Quitting games
 

I have noticed that the players-of-note here will respectfully post that they're leaving a PBW game for some reason. This gives others a chance to prepare for a possible AI onslaught and gives the game-owner a chance to solicite a replacement.

This seems to me both logical and the courteous thing to do.

A well-respected member of this community recently quit a PBW game I'm in without any warning. It was early in the game (less than turn 25) and we were sharing systems and we had a T&R. Needless to say my defenses were low. Now I've slipped from 4th to 7th place in two game turns and I'm out three major colonies because some inconsiderate player decided to leave.

Am I whining? Yup. Why shouldn't I? I don't have a lot of time on my hands for "hobbies" and only play a couple PBW games at a time, and so I take my playing seriously. I'm investing valuable time. I went from doing well to pissed off really fast.

What I'm saying is: what to you might be "just another PBW game that was getting dull" might be somebody else's favorite passtime. Be courteous.

I'm preaching to the choir here, aren't I.... <sigh> http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

Turin

Re: Quitting games
 

that sucks...

I am in one game where i have been trying to leave since turn 15... On turn 80 now.... And to boot i lost a whole system to a supernova... It was my only sole controled one http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Which turned my ok empire into an extremely craptaticlar one

Re: Quitting games
 

Just my thought Turin. Im playing a couple of games and to be honest i really invest much time and try to be as good as possible in every of them (5, when star trek final starts 6).

Its really a shame if a player leaves, weither it be a good ally or a good enemy.

Re: Quitting games
 

Hence my comment "Preaching to the choir."

I would guess that most people who would even care to read this thread are already the courteous type.

I just needed to "vent" I guess.
Turin

Re: Quitting games
 

Although I have never quit a game without giving advance notice, I did quit a game once in a manner that annoyed other players - by merging my #2 empire with my long-term very close ally who was the Last-place empire. Although it made sense to me, where you stand depends on where you sit. Therefore, it is now my cardinal rule to never quit a game unless I do it publicly, in advance, and have a replacement player. I think those are the bare minimum of guidelines to follow in instances where quitting in unavoidable. Other, guidelines also exist, and may be more considerate.

Alarik

Re: Quitting games
 

During two of my recent games, my DSL connention conked out on me, causeing me to withdraw. I don't really know the cause, but sometimes the PBW server is slow, just for me. I've switched to play by email with some close friends nowadays, I never know when the DSL is gonna die again. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

Re: Quitting games
 

I am guilty of quitting games without looking for a replacing player before myself. Well, I did so once (NGC5), in a slightly too rash manner to say the least; the game had to stop to look for another player though, so the end result was almost the same, but not quite. (I believe I have spent enough time looking for a new player in all my other games, and given advance warning)

I am rather tolerant of players leaving in the course of the game, so long as they state that they are leaving (it is better at least than having a player send a turn once every five turns), and turn off their AI when their position is good enough to warrant searching for a replacing player. AIs can perfectly mess up a game, while going AI would probably not be needed for a few turns; of course, a human player could also wipe out an AI even if fully enabled, so.

But I am digressing. Be warned Turin that even if the player in question does not quit the game, a missed turn or two can result in serious damage if the AI is enabled (which is usually a tad bit annoying when you are on the receiving side of it). Likewise, some players might decide to break treaties and attack you in the same turn, without warning, so you should have some defences in place, if only because of this eventuality. It hurts a lot when it happens and you aren't ready, even more so when an actual player is doing it.

Arkcon, the same happened to me some time ago, but I failed to pinpoint the exact reason for this problem (either a misconfigured firewall or a Trojan of some sort). You should still be able to send in turns through mail however; it worked for me at least. Administrating a game on PBW while being unable to access the site or the game forum is *quite* annoying though.

Re: Quitting games
 

I've been in situations where a player misses 2 turns or so, and it sucks, but at least when he came back there were apologies and reparations. I also would have no problem with someone breaking a treaty and attacking me the same turn; that's gaming. My "intuition" has so far served me well and I haven't been caught with my pants down yet.

I guess it's just the principal of the matter. You don't join a game with your AI turned on, make friendly treaties with other players and then just leave. Like I said, it was early and defenses weren't in place yet.

I guess I'll "cover my @$$" better from now on... chalk it up to "learning".

Turin

Re: Quitting games
 

I agree with your first post whole-heartedly.

Seems, sometimes, like people are just carefree about quitting (moreso, I suspect) because of the "distance" of the Internet. I suspect a lot of these people would NOT get up and walk away from the other players in a Monopoly game at someone's house if they were losing. And then there are the sore losers who just quit whether in person or over the Internet. I have no use for either type.

And what makes it worse is their repeated failure to "turn the AI off" http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/mad.gif.

To sumarize, I empathize with you.

Re: Quitting games
 

And I'm your partner no less!