Per Turn MP Time Limit? Contribute Your Thoughts!

This need to be implemented as soon as possible, some players are getting really annoying with stalling and very slow game.

I mean, I've just had to wait five minutes for the first turn, then I did something the opponent didn't like and now he's stalling the game. I reported him but I don't know how much is useful.

 

What would that be?

 

That might be me, my MP games rarely take less than 10 minutes and are about 5 - 8 rounds. What's the issue with that?

Your timer runs out at 20 mins, so a little bit of poetic license there. However, as long as the player is playing the game, not just sitting on the timer hoping you'll ragequit, then again, what's the problem? Players play their own game, they don't have to play by your "standards". Nor are they "slowbies", they are just playing the game differently to you.

 

I have been accused of playing slow before, mostly because I take the time to count my squares, double check my positioning, and that can take some time. Obviously, I am not 'pro' at this game, but taking my time is definitely better than trying to rush it for my opponents convenience.

 

Unholy Well on Wizard, he had lost against me before and he probably knew I was going to throw buffed fireballs at him. I had to wait till the end of his 20 minutes. Time wasted, again.

 

Ah, I see. That is a royal pain, I agree.

 

I am new as well (less than a week) and have been harassed by multiple people that I take too long. It's been a turn-off to MP. I don't know all the cards very well and I need time to make decisions. I don't understand why people think they have a right to complain when the timer is in place. I tell them if they have an issue with the timer they need to find another game.

When the player pool gets big enough, time preferences could be a nice feature for finding matches.

 

I totally understand. As a new player, how long does it take you per turn?

 

This is simply rude, you have 20 minutes and you can use every second because it's how the game is thought. The problem is when people stall the game on purpose.
Who harasses without good reasons is probably some hyperactive kid. For example today I played with Heretiick and he's not slow at all.

 

Yea, it's not a big deal. I personally think 2 min is the best limit for each turn. That way I can take time thinking and there is still a stall prevention mechanic.

 

Can you detect if the player's window is active from your side? Maybe make it if the window is not active for 15 seconds, your turn passes. If the window is active, but the mouse doesn't move for 20 seconds, your turn passes.

This way, you can think for as long as you want to (I highly doubt people sit and think without checking mouse-over tooltips on cards, or looking at ranges and lines of sight), but someone who is trying to run out the timer and just piss off the opponent needs to remain actively engaged in the game the entire time. I suppose they could have a movie up on another monitor and just wiggle the mouse around with Card Hunter window active, but even then it is more "effort" than it is now, so should deter a few more people.

Because while 2 minutes SOUNDS like plenty of time... I am sure some day I will have a difficult enough choice that I actually take that long. And because it is a pretty long time period, the jerks who are running the clock don't have to do THAT much more than with the current 20 minute timer.

 

I am all for having a per-turn timer, having gone against a person very recently who decided to stall because I happened to one-shot his elf wizard, whom he ran nearly right into my dwarf warrior (I think he though she would be good at melee). However, there have been several games where I had to get up and deal with something in real life for a good two to three minutes. Be it any other game, I would have to leave, right then and there, but for this game, I could come back and continue to play with a quick apology to my opponent. So I also propose that there be a pause button. It would prompt a menu that has three or four time options, ranging from 30 seconds (for those very stingy people who take a long time on turns and do not want to run out of their overall timer), to maybe 10 minutes (for when someone's dog decides to pee right on the carpet while defiantly staring into its owner's eyes). Then, when a player requests a pause, a vote prompt will appear to all players actively involved in the game (not spectators) displaying the time of the pause. Then, all players (or for later game modes, if they occur, of two vs two and such, a majority) must pass the vote for the pause to occur. Then, there will be a pause timer, and such and such. This is by far not an original idea, as it can be found on many, many other games, but it would be great for this game, assuming such a turn-by-turn timer is made to exist.

 

And what about the card discard phase? Someone could stall there if this system is implemented.

 

easy fix: just have a external clock set about 1 min for that and at the end of the time it just discards the 2 oldest cards in hand

 

I am for shorter time spans, 1 minute or less. I find that a lot of turn-based games make the mistake of giving you too much time. Being forced to make decisions makes the game more interesting, waiting for an opponent who spends every second of his two minute turns does not.

For new players I think the timer should be a bit more forgiving but anyone with experience should have time to do what they need in 30-45 seconds. So maybe if players beneath a certain rank (800 or so?) get matched they get higher time limits, something like 2 minutes?

 

I voted 2 mins on the poll, but I've got a slightly different idea for a time limit which I think would work better:

Rather than have a time limit for every individual turn, I suggest a rolling time limit for several turns. For example, a rolling limit of 5 mins for 3 turns. So that at on any specific turn, if the total time taken for the most recent 3 turns exceeds 5 mins, then the player is forced to pass.

The advantage of a rolling system like this compared to a single turn system is that it allows players to sporadically have some long turns, but doesn't allow players to be consistently slow. For example, 5 mins for 3 turns case, a player could spend 3 mins on a single turn, as long they didn't spend more than 2 mins on the previous two turns (combined), and they don't spend more than 2 mins on the next turn turns. So it allows players to take their time thinking about some moves, without having a long time limit for every move.

Ideally, a time limit shouldn't rush players who are genuinely trying to think about an important move, but it should be as short as possible when a player is afk or deliberately wasting time. A rolling time limit may be a little more difficult to implement, and more difficult for players to understand - but it would be more suited to achieving the goal. ie. it would allow for occasional long turns, but wouldn't allow a long limit for all turns.

 

I'm game for a short time limit (say, two minutes) moving to an automatic pass. If you automatically pass three times during a game (not necessarily in a row) then you automatically forfeit.

 

To minutes seems a good balance between letting people think and keeping the game moving.

 

But what if I'm making a brew and the kettle isn't fast enough?! I voted three minutes just on this principle.

 

Two minutes is a long time when you are playing. Remember this is the time limit to play one card. Another suggestion would be to have a low time limit but add an extra time pool.

So for example turns are limited to 30 seconds but you have a 5 minute time pool available for the entire game. which you automatically draw from if you pass the 30 seconds. So for those tricky moves you can spend a little extra time.