Waiting and waiting

[The Wall]

I know, I could pay for Premium Membership, but personally I can't at this moment, being without a credit card.

And this isn't a whine. Obviously this game has been very well designed, and there is nothing wrong with the makers holding out a little on scroungers.

But I wasn't expecting games to be this slow, and I can't reasonably drop out now.

So I wonder if it is OK to suggest that there be options to see which of your opponents are logged in and online, which would help newbies to understand there's some waiting, and to signal prior to the game if a game is to be played as close to real-time as possible, perhaps with a message box on the waiting page, or just a check box. There would still be the 24 hour thing but allowing room for a bit of consensus would be a lot easier on the non-paying players, still without affording the luxury of 5 minute turns and unlimited games. Something like that, because the likelihood is I'll get bored otherwise long before I get around to referring anyone or checking on my credit rating. Maybe you could even have some Google Ads for those without premium membership to help offset the difference and as further incentive to upgrade.

Looking forward to any responses.

Please pardon the liberty, kudos regardless and thanks.

[The Wall]

Or what about an option on the waiting page to post either one or two times a day (adjusted for timezones) at which you intend to play, at the request of the game starter, by which time if you have not played you miss a turn. I joined four games yesterday. In one game a player only took his turn at the very last minute, and in another two games I suspect that fellow newbies are about to miss their first turns. In both instances I have been checking back which was a waste of time. It would work a lot better if everyone committed to take their moves by specific times during the day. If those newbies do miss their turns there's a good chance they just got bored in the first few hours of checking back and won't be returning, which is obviously a shame.

The Game Finder suggests you are losing a lot of newbies who get tired waiting. Those are players who could subscribe but as things stand there's not enough gameplay to get them hooked.

[The Wall]

To summarise my suggestions:

1. To show who is logged in and online
2. To have a message box on the waiting page to allow players to arrange the length of the game, each on his or her word
3. A check box in the Start A Game page to indicate an informal expectation that a game should be played in real time
4. An option in the Start A Game page forcing players to indicate at which times they'll play (either once or twice a day), after which they would miss a turn. The game order could be adjusted accordingly if necessary. If more than one round is played in the times indicated, ie if things speed up so that I take my turn twice before the time indicated, players are still expected to meet the next day's deadline.

One or more of these might not be realistic, but I believe you would generate a lot more gameplay and loyalty and hence more subscriptions.

[cleveridea]

To summarise my suggestions:
1. To show who is logged in and online

No chance. Who are you, Mrs. Kravitz?

4. An option in the Start A Game page forcing players to indicate at which times they'll play (either once or twice a day), after which they would miss a turn. The game order could be adjusted accordingly if necessary. If more than one round is played in the times indicated, ie if things speed up so that I take my turn twice before the time indicated, players are still expected to meet the next day's deadline.

Another no chance. The beauty of CC is its social simplicity. Your suggestion is just a hassle.

[The Wall]

Maybe, but you could avoid those games. Two other newbies I was just playing missed their turn. I'm just considering what would encourage more interest for newbies like me and more loyalty to each game and the site itself. After all, people can pay to download Risk games, but the hook with this is the free gameplay, and it could be a lot more fluid. The design of the game is good and obviously working for most people, but I do think these are constructive suggestions.

Maybe the last suggestion is too complicated, but the first is just to let players know if they should bother staying logged on. It's hardly an invasion of your privacy - even at the top of this forum it tells you which users are browsing.

[misterman10]

You can see who is logged in at the bottom of the forums

not to mention live chat and callouts to set up RT games

[The Wall]

Thank you misterman10. The callout thing hopefully resolves my issue.

My bad.

Now I just have to wait for one of these other games to finish.