All Waiting Games Get Scrapped After 28 days

[koontz1973]

Concise description:

• All waiting games get scrapped after 28 days.

Specifics/Details:

• At the end of 28 days, any game (not including clan and tournament games) that has not started is deleted no matter how many players have joined it. As of writing this, we have 6394 games waiting to start on 64 pages. This alone makes us look bad. If a game that has been not been filled after two weeks, must surely mean that not enough players want to play that game at that time. We already do this for private games, so why not public?
  
  Near the end (day 26), a PM can be sent to warn players and allow time for any invites to go out.

How this will benefit the site and/or other comments:

• Will mean a smaller waiting games list.
• Should make the site look busier as we have less games waiting to be filled.
• Reduced the load on the server.
• Reduces farming - whilst the amount of farming games reduced would not be great or deter, any amount must be good for the site.
• Freeium members cannot play like a premium for more than a month - when premium members go freeium, they can start 100 games and wait for them to fill. If a player starts 10 games a week, he can play as premium for 10 weeks. Turning a 12 month membership into a 14 month membership.
• Players come and go, one problem with players joining these games is that they may go for whatever reason. The longer the game stays waiting to start, the higher the risk of a player leaving the site and forcing the others to sit through 3 days.

[iAmCaffeine]

I support this. I was looking through all waiting team games and noticed a few of mine, which would usually be filled quickly, were in pages 13-15, out of 16. I then decided to drop those games, but it's a nuisance telling my team mates that I'm dropping, and there's the risk the game will get filled by random players (albeit highly unlikely).

@koontz - what about an automatic PM letting you know the game has been dropped and asking if you want to re-make it? I think that would be popular and easy enough to do given we have the rematch button.

[koontz1973]

Good idea about the PM. Would also allow anyone to send out an invite to get kt filled. Edited OP.

[iAmCaffeine]

Whilst doing it that way would allow you to send invites, I think it would be more beneficial if the PM was sent when the game expired so that you can remake it automatically if you wish, because it will then quite likely be joined.

[Vid_FISO]

Whilst doing it that way would allow you to send invites, I think it would be more beneficial if the PM was sent when the game expired so that you can remake it automatically if you wish, because it will then quite likely be joined.

Perhaps a pm before expiry with 24 hours to send invites and a further 24 hours for them to be accepted?

[koontz1973]

Whilst doing it that way would allow you to send invites, I think it would be more beneficial if the PM was sent when the game expired so that you can remake it automatically if you wish, because it will then quite likely be joined.

Perhaps a pm before expiry with 24 hours to send invites and a further 24 hours for them to be accepted?

This is why I did it at the 12 day mark. But the idea of the PM is a good one and can get debated on when it is sent.

[cairnswk]

koontz, i support this idea.
I imagine it will assist the load on server storage of unstarted games.

[chapcrap]

I am not in favor of this. I think instead of scrapping unusual games, we should think of better ways to get them filled. I think that if we were to do this, 2 weeks is a bad time frame anyway, because we have tournament games lasting longer than that.

[koontz1973]

I am not in favor of this. I think instead of scrapping unusual games, we should think of better ways to get them filled. I think that if we were to do this, 2 weeks is a bad time frame anyway, because we have tournament games lasting longer than that.

chapcrap, reread the OP please, I made the proviso that tournament and clan games are not to be effected by this. I know clan games can take a very long time to fill and some tournament games also. Those would be the only exceptions though. Whilst we need to find ways to fill the games, I also stated that in day 12, the game originator would get a PM telling them it would be scrapped if no one enters it. This gives them 48 hours to send out invites. More than enough time to fill the game.

