Backgammon Online

18-Jun-2010
06:17 PDT

is it only me or the time some players allow themselves take in tournament games is just unbearable?!
I tell you guys, sometimes I feel like withdrawing from tournaments because of games I'm not even playing! Just because some players make 1 move every day or tow!
I mean come-on!! a move a day??!!
where the hell are you?
In retired-house??!!
This is a tournament! and the higher you get in it - the more professional you should be!
Can you imagine there are games that last for more than a month???
I suggest a simple solution: Limit tournament games with a timer!
Give each player a certain amount of time to finish all his games. every time he moves, the timer stops and it's the opponent's time that starts moving.
If you wait for too long between moves - your time runs out!
Very simple!
I don't mind what pace players move in in regular games. But in a tournament you force all the other players who already finished their games and qualified to wait until Mr/Mrs slow will be kind enough to make a move!!

Are you with me?

18-Jun-2010
06:48 PDT

...that's all really.
It's just how internet tournaments work. Online tournaments in other games such as chess can take a lot longer, so it's relatively swift in comparison really.

It's not really fair to expect players to be available to play all the time. A lot of us have busy lives and only have time to visit the site once a day, or even less often sometimes.
Also, unless you're on the site all the time, how could you know how much time you have left in any of your games and avoid timeouts? It's just impractical I'm afraid.

There's no reason why blitz games couldn't be introduced as an option though (outside of tournaments) for those that want to play in real-time.

18-Jun-2010
07:09 PDT

This post was deleted by Saurus on 18-Jun-2010, 07:10 PDT

18-Jun-2010
07:11 PDT

This post was deleted by Saurus on 18-Jun-2010, 07:16 PDT

18-Jun-2010
07:15 PDT

A well known clock system in online games is "Fischer time".

For example:

3 days total time, plus 6 hours per move

Every time you make a move, 6 hours is added onto your time, but with a three day cap.
This means a player must make, on average, 4 moves a day to avoid timing out, but with a three day buffer, for those days he can't make it. Of course, after the three days, the player earn back his 3 day buffer by making 18 moves in a day, meaning that the game will still end with an average of 4 moves a day.

Typically, most game servers that I know are set to 7 days, plus 1 day per move, which means that a player must make, on average, 1 move per day over every 1 week period, in order not to time out, but this is obviously very flexible, as shown in the example above.

18-Jun-2010
07:18 PDT

On a side note, I think there is a minor forum bug that I just picked up, which is why I had to edit my posts above.

Sorry for the edits, but the "plus" sign ( ) does not show up in the posts, even though it shows up in the preview, so I had to edit the post to type "plus" in place of the sign.

18-Jun-2010
07:29 PDT

I noticed that a plus sign disappeared from a private message that I sent too.

18-Jun-2010
08:51 PDT

What is the hurry? Me I could care less if the tourneys take one month or three months to get to the next round. Sometimes I just do not understand the rush!

19-Jun-2010
07:44 PDT

i totally agree with little pinkas. this is not chess, who requires much more attention and time and concentration.
Here, you can make a move in seconds; and make multiple moves in 20, 25 tables in 2 or 3 minutes. its not very demanding, or is it?
either you wanna play here or you don't. if you wanna play it doesn't make sense to make a move every 2 days (at least in tournments) - you can do that one time or other - that's understandable, sometimes you cant or don't feel like playing for some time - but do that by system, that's really behind my comprehension. sorry

And what Abeu the mini-tournaments?
Like those in Gameknot, why they docent make it here?

19-Jun-2010
12:06 PDT

On the one hand, I too sometimes wish the last games would finish faster, especially when the outcome is clear. On the other hand, the tournaments are set up to allow people to make a move every other day and I can't see how we can complain when someone is complying with the tournament rules. Yes, it is easier to make moves than chess, but I can definitely see why someone might be able to make it on only once a day -- or even less often -- and if their opponent is also getting on only once a day at a different time, each game is going to take a long time. There is no shortage of play to keep us occupied in the meantime.