Quitting on the last turn is RUDE!
Posted: 04 August 2025, 08:11
Don't be a bad sport. Let's the game finish. To me, it is a sign of a poor loser. It leaves the winner with a hollow victory, imo.
Couldn`t have said it any better!!!David314 wrote: ↑08 August 2025, 09:36 More general discussions about conceding have come up before, with arguments both ways:
https://boardgamearena.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39435
As a slightly different take on why your opponent might concede on the last turn, I'm assuming this mostly comes up when you're in the middle of a big complicated turn involving eagles or similar (if your turn finished quickly, they could just as easily X something down to quickly end their last turn). On your last turn, because you don't know exactly what the other player has (endgame cards, plus not knowing how many points they can get on their last turn), you should be taking your time and carefully thinking through how to maximize points, because it'd be really silly to lose by 1-2 points just because you played the last turn wrong. On a complicated turn, sometimes this means you'll get partway through, realize you need more money/X's, undo turn to spend less earlier, etc. The opponent conceding makes it clear that you shouldn't bother carefully optimizing that last turn, because they know they can't possibly beat your score even though you don't know that. This saves both players a few minutes. (Also, even though you might want to play out your double eagle sun bear double project turn, it's not particularly fun as the opponent watching three minutes of you chaining actions together when from their seat the game's already over.)
If you're thinking they should've conceded earlier, from their seat it's not always obvious how many turns they have before you plan to end the game (especially if you're ending with a big complicated turn and they didn't know you have an eagle). If the opponent can trigger a break before you end the game, it's possible it'll significantly improve their last turn (ex: eagle comes out as one of the new cards, and/or they need more money in order to play whatever they had in hand). It's also possible both people were sitting around 99 points waiting for someone to end the game, or that the opponent triggered a break but needs two turns to do animals and associate; if your next action from either of those spots is dumping an eagle and an elephant plus doing a project but your opponent didn't realize you had that many points of animals in hand, there's definitely no reason they would have conceded earlier.
That said, if your last turn was quick and they're conceding instead of just doing a quick useless action, I'd agree that seems silly (but I don't know that I'd mind if my opponent conceded there anyway, since I'm already done regardless).
This is an interesting discussion and I sympathize with various points of view here. This comment made me realize that for me it comes down to what I'll call a Competitive Intent Factor, which varies game by game and session by session. I don't mind resigning or a resignation if the Competitive Intent Factor is high, as it often inherently is in an arena or tournament scenario. I think it's also inherently high in some games mechanistically, and for me it's often higher in games I think I'm good at. I may be less likely to see them through if it's a lost cause because I perceive a lower return on the investment of time.IjinNoMigite wrote: ↑01 September 2025, 23:03 Arena games are played to determine a WINNER...not a blowout. If you initiate the end of the game... and I'm down 30 points. Yes. I'm going to decline to prove that I lost.
Chess players resign. Poker players fold. Softball has the "mercy" rule. Get over it and move on the next game... or lunch... or coffee.
Hard disagree. Its three minutes. If you can play a game for an hour or so, then you can be kind enough to wait through three minutes of a turn to let your opponent finish. I still say its a sign of a a bad attitude and a poor sport.David314 wrote: ↑08 August 2025, 09:36 More general discussions about conceding have come up before, with arguments both ways:
https://boardgamearena.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39435
As a slightly different take on why your opponent might concede on the last turn, I'm assuming this mostly comes up when you're in the middle of a big complicated turn involving eagles or similar (if your turn finished quickly, they could just as easily X something down to quickly end their last turn). On your last turn, because you don't know exactly what the other player has (endgame cards, plus not knowing how many points they can get on their last turn), you should be taking your time and carefully thinking through how to maximize points, because it'd be really silly to lose by 1-2 points just because you played the last turn wrong. On a complicated turn, sometimes this means you'll get partway through, realize you need more money/X's, undo turn to spend less earlier, etc. The opponent conceding makes it clear that you shouldn't bother carefully optimizing that last turn, because they know they can't possibly beat your score even though you don't know that. This saves both players a few minutes. (Also, even though you might want to play out your double eagle sun bear double project turn, it's not particularly fun as the opponent watching three minutes of you chaining actions together when from their seat the game's already over.)
If you're thinking they should've conceded earlier, from their seat it's not always obvious how many turns they have before you plan to end the game (especially if you're ending with a big complicated turn and they didn't know you have an eagle). If the opponent can trigger a break before you end the game, it's possible it'll significantly improve their last turn (ex: eagle comes out as one of the new cards, and/or they need more money in order to play whatever they had in hand). It's also possible both people were sitting around 99 points waiting for someone to end the game, or that the opponent triggered a break but needs two turns to do animals and associate; if your next action from either of those spots is dumping an eagle and an elephant plus doing a project but your opponent didn't realize you had that many points of animals in hand, there's definitely no reason they would have conceded earlier.
That said, if your last turn was quick and they're conceding instead of just doing a quick useless action, I'd agree that seems silly (but I don't know that I'd mind if my opponent conceded there anyway, since I'm already done regardless).