[chapcrap]

I am not in favor of this. I think instead of scrapping unusual games, we should think of better ways to get them filled. I think that if we were to do this, 2 weeks is a bad time frame anyway, because we have tournament games lasting longer than that.

chapcrap, reread the OP please, I made the proviso that tournament and clan games are not to be effected by this. I know clan games can take a very long time to fill and some tournament games also. Those would be the only exceptions though. Whilst we need to find ways to fill the games, I also stated that in day 12, the game originator would get a PM telling them it would be scrapped if no one enters it. This gives them 48 hours to send out invites. More than enough time to fill the game.

Yeah, I already read the OP. I'm saying that they should just all be the same if we were gonna do something like that. So, I think that it should all be 30 days. I'm actually ok with 30 days. The PM can get sent at 27-28.

[koontz1973]

OK then, I have added the 28 days to the OP then and we can let that be decided at a later point of even by the bosses.

[koontz1973]

Is there anything else to be looked at?

[iAmCaffeine]

Is there anything else to be looked at?

I don't think so. I'd like to see this implemented. I recently dropped all my awaiting team games because they've been there for months.

[chapcrap]

Is there anything else to be looked at?

Yes. I don't want my waiting games dropped. I'd rather leave them actually. I have a lot of Christmas games that will fill up eventually and if they get dropped, I can't remake them because the map is closed.

[koontz1973]

Is there anything else to be looked at?

Yes. I don't want my waiting games dropped. I'd rather leave them actually. I have a lot of Christmas games that will fill up eventually and if they get dropped, I can't remake them because the map is closed.

But who is going to join a Christmas map game now? Who is going to even look for them? I understand that we will always have some exceptions to the rule but is holding onto some games that may never get filled (and with the settings you chose ) I am not surprised they did not. Do you honestly see any of those games getting filled any time soon? And why not use invites to get them filled?

[iAmCaffeine]

Is there anything else to be looked at?

Yes. I don't want my waiting games dropped. I'd rather leave them actually. I have a lot of Christmas games that will fill up eventually and if they get dropped, I can't remake them because the map is closed.

But who is going to join a Christmas map game now? Who is going to even look for them? I understand that we will always have some exceptions to the rule but is holding onto some games that may never get filled (and with the settings you chose ) I am not surprised they did not. Do you honestly see any of those games getting filled any time soon? And why not use invites to get them filled?

+1

They'll fill at Christmas and will be mostly filled with newbs.

[chapcrap]

Is there anything else to be looked at?

Yes. I don't want my waiting games dropped. I'd rather leave them actually. I have a lot of Christmas games that will fill up eventually and if they get dropped, I can't remake them because the map is closed.

But who is going to join a Christmas map game now? Who is going to even look for them? I understand that we will always have some exceptions to the rule but is holding onto some games that may never get filled (and with the settings you chose ) I am not surprised they did not. Do you honestly see any of those games getting filled any time soon? And why not use invites to get them filled?

+1

They'll fill at Christmas and will be mostly filled with newbs.

Incorrect. iAmCaffeine just doesn't like the map. He's already professed as much in another thread.

As far as them getting filled, I have been inviting people slowly. I have 90+ games waiting, so they obviously aren't all gonna fill at once. Even apart from this, I'm not on board with having the games scrapped. If people want to drop games, they can. What's the point of having them remake the games? I said I was ok with 30 earlier, but I'm really not. Either way, I definitely can not support submitting this whent he OP hasn't been updated to say what has been decided here. The boss doesn't want to decide. He want us to decide. Putting personal preference aside, I think this will frustrate more people than any good it will create.

[iAmCaffeine]

The fact I dislike the map has nothing to do with this.

[TheForgivenOne]

I always thought there was a 30 day limit on waiting games

Hmmmm. Guess not.

[koontz1973]

OK then, I have updated the OP with the 28 days limit and a PM going out on day 26. That should solve all issues with waiting games being allowed time to fill. If after 28 days, a game that is not full, and considering we have lots of options here to fill them (call outs forum, invites, live chat etc) is then scrapped. All clan and tournament games will not be effected by this.

EDIT: As of writing this, we now have something like 7198 waiting to fill. That is 804 more games waiting to fill from when I wrote the OP.

