I am wondering if there's anything that Cryptic can do about AFKers in PvE missions. Could we be provided with the ability to shoot them in future updates. That would be really great. I know that sounds bad from a business point of view but judging from their participation in-game, it's not likely that they spend money on this game anyway.
And I for one totally AGREE! It's worse than bailing! This happens sometimes and depending on which STF I am playing I try to attract the enemy over to the lazy bugger by making myself too good a target to ignore.
It's indicative of just how lazy society has gotten - when ppl are being lazy even in game play.... pathetic. I get things come up, you gotta get off quickly or a distraction occurs (especially if you have kids) but generally these ppl say something, even if just a quick apology.
"The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward." - Rocky Balboa (2006)
I have suggested several times that they change the loot mechanics to stop this. These people AFK after joining groups just so they can get free stuff without putting forth any effort.
Change the loot drops so that in order to roll on a loot, you need to have caused damage to the enemy that dropped that loot.
This means you can't roll on anything unless you are shooting stuff. Also in order to roll on the end-mission loot (the good stuff) you need to cause damage to the boss.
This isn't a perfect fix, but it's a step in the right direction, and will drastically reduce the amount of free loot that these leechers are able to get. It will also be a completely un-noticeable safeguard to players that actually fight alongside their groups. I mean, unless you fly around and never shoot anything? Why would you do that?
This has been happening a lot in Omega ground missions I now fully support adding a loss of 1000 dilith to the 1 hour ban I know this is a huge penalty but the abuse by some fleet members has made these ground missions unplayable now.
Everyone thinks its a big joke to drop out right at the end boss well when your losing 1000 dilith every match you drop out of you wont will be laughing.
I refuse to join any fleet right now untill they clean up thier members.
I have suggested several times that they change the loot mechanics to stop this. These people AFK after joining groups just so they can get free stuff without putting forth any effort.
Change the loot drops so that in order to roll on a loot, you need to have caused damage to the enemy that dropped that loot.
This means you can't roll on anything unless you are shooting stuff. Also in order to roll on the end-mission loot (the good stuff) you need to cause damage to the boss.
This isn't a perfect fix, but it's a step in the right direction, and will drastically reduce the amount of free loot that these leechers are able to get. It will also be a completely un-noticeable safeguard to players that actually fight alongside their groups. I mean, unless you fly around and never shoot anything? Why would you do that?
I spend most of my time healing and doing support, this would get me to stop doing either of these things as less damage would mean less loot for me. I already get TRIBBLE rewards for doing this, if I get a total of nothing I'm gonna say TRIBBLE it and go escort.
Also it wont stop afk people, they are after the end rewards, not drops (mostly anyway).
let people at the end vote for a MVP (but NOT themselves or a fleet member)
and those with a vote get a small reward (like 20 fleet marks or a signed picture of Riker in a Skant)
I spend most of my time healing and doing support, this would get me to stop doing either of these things as less damage would mean less loot for me. I already get TRIBBLE rewards for doing this, if I get a total of nothing I'm gonna say TRIBBLE it and go escort.
Also it wont stop afk people, they are after the end rewards, not drops (mostly anyway).
Well like I said, in order to roll on the end-mission rewards you would need to do damage to the boss.
Even if you are flying a science vessel, you should have guns on your ship. I'm not suggesting a % based system where the guy who does the most damage gets the loot, I'm suggesting everyone who does any damage to an enemy, gets a chance to roll on the loot.
So if you deal 1 damage to an enemy, you are allowed to roll on any loot it has. If you don't deal any damage, you don't get to roll on any loot.
Again, it's not a perfect system, but this way the leechers would have to at least move around and shoot at things.
It's too bad there isn't an ability to focus all threat on an AFKer....and making it such that you cannot collect drops/rewards while dead or waiting to respawn would be a little bit overkill...
I'd say the best way would be to tie loot to effort made (other MMOs use this system) but alas, as stated above, most AFKers aren't after the loot, but rather, the rewards for completing the STF.
It's too bad there isn't an ability to focus all threat on an AFKer....and making it such that you cannot collect drops/rewards while dead or waiting to respawn would be a little bit overkill...
