A waste of time: Unfair Karma penalties...

[LorenZo-M]

Some players are really slow, and it’s pretty obvious they’re multitasking while playing. I get it, life happens (the delivery guy rings the doorbell, or your boss walks in right at the worst possible time). But honestly, whether you're winning or losing, having to wait around for someone who might be chatting or doing their own thing is equally exasperating. It's just a huge waste of time, especially in quick games. Sometimes I get so completely fed up with waiting that I just quit. I find it a bit unfair that resigning out of pure frustration actually hits you with a reputation/karma penalty. Am I the only one who feels this way?

[Silene]

Huh? But you can skip their turn to end the game. After that you don't get a karma penalty for leaving the table.

[nik592]

One assumes they aren't going over time. If that is the case, players are entitled to use all of their time. If you're not happy with the speed of the table, choose tables with a speed you prefer. Looks like you're mostly playing on Normal and maybe occasionally Slow from what I can see, so choose Fast. Of course, that may make it harder to find a table, but it depends what annoyance you'd prefer.

[LorenZo-M]

If you're not happy...

That assumes I have a choice in the table settings. But in modes like Arena, for example, you don't get to decide the speed or choose who opens the table; the matchmaking system handles all of that automatically.

Sure, everyone is allowed to use their time as they wish, but when a game that should normally take 5 minutes ends up taking 15, you can surely understand how frustrating that becomes.

[Jellby]

There's nothing unfair. The table has some time setting. If you stick to them, you're fine. If you don't, or quit (for whatever reason), you get a penalty. Again, nothing unfair.

[Jellby]

That assumes I have a choice in the table settings. But in modes like Arena, for example, you don't get to decide the speed or choose who opens the table; the matchmaking system handles all of that automatically.

Yes, you get to choose. You can choose your preferred speed settings in Arena. Or you can choose not to play Arena if you don't like its settings for any reason.

[LorenZo-M]

Yes, you get to choose. You can choose your preferred speed settings in Arena. Or you can choose not to play Arena if you don't like its settings for any reason.

That is not entirely true. For example, on chess platforms, resigning a clearly lost game is actually considered good sportsmanship and fair play, whereas dragging it out is just a useless waste of time for everyone.
But here on BGA, if you decide to resign for whatever reason, you don't just lose ELO (which is a completely fair consequence of losing), you also get hit with a Karma penalty as if you were being toxic.

[Jellby]

Here, you can resign for any reason, with no penalty, if it's a 2-player game and the progression is at least 50%.

[LorenZo-M]

Here, you can resign for any reason, with no penalty, if it's a 2-player game and the progression is at least 50%.

Yes, that is true for 2-player games over 50%. But that is a very specific scenario and it doesn't solve the broader issue.
What about 3+ player games where you cannot concede at all? Or games that are under 50% progression, where you might already be stuck with an extremely slow opponent or hit with a sudden real-life emergency?
The point is that the rules are too rigid.

I honestly don't know how else to explain this to you if you simply refuse to understand.

[Ceaseless]

Some players are really slow, and it’s pretty obvious they’re multitasking while playing. I get it, life happens (the delivery guy rings the doorbell, or your boss walks in right at the worst possible time). But honestly, whether you're winning or losing, having to wait around for someone who might be chatting or doing their own thing is equally exasperating. It's just a huge waste of time, especially in quick games. Sometimes I get so completely fed up with waiting that I just quit. I find it a bit unfair that resigning out of pure frustration actually hits you with a reputation/karma penalty. Am I the only one who feels this way?

You regularly play slowly and get kicked for going over time. You should already be aware of this option when facing opponents playing too slowly themselves.