Board Game Arena

So, TfmBot has been removed, because ... reasons.

Major fail by BGA.

Throughout history people have railed against technological advances on some myopic philosophy that technological innovation is bad.

Apparently, some people do not learn from the stupidity of historical folly.

Sad, just, sad.

You're missing the point why automated methods (such as robots, spiders, multiple queries, etc.) are not allowed.

Premium games like TfM can only be started by players with a premium membership. The bot itself was a "premium member". That setup allowed everyone else to play against it for free, without needing a premium membership. Could revenue protection be a reason to ban the bot?

Peach 2d is right. Unfortunately it breaks the premium requirement.
If the bot was allowed then BGA would have to create a special kind of user account specific for this use. A 'bot account' type.

I wholly agree with the sentiment BUT the OP could have worded the original statement a bit better, describing all the benefits of the bot. And why in this instance the bot is doing good.
Only playing friendly games, letting users play that couldn't perhaps afford the time with real opponents, etc..

Personally I used the bot a lot and found the idea very intriguing. It would be good if BGA would redefine perhaps their fair-terms usage.
There are a lot of benefits to certain BGA users, and so indirectly could also be seen to be a huge benefit to BGA in terms of bringing more users to BGA, creating revenue and also pleasing existing users.

At-least there is a thread that's not locked now. I encourage users to voice their approval here. You never know, BGA may turn around.

I saw it as a big asset to the platform and was definitely disappointed. It feels like a helpful addition that doesn't take anything away. I have a premium membership. The option to play solo, play a bot, play with friends, play with strangers, and play arena - it's a great set of options that each have their place for me.

One thing that struck me: the bot did attract plenty of very strong players who happily kept on playing against it. I'm more in the modest skill range and played 1 game, and left it at that - but plenty of much stronger players carried on playing multiple games. For a learning AI bot, that makes a sensational training environment, and could well offer some new insights into how the game is best played. The bot, and other bots with learning capabilities, has my vote for reinstatement, even if BGA allows it only as a "regular member" only so that only premium members can play against it.

I had some conversations with some folks including our esteemed, voluntary working (thus unpaid) Frank Jones - thanks again for all you do Frank.

I think it is a major missed opportunity that BGA (and owners, Asmodee?) did not make an offer to the bot author to buy the source code of the bot. I played versus it and it was a very enjoyable experience.

Aperfectname (bot creator), let's chat - your skills should be further honed and everyone should enjoy the bot etc. I do not have the budget to pay you but I can help strategize finding someone who does. I also want to learn better coding / implementation kung fu.

Peach 2d wrote: ↑31 July 2026, 09:42 Premium games like TfM can only be started by players with a premium membership. The bot itself was a "premium member". That setup allowed everyone else to play against it for free, without needing a premium membership. Could revenue protection be a reason to ban the bot?

That is a good point that I was not aware of.

Ingoschi wrote: ↑31 July 2026, 08:08 You're missing the point why automated methods (such as robots, spiders, multiple queries, etc.) are not allowed.

Perhaps I am. Could you elaborate on that point?

If it creates a drain on system resources, that is a valid reason by BGA. I would think there would be ways around that, such as adding a second tier of premium to generate more revenue, perhaps?

RicardoRix wrote: ↑31 July 2026, 11:24

I wholly agree with the sentiment BUT the OP could have worded the original statement a bit better, describing all the benefits of the bot. And why in this instance the bot is doing good.
Only playing friendly games, letting users play that couldn't perhaps afford the time with real opponents, etc..

Personally I used the bot a lot and found the idea very intriguing. It would be good if BGA would redefine perhaps their fair-terms usage.
There are a lot of benefits to certain BGA users, and so indirectly could also be seen to be a huge benefit to BGA in terms of bringing more users to BGA, creating revenue and also pleasing existing users.

Agreed; I did not elaborate on my reasons for my disappointment, and I should have. You explained it very well. I too found the tfmBot intriguing on various levels.