I'd say the best way would be to tie loot to effort made (other MMOs use this system) but alas, as stated above, most AFKers aren't after the loot, but rather, the rewards for completing the STF.
heh, like in ******** with 'Misdirect' on hunters, give all your damage aggro to one person on your team (The rogue!). Would be a good Science ability I would think
Edit: lawl at the censor blanking out mmo names. that just made my day
This is why channels like PublicEliteSTF exists [/channel_join PublicEliteSTF]
Pugging for an STF, especially elite STFs is going to be a horrible experience 3 out of every 5 times. That is why, a community of experienced STFers is needed, and that need is supported by dedicated channels, PESTF (see above), being one. We have 2000+ subscribed members, and growing on a daily basis. We are very laid back and tolerant group of people. Our members are very helpful and if you ask nicely, I'm sure you will always find somebody there to teach you the ropes of STF. The only thing that might tick off the members, is if you don't listen to the plan and as a result, you become a liability and fail optional, or the mission itself (if they wanted that, they would have pugged;) )
Take a brief glance at channel rules (here). We looking forward to seeing your presence in the channel
While people can avoid 99% of them by doing dedicated STF channels, I don't think there is any for Fleet or Romulan Events, so its probably better if Cryptic did implement a Boot System.
Yes, it has potential to be abused, but I'm sure CSR can quickly determine if it's being abused if the same people keep booting people.
let people at the end vote for a MVP (but NOT themselves or a fleet member)
and those with a vote get a small reward (like 20 fleet marks or a signed picture of Riker in a Skant)
So how wil this work if i and my fleet mates going to do stf's ??? sometimes we get 1 or 2 from ESTF, they will always be the mvp if we can't vote 4 fleet members.
Honestly if Cryptic would take seriously the "report to GM" feature for these incidents they would work themselves out. If you get a certain number of spam reports your chat is disabled for a time period. Why not do the same if you receive 6 reports of AFK during an event in a 24 hour period then you are ineligible to queue for pve content for 24 hours. the 2nd offense is a one week ban and a warning in game mail. 3rd offense is a total pve queue ban.
Its like this really you have to accept the queue pop. Rarely it is more than one minute. If you click accept and sit there for the entire event you are camping or trolling. If you have a phone call or your grandma is on fire at least notify the group or drop usually if you drop early a replacement will be found.
There is no realistic explanation for somebody to sit and do nothing but need roll the entire event never leaving the spawn point. These people are not playing the game they are abusing the system. I know cryptic can look at the data and see what went on. Stahl tells us every ask the dev that they know exactly this or that or the other whenever somebody suggest something is not working right. So either he is wrong or not.
The fact that there is an unforgiving STF leaver penalty in place but
absolutely nothing has been done to address STF AFKers defies
comprehension. I would a hundred times rather someone just leave than
take up a spot which won't be filled and get the rewards for no work
to boot.
Do I use the report button to notify a GM about STF AFKers?
Absolutely. Do I encourage my fellow players to also report the AFKer?
Absolutely. Yet never have I seen an AFKer removed from a STF. I know
the party line is "Well, you don't know what action the GMs take
against reported players." FALSE. Week after week I notice the same
users doing the same thing, ruining STF gameplayer for others.
Therefore obviously either no action is being taken against them or
the action is ineffective.
We aren't even allowed to name and shame those who participate in this
deplorable behavior. Now I do understand the need for a "no calling
out" policy because of what it would lead to in the forums - HOWEVER -
if you are going to put that restriction on us, the players, the one
mechanism we do have to combat this sort of bad behavior then the onus
is doubly on the devs to take action.
I want to give PWE entertainment the benefit of the doubt, but at this
point it is getting hard to believe the reports aren't going straight
in the "cylindrical filing bin" or that certain players are exempt
from serious action being taken against their account due to the
amount of financial support they have put into the game.
Now, I understand that rewards for STFs aren't meant to be
individually performance based and I like that. It is a team event,
and if your team succeeds then everyone gets equal rewards. This
encourages diverse gameplay as everyone may not contribute to the team
effort in the same way and it is hard to measure the performance of
different playstyles against eachother. For example, how do you
measure a player using crowd control against someone who is dealing
damage? That being said, right now a player can enter a STF and NOT
MOVE A SINGLE INCH, NOT USE A SINGLE ABILITY, NOT HIT A SINGLE KEY,
and the reward drop appears at their ship at the end of the match.
