Etiquette and Best Practices in Online Play

[dok]

Setting up games with players

If you are assigned to play against someone you don't know very well in an online event (or even someone you know well), here are a few things you should do:

Short version: communicate regularly and don't waste your opponent's time.

• Contact the other player as soon as possible to try to set up a time to play. Even if the ball is in the other player's court on some decision, like an army draft, start trying to set up a time to play immediately. You don't want to miss the one chance where your schedules aligned because you took to long to get in touch.
  
  
• Try to give as many availabilities, in as much detail, as you can. Give specific hours of the day (with time zones!) when you can play. If you have top preferences for times to play and possible backup times to play, make that clear.
  
  
• If you are a younger player and don't have control over computer access, clear your time to play with your parent/whoever before it's time to sit down to play. Let the person in charge know that there's another person depending on you being there at a specific time, and if you get booted off during that timeblock, you are wasting someone else's time. If you can't get clearance to play uninterrupted, then you should not commit to play at that time.
  
  
• If there are pregame decisions to make, make those decisions early and let your opponent know. If you have to draft armies or decide on first/second placement, don't wait until just before the game to make a decision. Make it quickly and send the message to your opponent.
  
  
• Make sure your setup is ready to go. Make sure you can bring up the online app and the doc and move figures around. If you are using a voice connection (and you should!), make sure your hardware is working.
  
  
• Do your pregame prep before the time to play if at all possible. Import your armies into the doc if your opponent is not taking care of it. If there is an established order for army placement and you are first, try to set up in advance - and if your opponent has already set up, then set up your end. If you need to read up on cards, then get the cards out ahead of time to get ready. Fill in the wound tracking box for your army before game start. When the time to play comes, you should be ready to play.

Etiquette for online play

Short version - if you wouldn't do it in a face to face game, don't do it in an online game.

• Play as quickly as you reasonably can. Some players are slower than others and that's just how it is, but if you are a slower player than you should work as hard as possible to reduce delay. Think ahead on your moves while your opponent is playing. If you are plotting moves out on a physical map (which I strongly recommend not doing if you are playing slowly) then do this ahead of time and try to limit it to really tricky moves. If you are playing slowly, then don't waste time talking in the chat window - try to focus on your play.
  
  Additionally, if you have trouble playing quickly, try to play with a voice connection. The ability to talk through issues instead of typing everything out really improves the pace of play.
  
  
• Don't do too much celebrating or complaining about your rolls. A few comments here or there are OK in pivotal sequences of the game. But an exaggerated "YES!!" or "NO!!" every turn can be off-putting. This sort of behavior usually doesn't go over well in face-to-face games, and online play is no different. If you know your opponent and you know they are fine with this, then go ahead. But try to be restrained otherwise.
  
  
• Wait for your turn to roll on defense. This is a standard rule in Heroscape, but if you prematurely roll it can get confusing in the chat window. We don't toss out defense rolls that were valid and made after the attacker announced the attack, but try to wait your turn.
  
  
• Under-roll = roll the extra dice only. If you had four attack dice and you mistakenly rolled three, you may immediately roll the extra one. Do not roll all four over again.
  
  
• Over-roll = ask your opponent. If you roll too many dice, ask your opponent if they want you to roll again. It's their choice whether you re-roll the correct number of dice, or let the result stand.
  
  
• Double roll = count the first. If you accidentally roll more than once, then the first roll counts and all other rolls are ignored.

Etiquette for those watching others play

While the commentary is part of what makes online play fun, there are some guidelines to follow.

Short version - two players per game.

• Keep off-topic discussions in the google chat, not in the official game log. There's a chat window as part of every google doc. Rather than clogging the official game log with your commentary or trash talk, keep that in the sidebar. This is especially important if there are lots of people watching the game.
  
  
• Be respectful. If you wouldn't say it while standing next to the players, then don't say it online.
  
  
• Do not point out anything that is optional to the players. Only point out violations of required rules. For example, it's fine to point out that a player rolled too many dice or moved too many spaces (but be sure you are correct before you jump in). It's not OK to remind a player to use a special power like bonding.
  
  (Of course, we encourage opponents to be sporting and point out things like bonding to each other. But it is between the two players.)
  
  
• If there is a judgement call, do not give your opinion unless you are asked. Questions of line of sight or other possible disputes should be settled by the players if possible. It is up to the players to ask for a third opinion if they cannot agree.

Let me know if you have any suggestions to add to this post.

[MegaSilver]

Originally Posted by dok

Don't do too much celebrating or complaining about your rolls. A few comments here or there are OK in pivotal sequences of the game. But an exaggerated "YES!!" or "NO!!" every turn can be off-putting. This sort of behavior usually doesn't go over well in face-to-face games, and online play is no different. If you know your opponent and you know they are fine with this, then go ahead. But try to be restrained otherwise.

