Spectators

[Tomnath]

I generally play a lot of solo games for a variety of purposes. In general it just kind of rubs me the wrong way that I can't turn off spectators/or at least have them be able to sit in on games without asking any permissions. I guess my gripe is that I pay a fee to have access to the games and play them how I see fit and with whom I see fit, and if I don't want to be intruded upon by strangers while playing, shouldn't have to be. Sure if somebody, wants to watch my games after I've played via my game log that's fine. I've watched replays of some of my friends games plenty of times.
I understand the value of spectator mode and think it's generally fine, but there should at least be an option to turn off spectators or perhaps just a prompt that a user has requested to spectate which can be granted or denied.
I didn't spend too long looking through options, so perhaps its possible there is a way to limit spectators.

[Jellby]

It is reasonable to request an increased privacy and/or more control on spectators, but please don't connect it with the fact that you're paying. The advantages of being premium are listed in https://boardgamearena.com/premium, that's what you pay (or not) for. Other things, like priority support or enhanced dice rolls, are only in people's minds.

[Tomnath]

IDK, one of those features in premium is unlimited settings, privacy seems like it ought to be part of unlimited settings (so directly connected to the fact that I'm paying given the resources you just provided), and honestly it's kind of surprising there aren't many privacy settings or previous requests to that extent given how long the platform has been running.

[Meeplelowda]

it's kind of surprising there aren't many privacy settings or previous requests to that extent given how long the platform has been running.

It's not clear if you're saying no one has specifically requested blocking spectators, but "Better Privacy: Hide Game History, Online Status, and only Mutual Friends" is the most upvoted request in the entire bugs database. The only thing that has been implemented is requiring a friend request to be accepted before someone can see your online status. My guess is that they had to do that in order to implement settings for minors.

But I do see at least one request to block spectators from games with friends. https://boardgamearena.com/bug?id=29671

[Tomnath]

I'll be honest, I mostly just play games on here and don't explore the site much. When I searched privacy as a keyword in discussion, I didn't see a whole lot, but the main suggestion or request is for spectators to have to request to spectate on a live game, not just an open door policy. It's kind of distracting and slightly creepy to have strangers just sit in on your games uninvited, especially when you are and have been paying for that service for years and according to the link Jellby provided, before any of the premium features are listed, the top four icons say with premium enjoy all the listed benefits below:
-Unlimited Premium Games
-Instant Start
-Unlimited Settings
-Extra functions
followed by a list of features separating standard and premium.

Having the expectation that a platform with a global user base has at least some standard privacy settings is not farfetched and that those might be included in the "unlimited settings". You don't have to appreciate my prose to understand that I'm suggesting a feature that seems like it should've been a standard privacy setting from the onset. And if increased privacy is in fact the most voted on suggestion, why hasn't there been any effort towards implementing solutions? Customers clearly want and demand it.

[Tomnath]

https://boardgamearena.com/bug?id=179853

I've created a report for the implementation of either a system the prompts the players to allow spectators in, or a setting into all games to allow/disable spectators. Feel free to vote for it if you agree, or against it since y'all seem more interested in playing defense rather discussing the merits of my suggestion.

[Meeplelowda]

y'all seem more interested in playing defense rather discussing the merits of my suggestion.

I'd be the first to say (and have said) that BGA has dropped the ball on privacy issues. In fact, I've opined in the past that some things they do might be a GDPR violation. The old system where someone could "follow" you unilaterally like it's Instagram was extremely creepy.

You asked above why BGA hasn't implemented a feature so highly requested. First of all, any answer to that question not coming from BGA is speculation. So my speculation is: 1) It's not purely a popularity contest (or else we'd have a dark mode and the ability to mute chat already); 2) it's harder to implement than it seems; and 3) because of 2), they have higher priorities like things that keep the servers functioning.

Or it's possible that the choice is intentional and they want BGA to feel like a gaming convention where you can walk up to anyone's table and observe and even ask questions. Sure, there are some people at conventions who go up to their hotel rooms to game in privacy, but that's not the overall spirit of a convention.

The gaming convention model may have made sense when BGA was a small community with a few thousand users. Now it's much larger and there are also different expectations around privacy than when it was founded.