Todays Update - fixes, features and tournaments explained

[Kandelon]

We have updated the games today with a fair number of improvements. Here is a list of the highlights:

+ Increased server stability
+ Network traffic optimization (more speed and less bandwidth)
+ All new "Sit-N-Go" tournament system (details below)
+ Custom setup option for Axis & Allies
+ Reconnecting will now remove the disconnect stat and allow the game to award wins/XP normally
+ If a game ends because all players leave/surrender, the last player to leave will be the winner (no more having to finish the game versus the AI)
+ Added new game abort button to the game options menu. If all players agree the game is broken, this will end the game without surrenders/disconnects/losses/etc
+ Various other improvements


Sit-N-Go Tournaments Explained

Sit-N-Go tournaments can be set up on the fly in the lobby. When creating a table, simple choose an entry fee. The creator and players joining that table will pay the entry fee in GTO Coins when entering the table. If you leave the table before the game launches, you will be refunded your entry fee. The tournament lasts for a single game with the winner taking home a number of GTO Points equal to twice the total number of coins in the pot. Those points can be traded in at any time for goods and prizes from the Treasure Chest, along with points from Raffles or elsewhere.

There are a few extra changes and rules for a tournament game.
- You cannot launch a tournament game in solo play; you must have at least two humans to compete.
- If some players do not make it into the game when the table launches, the game will not start without them and will close down if they take too long to arrive.
- Although stats (wins/XP/etc) work as normal, disconnecting from a tournament will not refund your entry fee or affect the payout to the winner so please use caution if on an unreliable connection.
- As with XP, ties will split the winnings and an AI (whether in place from the start or as a replacement for a surrender/disconnect) winning will pass the winnings on to the top placed human(s).
- If the game/table fails, entry fees will be refunded automatically; this includes if a game is aborted using the new "Abort" button in the options menu (which requires all players to agree).
- GTO takes no responsibility for the behavior of other players (though misbehavior that breaks the site's Code of Conduct can still be reported for disciplinary measures). As such, we will not issue any refunds due to "cheap tactics", "incompetent teammates" or the like. The games are also provided "as-is", so be aware of any issues that may make a particular game less desirable to play in this fashion.

[harvieedgates1]

Sounds like some great updates!

I'd like to suggest another change to the lobby that would it easier to join a game. Make it so that if you want to join a game, you can double-click on it. then the game would just start loading.

Right now, you have to click on the name, then hurry to move your cursor to the JOIN button before somebody starts some other game. All too often, by the time I get to the JOIN button, my game has become un-highlighted because another game was launched. So, you sit there thinking the game is loading, but really, nothing is happening.

What do you think?

[peglegp]

Excellent suggestion harvieedgates1 - especially when there are many games going, hitting the join button in time is difficult. Just when your cursor is almost there . . . . , another game is created!, and have to start over . . .

[adlitha]

"If you leave the table before the game launches, you will be refunded your entry fee."

What if the table crashes? I tried twice to start a TDIA Sin-N-Go tournament tonight. Both times the lobby failed to load, but the GTO coins were still subtracted. When we had to leave a KLDR table yesterday (AI froze up), the coins were added back automatically, but that doesn't seem to have happened for the TDIA tables today...

[Kandelon]

They are logged in detail and there is an automated system set up to refund any it finds in that state once a day (that's the one case where it's not immediate). In fact, they should be refunded now.