There MUST be a better solution than this.
There are many controls which could be implemented that wouldn't
adversely effect folks at all who were genuinely playing the game. A
bare minimum amount of damage and/or healing. A much shortened AFK
timer. A requisite number of abilities fired off. Requirements to
travel a certain distance. The ability for a vote to kick a player (4
votes required.) Could someone still find a way around some of these
measures? Yes. Might someone still get over on the system? Yes. But it
is still better than doing nothing!!!
The feet dragging on this is inexcusable. This should be priority
number ONE. And oh yeah... in the meantine, if you get AFKers in your
match, just leave so that they won't benefit from your hard work (As
long as you're ready to get a 1 hour STF BAN! :rolleyes: OOOOH THE IRONY...)
It's too bad there isn't an ability to focus all threat on an AFKer....and making it such that you cannot collect drops/rewards while dead or waiting to respawn would be a little bit overkill...
I'd say the best way would be to tie loot to effort made (other MMOs use this system) but alas, as stated above, most AFKers aren't after the loot, but rather, the rewards for completing the STF.
Make the fixed rewards much smaller and tie effort into getting top rewards. Total DPS/Healing, number of kills/assists, and number of needs vs greeds vs passes.
This is annoying as hell but it doesn't happen so often that I think anything needs to be "done about it." Most solutions would themselves be abused and just make things worse in the end.
Comments
http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=481301
And I for one totally AGREE! It's worse than bailing! This happens sometimes and depending on which STF I am playing I try to attract the enemy over to the lazy bugger by making myself too good a target to ignore.
It's indicative of just how lazy society has gotten - when ppl are being lazy even in game play.... pathetic. I get things come up, you gotta get off quickly or a distraction occurs (especially if you have kids) but generally these ppl say something, even if just a quick apology.
Change the loot drops so that in order to roll on a loot, you need to have caused damage to the enemy that dropped that loot.
This means you can't roll on anything unless you are shooting stuff. Also in order to roll on the end-mission loot (the good stuff) you need to cause damage to the boss.
This isn't a perfect fix, but it's a step in the right direction, and will drastically reduce the amount of free loot that these leechers are able to get. It will also be a completely un-noticeable safeguard to players that actually fight alongside their groups. I mean, unless you fly around and never shoot anything? Why would you do that?
You can't be queued with someone on your ignore list.
Granted, you'll be stuck with them at least one, but eventually the AFKers will be whittled away.
Obviously the bestest suggestion is not to PUG, but that's not always an option, sadly.
500 years in the future and we still look like schmucks when getting our ID photos taken...
Everyone thinks its a big joke to drop out right at the end boss well when your losing 1000 dilith every match you drop out of you wont will be laughing.
I refuse to join any fleet right now untill they clean up thier members.
Thanks
I spend most of my time healing and doing support, this would get me to stop doing either of these things as less damage would mean less loot for me. I already get TRIBBLE rewards for doing this, if I get a total of nothing I'm gonna say TRIBBLE it and go escort.
Also it wont stop afk people, they are after the end rewards, not drops (mostly anyway).
let people at the end vote for a MVP (but NOT themselves or a fleet member)
and those with a vote get a small reward (like 20 fleet marks or a signed picture of Riker in a Skant)
Well like I said, in order to roll on the end-mission rewards you would need to do damage to the boss.
Even if you are flying a science vessel, you should have guns on your ship. I'm not suggesting a % based system where the guy who does the most damage gets the loot, I'm suggesting everyone who does any damage to an enemy, gets a chance to roll on the loot.
So if you deal 1 damage to an enemy, you are allowed to roll on any loot it has. If you don't deal any damage, you don't get to roll on any loot.
Again, it's not a perfect system, but this way the leechers would have to at least move around and shoot at things.
I'd say the best way would be to tie loot to effort made (other MMOs use this system) but alas, as stated above, most AFKers aren't after the loot, but rather, the rewards for completing the STF.
