SpielByWeb

[GamesOnTheBrain]

No amount of comments on a game title will prevent slow players from joining games. This can be frustrating to players (like me) who don't know enough people to start passworded games but want to play reasonably quickly.

I'm proposing the addition of Karma Points... something like Days of Wonder's on their Ticket to Ride site.

When creating a game, it would be great if you could make it so that only players who had a Karma rating of X or higher could join your game, where X is a rating between 1 and 10 (or 1 and 5 stars) that is calculated based on the number of turns played, games played, average time per turn (lower the better of course), abandoned games (harsh penalty per game abandoned), etc.

Another idea would be to simply make an option that would require a player to have a certain maximum average time per turn in order to join.

You could even have something that would restrict players joining to a certain range of timezones.

What do you think?

[stargate]

having played a few game here

the cure for slow games is >>> be in more games

some things I have learned >>>>>
some of the slowest games can be with people that live within 50 miles
some of the fastest games can be with people who live 12 time zones away

try some games with fewer players
1. most times they play faster
2. these games will help you meet people you want to play with

and a last reminder --- SBW is not BSW

[GamesOnTheBrain]

I do play a lot of games at once.

Yes, I agree that the timezone thing isn't as important, but it's very clear that people often join games which clearly state 1-2 turns per day with no intention doing so.

I think the easiest thing to add would simply be a system to only allow players to join if their average time per turn (not including vacation) is under a certain amount.

[Bkruppa]

Just for your info Bob, I live more than 50 miles away

[hagin]

I'm not sure that this Karma thing is the right way to handle this but honestly I think we need something.

Personally I think two things would be really useful:

- Games by invitation. It's open (no password) but joining doesn't mean you join. It just puts you on the list of those wanting to play for, say, 24 hours. The creator then simply picks people from those that applied;

- Configurable turn time allowances. I think a game can currently go on for a month (?) before being considered abandoned. Perhaps something in between is needed. Just say you set the turn time to 1 day. Each time a player takes longer than 1 day to do a turn they earn a "Slacker point" or something and you can see how many of those someone has.

[freduk]

We can't have had this conversation for, ooh, nearly a month now.
Really, slow play isn't a problem. It's a minor niggle maybe, but it certainly isn't worth 'solving'.
I say 'solving' in quotes, because every time someone suggests a 'solution' it usually goes down the road of discrimination (of one sort or another). The current modus operandi is fine. if you want to be able to take a turn every time you log in, then join more games (ie, more than 7 ), then you won't notice which ones are moving slowly because it won't matter.
This is a play-by-mail site. It's your turn when it comes around. No sooner.

[freduk]

[hagin]

[stargate]

I am with freduk on this

this thread is a repeat of many others
and he is correct the >>> the solution will become some form of discrimination

since 11/29/2006 I have logged 1464 completed games
many of which were open games I created >> my comment line is ALL WELCOME
or open games I joined

my guess is that less then 1 percent of those games were painfully long
and maybe another 2 to 3 percent more were slow
note >> my idea of slow may be different from others on this site

my math on this is 122 completed games per month
and most days I have between 45-65 active games

also in that time only 7 games have been added to my abandoned games list

[Kanga]

I think these suggested modifications, which would only be of use to the few players who do care, fall under the category of "useful suggestion, but time would be better spent developing new games".

If you want some fast moving games, then one approach I have successfully used before is to create a game with a password, and put a maximum average turn time (of say, 4 hours). Post the password in forums, and you'll soon have a speedy game.

Or alternatively, do the same without a password, just put a comment like "players with average turn times less than 4 hours only please". Most people will respect this.

I'd say that when creating "speedy games" without a password, in over 50% of the cases I get a genuinely fast moving game.

If you state 1-2 turns a day you dont guarantee fast moving players. If you log in twice a day, but both times are close together, then you'll still be a slow player for everyone who doesn't play in your timezone. Average turn times tend to sort this out.

[freduk]

Well, the same old arguments are repeated each time. You could ake a look though the previous threads, but to save time, I'll give it a go here.

[freduk]

Good grief, it took me so long to write my last reply, two other people snuck in the gap!

[GamesOnTheBrain]

Just so everyone knows, I'm not trying to start a fight or anything. I'm just trying to have a cordial debate...

"this thread is a repeat of many others "

The fact that is a discussion that frequently comes up is a sign to me that it's a real problem.

"and most days I have between 45-65 active games"

I agree with hagin on this... More games = less concentration. My mind would simply fry if I tried to play 50+ games at once with any amount of attention whatsoever.

"Or alternatively, do the same without a password, just put a comment like 'players with average turn times less than 4 hours only please'. Most people will respect this.

I'd say that when creating "speedy games" without a password, in over 50% of the cases I get a genuinely fast moving game."

So by your own admission, 50% of the time you ask for a fast game, you don't get one? That sounds to me like you agree that this *is* a problem.

[freduk]

OK, taking the specific examples of your 7 currently active games.

3 have comments to the effect of requesting fast play. They all have last-turn dates of today.
The other 4 don't have this request in the comment. None of them is more than 2 days old.

Looking in more depth at the 3 games that requested fast play. In one of the games, there was no action on Nov 21st. Apart from that they have all seen movement every day since they started.

Is this really a major problem?

I don't mean to sound as though I'm picking on you, but I'd far rather the developers spent their very precious time on new games or genuine gameplay bugs.

[smlait]