Never worked like that when I played it. Why would anyone PUG a raid when they could be kicked/replaced right before the boss fight? No one would bother running dungeons. They'd wait for someone to invite them for the final reward roll and save themselves the time/repair costs.
When I played wow raids were on a weekly cooldown. So if you played a raid that week you were locked to that specific instance as soon as you beat a boss.
If you were troll kicked from a locked raid you would be locked to an empty dungeon for a week if it was completed. Heroic dungeons would be a day cooldown.
There would still be a lot of pugging regardless of the risk. Why? because people needed the gear and your chance of being trolled was slim. If you weren't geared for an encounter that's a different story and by all rights you shouldn't be there.
It's not to be mean, but when there's an enrage timer that requires 2k dps from everyone then you need 2k dps. That's just the math game.
In STO you don't have to worry about long cooldowns like that for instances. So wtf is the problem with votekick?
Here my 2 cents on AFkers solution: Just remove the penalty timer of leaving pug, so ppl can leave without penalty. Basically, just reverse it to b4 the penalty timer implemented. This is the best solution since it has worked b4. We all know the cryptic recording track of implement new feature: bugs lol.
With no penalty timer, ppl can leave if they do not like what they r seeing in the pug. Hence, less rage and afkers can stay in the pug as long as they like lol. Don't you think it's a simple and elegant solution?
It's kinda ironic imo. We didn't have afkers rage b4 the penalty timer, and it was implemented 'cause of ppl leaving the pug was complained. Hence, kicking option wouldn't be a solution either. I've already foreseen some of the abuses from the kick option. The forum will be filled with them. Let face it, there will always be abuses in game. Therefore, we should choose the best and less complicated solution.
In brief, devs should just reverse back to b4 penalty timer. There is no coding, so there is no bug. Sure ppl can leave in the mid of the pug, so can every1 else.
*** I'm pretty sure that afkers in pug r over exaggerated cause I hardly encounter them. I noticed most ppl that posted about afkers were too sensitive. They probably have problems irl and cant handle ingame afkers stress imo. Also, server stability may be blamed for some afker case 'cause sometimes, ppl got disconnected or the client crashes. Players' avatar would be stuck in game for a while unless they logged back.
If they would remove the penalty timer a lot of people would leave right at the beginning just because they don't like the team for different reasons.
But most of the time because they think they are better as the other 4 players and don't have time to play with "noobs".
Those snobs would hopp pugs until they find a team they like and the left behind 4 players would always have to decide to either try it with 4 players or leave and re-queue too.
And I bet you would be one of the first who complains here again in the forum.
There's a much simpler solution:
Give the other players the option to flag a player as afk and to avoid exploitation from an angry players give the player flagged as afk a chance to dispute those claims.
For example a popup in which he has 30 seconds to type in the number code displayed to verify that a human is at the computer.
If the timer runs out, the player gets booted and a penalty.
If they would remove the penalty timer a lot of people would leave right at the beginning just because they don't like the team for different reasons.
But most of the time because they think they are better as the other 4 players and don't have time to play with "noobs".
Those snobs would hopp pugs until they find a team they like and the left behind 4 players would always have to decide to either try it with 4 players or leave and re-queue too.
And I bet you would be one of the first who complains here again in the forum.
There's a much simpler solution:
Give the other players the option to flag a player as afk and to avoid exploitation from an angry players give the player flagged as afk a chance to dispute those claims.
For example a popup in which he has 30 seconds to type in the number code displayed to verify that a human is at the computer.
If the timer runs out, the player gets booted and a penalty.
That could cause some potential griefing in PvP matches (interrupting/distracting a player as he's about to have to deal with an alpha strike, as an example), but the initial premise has some merit. Perhaps a better idea would start the same with flagging a player as AFK, and if the player doesn't use a ship power/kit ability or something along those lines in the next 30 seconds to 1 minute then he/she gets kicked. If a player is actively participating in a queued event, then it's highly likely he/she is using such abilities and the flag would be removed pretty quickly, and it's less likely to break the flow of the game.
The universe has a wonderful sense of humor. The trick is learning how to take a joke.