ROLL TIDE ROLL
heh, like in ******** with 'Misdirect' on hunters, give all your damage aggro to one person on your team (The rogue!). Would be a good Science ability I would think
Edit: lawl at the censor blanking out mmo names. that just made my day
Pugging for an STF, especially elite STFs is going to be a horrible experience 3 out of every 5 times. That is why, a community of experienced STFers is needed, and that need is supported by dedicated channels, PESTF (see above), being one. We have 2000+ subscribed members, and growing on a daily basis. We are very laid back and tolerant group of people. Our members are very helpful and if you ask nicely, I'm sure you will always find somebody there to teach you the ropes of STF. The only thing that might tick off the members, is if you don't listen to the plan and as a result, you become a liability and fail optional, or the mission itself (if they wanted that, they would have pugged;) )
Take a brief glance at channel rules (here). We looking forward to seeing your presence in the channel
Elite Defense Stovokor
Yes, it has potential to be abused, but I'm sure CSR can quickly determine if it's being abused if the same people keep booting people.
So how wil this work if i and my fleet mates going to do stf's ??? sometimes we get 1 or 2 from ESTF, they will always be the mvp if we can't vote 4 fleet members.
Its like this really you have to accept the queue pop. Rarely it is more than one minute. If you click accept and sit there for the entire event you are camping or trolling. If you have a phone call or your grandma is on fire at least notify the group or drop usually if you drop early a replacement will be found.
There is no realistic explanation for somebody to sit and do nothing but need roll the entire event never leaving the spawn point. These people are not playing the game they are abusing the system. I know cryptic can look at the data and see what went on. Stahl tells us every ask the dev that they know exactly this or that or the other whenever somebody suggest something is not working right. So either he is wrong or not.
With guaranteed critical ship/personal injuries.
Add in a "Kicked from run if not respawned" and we're good.
Otherwise, they're just going to stay dead until the loot drop at the end and then spawn, grab their **** and run.
absolutely nothing has been done to address STF AFKers defies
comprehension. I would a hundred times rather someone just leave than
take up a spot which won't be filled and get the rewards for no work
to boot.
Do I use the report button to notify a GM about STF AFKers?
Absolutely. Do I encourage my fellow players to also report the AFKer?
Absolutely. Yet never have I seen an AFKer removed from a STF. I know
the party line is "Well, you don't know what action the GMs take
against reported players." FALSE. Week after week I notice the same
users doing the same thing, ruining STF gameplayer for others.
Therefore obviously either no action is being taken against them or
the action is ineffective.
We aren't even allowed to name and shame those who participate in this
deplorable behavior. Now I do understand the need for a "no calling
out" policy because of what it would lead to in the forums - HOWEVER -
if you are going to put that restriction on us, the players, the one
mechanism we do have to combat this sort of bad behavior then the onus
is doubly on the devs to take action.
I want to give PWE entertainment the benefit of the doubt, but at this
point it is getting hard to believe the reports aren't going straight
in the "cylindrical filing bin" or that certain players are exempt
from serious action being taken against their account due to the
amount of financial support they have put into the game.
Now, I understand that rewards for STFs aren't meant to be
individually performance based and I like that. It is a team event,
and if your team succeeds then everyone gets equal rewards. This
encourages diverse gameplay as everyone may not contribute to the team
effort in the same way and it is hard to measure the performance of
different playstyles against eachother. For example, how do you
measure a player using crowd control against someone who is dealing
damage? That being said, right now a player can enter a STF and NOT
MOVE A SINGLE INCH, NOT USE A SINGLE ABILITY, NOT HIT A SINGLE KEY,
and the reward drop appears at their ship at the end of the match.
There MUST be a better solution than this.
There are many controls which could be implemented that wouldn't
adversely effect folks at all who were genuinely playing the game. A
bare minimum amount of damage and/or healing. A much shortened AFK
timer. A requisite number of abilities fired off. Requirements to
travel a certain distance. The ability for a vote to kick a player (4
votes required.) Could someone still find a way around some of these
measures? Yes. Might someone still get over on the system? Yes. But it
is still better than doing nothing!!!
The feet dragging on this is inexcusable. This should be priority
number ONE. And oh yeah... in the meantine, if you get AFKers in your
match, just leave so that they won't benefit from your hard work (As
long as you're ready to get a 1 hour STF BAN! :rolleyes: OOOOH THE IRONY...)
Make the fixed rewards much smaller and tie effort into getting top rewards. Total DPS/Healing, number of kills/assists, and number of needs vs greeds vs passes.