making nasty personal insults. (NOT the OP in this thread, who has always been polite )

I do not want to speak for Victoria_La, but I'm guessing she finds it frustrating as well.

Thank you all who posted in this thread to help direct people to the appropriate technical support.

FrankJones wrote: ↑05 August 2025, 04:36 And some people get very irritated about it and occasionally even rise to making nasty personal insults. (NOT the OP in this thread, who has always been polite )

Please do report insults in bug reports to moderators with the link. We take the abuse of our developers and maintainers very seriously - you all are the foundation of the site.

xate wrote: ↑05 August 2025, 08:55

FrankJones wrote: ↑05 August 2025, 04:36 And some people get very irritated about it and occasionally even rise to making nasty personal insults. (NOT the OP in this thread, who has always been polite )

Please do report insults in bug reports to moderators with the link. We take the abuse of our developers and maintainers very seriously - you all are the foundation of the site.

Hi xate,

My apologies for not replying sooner. I hope you still see this post, since this is a reply to a post from August 5th.

You are correct, as an admin for the bug report page for Terraforming Mars, I should not tolerate any rude or insulting behavior, even if I understand why the player is upset or unhappy. If I tolerate that behavior, it sends the wrong message; it makes it seem okay to talk to other volunteers that way, including the developer for the game, who also manages the bug forum, obviously. And I would not want that. The developer is talented and has worked very hard on the game and should not be subject to that kind of nonsense.

But, I do not see a way to report an inappropriate post in the bug report forum. The format is different from the discussion forums, where each post has a clearly visible button to report it if the post is inappropriate.

I also do not know how to handle another situation in which a group of people are engaged in an ongoing tactic of bullying and harassing people who don't abide by their "unwritten rules" in which they try to force people to play a specific way, even though the actions of the players they are ranting against are completely within the rules. They are creating a toxic situation that has players afraid to even post, because all that accomplishes is getting shouted down and insulted by this group of self-anointed elites who want the entire community to play the way they agree to play on their private discord channel.

This behavior has no place on a family-friendly site like BGA, and yet it continues unabated.

I would love to see BGA issue an official statement making it explicitly against the rules to bully or harass people into playing a specific way. And I would love to see some 3-day, 10-day, or permanent bans for the egregious repeat offenders.

This is an issue I would like to speak directly to a moderator about, but I do not know the process for doing that.

FrankJones wrote: ↑11 September 2025, 17:17 But, I do not see a way to report an inappropriate post in the bug report forum. The format is different from the discussion forums, where each post has a clearly visible button to report it if the post is inappropriate.

I also do not know how to handle another situation in which a group of people are engaged in an ongoing tactic of bullying and harassing people who don't abide by their "unwritten rules" in which they try to force people to play a specific way, even though the actions of the players they are ranting against are completely within the rules. They are creating a toxic situation that has players afraid to even post, because all that accomplishes is getting shouted down and insulted by this group of self-anointed elites who want the entire community to play the way they agree to play on their private discord channel.

You have to go to the player's Profile to report it, as there is no direct link. You can provide the location and URL to the moderators. Copying in the exact comment you are reporting is also helpful, as it should show the timestamp making it easier to locate and preserves the comment if they go back to edit it later.

You should give these players a Red Thumb to avoid matching with them. If they are aggressive or insulting, they can be reported to moderation.

xate wrote: ↑05 August 2025, 08:55

FrankJones wrote: ↑05 August 2025, 04:36 And some people get very irritated about it and occasionally even rise to making nasty personal insults. (NOT the OP in this thread, who has always been polite )

Please do report insults in bug reports to moderators with the link. We take the abuse of our developers and maintainers very seriously - you all are the foundation of the site.

Well, I reported a highly abusive post in which a person repeatedly cursed at me and the developer in the bug forum, and nothing was done.