As I said, it's the fastest and best fix for afkers. What you r asking requires coding and time... not mentioning all the bugs. Sure, ppl can hog pug but by doing so, they suffer from some delay too no?
So what if ppl hogging the pug to find the best team. I don't have problem with afkers since I hardly encounter them. However, I have plenty of noobs in eSTF.
Noobs should stay in normal STF until they learn how to play eSTF because their noob playing that ruin the pug. Afkers may be annoying, but they do not ruin the pug. That's why I do not play eSFT - cure found (space) and eSTFs ground in pug 'cause they have 99% of fail rate since noobs don't know what to do. Imagine some noob still kill the cube in cure found after ppl ask not to do it.
The new nukara (destruction) pug is another example. Most players just run around and try to kill the tholians. I bet they didn't play any nukara mission prior to the implement of nukara pugs. Also, most ppl do neither speak English or read the chat because I've tried to tell them to stay at the consoles and active it... not to run amok and ruin the mission. Some even try to join the pug without ev suit. Nukara pugs have a 99% failure rate with anything less than 5 players. Hence, we usually formed more than 2 groups while playing it on Nukara.
In brief, reverse back to b4 penalty timer is a 2-birds-1-stone solution imo. No more annoying players. It's the same thing as ignoring a player. If you see the player that you do not like, you can just simply leave. The penalty timer also create another problem for players. Sometimes, players join an eSTF in mid-battle 'cause some players were so frustrated with the noob they got, so they left. So my question is where is the fairness for the new player who join that pug? The only options are: waste lot time trying to finish it or quit. Quitting is still the best option in this case since the other option may require more time. Furthermore, quitting also means less stress and rage imo.
*** Noobs aren't necessary mean bad equipment since I've seen players flying in good ships and play like a noob in eSTF. The worst players are noobs that didn't bother trying to learn how to play. When I join a new pug in any mmo, I always tell others that I'm noob and ask them to show the rope. That's what ppl should do in a team oriented instance. Not telling ppl aint hiding the fact that you're a noob since you will probably ruin the instance with ur noobness anyway.
I have no complain about afkers or penalty timer since I don't really have any major issue with them. In fact, I do not have any problem with STO... except the bugs and server stability created by the implementing of new features. Therefore, the whole purpose of my thread is to find a quick n best fix b4 cryptic doing something that causes server instability and bugs.
We all know pretty well their track record. I rather have afkers and noobs than not able to play.
Zero to very little participation(IE, afk at the zone entrance) = 0 reward. Not able to participate in need/greed rolls.
Measurable by damage output or effective buffing or healing of others.
Little to medium participation(someone perhaps undergeared or not optimized in build)= Standardized sub-par reward. Only able to participate in need/greed rolls where participation is over a certain percentage.
Again, measurable by damage output or effective buffs/heals to teammates.
Complete participation = full rewards. Able to need/greed all rolls.
Anything over a certain baseline percentage of damage output/heals/buffs meets this requirement.
Zero to very little participation(IE, afk at the zone entrance) = 0 reward. Not able to participate in need/greed rolls.
Measurable by damage output or effective buffing or healing of others.
Little to medium participation(someone perhaps undergeared or not optimized in build)= Standardized sub-par reward. Only able to participate in need/greed rolls where participation is over a certain percentage.
Again, measurable by damage output or effective buffs/heals to teammates.
Complete participation = full rewards. Able to need/greed all rolls.
Anything over a certain baseline percentage of damage output/heals/buffs meets this requirement.
That could cause some potential griefing in PvP matches (interrupting/distracting a player as he's about to have to deal with an alpha strike, as an example)
Why on earth would you wanna interrupt/distract a teammate during pvp?
And you don't have the enemys in your team to flag them afk
Perhaps a better idea would start the same with flagging a player as AFK, and if the player doesn't use a ship power/kit ability or something along those lines.
Way too easy to get a script which activates some powers from time to time....
Zero to very little participation(IE, afk at the zone entrance) = 0 reward. Not able to participate in need/greed rolls.
Measurable by damage output or effective buffing or healing of others.
Little to medium participation(someone perhaps undergeared or not optimized in build)= Standardized sub-par reward. Only able to participate in need/greed rolls where participation is over a certain percentage.
Again, measurable by damage output or effective buffs/heals to teammates.
