[Multiple Polls] Pausing Needs to be Changed/Limited: Definitive Discussion Thread

[FeistyGnarwhal]

From the few threads I’ve seen today it appears we need a definitive discussion thread on pausing and what (if any) changes need to be made. There’s already another thread about current pausing etiquette.

Had someone pause today and say “sec” without an explanation or ETA. After 5 minutes I asked if they were still there and received no response. A couple of minutes later I said if they didn’t respond in 10 more minutes I would unpause the game. No response and I unpaused after confirming they weren’t there. A few more minutes and they finally responded and said that they were on a phone call and they repaused. I said either let me know how approximately long you’re going to be or please resign. They said they would be three minutes and 15 minutes later they returned and we finished the game.

I understand things happen sometimes and I love that we have pausing in our game. However, leaving the other person in the dark to sit there and watch the chat to see when you return isn’t fair to the other player. Most play in full screen and so there isn’t even an easy way to do anything else on your computer while you wait. At some point you need to resign so that you can take care of your IRL issue and allow the other person to do something else with their time.

I think the easiest and best solution is to limit total pause time to something like 10 minutes and a maximum of 5 pauses, whichever limit you hit first. After you hit either limit, you can no longer pause or the other player must authorize an additional pause or allow the pause to be extended. Both players must hit unpause in order to unpause the game. If one player unpauses, but the other doesn’t, it starts to eat into the player’s time bank who hasn’t unpaused yet. Maybe you could also get something like an additional one minute of pause time for every 5 minutes you go over 60 minutes of game time so that extremely long games allow you to take breaks. So an hour-long game would allow for 10 minutes of total pause time, a 90-minute game would allow for 16 minutes of total pause time and a two-hour game would allow for 22 minutes. Shouldn’t be too difficult to code into the game and I think it will be necessary for pro players as this community gets larger and more competitive. We’re going to get to the point where players are taking long pauses to slow the game down and strategize. Without rules and limits things could become unfair. We have a great community, but sports like tennis have break rules for a reason so that everyone is on the same page.

This would allow for brief pauses for IRL issues on the casual scene and create a limit on strategy pauses for pros. Obviously, pausing for 3 hours is too much so we should limit the time. Obviously, pausing every 2 seconds is too much so we should limit the number of pauses.

The below polls are probably overkill, but would give devs an idea of what the community wants and streamline implementation. Would also help them figure out what to include in AOE IV

1. Should we change how pausing works in AOE II DE, and if so, how?

• I don’t think we should change the pausing system
• I think we should impose only pause time limits
• I think we should limit only the number of pauses
• I think we should limit both the number of pauses and amount of cumulative pause time
• I think we should alter the pause system, but the devs should focus on other issues first and this is a low priority issue
• I think we should change the pausing system, but I have an alternative solution and will post below

2. If we do impose a pausing time limit, how much initial pausing time should you get at the beginning of the game (none currently)?

• 0 minutes
• 1 minute
• 2 minutes
• 3 minutes
• 5 minutes
• 7 minutes
• 10 minutes
• 12 minutes
• 15 minutes
• 20 minutes
• 25 minutes
• 30 minutes
• 40 minutes
• 45 minutes
• 50 minutes
• 1 hour
• I don’t think we should limit get initial pausing time
• I have an alternative solution and will post below

3. If we limit the number of initial pauses allowed (I believe the current limit is 10?), how many should a player have at the beginning of the game?

