Players quitting a game, but playing in others... holding up play for everyone else

[darincox]

I'm in a couple of games where a player isn't doing well, so he quit playing the game. However, I noticed he's starting other games, so he's obviously online and active in other games. I happened to be in two games with him, and he quit one but was still playing in the other until he started losing in it.

The problem is in the games he's quit, the rest of us have to wait 2 days for him to be considered AWOL, which holds up the game considerably.

If something had come up and he couldn't play, I would understand, but since he's starting other games and is active in them, it's difficult to understand him holding the rest of us up just because he's doing poorly in these games.

The player in question is also a master sergeant, so it's not like he's a newbie.

Any thoughts on how to handle this situation?

 

[coolname]

In an earlier post (http://www.majorcommand.com/forums/...r-Disadvantage-Misuse?highlight=coolname+awol) we talked about this.

My suggestion would still be that to AWOL in one game, would mean you're AWOL in all games

 

[darincox]

Not a bad idea, but could be a severe penalty if you couldn't get online in one 24 hr period. A slightly less severe version might be multiple AWOLs making all games AWOL, or getting you banned. Or increasing penalties might be in order, with each AWOL upping your AWOL score, one giving a warning, two making all games AWOL, and three banning you.

Another important factor is if you've been online and played turns in other games while it was your turn in a game, but didn't play that one. In my mind, if that happens, you should immediately be marked AWOL in all games. In the case currently in a couple of games I'm in, a player has over 30 games going, and was active and had taken turns in other games while it was his turn in two I was in with him, but he didn't play either one... probably because there was no way for him to win in either of them.

 

[RjBeals]

i would hate to banned after 3 awol's. I have had more than 3 simply because of busy life. maybe after a few awols in 1 game, all their troops turn neutral.

 

[Badorties]

Well we have player ratings in the pipe, so if a player does this you can rate them negatively, which would be some consequence. however trying to streamline this too much would yield bigger problems. its best to allow the invisible hand of the "ratings marketplace" take effect over authoritarian top down measures.

 

[ORBOTRON]

Banning for missed turns is a bit much, even for me, lol. I agree it's a DB move what this player is doing, but it's a far cry from the things that should get you in real trouble. If it turns out they are somehow trying to game the system or are doing more than annoying other players, that's when the hammer drops.
I'd just make a mental note (or a creepy lipstick revenge list) and avoid them in future games. The system Bado mentioned should make it even easier in the future.

 

[lh34]

Missing a turn or 2 however is sometimes an effective strategy in multi-player games. It causes the other players to ignore you for a couple turn while you get 2 turns worth of turns.

 

[ORBOTRON]

Missing a turn or 2 however is sometimes an effective strategy in multi-player games. It causes the other players to ignore you for a couple turn while you get 2 turns worth of turns.

Two turns worth of turns? If you mean 2 turns worth of troops, that's not the case.

 

[lh34]

No, what I meant is that you can miss 1 turn, take 1 turn, get deferred troops, then miss another turn, and get deferred troops again

 

[Cardinalsrule]

I think that banning is, as others have said, overly harsh, but I I kinda like the idea of if they awol in a certain number of games, then they are awol'd in all their games. I also, in another thread on the 'suggestion' area, made the suggestion that there should be a 'turns missed' notation on the user page. Maybe 'games awol' would be as useful or better. I'd like to be able to see peoples track record in these things before getting in a game with them, and certainly before joining a game as their partner.

Not too sure about the rating other players thing... If it had certain very specific categories to rate, that'd be OK, but I'd be leery about just letting people do general ratings - what are you gonna do about the person who gets pissed off because you killed them and gives you a bad rating?

 

[Badorties]

Our rating system is bot super simple and complex in that it takes in many different scenarios for abuse. it will cool. the problem with setting an awol limit is tht if a player is in 3 1v1 games and 10 12 person games, they could go awol in 3 games very easily by being out of town for day, so it would be unfair to mark them as awol in all the other ones.

I think a missed turn stat is probably a good idea for the userpages though.

 

[darincox]

Note that it wasn't that the player wasn't playing, they just quit these because they weren't doing well. I saw from their profile that they had joined several other games, and played, while it was their turn in these two.