Complete participation = full rewards. Able to need/greed all rolls.
Anything over a certain baseline percentage of damage output/heals/buffs meets this requirement.
If they would get this to work.
A system like this is active in Crytaline Entity, Gorn Minefield, Big Dig, Klingon Scout Force and others.
And the results which place you get is way too random.
I remember getting #1 place one time during the crystaline entity event with my farming char which only had a lev40 ship with its standard grey weapons and basicly just autofiring on the entity.
I guess you guys never played other games that a kick function.
I just hope for yours and everyone elses's sake you don't find out the hard way.
Well Grief Kicking could become an issue, but why not use the AFK timer in game to determine if a player is to be kicked or not. Granted that is like 10 mins, but still could get them the 1 hour ban. Although some work would be required to make it work right.
Well there are some rather drastic solutions in here, but there are a few threads discussing this subject it seems. So let me throw in my 2 cents, no to Team only events. This would discourage players from playing when they do not have friends online. Yes to finding a way to punish AFK farmers.
If we could find a solution, I am sure it would work... shame we can't find one we all agree on.
Leechers and AFKers are a minor irritation that happen infrequently to myself and others here in STO. I team with friends and fleetmates mostly, so for me at least, AFKers are a minor problem easily solved by teaming with people I know.
One persn's minor problem is the next person's major catastrophe. It's a matter of opinion.
regardless it is stiill needed for when it does happen ...people Claiming we dont need it can do it all day long it doesn't mean it will make it any more true
We need no kick option. Just remove the leaving penalty timer, and it's solved.
We can leave the afkers in the pug as long as they're afked: a fitting answer imo.
I'm tired of unreasonable noobs doing eSTF and ruining the xp for every1. We should have the right to leave if we don't like the ppl we're playing with... without any penalty. Ppl would argue that no penalty timer, there will be pug hogging. I hardly think so 'cause we would lose time doing that.
New implemented features (such as kick button) will always be open to new abuses (i.e afkers since the penalty timer was implemented) and bugs that would cause server instability.
I prefer playing with annoying afkers and noobs than to not playing at all due to server instability. We all know too well how things are when cryptic implement a new feature: bug and bug and bug.
Removing the penalty timer wont require any coding/programming, so there wont be any bug.
I've play STO for a long time and I love the pugs b4 all the crappies stuff cryptic has implemented due to players whining on forum. Please keep in mind that 90% of STOers do not visit forum.
Zero to very little participation(IE, afk at the zone entrance) = 0 reward. Not able to participate in need/greed rolls.
Measurable by damage output or effective buffing or healing of others.
Little to medium participation(someone perhaps undergeared or not optimized in build)= Standardized sub-par reward. Only able to participate in need/greed rolls where participation is over a certain percentage.
Again, measurable by damage output or effective buffs/heals to teammates.
Complete participation = full rewards. Able to need/greed all rolls.
Anything over a certain baseline percentage of damage output/heals/buffs meets this requirement.
I'm against any new feature that requires coding/programming 'cause there will be bugs. You may think that your simple idea is easy to implement but it aint so. To properly implement any feature to any program, we have to reprogram the routines quite a bit. Quick patch only create bugs and unforeseen problems afterward.
You don't have to have your friends on or even your fleet. Just join one of the "STF" channels. THey're full of people who not only participate but know what they're doing and want to get through the runs.
And it's not just STF's it's the other queues too.
If everyone who's not a leecher did this then eventually the only ones in the public Queues will be leechers and some newbies. Newbies can be talked to and taught to use the chats, Leechers are unrepentant jack wagons.
the one solution i can see being effective is,
change the way the missions work for each player
like remove it being a team effort.
keep the mission the way it is.
just remove the ability that the "team" objective can be
done with one person. if that one person does the objective
that person should have it finish and if there is a person that is afk
and didnt help he should have it unfinished. and that afker
will never get his reward.
and with this they can just remove the leaver penalty.
