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gemo

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gemo

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The "skip a player turn" feature does more harm than good. Lately it is mostly regulated by etiquette rather than the game, but there are always some freshmen who race to skip anything they can rather than play the game.

Players are also people, we have weekends and families and sometimes cannot login for more than 24 hours. It should be ok to miss 1 or 2 deadlines during the game.

The other issue is that in a game where some players have been eliminated but kept one base can skip others, ruining it for everybody else, since they themselves are no longer vested in the game and there is nothing better for them to do.
amidama

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amidama

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This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Jul 17, 2016 21:35


Hakumen
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Apercent

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Apercent

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Alright, I'm explaining (stay tooned)

So, a uni-chess clock would work like this
Each of us would start out with the same amount of time, let's say 200 hours. You would beat me in 200 hours .

So we both have our own uni-clocks

When the game starts, the first player will take his turn. For simplicity's purposes, let's say he takes his turn in one hour. I don't know, maybe he left the game open and decided to make a sandwich.

When he's done with his turn, his clock will stop ticking. He now has 199 hours left. Your clock will start ticking untill you take your turn. Let's say you get back from your physics lab 8 hours later. Your clock will have lost 8 hours, and you will have 192 hours left. After you take your turn, your clock starts ticking.


It will continue like that untill someone loses or until the clock runs out of time.

This benefits players who take their turns fast (e.g 4 hours) and allows players time to miss a couple of hours without risking getting skipped.

An alternative version of the uni-clock could start you both of with 12 hours, and add 12 hours to each clock when you take your turns.
Let's say first player does his turn in an hour. He loses an hour to his clock, leaving him with eleven, but he gains 12 hours after he finishes his turn, giving him as full twenty one. Esstainaily, he gains a bonus for taking his turn early

Let's say you take 12 hours to take your turn. You lose all 12 hours, but then you get 12 hours back. It would be just like the old time limit

And let's say first player is late. Even if he takes 16 hours to play, he still doesn't get skipped, because his clock has 21 hours. So he loses 16 and gains 12 and ends up with 17 hours on his clock. It allows him to be more flexible with his schedule.

And you can set the times on uni-clock still, if you want, to different times for faster and slower games.

The only person I can see being not being benefited from this is someone who likes to skip people, because the uni-clock will allow for more flexibility and benefit faster players

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Feb 17, 2016 20:14

amidama

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amidama

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This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Jul 17, 2016 21:35


Hakumen
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Duaneski

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Duaneski

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  gemo wrote:The "skip a player turn" feature does more harm than good. Lately it is mostly regulated by etiquette rather than the game, but there are always some freshmen who race to skip anything they can rather than play the game.

Players are also people, we have weekends and families and sometimes cannot login for more than 24 hours. It should be ok to miss 1 or 2 deadlines during the game.

The other issue is that in a game where some players have been eliminated but kept one base can skip others, ruining it for everybody else, since they themselves are no longer vested in the game and there is nothing better for them to do.


I know life and family happen - I have a Mrs and a 1.5 year old, and I work full time. But if you can't get 10 minutes every 24 hours to play your turns consistently, then you may have to be relegated to unranked games with people who are good with a 3 day turn timer.

No one has unlimited game slots, most have about 10. I've got right now 8 slots taken up by team or FFA games where I'm already taking turns every second or third day.

That's with people mostly adhering to the 12 or 24 hour limits.

So I've got a couple of game slots left to get ranked games in... And I should just let games sit there infinitely?

I could do that. But I probably won't. I skipped someone last week, they asked if I wanted to win that way, I said no and offered peace.

And that's the key for me. If you talk and tell someone you can not make it back a while, 90% of people will honor that. Or accept peace.

Sure some won't but again, you're playing ranked games and by joining them saying you'll take your turns every 24 hours.

Tournaments likewise are a much bigger commitment. And you can't really go into them unless you are going to make them something of a priority - can be very hard to do over work or family. So maybe right now, these features aren't for you.

That's my opinion anyway. Hope you don't find it too unfair.

Maybe I could get on board with a "pause" feature than can be turned on for double or so the length of the normal time limit, and could be used just once per ranked or tournament game.
gemo

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gemo

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@amidama: The comparison with the Chess clock is close but unlike Chess, Uniwar is not played in real time and should use a different clock design.

