Inactivity

[FearIV]

Does anyone know how long it takes for someone to lose due to inactivity? Reached the max of 20 games and can't play till either players return or lose because they haven't played their turn.

[QuantumApocalypse]

It takes 7 days for them to time out.

It shouldn't take longer than 24 hours for them to respond, as they can be on the other side of the world.

[FearIV]

I do understand that.. also a good chance being first day.. some won't ever return. Just stinks I can't play for however long it might be.

[stevewastaken]

If it's an unranked game you could just forfeit.

[MarkH]

I think the game should make the player early(!) aware that after 7 days you gonna loose anyways. For example, I have two ranked matches up with very active players but now that I only need a single turn to win they don't show up again.
I am pretty sure they don't know about the 7 days rule and think they can abandon the games unpunished.
After a day of not making a turn in a specific game, a message/notice would be good that you have six days to do the turn before you loose the game. That would be a nice reminder IMO.

[Harti]

Yeah I think it would be quite reasonable to decrease the threshold to 3-4 days.
And I do like MarkH's idea very much!

[Szei]

Yes. I was going to comment that 7 days is a lot. 3-4 days seems much more reasonable.

EDIT:
Actually this would be better (copied from below post)

You have a 6 day (the exact number can be tweaked) 'BANK' of extra time in addition to a 1 day per move standard time limit. If you don't make your turn in the allotted 1 day limit, you start eating into your 6 day bank.

This way it encourages players to stay on top of their games but if they're good about playing their turns on time they'll have a 'bank' of time to fall back on if something comes up and they can't play for an extended period of time.

This system could be reserved for league games while casual unranked games can continue using the current system (since you can just forfeit the game if your opponent is taking too long and you want to start new ones).

[Eijolend]

7 days really helps out if you're on vacation without internet access or sth. Also activity will probably calm down a bit after a few days after launch.

I can see how this is a problem for very active players that reach the game limit of 20(?) and have lots of inactive games. Maybe raising the game limit instead of reducing the time could be a solution for both the hyperactive and the very infrequent players, if that continues to be a problem.

[Szei]

Well yes, vacation did occur to me. However, I then thought that, well, if you're going to go on vacation or to a place where you won't have internet access for a 4 days you can plan in advance and not start any games. I forgot that this is neglecting the fact that you could have ongoing games which you can't really finish up before you have to leave though.

MAYBE A COMPROMISE
You have a 6 day (the exact number can be tweaked) 'BANK' of extra time in addition to a 1 day per move standard time limit. If you don't make your turn in the allotted 1 day limit, you start eating into your 6 day bank.

This way it encourages players to stay on top of their games but if they're good about playing their turns on time they'll have a 'bank' of time to fall back on if something comes up and they can't play for an extended period of time.

This system could be reserved for league games while casual unranked games can continue using the current system (since you can just forfeit the game if your opponent is taking too long and you want to start new ones).

[Kamikaze28]

(07-07-2012 04:08 AM)Szei Wrote:  MAYBE A COMPROMISE
You have a 6 day (the exact number can be tweaked) 'BANK' of extra time in addition to a 1 day per move standard time limit. If you don't make your turn in the allotted 1 day limit, you start eating into your 6 day bank.

This way it encourages players to stay on top of their games but if they're good about playing their turns on time they'll have a 'bank' of time to fall back on if something comes up and they can't play for an extended period of time.

This is basically a chess clock. I like the idea, although it would have to be reflected in the UI somehow - and explained.
Given that most games (that I played) take more than a day, there is also the problem of 8h sleeping and eventually trying to win by making the other guy run out of time etc.