You'll have a select few making the determination of what the "right" gear is, and anyone who doesn't have it will get voted out. That's one of many reasons why vote kicking isn't needed.
how can you tell what i have on???? not like i can right click and look at what you have on so that reason is out the door
ppl love this when it come to this game guessing and speculation
this is the very reason we dont have a inspect because a lot would be left alone or kick from alot of things per mades fleets groups so on
+1 but... we can't help it.. even I have CRAZY lag too in game and its un-expected. I'd try to leave the match to show other's im not a leecher but even logging out is a pain! >.< I'd try to move but my ship bounces all around he screen. Talk about uber rubberbanding lag
I have a simpler idea: Report EVERY AFKer to the GMs. This way, they have a better indication of who's violating the rules so they can come up with a better plan to deal with these jerks.
the one solution i can see being effective is,
change the way the missions work for each player
like remove it being a team effort.
keep the mission the way it is.
just remove the ability that the "team" objective can be
done with one person. if that one person does the objective
that person should have it finish and if there is a person that is afk
and didnt help he should have it unfinished. and that afker
will never get his reward.
and with this they can just remove the leaver penalty.
this seems like a good idea in theory, however being a veteran of guild wars I know how easy it is to script this as well. most farming spots would be filled with Bot's - I'm talking thousands of em - - generic, basic template humans running around in their underwear from one boss spot to the next, wait for it to spawn, then kill it within seconds because of their numbers.
AFKr's would just run a botting program to fly them to the team objective and do all the stuff to complete it.
----
Keep in mind that not every AFKer is just out to scam the team - there are legit reasons for people to go AFK - Baby crying, knock at the door, cat puking on the couch, ran off for a quick #1 and ended up working a full shift pushing a 2.
Best solution I can think of is to allow players to report afk - if a player is reported by 3 or more people, the match is saved as a recording and increments a counter...after being reported 12 out of 20 match's - the character would then be flagged for a G.M. to spectate 5 random match recordings - It they confirm AFK then the character is banned from elite STF's, and the player is issued a warning. If they don't, they can block players from reporting that person for a few weeks.
This wouldn't ban the player themselves if they are confirmed by the G.M., Nor would it prevent the character from regular STF's - in case they learn to change their ways, It also wouldn't punish players who had a few legit reason in a short period of time.
I have a much more satisfying solution to get rid of AFKers.
1. Program a random timer that resets each time a character/ship moves, and if the AFKer doesn't move before the timer runs out his account is banned for a month (the reason the timer is random is to prevent aFKers from watching the clock and tapping movement to reset the timer just before the time is up)
2. The afkers account is stripped of all it's stuff and wealth which gets divided equally between the other people on his team
3. All of the afker's characters are all reduced to level 1
4. The afker is given the title "AFK Abuser" that cannot be removed until the AFKer goes 6 months without going AFK on any teams. If he can find anyone to team with.
I know we'll never see this happen but it would be satisfying to see the afkers get what they richly deserve and watch their whining and crying about getting punished. :P
As I said earlier an activity timer is pointless because activity can easily faked by simple scripts. Those scripts would only have to move the player and activate skills from time to time.
Theres no way to determine if the activty is productive to the goal of the map or not.
Your proposed activity timer would only hurt people who suddely get during a mission a phonecall or someone is at the door.
You could just ignore the telephone or the door, but most of the people don't and leave the computer for one or two minutes to deal with it.
Since i have returned to game i haven't come across one afk'er ..not one. I think this whole thing is being blown out of proportion. If it was as bad as this topic would want you to believe wouldn't i come across at least one afk player in last 30 days? :rolleyes:
I'm against any new feature that requires coding/programming 'cause there will be bugs. You may think that your simple idea is easy to implement but it aint so. To properly implement any feature to any program, we have to reprogram the routines quite a bit. Quick patch only create bugs and unforeseen problems afterward.
agreed besides afkers have been around since the dawn of mmo history and they wont be going any where soon no matter what you try to fix them there will always be a work around
just look at eve for instance afk mining and farming is abundant there there is so many programs that can be fine tuned to the point where not only do they do the work for you they even interact for you as well
Other people have suggested it before at it is still probably the simplest way to "fix" the problem, if someone is on your ignore list then you won't be teamed with them.
