Resigning Mid-Game: Rant Warning :p

[Ingix]

@twasa:
Being polite is like asking too much ??
Investing 2-3 nice words in the chat is asking too much ??

Hey, we are all human beings, and most of them want to chat and to socialize beyond the pure game as part of a living community – please don't expect that all players here are only acting like dumb parkometers – what a terrible world !!

I've found out over the years that I play games mostly to socialize with friends. We talk about the game and other things while we play, as probably any gaming group. However, like probably most people, I can easily talk and do other things at the same time. It takes a considerable bigger amount of time and mental capacity for me to type (instead of talking) and do other things at the same time, especially if the other things are interacting with the game client.

That's why I consider the chat feature to be just appropriate for communicating very short status things like "Baby woke up, need to go" or "Need 3 min break". If I want to use the chat to start an actual discussion, about the game or something else ("smalltalk"), this would take up much more time and energy than actually playing the game.

When I first introduced a seasoned Dominion player (with no subscription) to the new online implementation, we used Skype to talk to each other. We fell into the pitfall of the game not showing any kingdom cards, which was caused by him not having any cards marked "familiar". We figured it out eventually, because I could talk to him and direct him to certain options which I guessed could be the problem. If I had to type that in, wait for him to respond, etc. this would have taken much longer than the 15 min it took us to figure out.

Later, when we were in the game, we talked about it, when we got a lucky draw etc., just like we do when we play IRL. He's a better player than me, so I'm very interested in hearing his opinions. And nothing is better than just taking 2seconds verbally to ask on some question that comes up in the game, than to take 15 seconds to type into the chat to formulate the same question. Maybe he is also asking/saying something at the same time. Verbally, this does not happen very often and it is easily solved, but in a chat (I'm not an experienced chatter, so there may be some well known things to do when this comes up)?

So while I agree that smalltalk is an important stepping stone to real conversation with strangers, the problem I have with chat in this Dominion client is that it isn't (in my opinion) good for anything but very short smalltalk, as a serious conversation takes too much time (at least for me). I can then understand that people do not like to be told that using some "formulaic" greetings are required, at least when they do not want to be in breach of an etiquette.

[Panoptikus]

I think it is very important to differentiate resigning from quitting (just disconnecting, doing nothing for minutes...). The latter (if it does happen on purpose) is not acceptable and I would blacklist any player who does behave that way. Resigning is a valid option. It is an option the interface offers (just like buying cards). It is a move within the context of the game. It is IMO neither impolite to buy a torturer nor to click resign. Hitting the resign button communicates: "I am convinced that I am no longer able to win this game (whatever the reasons may be: worse deck, inability to get enough victory point, boss calling). I congratulate you to your victory". I don't need to express this in the chat. The intent is clear. (The intent of buying a torturer is also clear: "I want to torture you ;-)").

My opinion is: it is absolutely ok to resign anytime - some might prefer to explain themselves, but I do not expect them to do this.

[HinghamtoHingham]

Sometimes people disappear because RL intervenes or computer glitches occur. I think its nice to be forgiving

[Hertz Doughnut]

I say: it IS absolutely required – we should never allow to see this as a normal behavior. I really want to encourage people to use the in-game-chat for saying hello, some nice words, asking for undo ... and of course, of course for resigns – otherwise one should prefer bots games.

We can't heal the world, and we all have to live with silent resigners or quitters (where is the difference by the way?) – but a stronger commitment by saying "quitters not welcome here" as an unmistakeable community rule could be a nice route to follow.

I definitely agree with your sentiment, C#, and as you know, we've had some very pleasurable chats in our games.  (I think it was the first time I've ever had a Chopin vs Beethoven discussion during any online contest...)

However, one thing to be aware of, is that when I play on my tablet, chat is painfully difficult.  When I bring up the keyboard, it takes a couple seconds, and covers the entire screen.  I can't see the letters I'm typing, until I first press "enter" and then press the "keyboard disappear" button.  Then (sometimes) the keyboard bugs and goes down, but then pops back up again.  Once the keyboard is finally down, I have to touch and scroll the chat box to the bottom to see what I've written... which sometimes opens up the keyboard again (and scrolls the chat box back to the top).  And then there's usually a bunch of typos, because tablet keyboards are like that.

When I try to type a "gg" after a game, my opponent has usually left the table by the time I hit enter.  When I try to type "gl hf" at the beginning of a game, it makes my opening turns much longer than necessary.  Altogether it just isn't worth it.  Asking for permission to resign is a bridge too far for that interface...

So I can imagine that anyone playing "Tablet Hertz Doughnut" thinks I'm an aloof misanthrope.  While anyone playing "PC Hertz Doughnut" (hopefully) thinks I'm a swell chap with impeccable sportsmanship.

Kind regards,
HD

[ElisabetK]

I usually play with bots but decided I had time to play a complete game with a real person, so I tried the "good match". Three times in a row I got matched with the same person, who left the table almost immediately.

If I could ban that ****, I would. I don't mind if he or she doesn't want to play with me or with that set of cards for whatever reason, but if you choose to be matched you should play the game. Just my (frustrated) opinion.

[Altamont]

Eh. I'm a repeat-offender mid-game resigner, mainly because there is no consequence for resigning at the moment. When the scoreboard becomes active, I'm sure we'll be getting less mid-game silent resigns.

[mark1878]

Altamont - when do you resign.

If because you think you have lost - well you have the penalty anyway.

What penalty should there be otherwise

I voted for resign with message - but as I got into playing more often I will resign without a message if I am losing heavily and if the other player is basically doing the same each round, if he has more complex things I would watch and hopefully learn.

If RL intervenes I would leave a message

[MaartenRobinson]

I agree with majority.  Converse ...say that you concede ... that's what gladiators used to do ...although, they usually died after that.  There are times, however, when the system shuts off the communication facility and leaves you with no other option, than to resign.

I just won a game ...about 30mins ago ... and was left completely hanging to the extent that I then had to resign to end the game ...the other player won because I resigned, although had more points and the provinces were all gone etc ... not happy