Proposal:
# of hours allowed for turn = turn_limit + K1 * turn_no + K2 * time_saved_by_making_turns_b4_turn_limit + K3 * % of bases controlled by player

where
turn limit - current turn limit, usually 24 hours
K1 - how many hours is added as game develops, I suggest 0.02 * turn limit, so for each turn of a 24h-limit game you get a 30 min allowance, up to some limit.
K2 - 0.02 * time saved, so if for example you made turns every 12 hours in a 24h-limit game, you get an additional 15 mins per turn.
K3 - should be adjusted for number of players in the game. The idea is that if a player controls half the bases of the game, he should be allotted more time, as it both takes more time to take a turn for him and skipping his turn will have drastic consequences on the outcome. On the other hand, a player who is clinging to his last base should not get this allowance.

As far as skipping other player, it should be a vote by players multiplied by % of game they control, so someone who controls almost no bases should not have a say.




This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Feb 18, 2016 02:12

gemo

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gemo

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@duaneski:

> But if you can't get 10 minutes every 24 hours to play your turns consistently

24 hours is perfect, but life is not uniform. I try to not start games before vacations. Last Monday I got into a snow storm during a road trip with my children across a few states. I would have to be a psychopath to take that 10 mins. I got skipped in a 3v3 where I controlled nearly half the game, not to mention that it also took me 30 mins to make a turn in that game given the sheer number of units under control.

> then you may have to be relegated to unranked games

I honestly don't care if the game is ranked. I don't put my rank on resume nor do I post it on a singles website. I play for fun and for strategy, and turns being skipped ruin both.

> No one has unlimited game slots, most have about 10.

This limit is very artificial and can be increased to compensate for my proposal, should it ever get implemented. I don't ask for a bigger time limit, just an occasional brake.
strikemanNT

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strikemanNT

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I've been skipped, I skip others. I've won games where I was skipped, I've lost games where I skipped

Skipping is just part of the game that may offers variable amount of advantage. Until it is changed by the developers it is up to the skipper's own discretion, but it is really pointless for skippees to whine. Don't play the game if you don't like the way it is
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japhib

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japhib

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strikemanNT wrote: I've been skipped, I skip others. I've won games where I was skipped, I've lost games where I skipped

Skipping is just part of the game that may offers variable amount of advantage. Until it is changed by the developers it is up to the skipper's own discretion, but it is really pointless for skippees to whine. Don't play the game if you don't like the way it is


Giving fellow players the ultimatum of shutting up or leaving the game isn't very helpful ... I agree with @gemo, I think that some amount of lenience would be very nice for players. It's stressful when you are in a bunch of close games and you go on a trip and didn't realize that you're not going to have wi-fi or a cell signal for the next 3 days, and so you lose all your current games.

I don't think that raising the "regular" time limit is a good solution. 24 hours seems like a really nice number to keep games always going. Games that I've played where people can wait 3+ days to play their turn have a much slower feel to them and aren't as fun for me. (Words with Friends, Outwitters are both awesome games but the default time limit on taking your turn is a reeeeally long time)

Although I do disagree with @gemo on the system he proposed. Anything you have to post a math formula for is more likely to be unintuitive and misunderstood, and I think simpler solutions would be just as beneficial. For example, a mercy system -- for each minute that your opponent goes over his/her time limit, you get a minute of "allowance" during which you cannot be skipped, the next time you go over your time limit.

Perhaps these amounts could carry over (perhaps on a diminished scale) from game to game, up to a maximum limit, maybe another 24 or 48 hours. For the situation I mentioned above, where you're going over your limit on multiple games and you're not able to log in at all, perhaps we could just say that going over the time limit on concurrent games just counts the same as going over the time limit on one game. That is, you can use your "allowance" on multiple games at once for the same cost.

I think this solution would provide a bit of protection against being skipped to those who are lenient in skipping others, and it would also allow those who love to skip others to do so, at the risk of being skipped themselves.
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TheDragon

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TheDragon

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Gemo, Try communicating with those you play with. Many players will give time if you let them know you may have things coming up. I find most folks are o.k. waiting a bit longer when I post something like "I'll be vending at Arisia Sci Fi con this weekend so may be late making my move"

Yes you will get the few 'win at all costs' types that will take any shortcut for a rating status, but most of us just want to know you will be back.

...The game of life is too short to be taken seriously...

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japhib

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japhib

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  TheDragon wrote:Gemo, Try communicating with those you play with. Many players will give time if you let them know you may have things coming up. I find most folks are o.k. waiting a bit longer when I post something like "I'll be vending at Arisia Sci Fi con this weekend so may be late making my move"

Yes you will get the few 'win at all costs' types that will take any shortcut for a rating status, but most of us just want to know you will be back.


^^^ True that!
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