Why join a game and then not play the first move?

[Samiamiamiam]

I have noticed that some folks out there will join a game and then disappear for a while, despite them having the first move of the game.

For context, I start most of the games I play, and they are almost always 4-turns-a-day Turn Based games. So granted, since it's only 4 turns a day, they are under no obligation to play right away.

But I don't understand why someone would join a game and then (seemingly) immediately sign off of BGA for a while without checking to see if they are the starting player or performing the actions all players must do, such as choosing their starting cards.

The games this has been happening with aren't difficult games to find tables for, so it's not like they need to grab the table while they have the chance!

I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, saying to myself that they probably joined the game and then real life happened and they had to run off to do something.

Recently, however, it seems to be happening more often, and so I decided to ask for your thoughts on this.

Have you noticed this as well?

Have you ever joined a game and then not had the chance to play the first move?

Any insights are welcome.

[Ceaseless]

For context, I start most of the games I play, and they are almost always 4-turns-a-day Turn Based games. So granted, since it's only 4 turns a day, they are under no obligation to play right away.

It's turn-based. The potential time between turns is longer than an entire game's worth of time. You signed up for a very slow game.

[Samiamiamiam]

For context, I start most of the games I play, and they are almost always 4-turns-a-day Turn Based games. So granted, since it's only 4 turns a day, they are under no obligation to play right away.

It's turn-based. The potential time between turns is longer than an entire game's worth of time. You signed up for a very slow game.

Yes, I acknowledge as much and this is not in question.

The question is, why would someone NOT play the move that is immediately available to them. It seems so strange to join a game, regardless of the speed or duration of that game, and not play the opening move.

[nik592]

You're a premium player. If non-premium players have queued for a game, they may join your game when they are offline. Their games cannot start until a premium player requests a game. And I've tried this with my (non-premium) partner - when he queues for a game and I start one, it sometimes takes a while (30-60 seconds, not long, just not instant) for him to join my game. Possibly because I have also limited it to My Friends because I want him specifically to join my game (because I am testing something, I know I can just add him directly), but I would have thought the filter would have made the join faster.

So it's possible they've been offline for ages, but just get added to your game when you create it because you're the premium player they need to start it. Or even that they queued, waited a minute or two, got nothing, decided to go offline and come back later, and then got added to your game just as they went offline.

[Samiamiamiam]

So it's possible they've been offline for ages, but just get added to your game when you create it because you're the premium player they need to start it. Or even that they queued, waited a minute or two, got nothing, decided to go offline and come back later, and then got added to your game just as they went offline.

Ah! That’s interesting, thanks Nik592. I actually didn’t realize that non-premium players could queue for premium games. But that makes a lot of sense and is probably what I’ve been witnessing. Thank you for sharing that

[FrankJones]

So it's possible they've been offline for ages, but just get added to your game when you create it because you're the premium player they need to start it. Or even that they queued, waited a minute or two, got nothing, decided to go offline and come back later, and then got added to your game just as they went offline.

Ah! That’s interesting, thanks Nik592. I actually didn’t realize that non-premium players could queue for premium games. But that makes a lot of sense and is probably what I’ve been witnessing. Thank you for sharing that

I didn't realize that either. I was always baffled when this would happen.