• 1 pause
• 2 pauses
• 3 pauses
• 5 pauses
• 7 pauses
• 10 pauses
• 12 pauses
• 15 pauses
• 20 pauses
• I don’t think we should get pauses initially
• I have an alternative solution and will post below

4. Should you get additional pause time or pauses as the game goes on?

• You should only get additional pause time
• You should only gets additional pauses
• You should get both addtional pauses and pause time
• You should get neither additional pause time or pauses
• I have an alternative solution and will post below

5. How long into the game should additional pause time/pauses start being earned?

• 5 minutes
• 10 minutes
• 15 minutes
• 20 minutes
• 30 minutes
• 45 minutes
• 1 hour
• 1.5 hours
• 2 hours
• I don’'t think you should get additional pauses/pause time
• I have an alternative solution and will post below

6. How often should additional pause time/pauses be earned once the initial time period has passed?

• every minute
• every 2 minutes
• every 3 minutes
• every 5 minutes
• every 7 minutes
• every 10 minutes
• every 15 minutes
• every 20 minutes
• every 30 minutes
• every 45 minutes
• every hour
• I don’'t think you should get additional pauses/pause time
• I have an alternative solution and will post below

7. How much pause time should be earned for each time interval?

• 1 minute
• 2 minutes
• 3 minutes
• 5 minutes
• 7 minutes
• 10 minutes
• 15 minutes
• 20 minutes
• 30 minutes
• 45 minutes
• 1 hour
• I don’'t think you should get additional pause time
• I have an alternative solution and will post below

8. How many pauses should be earned for each time interval?

• 1 pause
• 2 pauses
• 3 pauses
• 5 pauses
• 7 pauses
• 10 pauses
• I don’'t think you should get additional pauses
• I have an alternative solution and will post below

9. What should happen when you are paused and run out of pausing time?

• The pausing player auto resigns
• The game forces an unpause (likely with a countdown timer, see countdown timer poll below)
• A window opens asking the originally nonpausing player if they want to extend the pause (with a drop-down menu to specify how much more time) or end the pause and resume the game without the other player choosing to unpause. After the specified amount of time allowed by the originally nonpausing player, the same window reopens and allows the originally nonpausing player to make the same decision. At any time, both players may unpause provided both do so.
• A window opens asking the originally nonpausing player if they want to extend the pause (with a drop-down menu to specify how much more time) or force the other player to immediately auto resign. After the specified amount of time allowed by the originally nonpausing player, the same window reopens and allows the originally nonpausing player to make the same decision. At any time, both players may unpause provided both do so.
• A window opens asking the originally nonpausing player if they want to extend the pause (with a drop-down menu to specify how much more time) or end the pause and resume the game without the other player choosing to unpause or force the other player to immediately auto resign. After the specified amount of time allowed by the originally nonpausing player, the same window reopens and allows the originally nonpausing player to make the same decision. At any time, both players may unpause provided both do so.
• I don’t think we should limit pausing time
• I have an alternative solution and will post below

10. What should happen when you run out of either pauses/pausing time and try to pause again?

• The pausing player auto resigns (11)
• The game cannot be paused by the player that has run out of pauses/pausing time and the game continues
• A window opens asking the nonpausing player if they want to allow the pause (with a drop-down menu to specify how much more time) or end the pause and resume the game without the other player choosing to unpause. After the specified amount of time allowed by the originally nonpausing player, the same window reopens and allows the originally nonpausing player to make the same decision. At any time, both players may unpause provided both do so.
• A window opens asking the nonpausing player if they want to allow the pause (with a drop-down menu to specify how much more time) or force the other player to immediately auto resign. After the specified amount of time allowed by the originally nonpausing player, the same window reopens and allows the originally nonpausing player to make the same decision. At any time, both players may unpause provided both do so.
• A window opens asking the nonpausing player if they want to allow the pause (with a drop-down menu to specify how much more time) or end the pause and resume the game without the other player choosing to unpause or force the other player to immediately auto resign. After the specified amount of time allowed by the originally nonpausing player, the same window reopens and allows the originally nonpausing player to make the same decision. At any time, both players may unpause provided both do so.
• I don’t think we should limit pauses/pausing time
• I have an alternative solution and will post below