Yeah, I'll have to watch that myself. I don't do that very often in face to face games, yet I tend to do it more online for some reason.

[Foudzing]

I recognize myself so much in this.

[dok]

Foudzing, if I were to list players who I didn't want to play because of reasons related to this post... you would not be on the list. You do break some of these rules (you're an over-celebrator and a chat window hog) but those things don't bother me too much. Heck, I'm a chat window hog too. Nobody's perfect.

You get in touch with your opponents quickly and you play pretty fast (not as fast as me, but closer than most people ) and that counts for a lot in my book.

[weebaer]

Originally Posted by dok

Play as quickly as you reasonably can. Some players are slower than others and that's just how it is, but if you are a slower player than you should work as hard as possible to reduce delay. Think ahead on your moves while your opponent is playing. If you are plotting moves out on a physical map (which I strongly recommend not doing if you are playing slowly) then do this ahead of time and try to limit it to really tricky moves. If you are playing slowly, then don't waste time talking in the chat window - try to focus on your play.

I viewed a game in season 5 where the average turn of one of the players was 11 minutes, and the Longest was 17 minutes....yikes. Lets try to be courteous to our opponent's time as well. Not everyone has 4+ hours to play an online game that should very rarely be over an hour.

Thanks for putting this together dok.

[flameslayer93]

Don't do too much celebrating or complaining about your rolls. A few comments here or there are OK in pivotal sequences of the game. But an exaggerated "YES!!" or "NO!!" every turn can be off-putting. This sort of behavior usually doesn't go over well in face-to-face games, and online play is no different. If you know your opponent and you know they are fine with this, then go ahead. But try to be restrained otherwise.

I do this quite a bit in real-life with people I do know.

Of course, I also cackle like a dang hyena so maybe my not using voice-chat is a saving thing for my opponent's.

[Heroscaper Guy]

Yeah, I have conversations with my family at times while I'm playing so that would be a problem for me. I did get a laptop from my Grandad though. The problem is the charging port doesn't work. So I am taking it apart to try and fix it. When it does get fixed, no more interruptions from people barging in and insisting on using the computer even when I tell them it's important not to be interrupted. That's why I normally schedule games for Saturday when other people aren't around to interrupt my time.

[dok]

Originally Posted by flameslayer93

I do this quite a bit in real-life with people I do know.

Like I said, if you know your opponent and know they don't mind, then that's fine. But aside from that, try to take cues from your opponent. If your opponent is joking and celebrating right back to you, then it's probably fine. If you are the only one dropping celebratory lines in the chat window, then take that as a cue that your opponent might not appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Heroscaper Guy

Yeah, I have conversations with my family at times while I'm playing so that would be a problem for me. I did get a laptop from my Grandad though. The problem is the charging port doesn't work. So I am taking it apart to try and fix it. When it does get fixed, no more interruptions from people barging in and insisting on using the computer even when I tell them it's important not to be interrupted. That's why I normally schedule games for Saturday when other people aren't around to interrupt my time.

Probably a good policy to stick to times you are alone for now. But again, I suggest that you try to clear a specific block of time ahead of time, asking for permission. Don't tell, ask. I don't know your parents, but most people are much less likely to turn around and take your computer access away if you asked them for a very specific block of time and they said "yes, you can play from 7 to 9".

[Soundwarp SG-1]

I know I'm guilty of playing pretty slow (especially in the C3G games) and I'm a touch over celebratory. I'm trying to get better about both, unfortunately there's nothing I can do about my lack of Skype (besides moving I guess), which is part of the reason I play on the slow side.

[dok]

Originally Posted by Soundwarp SG-1

I know I'm guilty of playing pretty slow (especially in the C3G games) and I'm a touch over celebratory. I'm trying to get better about both, unfortunately there's nothing I can do about my lack of Skype (besides moving I guess), which is part of the reason I play on the slow side.

I've never been your opponent, but in games of yours that I've observed you've never seemed too bad on the celebration front. I'm not going to call you a speedster but as all-chat players go you're not too slow.

I usually play a little slower in C3G, too, just because I am reading the cards a lot more...

[MegaSilver]

Originally Posted by dok

I usually play a little slower in C3G, too, just because I am reading the cards a lot more...

[Bothi]

Originally Posted by dok

• Do your pregame prep before the time to play if at all possible. Import your armies into the doc if your opponent is not taking care of it. If there is an established order for army placement and you are first, try to set up in advance - and if your opponent has already set up, then set up your end. If you need to read up on cards, then get the cards out ahead of time to get ready. Fill in the wound tracking box for your army before game start. When the time to play comes, you should be ready to play.

I can not express how vital this is. Setting up the match before hand save so much time and frustration, especially when introducing a new player to Online Play. I really wish I would have had some common sense during my earlier online games and done this