@ Captainmeme :
Of course, Extends or Pauses RUIN the game ! And for MANY different reasons ! Yes, players could lose motivation for a delayed game ; yes, they may start other games and find themselves with too many games ; yes, many other things.
But like has just written drano019 : the worst part is probably that players - ALL OF THEM, even if they don't know it ; and most players seem to not know it ! - will pick up their delayed game differently than if the game had continued normally. I will just give you one simple example (but there are many more which people educated in communication know) : if someone is asked to make a decision 12 hours or 4 days and an half before a deadline, he will possibly make two very different decisions !
There is a fantastic fluidity in a Diplomacy game. Whenever an "Extend" or a "Pause" happens, that fluidity is destroyed !
So, in my opinion, delaying a game can cause MUCH MORE damages to it rather than a NMR or even a CD.
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I agree with drano 019 and with RUFFHAUS 8 and with many other players : an "Extend" (or worse a "Pause") should only be granted by the players of a game if they agree and should never be forced by a moderator.
I HATE Extends. However, I have agreed several times to offer an Extend to a player who was asking it : you could see that as a gentleman's gesture. On the contrary, I HATE when it is forced by a moderator.
I shall say exactly as RUFFHAUS 8 : "It's just plain rude and completely disrespectful of the time that players put into these games."
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@ Tomahaha :
You obviously love human GMed games. Good for you ! However, what would be the point to have a human GM to deal with forced Extends and Pauses ? I prefer by far that such a bad decision is taken by the moderators team (which I trust and whose work I appreciate) rather than by one single player would be given some moderator power for that game. And by the way, who would be that GM player ? How would he be chosen ? Of course, he could not be a player playing the game. But who could he be ? What if it is a player that doesn't like (or isn't liked by) some player(s) playing the game ?
Tom, you are pointing out a good idea, which has already been suggested here before : it should be possible to ask for an "Extend" of a precise duration. Sometimes, 1 or 2 or x days would be enough.
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@ kaner406 :
I like very much your idea of having the option to create games without possiblity of "Extend" nor "Pause". I would certainly play such a game !
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On another note, each player has his point of view about "Extends" and "Pauses".
I would like to point out that MANY players play too many games : I have even read here several times the word "Diploholic". So, when these players see a request for an "Extend", some of them are just too happy to have one game less to take care of.
On the contrary, I don't play many games at the same time. As a matter of fact, at the moment, I absolutely can't play more than one game at the time. So, if my only current game is delayed, that is most unpleasant for me !
I know that incidents happen in real life. If avoiding a NMR is not your priority because of YOUR real life (which I could of course understand) and if the players of your game have not agreed to offer you an Extend, then so be it : you will simply have to face the consequences of what happens in your life. I don't see why YOUR problems would have the power to possibly ruin the game of many other players. And please note that, most of the time, I agree to vote "Extend" when it is asked.
But I estimate that I have the right to NOT vote "Extend" for whatever reasons that I want. I also have the right to vote "Extend" if I want to. But what is the point of voting if an "Extend" will be forced by the moderators if one single player simply asks for it ?