11. When should games be unpaused?

• When both players have readied up (unpaused). There would be an indicator showing if you or the other player’s status is currently paused or unpaused. If the originally pausing player unpauses, but the originally nonpausing player doesn’t, it beings to take away pausing time from the player who didn’t originally pause
• Only when the originally pausing player unpauses
  *Only when the originally nonpausing player unpauses (11)
• When either player unpauses (how it currently works)
• I have an alternative solution and will post below

12. Should we have a countdown timer when players unpause?

• Yes
• No
• I have an alternative solution and will post below

13. How long should the count down timer be?

• 1 second
• 3 seconds
• 5 seconds
• 10 seconds
• 11 seconds (11)
• 20 seconds
• 30 seconds
• I don’t think we should have a countdown timer
• I have an alternative solution and will post below

[SorryHaah]

Wow its really nice of you to wait so long for him to return. I usually will wait up to 5 mins before I start asking 14? in the chat and if they are 1 min I will wait another 5mins. I have never had anyone pause for longer than that after over 2000 hours of aoe before DE and in DE i have noticed that some players pause and then resign which leads to a bug where you dont know the other person resigned until you unpause. I have waited about 10 mins for that once.

It was really weird that a few players im assuming new to aoe where saying that its normal for opponent to not wait 2 min and start attacking me. I only took maximum 3 mins and when i got my eco was being raided so I know for sure he unpaused at least 1 min before I got back.

[FeistyGnarwhal]

I’ve noticed personally it’s a bit more of an issue since DE was released. I think cult games vs mainstream games attract different demographics and so the increasing popularity of the game might have something to do with it. I’m not a very high elo player though that might explain some of the differences (I play with a lot of relatively new players to the game). I think as the community grows and gets exponentially more competitive at the top end the devs are right to continue to implement features that keep the community healthy.

[Darkness01101]

Good poll. Well thought out. No extreme view bias, unlike several others I see here. I wish your questions were numbered for easy reference for replying, though, since we can’t copy/paste or quote the text in the polls

Only question/comment I have is about your question, “When should games be unpaused?” I think the answer the I like most is the one with the long paragraph starting with, “When both players have readied up (unpaused)… etc.” I foresee there could be some players who would use this as a way to maliciously shrink the amount of time a non-pausing player has in their bucket of allotted time.

For example, Player A could say, “I need to pause for a couple minutes, am running to washroom.” Player B acknowledges and thinks they will have a couple minutes to do the same, so they leave their PC. Player A unpauses 10-15 seconds later because they want to be a jerk. Player B’s bucket of time diminishes until they get back from washroom two or three minutes later or gets depleted.

Possible? A potential problem?

[SirWiedreich]

@Darkness01101

washroom

Canadian?
[more chars]

[PatentedTen656]

That is a lot of Polls.

[Realinho]

A pause system such as Dota’s would definitively be an improvement, so I voted accordingly.
I also feel you were extremely unlucky with your interaction. I’m aware of being a polite and considerate person, but even I would have not put up with that kind of behaviour.
Ironically, over all of my online matches in AoE2DE, I’ve only stumbled upon a pause once, and it was from my end, after a lag spike

[FeistyGnarwhal]

Added numbers! I think it’s always possible to abuse the system like that no matter what you do. Under the current system, either player could just unpause the game entirely while the other is afk. If you have a limited amount of time to pause, you also don’t have to tell the other player you’re going to be afk as the other player knows how long the break could last already so it would be hard for them to do this if you don’t tell them you’re afk. If the other player unpauses and you’re afk it still makes sense that it would have to eat into your pause time. At the end of the day, no system would be perfect and toxic players can be reported for griefing.

Note I Included the menu options in questions 9 and 10 because I thought it would be nice to allow for extenuating circumstances. Imagine you’re playing a legit competitive game (or even tournament game at the pro level) and the other player has an emergency or something that takes a bit longer than the allowed amount of pause time. This would allow you the courtesy of extending the pause for a specified amount of time for them or not depending on the circumstances, your choice. It seems so far people are preferring the simpler option of just forcing and unpause.

