:rolleyes:
If you must answer the phone/go discipline your kids/take something out of the oven/etc, take the extra two seconds and warp out of the STF. If you don't think you should have to suffer that inconvenience to spare everyone else in the mission being down one player, you probably are the child being chastised.
I you leave, the mission is down a player anyway and you have to take a leaver penalty, so... computer says no.
It's not myfault ifyoufeel trolledbymyDisco ball...Sorry'boutit.
im sorry but this needs to be said all Dev did by not testing it them self before player is say hey afkers your days are number oh but wait we are now putting it on hold all dev did was give them a heads up now if they are smart i mean the afkers they would be like squirrels
I have characters with multiple (over 20) ships that use different Boff setups and it still only takes me 30 seconds to reassign the Boffs when I enter a mission and find I've been hit by the bug.
And anyone that says it's too hard to remember what Boffs they use on a given ship can always take 10 seconds to write down the names of the Boffs their ship is using on a piece of paper.
Furthermore anyone that is too lazy, or stupid to exercise a little common sense to prevent unnecessary delays because of this well known bug shouldn't be teaming with other people and deserves a permanent queue ban.
Sure - blame the user for a ridiculous bug. That makes a lot of sense...
"Participation in PVP-related activities is so low on an hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly basis that we could in fact just completely take it out of STO and it would not impact the overall number of people [who] log in to the game and play in any significant way." -Gozer, Cryptic PvP Dev
If I had a real life situation happen that was important enough to me that it took me away from the game long enough for me to incur any type of penalty the ONLY thing I'm going to be bleeping about is whatever and whomever it was responsible for causing that real life "emergency".
And if the "emergency" was something stupid any penalty I'll have been given will have long since expired because it takes longer than 2 hours for the doctor at the ER to remove my foot from someone's butt.
If the situation involves kids then grow up and deal with it. That's called parenting. Being a parent means making sacrifices that yes occasionally includes a stupid penalty in video games.
If you think being a parent interferes with your gaming then get yourself sterilized and put any kids you currently have up for adoption because you are a bad bad person.
Who said anything about it being an emergency or being a parent? It could just be some doddery old dear on the phone who can't take the hint that you don't want to talk. I've had to afk several times because of that. (thank you aunt Breda.)
It's not myfault ifyoufeel trolledbymyDisco ball...Sorry'boutit.
if you are Qing for a Team event sorry not going to wait for you to take a phone call got to ask yall talk on a cell phone while driving how about texting? kids put them to bed any thing else can wait
only game that will cater to yall is one you play by your self not a MMO where you team with other ppl
My aunt Bonnie is just like that. I have a simple solution I use. Oops, we got disconnected and I leave the phone off the hook, or turn the cell phone off.
Or as a simple preventative measure before gaming, take the phone off the hook, turn it off, or let the answering machine get it.
Nah, what if it does turn out to be an emergeny? I don't set out to afk, but if a situation requires me to, I will.
It's not myfault ifyoufeel trolledbymyDisco ball...Sorry'boutit.
the fix has been postponed. AFKers, hurry afk all missions while you can grab that loot by doing nothing and making the universe boil.
AFKers you are here to stay, for now.
House phones with a built in speaker option cost as low as $25 bucks, and on cell phones it's a standard feature these days. So if you can't afford $25 bucks for a one time purchase of a phone then you can't afford to pay for the internet you use to play the game in the first place.
So sorry but answering the phone for an unimportant call isn't a valid excuse.
How are you to know if it's unimportant before you answer, and I've no interest in spending any amount on a new phone I don't need just for a game. As for speaker on a cell phone, it's a non issue cause I don't need to get up and leave the room to answer my cell phone.
It's not myfault ifyoufeel trolledbymyDisco ball...Sorry'boutit.
If you are constantly being interrupted every single day with emergencies that cannot be ignored then you have bigger problems to deal with than worrying about a 2 hour AFK penalty in a video game.
Erm, never said I was.
It's not myfault ifyoufeel trolledbymyDisco ball...Sorry'boutit.
You're the one making up lame excuses (using yourself in the examples) to justify people being constantly AFK.
