Turn-based update: June 23th

[sourisdudesert]

Improved today:

• "No time limit" games have an ultimate time limit : 8 days / move, so players can be expelled after a week without playing.
• 1 hour before going over time limit on a table, you receive an email.
• When some opponent is over time limit, a red warning appears on "your games in progress" screen.
• Game speed option (number of moves / day) now appears at the bottom of the game page.
• Fix "replay last moves" with some games (ex: Quorridor).

More improvements to come...

[magekirbys]

Still no real time , un-timed option

[sourisdudesert]

Still no real time , un-timed option

What's the use of this ? If you have no time limit you don't care if its turn based or realtime ?

[Jest Phulin]

What's the use of this?

It gives people something to complain about

Thanks for the updates, especially the overtime change. I no longer have to scroll through all my games that I know someone is close to going over to see if it is *this* one where they finally went over.

[groupscheme]

I also think knowing when a player has gone over time is useful. Thanks!

I wonder if it would be better if the 1 hour warning could be changed to a warning with a configurable amount of advance time (say X hours where X could be anywhere from 1 to 12 as determined by turn-based preferences). As it stands, I'm not sure that if a player gets the warning, they'll be able to read it and have a free period of time to make a move quickly enough - especially now that other players can easily see opportunities to drop the expel-hammer! It would probably be better to get input from people who expect to benefit from the warning, though.

[Liallan]

I do not expect to be utilizing the email warning, because I don't get email on a smartphone or anything and am actually more likely to be logged in here than checking my email. However, I do agree that an hour warning may not allow the person the opportunity to get in and take their turn. People can't just drop everything. So either more warning or customized warning I think would be good.

I like having the notice that someone is over time rather than having to check all my games. I do hope it doesn't make people a bit too trigger-happy though. I use it more for people who take games and then never bother to show up.

[Liallan]

What's the use of this?

It gives people something to complain about

Actually, I can think of some reasons.

For one, it still had some kind of limit on it. I never used it so I don't know what that limit was, but I read that somewhere. And also the turn-based "unlimited" is not actually unlimited, just rather long, so I would assume the real-time was the same concept. I could certainly see someone wanting to use this, but not wanting to use the turn-based unlimited, since that can so badly stall out. (It would work if it's people you know and trust they will be there. I use it for live games with people I know just to not have to worry about a clock and have chatting time.) But this can be a bad option for an open invitation.

Perhaps some day if they ever get back something like 8 turns per day, that might be a good alternative for "unlimited real time."

(EDIT: Writing about the Can't Stop below made me realize that's a perfect example of where I'd like to have unlimited real-time. I don't want to have the clock running, because I have a tough time with that interface, but I certainly have no real need to play Can't Stop turn-based.)

The other reason is that hopefully there will eventually be some changes in the turn-based that people might not want in the real time games. For instance, some type of memory support, or notes, or changes in the way the clock works, etc. If someone just wants a super slow real time game, they do not necessarily want these things. Right now turn-based is mostly just a slow implementation of live, kind of "lifted" from the live interfaces. But over time, real time and turn-based should work differently, and I can totally see the unlimited real-time being a viable option.

[Liallan]

I really don't know if this is the place to put this. You didn't mention it, but I also have noticed a change in the clock. Some games are now reading in days rather than hours. It's inconsistent, though I don't know if that's because it's been changed on some games and not on others?

But I am seeing some weird behaviors. For instance, I just took a 2-turn a day Can't Stop. This is a starting time of 3 days + 12 hours per turn. First, 12 hours is a half day. I don't know if it's still keeping track of the hours internally and then rounding it off, but I would hope so. But... I'm a bit on the anal side and I like seeing the hours on a 2-turn a day game. But getting to the point, I was first on turn and it said I had 7 days. I should have had 3 1/2 days, or 3 or 4 rounded would make sense as well. But 7? The other two players, who had not had a turn yet, should have said 3 days. One did, but the other had 5. So, when the game started it should have been 3 1/2 for me, and 3 and 3 for the other two. Instead it was 7, 5 and 3.

I don't know if there's similar glitches in my other games, because I was already in the middle of them and really don't know where things stood. It just kind of stood out when I start that Can't Stop.

[Liallan]

The red warning that someone is over time appears not to be working. Someone just went over time for their turn yesterday and there's still no warning - I had to go into the game to find it.

Which reminds me of something that would be good with the arrival of the turn-based: being able to see when someone last logged in. If someone is not taking their turn, it would be useful to know if they have even logged in.

[Liallan]

[*] When some opponent is over time limit, a red warning appears on "your games in progress" screen.

Great idea, but this does not work. I have a game with a player who went over turn time several days ago and it showed nothing, so I waited until he was completely out of all his extra start time. i.e. he's in a negative now. It's still showing nothing. I'm trying to abandon the game, and this feature working would draw the other player's attention to this. (I tend to "check up on" my games, but I'm sure a lot of people don't.)