[16-Jan-2006] Double turns and deadbeats

[lackattack]

I just finished 2 improvements that are worthy of an announcement.

First, I got rid of the 180 minute "Turn Lag" and replaced it with a game option Allow Double Turns (Yes/No). If set to No, players will not be able to take back-to-back turns when they trigger a new round.

Thanks to Ran Taro, Itrade, molestar and destructo for their input on this.

The other change addresses the deadbeat problem. 35% of new players that join a game will never come back to take a turn. And more flake out in the middle of a game. It's really annoying to wait for these deadbeats who never play, so let's annoy them back! My solution is to send out emails like the one below after every missed round. I hope it makes a difference.

Code: Select all

Hello username,

It's your turn in Game 1!

You did not play your previous turn, but you will get your armies multiplied for missed rounds.

Visit http://www.conquerclub.com to make your move.

Note: New players receive these notices after missing a turn. If you do not want to play, then surrender from the game and you will stop receiving these notices.

Regards,
The Conquer Club

[Charbroil]

This is nice. By the way, do these things apply to currently ongoing games?

[Ran Taro]

Excellent! thanks so much!

[lackattack]

I think you mean "If set to No, players will not be able to take back-to-back turns when they trigger a new round."

Yeah, I meant that

[lackattack]

This is nice. By the way, do these things apply to currently ongoing games?

I set Allow Double Turns = No for all games. For technical reasons it will take effect only 2 rounds after I made the change (very earlier Monday a.m.)

[Itrade]

Could you implement an option for users in the games before the turn lag decision to vote whether or not they want the new option or will that be too much work?

Oh and it's awesome to have my name in an announcement

[lackattack]

too much work

[Cheeznuklz]

sounds good, the turn lag really anoyed me.

thx, and good job!

[Evil Pope]

Hey, I got a few of those emails.. Its not much of an annoyance, its actually nothing compared to my 600+spam emails I get every time I check my email(every other day)..
I think comming back and seeing that you've lost nearly everything in a game is much more annoying.

[Plowable_Earth]

I joined but can`t figure out how to play?

[lackattack]

I joined but can`t figure out how to play?

Do you know how to play Risk? If not you should read the How To Play section.

[LALALA]

How about giving the option at game creation for a different amount of time between turns -- like specifying 15 minutes-->24 hours as an option?

It would still allow people to play the slow games that they want, and allow others to play more often.

[lackattack]

How about giving the option at game creation for a different amount of time between turns -- like specifying 15 minutes-->24 hours as an option?

It would still allow people to play the slow games that they want, and allow others to play more often.

Yes, this is something I'm looking into...

[lapinelord]

i think thats a REAL good idea!

[lapinelord]

so how do we donate?

[RLeary06]

People who miss turns shouldn't get their units multiplied. It's their fault if they're skipped.

[SmoKer]

I agree RL, people wait and wait and wait for a player to take their turn and then the next round, they get double armies. Were's the incentive to play, if people knew they would lose armies along with their turn, maybe they would be more attentive.

[kilo2_2]

Iam So Sick Of People Playing Risk And Trying To Team Another Player An Conjure Up A Game For There Win ... Wheres The Honour Win Or Loose Thats My Motto To Have A Decent Game And Maybe A Win.. Then When I Approach Them On There Lack Of Skill To Have Someone Help Them Out ... I Get The Nastys Poor Sportmanship And They Take There Sweet Time Making A Play Grrrrrr. I Like Good Players Not Teamers .. Sincerley kilo2_2

[HGJokey]

Thank You Kilo For All Of The Capitalization.

Anyway your site rocks. The 72 hours wait for a deadbeat is a long time though. Most deadbeats don't have an e-mail address listed so I don't see how we're supposed to bug them into rememberance. Also, if they are noobs then they have e-mail reminders turned on anyway probably by default.

The main source of aggravation is the 72 hours of waiting. Especially with how addictive this game is. Setting game parameters for time would make this site even more glorious. I don't think you have to worry about turning noobs away, there are plenty of committed risk type players in the world.

[battletroop27]

hey, i'm a deadbeat! i quit in the middle of games often. mostly because i always lose unless the other players don't pay attention to me

[Itrade]

People who miss turns shouldn't get their units multiplied. It's their fault if they're skipped.

Hey, that's not fair. I can't play on Sundays. I'd like to skip the turn but that option isn't in yet.

[Napoleon_999]

People who miss turns shouldn't get their units multiplied. It's their fault if they're skipped.

wat if they just werent able to get on the computer not every1 stays on the comp 24/7 people do mhave lives u know

[demonicplague]

personally... if you cant play.. its not anyone elses problem.. you'll just have to deal with losing your people... because then i have to sit at home for 24 hours for you to not make a move and then get more people out of it..... thats rediculous...

[steel24]

It sucks not knowing whether or not a deadbeat is going to play the next round or the round after, especially when deploying your armies. Should I protect my border against this dead beat or is his country gonna go neutral? Since this deadbeat`s not gonna play, I`ll deploy against the active players. 3 days later the deadbeat has 12 armies barking up your arse! I vote for no multiplication of armies for days missed.

[SHAMUS]

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