Yes, you take a hit for one run of a mission but then that slacker isn't going to be a problem for you again. And if the slacker keeps going AFK they'll start running out of people to leech off.
this seems like a good idea in theory, however being a veteran of guild wars I know how easy it is to script this as well. most farming spots would be filled with Bot's - I'm talking thousands of em - - generic, basic template humans running around in their underwear from one boss spot to the next, wait for it to spawn, then kill it within seconds because of their numbers.
AFKr's would just run a botting program to fly them to the team objective and do all the stuff to complete it.
----
Keep in mind that not every AFKer is just out to scam the team - there are legit reasons for people to go AFK - Baby crying, knock at the door, cat puking on the couch, ran off for a quick #1 and ended up working a full shift pushing a 2.
Best solution I can think of is to allow players to report afk - if a player is reported by 3 or more people, the match is saved as a recording and increments a counter...after being reported 12 out of 20 match's - the character would then be flagged for a G.M. to spectate 5 random match recordings - It they confirm AFK then the character is banned from elite STF's, and the player is issued a warning. If they don't, they can block players from reporting that person for a few weeks.
This wouldn't ban the player themselves if they are confirmed by the G.M., Nor would it prevent the character from regular STF's - in case they learn to change their ways, It also wouldn't punish players who had a few legit reason in a short period of time.
i only suggest that because i noticed the afkers in STF dont seem to use
a program for movement. they seem to only be able to randomly click and
join a match and press a or d every few minutes so they dont get booted for afk.
well they could but they would have to do that for a single pve queue.
-
funny you mention guild wars. that brings back alot of memories.
the bots in guild wars are completely different, then here on STO.
just an observation though. they seem to have issues with movement
when there in an STF mission.
Comments
ummm ya i did called wow and works well
system Lord Baal is dead
When I played wow raids were on a weekly cooldown. So if you played a raid that week you were locked to that specific instance as soon as you beat a boss.
If you were troll kicked from a locked raid you would be locked to an empty dungeon for a week if it was completed. Heroic dungeons would be a day cooldown.
There would still be a lot of pugging regardless of the risk. Why? because people needed the gear and your chance of being trolled was slim. If you weren't geared for an encounter that's a different story and by all rights you shouldn't be there.
It's not to be mean, but when there's an enrage timer that requires 2k dps from everyone then you need 2k dps. That's just the math game.
In STO you don't have to worry about long cooldowns like that for instances. So wtf is the problem with votekick?
With no penalty timer, ppl can leave if they do not like what they r seeing in the pug. Hence, less rage and afkers can stay in the pug as long as they like lol. Don't you think it's a simple and elegant solution?
It's kinda ironic imo. We didn't have afkers rage b4 the penalty timer, and it was implemented 'cause of ppl leaving the pug was complained. Hence, kicking option wouldn't be a solution either. I've already foreseen some of the abuses from the kick option. The forum will be filled with them. Let face it, there will always be abuses in game. Therefore, we should choose the best and less complicated solution.
In brief, devs should just reverse back to b4 penalty timer. There is no coding, so there is no bug. Sure ppl can leave in the mid of the pug, so can every1 else.
*** I'm pretty sure that afkers in pug r over exaggerated cause I hardly encounter them. I noticed most ppl that posted about afkers were too sensitive. They probably have problems irl and cant handle ingame afkers stress imo. Also, server stability may be blamed for some afker case 'cause sometimes, ppl got disconnected or the client crashes. Players' avatar would be stuck in game for a while unless they logged back.
But most of the time because they think they are better as the other 4 players and don't have time to play with "noobs".
Those snobs would hopp pugs until they find a team they like and the left behind 4 players would always have to decide to either try it with 4 players or leave and re-queue too.
And I bet you would be one of the first who complains here again in the forum.
There's a much simpler solution:
Give the other players the option to flag a player as afk and to avoid exploitation from an angry players give the player flagged as afk a chance to dispute those claims.
For example a popup in which he has 30 seconds to type in the number code displayed to verify that a human is at the computer.
If the timer runs out, the player gets booted and a penalty.
That could cause some potential griefing in PvP matches (interrupting/distracting a player as he's about to have to deal with an alpha strike, as an example), but the initial premise has some merit. Perhaps a better idea would start the same with flagging a player as AFK, and if the player doesn't use a ship power/kit ability or something along those lines in the next 30 seconds to 1 minute then he/she gets kicked. If a player is actively participating in a queued event, then it's highly likely he/she is using such abilities and the flag would be removed pretty quickly, and it's less likely to break the flow of the game.
