Kjeld wrote:

Yertle wrote:

Add in a player who takes 29 days to take a turn and it's a HUGE impact.

A player who takes 29 days isn't going to come back to the site to take a turn -- that person has already forgotten about WarGear and moved on.

And I don't think asm was really suggesting moving the timer to a month either... ;)

Can we try 3/7 for 2 months and see how we like it? Is the programming change a huge hassle?

Oh, and here's another idea - let's just boot people who miss their 1st turn. I would say very rarely does someone miss their first turn and then come back. Also uncommon is the mid-game boot, I know it happens, but not nearly as frequently. So, let's get the common "sign-up and not come back" people out of the games quicker.

Isn't it a bit funny that this thread was to get rid of Vacation (to have faster games, I assume) and here it is on how to take longer times for games...

Think this (changing from 2-3 days) would help or hurt Standard members who don't have Vacations? Perhaps less need for them but also they only have the 10 game limit so less the ability to "just join another game"...

Amidon37 wrote:
Oh, and here's another idea - let's just boot people who miss their 1st turn. I would say very rarely does someone miss their first turn and then come back. Also uncommon is the mid-game boot, I know it happens, but not nearly as frequently. So, let's get the common "sign-up and not come back" people out of the games quicker.

No to that IMO!

Yeah, I'm going to take a pass on Amidon's proposal as well. Tournament invites would complicate that rule, if nothing else.

I think moving the timer to 3/7 will definitely help the standard members; heck, if we have standard members thinking they can take the weekends off and discovering the hard way that they can't, it might be a leading cause for defections around here. Personally, I'll be infinitely happier if it means I can actually spend time with my family on the weekends instead of hastily logging in after my son goes to bed on Sunday.

1/3/7

What does 3/7 mean?  3 days every 7 days?  If so, I still don't know what that means.

3 days every 7th vernal equinox, Silly.

Glad we cleared that up.. I remain confused.

I advocate a 1 day, 3 day, and 7 day boot timer option.

hmmm.. I like. I personally would play a lot of 1 day games, but I would join 3 day games as well. One problem I can think of: Newbies could join a number of 1 day games thinking they can handle it, and then the harsh reality of a long day or a strange weekend hits..

I know this sounds nit-picky, but a 30 or 36 hour clock might make all the difference.

The only change IMO is that the people that are weekday players should be playing games with the 5 day boot. That's why its there. If you are a anyday player then you should play with the 2 day boot. You know the risks when you join the game.

KrocK wrote: The only change IMO is that the people that are weekday players should be playing games with the 5 day boot. That's why its there. If you are a anyday player then you should play with the 2 day boot. You know the risks when you join the game.

This is an awesome idea!  The 5 day timer easily covers the weekend and is open to anyone to create/join games with.  Seriously that makes sense.

Yertle wrote:

KrocK wrote: The only change IMO is that the people that are weekday players should be playing games with the 5 day boot. That's why its there. If you are a anyday player then you should play with the 2 day boot. You know the risks when you join the game.

This is an awesome idea!  The 5 day timer easily covers the weekend and is open to anyone to create/join games with.  Seriously that makes sense.

It does, but so does a 3 day timer.  What percentage of even casual gamers out there do you think prefer the idea of a 5 day timer?  Yes, most in these games will take their turns every day or two so the games will not last that long, but I dont' know that most people thing that way.. Many newbies are probably thinking that it could take weeks before their turn comes around.

If we stay with 2/5, then maybe the 2 part needs to have a disclaimer. "You will need to play over the weekend"

I vote for 1/3/5, (fast/normal/extended).  After all, apparently most people need weekends off. That's "normal".   1/3/7 might even make more sense for people who can only play on weekends.

1.  FAST - Be prepared to play EVERY day

3.  NORMAL - Don't worry about not being able to take your turn over a busy weekend.

5.  EXTENDED - Conquer the world over the weekends.

lol and wow

Seems like the system does a good job of supporting people who want to miss weekends, use 5 day time, and people who will check at least once on the weekends but want faster games, use 2 day time. But tom's choice.

There are two goals here, and they are in conflict.

On the one hand, you want the most people on the same timer.. Right now we're doing that pretty well.  I'm going to guess that 95% of non-lightning games are on a 2DT.

On the other hand, the problem is that 95% of non-lightning games are on a 2DT.  We want people to be happy with their choice, and a 2 day timer is not working for a lot of people.

Now I get it that more choices would spread out the community even thinner, but consider that in a 1/3/5 world, the games might break down 20/78/2%.  Really!  Once you put a 3 day timer in, who needs a 5 day timer?  Are there really people who will use it once the weekend problem is solved?

I'd say give 1/3/5 a try for a few months and see.  If no one is using the 5DT, pull it.  20/80 is not a community killer.  It's a compromise that may end up being a community builder.

I agree with M57 with one adjustment.

1. Lightning

2. Fast

3. Normal

4. Extended

I'd say remove the 5 day timer right now. Don't fracture the community more, just give them two good options of 1 and 3 day timers. Right now 5 isn't used at all. I think both 1 and 3 day timers would get used frequently, and would solve most of the issues present. The hardcore folks can use the 1 day timer, as that won't be an issue at all for people who log on every day. 3 works for anyone who wants to be able to take a weekend without checking.

bengaltiger wrote:  Right now 5 isn't used at all.

That's not true.

My hypothesis is that 1 day timers really wouldn't be used all that much either.

With the default being 3 days I assume?