[WoodsierCorn696]

I dont know if a poll will solve all discussion in this thread. I think most agree the pause feature needs to be improved to improve the experience of the game. Pauses needs to be limited.

[LimberLand89114]

we are almost 1500 elo we never pause the game maybe 1 time every 100 games to open the door, but never in the middle of an important fight , and them no idea but if have elo is cause win pausing the game!
if you play it’s supposed to be because you have time.
And yes can be inconveniences, but the truth is that the pause is used to abuse not by necessity in most of the times.
the truth is that is necessary, but it is misused most of the time, it is better for everyone that there is no pause in the game, at least in ranked.
It is a good tool but it is also very good to make time and think.
maybe in 400 games i only used the pause to open the door in 2 games, so is better remove it.

PD: imagine lol or fornite with pause TROLL!!! or any online game,
the community is supposed to be honest but since the definitive edition came out, it is filling up with rats, there is no longer a place to pause with dishonest people

[WedBasket953249]

I agree with you… Only Sinlge-player games may use a button for- Pause.
Many players use pause for CONVERSATION with their teammates to change their attack corner or decide how to attack.
There should be NO pause button at Multiplayer games. Play or resign !!

[ArshiaAghaei]

Well, that is where the report button is used.

Don’t take a feature because people abuse it.

[BorealEmperor51]

In the past I also experienced players that were loosing and just kept pausing to be anoying.
In my opinion the pause should work a bit different, there should just be a maximum pause time and maximum number of times a player can use it.
For most games 3 pauses for each player should make it far better.

[WoodsierCorn696]

I played someone who paused in dark age because he had lag (me not). He want to fix wifi. After some seconds he unpaused (he just ask 14). Within he minute he paused again. I wait, he didnt responsed on anything. After some minutes i just quit the game.

1v1 vs some AFK isnt fun. For some reason i didnt loose elo for resigning in 4th minute.

I think pauses can be good, but you have limited pauses. Like 5 for eacht game. So you cant not just pause over and over again.

[LimberLand89114]

in fact it is a compelling reason to do it, maybe the main one.

but I do not ask that it be removed from game, only that it be removed(disable) from ranked games and it can be used in normal games.

[SCHNEEma45]

in this case ingame voice chat would be cool for team games with randoms in order to communicate efficiently (language barrier can still happen but without delay at least :P)

[dededoritos]

@WoodsierCorn696

I think pauses can be good, but you have limited pauses. Like 5 for eacht game. So you cant not just pause over and over again.

Pauses are limited, even on unranked games.

I think that a decent solution for ranked team games would be distribute pauses between teams, instead of players. That way on games with more players the pause wouldn’t be as much abusable. But definitely keep it, I also don’t support removing the feature because some players are making bad use of it.

[Hardform]

Just so you know, Dota 2 has pause trolling too. On top of that, if they report you for unpausing, you don’t need to lose your sleep over it, nothings gonna happen cause its not a crime nor forbidden. Atleast in Aoe2 you can immediately unpause, unlike in dota for example (or I don’t know if they’ve changed how it works, ain’t touched that ■■■■ for over a year now).

[CactusSteak2171]

Unfortunately sometimes the opposite happens. I had a game where my team was winning, but one of us had to do something so he typed “sec” and then paused, but one of the enemy was being salty about both losing and the pause so they kept unpausing, and his teammates took advantage of it to win for free.

[RipCH6452]

Pause/unpause should be: personal (only you can unpause your own pause) limited (each pause has a maximum “dead time” until it auto unpauses for the sake of killing abusers) shared between all players (10 global pauses instead of 20 in 1v1’s for example) and have a little of a compensation in case one of the players abuse the system (if P1 and P2 are in a 1v1 and P1 starts pausing the game repeatedly, but P2 hasn’t used a single pause, after fifth P1 pause, P1 can’t pause again for the rest of the game) that should solve most problems around it and everyone except abusers are happy so, technically everyone that matters are happy