Quitting immediately after starting a game

The last two games I’ve had people quit immediately after the game starts. Seems like they join as the last player and just quit. It severely imbalances the game. Can we have a setting where you cannot quit before AFK time (47 ticks)?

And also, ideally we could find a way to keep these players out of games completely if they do this repeatedly.

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Matt is experiencing ‘game creator rage’ :slight_smile:

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Lol there goes another one Matt, did you forget to shower or something? :slight_smile:

If this is in a 64-user game, then it’s unavoidable there given the huge number of players.

Create an interesting (premium only) turn-based game with at least 10/12 hours to submit and I bet you won’t have near as many AFK/QUIT’ers. Plus the level of play is more challenging.

I don’t see how stopping players quitting before the AFK time really does anything - a player under AI control is if anything more difficult for neighbouring players to take over than one who just isn’t there for the first two whole days.

Players quitting or going AFK is definitely my biggest gripe with the game so far though. People leaving a game completely upsets the balance, and if one person has two or three of their neighbours quit or go AFK it basically hands them the victory, or at least puts them in a position where it’s far harder for them to lose. Games where people quit early on seem to be nowhere near as closely-fought or entertaining as ones where everyone keeps interest.

If the AFK was more aggressive then perhaps it would fix things a bit, but as it currently works an AFK/quit player is basically just a completely neutral border where you also have the option to push and take extra stars at your own pace.

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I agree that it is a major issue in NP2. My last 2 games were ruined by quitters, in one just 1 person AFK’ing ruined the whole game dynamic.

I’m not really sure how to solve the problem but it would be interesting to know why people are quitting.

Do you think there could be a box to fill in when you quit asking why your quitting? Then we can see the reasons and maybe get a better idea of what to do about it? @JayKyburz

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Oh and if you want someone to go through the data for you I’m more than happy to. It will be like my GCSE sociology coursework again :stuck_out_tongue:

I think most people just quit in a huff the second they get attacked to a point where they can’t see themselves winning. LDG’s idea of having a question asking why you’re quitting is very good, and maybe even an “are you sure” style message like this comes up first:

“You’ve just clicked ‘Quit the game’. Before you confirm please consider that this action can severely disrupt the game for the remaining players. Remember, many games can be clawed back by forming an alliance with other players. Even if you’ve got no chance to win, maybe just stick around and see the game out - you’re more likely to get renown points or a badge from the other players.”

And now that I’ve just typed that, I’ve had the thought that maybe maybe renown should have more weight somehow… or that you get a quit counter. That might sound harsh as there are legitimate reasons for quitting too… I’m just bouncing ideas around.

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Part of the problem is the two game limit for non premium players. Why wait a week or more for you to be fully eliminated when you can just quit, get that slot back, and move on to a fresh game?

I’m not suggesting removing it, but maybe increase it to 3 or something.

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Have you tried making premium only games to see if its better. Do you find it too hard to fill a Premium only game?

I think some kind of questionare might be a good idea because, other than the two game limit I don’t know why you would quit a game before it even starts.

Let me know what is like for premium only games first.

Other than the two original slots, (standard and turn based) I rarely see the generic games filled at all. Have you got stats on how quickly each game type fills up?

Oh right, I can look myself. I used to have a daily email sent to me with how many games filled each day. I’ll have to find out what happened to it. I think I filtered into its own folder.

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Perhaps a small reprimand for players who quit right out the gate. Maybe something that effects your rank and reputation scores? AFKing removes 2 reputation or something. It’s a small penalty so that if life is actually really busy for you and you do AFK you don’t feel unduly penalised.

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Previously we have discussed early morning production times as a reason for quitting a game straight away but the new turn hour settings should have stopped this. It still seems to be happening though so maybe there is another reason too.

We might just have to face the fact that when some people realise they are in a game with me the fear takes them and they realise they have lost already :wink:

I wouldn’t be surprised if some of it comes about from people who quit because they don’t feel they drew a decent starting position. Personally I’m not sure yet whether I feel starting on the edge or the middle is an advantage or disadvantage, but I have people I play with who do.

I could easily see people who feel that starting in the middle is a disadvantage just quitting if they get a “bad” starting location. Especially non-Premium players who can only have two games at a time. Playing out a whole game of NP is a decent investment and commitment of time, so I could see why people maybe would just quit and join another one if they’re pessimistic about their chances of winning.

I’d be interested to see how many people who quit are non-Premium, and also out of those people who quit, how many of them join a different game fairly soon after quitting one. People who quit because things come up, or because they don’t want to play any more shouldn’t join other games soon after. People who join and quit over and over until they get a starting galaxy they’re happy with should be fairly obvious to spot.

Yeah I could see that. But in the trade scan games being in the corner isn’t all that great, plus there are likely to be many stars you cannot reach without HR upgrades.

In NP1, being a middle player in a random hex game was usually the kiss of death. Now, in a dark game with scan-only trading, the tables have turned completely.

In fours years of playing , I think I have been in one game without premature AFK/quit. It is the nature of the beast, I’m afraid, and the only solution is to beef up the AI.

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Yes, A good AI is what I decided the game need more than anything else, but it’s difficult to do when I can just find a day here and there to do the work.

If I wasn’t so behind on Blight I would take a week off and do a big push to improve it.

I will make time early next year I think.

I’d love to know what the status is with the behavior of the AI.

It seems to be different every time I play. You used to be able to count on AI to immediately go after any abandoned (non-claimed) star system, but now they seem to flatly ignore them, regardless of the size of the system or it’s proximity to the AI…

Recently they seem much more aggressive when it comes to defense, moving great fleets of ships into systems in range of an enemy fleet…

Given that (like the OP said) there is a real systemic problem with a lot of players quitting or even worse just throwing their tear-stained keyboard to the ground and leaving the game while their faction lays dormant for the 3 days it takes to default to AFK; manipulation and use of AI’s has become an integral part of the game. I would like to strongly support your intentions to improve the AI, and also to post in-game notifications said changes/improvements.

Thank you.