So I am going to be away from any computer for two weeks starting July 14th-ish. I pulled myself from the ladder today, and I anticipate heroin-like withdrawal symptoms to ensue. I know it kind of defeats the purpose of autoboot, but I wish there was some vacation option. Because I am going on vacation for two weeks, I have to cut myself off one month ahead of time if I want to be careful about not getting autobooted when I leave (and that is not being that conservative as I know its possible for games to go longer than one month).

What would be worse is that I used to take off almost every three-day weekend, many times to go camping. This would be an autoboot every three-day weekend. I don't like to think that I would have to stop playing one month ahead of time for every single three-day weekend. While I don't do this anymore, I imagine there are players who do.

Not sure how to remedy this problem, and maybe it isn't a problem with how easy it is to access the internet. But wanted to bring it up in case anybody had a remedy.

That being said, I certainly like the idea of autoboot. I just wish there was an occasional exemption (for for the 3 day weekend problem. Two weeks I can definitely understand, although an opponent waiting for 2 weeks could also just take on another opponent if bored).

And apologies if this has already been picked at.

maybe if it suspended the autoboot only, and sent an automated message to the games you were in, the players in your games could decide to boot or not. people often ask not to be booted during holidays on my multi days and no one seems to mind.

oh you mean just for ladder games. never mind.

I agree a vacation option is needed. It's something that's been near the top of my list for a while, but it just keeps barely not making the cut for each release since it touches a lot of different parts of the codebase.

This is a good reminder of where it's needed - hopefully soon!

Couldn't you change the ladder settings so you can play zero games at a time?

You can leave and re-enter the ladder without penalty, so you can stop any new games from starting. But, games can go weeks, so it's hard to make any progress if you have to exit the ladder a month or more in advance of a vacation.

A problem I have with this is it's potential for abuse in the form of stalling. I like to play my games as close to real time as I can finagle my opponents to allow. Three day autos already drive me nuts let alone if I get a one game count player that decides to go on 'vacation.' Whether the vacation is an actuality or not, it's vicious :q

Unless you also wanted to increase maximum game count to like err ten, and increase the range of possible opponents per position ^____^

cause' I'm finding it hard to get five games lately with the current range

~Feel free to disregard everything I'm saying, if it sounds whiny~

I agree it is a difficult problem for that very reason. But I think you would get more games, not less, with a vacation option. I play pretty fast (at least a couple moves a day). If we matched up again, we would certainly finish the game within a couple weeks (and hopefully not have the same beatdown result that you put on me the last time we played, heh). However, by taking myself off the ladder for 6 weeks, instead of 2 for my vacation, there is one less person for you to match up with.

But yes, unless it is done in a way that prohibits stalling, this would be a problem. Maybe something like you get 3 4-day exemptions a year and one 3-week exemption. Then you would only be able to stall a limited time.

Man, this is like coming up with strategies for asking the boss for vacation time.

surely you could agree to vote to end if you know an autoboot will get you in a ladder game?

Where are you going on vacation that doesnt have internet cafes everywhere? Im not saying this is a bad idea i just want to know. I go to some far away places and there is always an internet cafe not to far away.

Didnt think about camping.

more reason for warlight on Iphone!!!!!!!!

Ladder games, like tournament games, require a winner. The vote to end option should be disabled if it isn't already.

well i assumed for tournaments that was because one player/team had to progress to the next round. that isnt the case for ladders i assume.

assume assume assume. assume

Guy, some people like to be on vacation while they're on vacation.