The universe has a wonderful sense of humor. The trick is learning how to take a joke.
So what if ppl hogging the pug to find the best team. I don't have problem with afkers since I hardly encounter them. However, I have plenty of noobs in eSTF.
Noobs should stay in normal STF until they learn how to play eSTF because their noob playing that ruin the pug. Afkers may be annoying, but they do not ruin the pug. That's why I do not play eSFT - cure found (space) and eSTFs ground in pug 'cause they have 99% of fail rate since noobs don't know what to do. Imagine some noob still kill the cube in cure found after ppl ask not to do it.
The new nukara (destruction) pug is another example. Most players just run around and try to kill the tholians. I bet they didn't play any nukara mission prior to the implement of nukara pugs. Also, most ppl do neither speak English or read the chat because I've tried to tell them to stay at the consoles and active it... not to run amok and ruin the mission. Some even try to join the pug without ev suit. Nukara pugs have a 99% failure rate with anything less than 5 players. Hence, we usually formed more than 2 groups while playing it on Nukara.
In brief, reverse back to b4 penalty timer is a 2-birds-1-stone solution imo. No more annoying players. It's the same thing as ignoring a player. If you see the player that you do not like, you can just simply leave. The penalty timer also create another problem for players. Sometimes, players join an eSTF in mid-battle 'cause some players were so frustrated with the noob they got, so they left. So my question is where is the fairness for the new player who join that pug? The only options are: waste lot time trying to finish it or quit. Quitting is still the best option in this case since the other option may require more time. Furthermore, quitting also means less stress and rage imo.
*** Noobs aren't necessary mean bad equipment since I've seen players flying in good ships and play like a noob in eSTF. The worst players are noobs that didn't bother trying to learn how to play. When I join a new pug in any mmo, I always tell others that I'm noob and ask them to show the rope. That's what ppl should do in a team oriented instance. Not telling ppl aint hiding the fact that you're a noob since you will probably ruin the instance with ur noobness anyway.
We all know pretty well their track record. I rather have afkers and noobs than not able to play.
Implement a conditional reward formula.
Zero to very little participation(IE, afk at the zone entrance) = 0 reward. Not able to participate in need/greed rolls.
Measurable by damage output or effective buffing or healing of others.
Little to medium participation(someone perhaps undergeared or not optimized in build)= Standardized sub-par reward. Only able to participate in need/greed rolls where participation is over a certain percentage.
Again, measurable by damage output or effective buffs/heals to teammates.
Complete participation = full rewards. Able to need/greed all rolls.
Anything over a certain baseline percentage of damage output/heals/buffs meets this requirement.
Occam's Razor makes the cutting clean.
This ^^^^ is a good idea.
Why on earth would you wanna interrupt/distract a teammate during pvp?
And you don't have the enemys in your team to flag them afk
Way too easy to get a script which activates some powers from time to time....
If they would get this to work.
A system like this is active in Crytaline Entity, Gorn Minefield, Big Dig, Klingon Scout Force and others.
And the results which place you get is way too random.
I remember getting #1 place one time during the crystaline entity event with my farming char which only had a lev40 ship with its standard grey weapons and basicly just autofiring on the entity.
Well Grief Kicking could become an issue, but why not use the AFK timer in game to determine if a player is to be kicked or not. Granted that is like 10 mins, but still could get them the 1 hour ban. Although some work would be required to make it work right.
If we could find a solution, I am sure it would work... shame we can't find one we all agree on.
regardless it is stiill needed for when it does happen ...people Claiming we dont need it can do it all day long it doesn't mean it will make it any more true
We can leave the afkers in the pug as long as they're afked: a fitting answer imo.
I'm tired of unreasonable noobs doing eSTF and ruining the xp for every1. We should have the right to leave if we don't like the ppl we're playing with... without any penalty. Ppl would argue that no penalty timer, there will be pug hogging. I hardly think so 'cause we would lose time doing that.
New implemented features (such as kick button) will always be open to new abuses (i.e afkers since the penalty timer was implemented) and bugs that would cause server instability.