You're probably right in that being banned is extreme... just trying to find a way to discourage someone just dropping a game and slowing everyone else down just because they weren't doing well.

In this case everyone else is playing once a day, but when it's this player's turn everyone has to wait a day for the game to resume.

 

[edsdad]

I'm in a couple of games where a player isn't doing well, so he quit playing the game. However, I noticed he's starting other games, so he's obviously online and active in other games. I happened to be in two games with him, and he quit one but was still playing in the other until he started losing in it.

The problem is in the games he's quit, the rest of us have to wait 2 days for him to be considered AWOL, which holds up the game considerably.

If something had come up and he couldn't play, I would understand, but since he's starting other games and is active in them, it's difficult to understand him holding the rest of us up just because he's doing poorly in these games.

The player in question is also a master sergeant, so it's not like he's a newbie.

Any thoughts on how to handle this situation?

I'm the guy he's referring to.
And this is bs.Anyone who's played with me in the past knows that I've never backed down from a fight no matter how overwhelming the odds may be.
Excuse me if life got in the way,but I did explain and apologies in game chat and directly to this gentlemen in an email.
I don't want to sound like a whiner,but in the last two weeks I've had the death of a very dear friend and his wife,I worked 17 ,12 hrs shift in a row,all night shifts,so time was something that was stretched pretty thin.
So now after all that I'm the big bad wolf in this story,nice.
As for waiting,I thought that these where casual games,not r.t.
If this is going to be how things go around here,as much as I love the site ,I ain't going to hang around and let myself be maligned by anyone.

 

[Badorties]

edsdad is legit. no need to question his motives. Thanks for the explanation.

 

[Kjell]

I'm the guy he's referring to.
And this is bs.Anyone who's played with me in the past knows that I've never backed down from a fight no matter how overwhelming the odds may be.
Excuse me if life got in the way,but I did explain and apologies in game chat and directly to this gentlemen in an email.
I don't want to sound like a whiner,but in the last two weeks I've had the death of a very dear friend and his wife,I worked 17 ,12 hrs shift in a row,all night shifts,so time was something that was stretched pretty thin.
So now after all that I'm the big bad wolf in this story,nice.
As for waiting,I thought that these where casual games,not r.t.
If this is going to be how things go around here,as much as I love the site ,I ain't going to hang around and let myself be maligned by anyone.

Sorry to hear that man, I hope you're alright. Life can be tough at times.

As for "if this is going to how things go around here" don't worry about it, some of us see casual games as casual, and others might find them more serious. But at the end of the day it's just a game regardless of how serious you take it.

 

[legionbuck]

OK, people, LISTEN UP !!! I have been edsdad's doubles , trips, and quads partner on that "other site" for 3 years now....and he's NEVER given up on ANY game we have been involved with. No matter what the odds, no matter what the dismal tactical situation has been, he has never deadbeated or laid down and died in any circumstance ! I explained to the complaining party by private messages the situation edsdad has been operating in ....and I'll be the first to stand with him AAA_O ( anytime, any place , any where , bar nothing ) is this community , or real life.

What seems to be, to some, a trifle matter should understand that players of long standing anywhere value their integrity. To have that challenged is going to set off fireworks. This whole issue is a non starter in this case, and should be settled outside of MC by private messaging. However, with that said, I can't see a player of his caliber ever being ass chewed over this. both he and I have experienced the "miss a turn on purpose for deferred troops " cheap tactics used by opponents. We refuse to engage like that...it's a matter of HONOR with us. We miss a turn, it's for a damned good reason...PERIOD !

 

[edsdad]

All done venting,better now.Back to working my regular shift and it's not snowing,suns out,birds are singing,spring is here.
Many good memories of dear ,departed friends,bless em.
Thanks guys for the words of comfort and being there in my corner,means a lot.

 

[darincox]

Hey edsdad,

Sorry to hear what you've been dealing with.

I specifically did not mention you by name, as I didn't want this to be a personal attack. I had just noticed that you missed turns in two games we were in, and during the time that it was your turn had started other games (I had checked your profile before and after, and also noticed when it said you were last online). I'll chalk this up to some sort of glitch on the server.

So, my apologies... again I didn't mention by name so it wouldn't be taken as an attack, and could be addressed simply as a general game play issue.

Best,

Darin.