Board Game Arena

Suppose:
(a) someone gives me a red thumb
(b) that person starts a table
(c) I discover the table number somehow, and try to join

Assuming that I am qualified to join, apart from the red thumb, what is BGA's behaviour? Does it:
(a) disallow me joining, but with no message
(b) disallow me joining, with a message saying why
(c) something else?

sergeantvimes wrote: ↑26 May 2026, 21:48 Suppose:
(a) someone gives me a red thumb
(b) that person starts a table
(c) I discover the table number somehow, and try to join

Assuming that I am qualified to join, apart from the red thumb, what is BGA's behaviour? Does it:
(a) disallow me joining, but with no message
(b) disallow me joining, with a message saying why
(c) something else?

On the Play Now page there is a note that there is a player at the table who prefers not to play with you, or words to that effect. I don't think it even tells you who the player is.

Thank you very much for the speedy & clear answer!

On a related note, when a player has red thumbed you, you can't even spectate the games they are playing.

I guess this can be acceptable for casual games, but for competitive games, I can see issues with it.

Sometimes, when you are in a tournament, it's advantageous to see what is happening in other games. In a round robin tournament for example, you may need to analyze who is likely to win in other games, and by how much points difference, in order to know how you should handle points difference in your own games. If other players are able to do that, but you can't because one player red thumbed you, that seems like a fairness issue.

The same goes in arena, where you may want to spectate the games of a competitor in order to assess if you should start more games, or if you should sit where you are at. A rival player may even choose to red thumb you precisely for that reason: so that you can't spy on them and are left clueless on how you should proceed.