Actually I used one example. And I never said it was why people were constantly afking. I was saying that someone who did find themselves in that situation shouldn't be penalized for it. Also if you recall, I originally made this argument in response to someone who said that anyone who was flagged as afk even once should be kicked from the entire game for several hours, which is ridiculous.
But hey If you don't wanna read my previous posts before commenting that's fine. I'm sure you're busy misrepresenting other people.
Anyway I have to go out now and have an actual life, so maybe I'll see your overblown response to this in the morning.
It's not myfault ifyoufeel trolledbymyDisco ball...Sorry'boutit.
How many of us here have been DC'd while in a queue? How many of us get booted off as you start a team mission and the map doesn't load?? Thats a two hour penalty for the server TRIBBLE up that we all pay.. May as well play another game than put up with that kinda bull..
I'm not going to say I never go AFK, but I think that this needs to be done carefully, because having a wife and multiple kids means you can get pulled away at inconvenient times - sometimes for a minute or two, other times it might be longer.... Doesn't mean I'm doing it on purpose or out of spite, sometimes it just can't be helped. That doesn't mean I should get a 2 hour ban for it.
pugs are pugs, if you don't want people going afk on you, or not knowing when to blow a cube, or not following the 10% rule, then play with your own teammates in a private game.
I think the best way would be an inactivity timer to automatically kick you from the game, so someone else can queue in, because if you're playing the game, odds are if your game doesn't get any new commands from your keyboard/mouse for 60 or 90 seconds or more, you're not there. Because in an STF, even if you're sitting still, you're usually looking around with the mouse.
And I don't think there should really be a penalty, unless its habitual.. like if you get kicked for inactivity for 5 games in a row or 7 of the last 10, or whatever... then have a stiff penalty.
pugs are pugs, if you don't want people going afk on you, or not knowing when to blow a cube, or not following the 10% rule, then play with your own teammates in a private game.
And if a private game isn't an option, I guess your recourse is no queued PvE at all. :rolleyes:
pugs are pugs, if you don't want people going afk on you, or not knowing when to blow a cube, or not following the 10% rule, then play with your own teammates in a private game.
Are you sure the AFK-detection isn't live in private games? I don't think I've seen any confirmation of that...
"Participation in PVP-related activities is so low on an hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly basis that we could in fact just completely take it out of STO and it would not impact the overall number of people [who] log in to the game and play in any significant way." -Gozer, Cryptic PvP Dev
In private game you have a team leader who can kick.
This program, though reasonably normal at times, seems to have a strong affinity to classes belonging to the Cat 2.0 program. Questerius 2.7 will break down on occasion, resulting in garbage and nonsense messages whenever it occurs. Usually a hard reboot or pulling the plug solves the problem when that happens.
You know, I don't know, my clan doesn't actually have an active team in STO, so all I play are pugs, and to be right honest... I don't see AFK players as a huge problem. I very rarely see inactive people in the games.
More often will I see people who drop out from the game, and then nobody gets queued back in to fill the spot for a really long time, if ever. That is the bigger problem, as I see it. (especially in hive)
In private game you have a team leader who can kick.
That doesn't mean that the AFK feature isn't there though, it just means that it's not necessary. Other queue mechanisms (like cooldowns) *are* present in private games, so it's quite possible that in order to keep the code simple, that AFK-detection is also live in private games.
"Participation in PVP-related activities is so low on an hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly basis that we could in fact just completely take it out of STO and it would not impact the overall number of people [who] log in to the game and play in any significant way." -Gozer, Cryptic PvP Dev
And what evidence do you have that confirms players can get flagged as AFK when they get DC'd while in queue?
Oh that's right you have none.
And what evidence do you have that confirms players get flagged as AFK when the mission map doesn't load?
Oh that's right once again you have none.
And why is it you don't have any evidence that those things have happened? It's because you haven't bothered to try testing it on the Redshirt server before the devs took it down for more work.
But please continue ranting. Your paranoid delusions are amusing. :P
You call my questions a Rant?? And you know for a fact my exact history of experiences in Star Trek without even knowing who i am.. You Sir are an amazing being.. Even God should worship your shadow.
60 - 90 seconds? Glad you aren't a dev. 10-15 minutes bare minimum for inactivity would be least I would allow if I were only using a timer.
10-15 minutes in an STF and it would typically be over, one way or another, if you're short handed. At least, the space ones. And only a timer may not be the best idea either.
