[rcarle]

I agree with an earlier comment. You don't seem to have the programming talent to present the free lessons on Apple, but you dick around with this garbage.

[Bbradley62]

jlco, on 2012-November-07, 15:39, said:

I would like to see a refinement to this feature. If one is playing at a table with 3 Robots, there is no need to have this feature in place. I'm not affecting anyone with however long it takes me to play my cards, whether as declarer or on defense.

This is, in fact, how it works. Did you bother to read the announcement before you complained about it?

[suokko]

How about keeping the warning but instead of automatic kick offer all other players option to kick the stuck player. That would prevent issues when playing with friends where I expect regulary someone to take over 90 seconds thinking break. That kind of feature of course requires some UI changes to mak a boot button appear when timer hits that 80 seconds or what ever is the boot time. If all other players click the boot button then host would be booted out of table.

[Antrax]

It's pretty amazing, I don't play as often as many (certainly not recently) but I don't remember ever sitting with anyone who needed more than 80 seconds more than once in a session. From reading this thread it would seem 90% of the players habitually take several minutes to make a move.
I still think it's a good idea, but the voting suggestion above (Suokko's) or making it opt-in (write "+fast+" or "exp+++++" in the table description to activate) could also work, and if so many people are opposed then maybe it's better.

[barmar]

Antrax, on 2012-November-07, 21:05, said:

I still think it's a good idea, but the voting suggestion above (Suokko's) or making it opt-in (write "+fast+" or "exp+++++" in the table description to activate) could also work, and if so many people are opposed then maybe it's better.

That won't be very effective. The reason we did this for all players, not just hosts, is because many hosts don't know how to boot stuck players. Do you really think someone like that would know that they should put "+fast+" in the description to make this happen automatically?

[barmar]

rcarle, on 2012-November-07, 15:40, said:

I agree with an earlier comment. You don't seem to have the programming talent to present the free lessons on Apple, but you dick around with this garbage.

Please keep your comments civil, there's no reason to be insulting just because you disagree with our decision.

Which earlier comment are you talking about? And the new free bridge movies work fine on Macs. They run on any computer that supports Flash, just like the BBO web version.

It's interesting to note that most of the comments in the BBO News item about this change are very positive, while the forum comments are mostly negative. I wonder why there's such a difference in the two communities.

[Zelandakh]

I think you should strongly consider editing one word in the post you quoted barmar - "mess" would be a good alternative.

[paulg]

barmar, on 2012-November-08, 08:37, said:

It's interesting to note that most of the comments in the BBO News item about this change are very positive, while the forum comments are mostly negative. I wonder why there's such a difference in the two communities.

I'm sure there are a number of reasons, but the forum community is probably more technical and includes people who direct and host team matches on BBO - so we are much more competent at booting players when necessary. It feels like a large percentage of the forum posters only play with friends (or friends of friends), or set games, and no longer enjoy the rough and tumble of random tables. This means that they are more tolerant of people taking their time when it looks difficult and more likely to see a warning.

It does mean that there will be some issues where our opinions are less important and probably irrelevant. But I'm sure that will never stop us commenting

[Antrax]

barmar, on 2012-November-08, 08:26, said:

That won't be very effective. The reason we did this for all players, not just hosts, is because many hosts don't know how to boot stuck players. Do you really think someone like that would know that they should put "+fast+" in thedescription to make this happen automatically?

This is interesting. Maybe the host interface should become more intuitive, for instance clicking on a player to bring up an option to boot him, or have the server suggest booting to the host ("click yes to boot") instead of auto-booting after the 80 seconds have elapsed? I thought the key issue was inactive hosts, but I'm obviously biased as that's the only issue I encounter.

[kaltstart]

As far as I see, the auto-removal was introduced to reduce the work yellows have to do when someone is stuck. I guess, most if not all of the removal requests come from tables which player reach via the "help me find a table"-function. Then why not restrict the auto-removal function to unprotected tables? There are several reasons why I exclusively play on protected tables. So at least I won´t be bothered by the feature any more. Protected tables can´t be reached via the above mentioned function, I think. If the host is stuck nobody else can reach the table, too.

Maybe not the ideal, but many of those who complain here might be content as well this way.

[smokyoo]

Yes I think it is a good idea. Some people simply drag out the play in order to cause trouble. I think it will speed up play and be helpful in the long run. I approve.

[anthony1]

Happy to have it
Especially happy to hear about the hack too ("+slow+" set in the Table description)

This allows some control to be applied for players who need a bit more time.
Of course all players should be advised about this option...
and perhaps too that they can click on "Be right back" to forestall getting "booted".

However those two options should add some time not prevent a person being booted.

After all time is a constraint and not unlike other rules is a part of the game.

[daxtoncard]

When i am the host... I expect to be in control of the table... It should b the host decision to boot someone... If someone wants to play faster... i tell them that maybe the main club would probably be better... Relax to me by definition means no stress, laid back and enjoyment of the game... I don't consider someone aaying please play faster or warning to boot slow players as being a relaxed game... What was your reason for the relaxed club??? It should be up to the host to decide when to boot... Most players who like to play fast, ask in main chat for those players... Most of us use a lot of drugs... So yes maybe sometime we fall asleep (now that is what i call relaxing)... I don't think that happening, is any more disrupting than threatening and then removing someone because of slow play...

[broze]

I thoroughly approve of this feature. I'm surprised so many people have a problem with it! Does it really take much effort to type "thinking" in the chat? I can't tell you how irritating it is to be on a table where the host just becomes inactive and that's it - you have to leave.

[psyck]

"Chick" has summed up the issues with this feature in BBO News, including the bug I mentioned of booting me when there were only 3 players at a table.

[FM75]

A teacher I know wanted her students to play in the "main" club so that they could see how their play compared with "the world". This came up before she knew about it.

1) Does +slow+ permanently disable the interruptions (perhaps leading to an eventual zombie table)?
2) Can players simply click BRB and play that way the whole game without the interruption?

[zenko]

FM75, on 2012-November-09, 15:19, said:

A teacher I know wanted her students to play in the "main" club so that they could see how their play compared with "the world". This came up before she knew about it.

1) Does +slow+ permanently disable the interruptions (perhaps leading to an eventual zombie table)?
2) Can players simply click BRB and play that way the whole game without the interruption?

Can I put +slow+ in my personal profile? would that help in case I am not the host?

[semeai]

uday, on 2012-November-07, 10:27, said:

Or tweak it so that it only applies to tables that are destinations for HMFAG ( the high volume case ).

This.

[ledzepper]

I ceratinly do not wish this feature to a part of BBO as it ruins the the very core of the game which is to think of a strategy to win after keeping lots of information in mind which forces you to think of a lot of situations in your mind. All of this requires concentration which cannot be achieved if one is getting such distractive messages. Please be kind and not kill the essence of this game

[matilda797]

Hi,
Is it really nessesary to implement it? Can't host manage it himself? if we not happy with slow table we can leave and join another table.