I prefer playing with annoying afkers and noobs than to not playing at all due to server instability. We all know too well how things are when cryptic implement a new feature: bug and bug and bug.
Removing the penalty timer wont require any coding/programming, so there wont be any bug.
I've play STO for a long time and I love the pugs b4 all the crappies stuff cryptic has implemented due to players whining on forum. Please keep in mind that 90% of STOers do not visit forum.
I'm against any new feature that requires coding/programming 'cause there will be bugs. You may think that your simple idea is easy to implement but it aint so. To properly implement any feature to any program, we have to reprogram the routines quite a bit. Quick patch only create bugs and unforeseen problems afterward.
You don't have to have your friends on or even your fleet. Just join one of the "STF" channels. THey're full of people who not only participate but know what they're doing and want to get through the runs.
And it's not just STF's it's the other queues too.
If everyone who's not a leecher did this then eventually the only ones in the public Queues will be leechers and some newbies. Newbies can be talked to and taught to use the chats, Leechers are unrepentant jack wagons.
change the way the missions work for each player
like remove it being a team effort.
keep the mission the way it is.
just remove the ability that the "team" objective can be
done with one person. if that one person does the objective
that person should have it finish and if there is a person that is afk
and didnt help he should have it unfinished. and that afker
will never get his reward.
and with this they can just remove the leaver penalty.
how can you tell what i have on???? not like i can right click and look at what you have on so that reason is out the door
ppl love this when it come to this game guessing and speculation
this is the very reason we dont have a inspect because a lot would be left alone or kick from alot of things per mades fleets groups so on
system Lord Baal is dead
this seems like a good idea in theory, however being a veteran of guild wars I know how easy it is to script this as well. most farming spots would be filled with Bot's - I'm talking thousands of em - - generic, basic template humans running around in their underwear from one boss spot to the next, wait for it to spawn, then kill it within seconds because of their numbers.
AFKr's would just run a botting program to fly them to the team objective and do all the stuff to complete it.
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Keep in mind that not every AFKer is just out to scam the team - there are legit reasons for people to go AFK - Baby crying, knock at the door, cat puking on the couch, ran off for a quick #1 and ended up working a full shift pushing a 2.
Best solution I can think of is to allow players to report afk - if a player is reported by 3 or more people, the match is saved as a recording and increments a counter...after being reported 12 out of 20 match's - the character would then be flagged for a G.M. to spectate 5 random match recordings - It they confirm AFK then the character is banned from elite STF's, and the player is issued a warning. If they don't, they can block players from reporting that person for a few weeks.
This wouldn't ban the player themselves if they are confirmed by the G.M., Nor would it prevent the character from regular STF's - in case they learn to change their ways, It also wouldn't punish players who had a few legit reason in a short period of time.
Me playing UT2k4 (red guy) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz0DnP7wXnU
Exhibit A :
As I said earlier an activity timer is pointless because activity can easily faked by simple scripts. Those scripts would only have to move the player and activate skills from time to time.
Theres no way to determine if the activty is productive to the goal of the map or not.
Your proposed activity timer would only hurt people who suddely get during a mission a phonecall or someone is at the door.
You could just ignore the telephone or the door, but most of the people don't and leave the computer for one or two minutes to deal with it.
agreed besides afkers have been around since the dawn of mmo history and they wont be going any where soon no matter what you try to fix them there will always be a work around
just look at eve for instance afk mining and farming is abundant there there is so many programs that can be fine tuned to the point where not only do they do the work for you they even interact for you as well
Yes, you take a hit for one run of a mission but then that slacker isn't going to be a problem for you again. And if the slacker keeps going AFK they'll start running out of people to leech off.
i only suggest that because i noticed the afkers in STF dont seem to use
a program for movement. they seem to only be able to randomly click and
join a match and press a or d every few minutes so they dont get booted for afk.
well they could but they would have to do that for a single pve queue.
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funny you mention guild wars. that brings back alot of memories.
the bots in guild wars are completely different, then here on STO.
just an observation though. they seem to have issues with movement
when there in an STF mission.
You can not check other players but only yours through gateway.
im sure you have
system Lord Baal is dead