[iAmCaffeine]

I always thought there was a 30 day limit on waiting games

Hmmmm. Guess not.

Private games expire after two weeks.

[koontz1973]

I think this will frustrate more people than any good it will create.

Who is it going to frustrate? Any player can make a game, this is not stopping them. It does not stop them from inviting players or anything else. All it does it free up the waiting games list. How can having 7272 games waiting to start be good for the site?

This player who is now a freeium has 8 games waiting to start which are the oldest games waiting to start. He cannot play all of them if they all filled today so why have them on the board? Game 12961564 This game criteria produces 16 results from the same players, all on the first page of the oldest first games. Only 1 person, not 1 team but 1 person has joined the games. This suggests that the games are not popular and should be scrapped? They can either invite players, use callouts or just wait for the unsuspecting players like ruthless1704 to join them. By not scrapping unpopular games, we are allowing farming.

[Dukasaur]

I think this will frustrate more people than any good it will create.

Who is it going to frustrate? Any player can make a game, this is not stopping them. It does not stop them from inviting players or anything else. All it does it free up the waiting games list. How can having 7272 games waiting to start be good for the site?

This player who is now a freeium has 8 games waiting to start which are the oldest games waiting to start. He cannot play all of them if they all filled today so why have them on the board? Game 12961564 This game criteria produces 16 results from the same players, all on the first page of the oldest first games. Only 1 person, not 1 team but 1 person has joined the games. This suggests that the games are not popular and should be scrapped? They can either invite players, use callouts or just wait for the unsuspecting players like ruthless1704 to join them. By not scrapping unpopular games, we are allowing farming.

Your point about Game 12961564 is understood. But contrast that to Game 13169629.

In Game 13169629 we have a bunch of players, all in the middle score ranges from high sergeant to low major. None of them are noobs; the least has 533 games played and the rest all have considerably more. Nobody is getting farmed here. These are difficult settings, but they are equally difficult for everyone, there's no auto-win here.

For whatever reason, it seems that these players have all willingly chose this map on these settings. They just need more players like themselves. Given enough time, they will get them, but given that it's a rather unsavoury combination of map and settings, it might take a while. Still, why deny them the chance?

[koontz1973]

I think this will frustrate more people than any good it will create.

Who is it going to frustrate? Any player can make a game, this is not stopping them. It does not stop them from inviting players or anything else. All it does it free up the waiting games list. How can having 7272 games waiting to start be good for the site?

This player who is now a freeium has 8 games waiting to start which are the oldest games waiting to start. He cannot play all of them if they all filled today so why have them on the board? Game 12961564 This game criteria produces 16 results from the same players, all on the first page of the oldest first games. Only 1 person, not 1 team but 1 person has joined the games. This suggests that the games are not popular and should be scrapped? They can either invite players, use callouts or just wait for the unsuspecting players like ruthless1704 to join them. By not scrapping unpopular games, we are allowing farming.

Your point about Game 12961564 is understood. But contrast that to Game 13169629.

In Game 13169629 we have a bunch of players, all in the middle score ranges from high sergeant to low major. None of them are noobs; the least has 533 games played and the rest all have considerably more. Nobody is getting farmed here. These are difficult settings, but they are equally difficult for everyone, there's no auto-win here.

For whatever reason, it seems that these players have all willingly chose this map on these settings. They just need more players like themselves. Given enough time, they will get them, but given that it's a rather unsavoury combination of map and settings, it might take a while. Still, why deny them the chance?

And I am not denying any of them the chance to play the map or settings. But when we have a call outs forum, invite system, live chat, friends lists, if these players really wanted to fill this game, it could be done in a lot less time than a month. The same player (persianempire) has started another game similar to this but on Stalingrad. Like the dustbowl game, it has few players who have joined the game but no new interest after a while. And again, if persianempire really wanted this, he could have it.

[Butters1919]

i support the suggestion!