GEmp: Is there a place where we can report bad player?

[neopium]

Same here. I start a game with Elvenman. As soon as I bid he leaves and is not there anymore. Had to wait for time-out to win.

It happened to me as well with elvenman...
Can MarcinS do something about it?
I mean if you are all alone in the room, it's not possible to cancel the game without conceding... Waiting 10 minutes is frustrating... It happened to me to wait 15 minutes before finding an opponent, then the guy left the room and I had to wait 10 more minutes before being able to play again... very annoying :-)

[FM]

Yes, I believe we have seen enough of these kinds of complaints that MarcinS should do something about it. Taking 3 minutes to perform a SINGLE action, like playing a card or prompting a triggered ability to happen is more than enough, perhaps in REALLY complicated situations, like skirmish, people can have 5 minutes, and maybe an "extension" button that allows them, for X times in the match, to take the full 10 in a particularly complicated situation, and that's about it. Of course, jerks could still use the function to make the other player wait out the full 10, but then that would warrant a ban/gold loss/card loss, because that'd just be being a jerk.

[ramolnar]

The problem with a 3 minute time limit is a computer or Internet crash. I have a SSD computer now which boots quickly, but in the past I've had machines that take about 2 minutes to reboot and reload their startup programs. Searching online, one company (soluto.com) claims average PC boot time is 3 minutes, 12 seconds. That's suspiciously high, but even saying 2 minutes leaves very little margin for error. I have to reboot, log in to the Internet provider, then load Gemp. If it was my turn when it crashed, there's a good chance I just lost.

I would have no problem with 7 minutes, but less than that would remove safety margin on computer crashes.

I will also note that to the best of my knowledge, Magic Online has no 10-minute time limit, just a 25 minute time limit per match.

[FM]

Yes, but considering matches there are worth actual points for an actual ranking that let you play in actual tournaments, and revenue is "real" (and much, MUCH better) - you can always convert MOL goodies to money without too much of a hassle -, most players are ok with it, winning by clockout is still winning.

Problem is, Gemp is a CASUAL program for CASUAL gamers that want to enjoy a dead game, so it's NOT ok to have people sit on their thumbs for so much time.

As for crashes, sure, they can happen. Sure, they suck. Sure, losing a match because of it sucks (and in a tournament, I'm pretty sure the time limit would be higher, because if someone pulled something like this on a tournament, they'd get DQ'ed anyway). However, I think it's a matter of risk-reward, and I think players getting annoyed in this proportions IS a bigger problem than someone losing a random casual game because of an internet crash (and of course, those can always be solved by the player, either by fixing/upgrading their computer or changing internet providers if the current one is not living up to expectations).

PS: I understand this may sound harsh to some ("get a better computer/internet connection" - although it's not quite what I mean, I'm actually telling people to fight for their rights if they're paying for a service), but truth be told, games DO have system requirements, and while you CAN play with a machine slightly under those, you have to know you run some risks, so I don't see why it'd be such a big deal.

[bibfortuna25]

Heck, I had an Internet crash the other night, so I just whipped out my phone and signed on from there. It's a little slower than playing on my PC, and it's harder to select individual cards on the screen, but it does work.

[FM]

And could probably hold you until the computer restarted.