Everything: VGAP, RL, or otherwise
I copied the following discussion into this new topic, because it is relevant for all games on PC.
@streu, this happens quite often. Maybe you could add some kind of confirmation request? If a player does not confirm in one week he could be kicked *before* the game starts.
This is what I intended the "one week for first turn" schedule for. You confirm by submitting the turn.
It's a hard problem to solve on the rule side. One suggestion I heard would be that a subscription to a starting game is good only for 4 weeks, and automatically expires if you don't renew it. This would come close, but probably make it harder to start games at all. --Stefan
Well, but the result of anybody "not confirming" is a stalled race. If the player does not submit his first turn and will be kicked out only after 3 turns, anybody else will be discouraged to take this underdeveloped race. IMHO it would be better to give everybody 1 week to confirm when all spots are filled and if anybody does not confirm to simply wait for new players before starting the game. But true, it will take a bit longer before a new game starts...
I copied the following discussion into this new topic, because it is relevant for all games on PC.
Well, but the result of anybody "not confirming" is a stalled race. If the player does not submit his first turn and will be kicked out only after 3 turns, anybody else will be discouraged to take this underdeveloped race. IMHO it would be better to give everybody 1 week to confirm when all spots are filled and if anybody does not confirm to simply wait for new players before starting the game. But true, it will take a bit longer before a new game starts...
It is better to wait a little longer than to start with players who are not playing their turn.
![[Posting]](/test/res/icon_rsay_24x24.png){kind=icon}
Re: Should players confirm before a new game starts?
It is better to wait a little longer than to start with players who are not playing their turn.
I agree here. Stefan: Let's say, there will be some sort of confirmation process in the future - would it be too much trouble to implement an option, that the request of confirmation is sent out to players either by email or messenger (like whatsapp, telegram...)? An email can be left unread for a while, especially when you wait a few months for a game to start and then begin 'forgetting' about it, but text messages instead are a bit more prominent. If this is customizable for players within their profile, it might help breathing a bit more life into this whole thing.
It is better to wait a little longer than to start with players who are not playing their turn.
I agree here. Stefan: Let's say, there will be some sort of confirmation process in the future - would it be too much trouble to implement an option, that the request of confirmation is sent out to players either by email or messenger (like whatsapp, telegram...)? An email can be left unread for a while, especially when you wait a few months for a game to start and then begin 'forgetting' about it, but text messages instead are a bit more prominent.
I guess this will indeed be the way to go. This will however be a larger feature, so nothing for next weekend.
The ruleset I am tossing around would be something like a mail after six weeks, giving you three weeks to confirm you're still interested. If you don't confirm, you get dropped.
I don't think I'll do anything other than email anytime soon, though. As far as I can tell, that infrastructure is not trivial.
If this is customizable for players within their profile, it might help breathing a bit more life into this whole thing.
Allowing players to configure out pre-game reminders somehow defeats the purpose because everyone thinks "hey, I am a reliable player" when configuring their profile. However, having a way to do reminders will finally allow "host runs soon and you didn't send in your turn yet" reminders.
Another thing I'm working on, closer to completion, is smaller games. The mode I would go for would be something like "five Federations", or "five Empires".
Finally, I'm not wrong if I say: if you bring your friends (from other hosts?) here, you can play one game for free 
--Stefan