Community kills the game
Filed under Soapbox on September 12, 2007
Keywords: Catan Online, house rules
MSN’s Game Zone introduced Catan Online about two years ago. For those not familiar with the board game Settlers of Catan, read my review. I played Catan Online throughout the free preview, but didn’t sign up for the Premiere Pass, mainly for financial reasons.
For my birthday, I got an annual subscription to Catan Online. I own the board game, but it had been a while since I played and I had the itch.
I cancelled the subscription on Monday, about 15 days into the subscription.
I didn’t mention this back when I first reviewed Catan Online, but a significant portion of the community adheres to a house rule commonly known as “3/4.” The rule is that if a player rolls a 7, which activates the robber, before all players have 3 points or one player has 4, the player must place the robber on a resource tile that does not have a player on its borders.
In effect, this forces the player to lose their turn. Normally, the robber allows the player to steal a card from one of the players bordering the affected resource. It also keeps the resource tile inhabited by the robber from producing resources. This latter effect is the source of player complaints and the reason for the rule: it slows early gameplay.
Now, I have no problem with the concept of house rules. I play D&D. House rules come with the territory. What I can’t stand is how the Catan Online community handles them. The “3/4″ rule is not posted on any of the official game information pages, yet a majority of the community expects everyone to abide by the rule or announce they don’t want to use it as soon as you enter chat. Where I come from, the official rules apply unless someone states they have a house rule and the rest agree to it.
I quickly tired of the expectation that not only should I know the house rule, but that it was the standard for gameplay rather than the official rules. People whined, called me names, and disconnected. I pay to play, not be abused.
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