THAT was all you had? Ok, disappointing.:rolleyes:
And having read your subsequent post since I was on last, you obviously have no clue what you are on about, so you know what, I'm done. There is no point wasting any more time on you.
It's not myfault ifyoufeel trolledbymyDisco ball...Sorry'boutit.
Welp, I told you guys this would happen. Despite the fact that the "AFK Penalty" was not actually supposed to be pushed to live yet according to the patch notes, it made it in.
I told you this wasn't gonna work, and what's more, if it gets applied to private matches, even more wonky **** will happen: People make private matches specifically because they want to do weird stuff, without disturbing the peasants. If that means 4 guys spectating one guy who is trying to solo the mission, I do not see why this is wrong and that those 4 should be banned for actions taken in private with the agreement of all involved.
Likely a combination of your client not responding for most of the round, or you not doing any damage, healing, or debuffing through any stage of the event. This is common of indicating an AFKer.
Then hopefully it doesn't happen often for an entire stage, but if it does, you are an AFKer and shouldn't be leeching from a group knowing that you're likely to cause that entire team to loose the round with a lag spike larger than the US shutdown (too early?).
sometimes i load a STF and it has like a 3 min loading screen.. first time i get that and get a 2 hour stf ban i am not going to be happy.
Then this would indicate that your connection or computer is so poor that you knowingly join a STF to take up a slot for the first quarter of that STF (being I usually run them in 12 mins with the fleet). This means you are an AFKer and shouldn't be happy, so go find another game where you can leach a quarter of what you have from others.
My guess is that it will be a 3 min sweep that is looking for hey strokes. If no keystroke happens than you are tagged afk
I doubt they would do this, my G19 keyboard can perform automated keystrokes for a period of an hour (or more). Being that STO has an app specifically for this keyboard, I'm sure they know this too and will look at other aspects such as damage, healing, and overall contribution to the group during each stage.
In the field of computer security, there is a concept called "security by obscurity". It is considered a bad idea to rely on your opponents' ignorance of the your system's details. You should assume that your opponent is not dumb and will figure it out anyway. A good system is designed to work even against those who know the full details of the system.
As the owner of a few systems myself that I administer for my company, this is true, but there is a clear difference between locking down a few predictable run-times, ports, and permissions than tracking and calculating the movements of 20 unpredictable players in a three dimensional area while applying algorithms to detect whether or not they are properly contributing to the team. Also, even you have to agree, when programs are subject to open source communities, they usually suffer from false-positive security responses. Config Server Firewall is the perfect example of this which has the potential of locking you out remotely on the first log in.
You have to remember that people play this game for enjoyment. If you make the holes in this game so tight that players have to strain to squeeze through them, this will lead to larger "server population" issues. So in this situation where the rest of the players have nothing to loose but enjoyment, the last thing you want to do is further compromise that very enjoyment to ease the little lost enjoyment they had. In short, security by obscurity is quite acceptable in this situation.
Said NO to Arc. Gets punished by not being given a free outfit, free lobi, and free shuttle. Now forced to use Arc's site when trying to get to STO site. Still not rewards for beta testing the Arc website by force. Bravo Cryptic.
I've been pondering how to have the system separate lagged players from actual AFKers.
The idea I came up with works like TCP/IP ping packets. On a regular time interval (in seconds 1-5 seems good), the client computer that the player is sitting at sends a tiny data packet to the server for no reason other than to say "I'm still here". If the server receives these on a regular interval it know the player is not experiencing network lag. But if it doesn't get one for say... 20 seconds, and suddenly gets 5 of them... well that's different.
Oh and security by obscurity is a very important first step to keeping people out of your system. It's only a first line of defense but a very important one.
Need to know what determines an afker. As already said, people wont be happy if they get the afk punishment because of server lag/long loading screens....
Vote to kick would never work. Too much griefing potential for that to ever happen.
Now, had they used a vote to stay in method, that would have been better imo...
I agree vote to kick out from four players would be better who knows what this system will be like. I just played into the vortex and because the other gate needed help I was left alone to stop probes while the other guy who was with me went to help. if the player who was just hanging out helped we would have made the optional.:mad:
A vote to kick out a player from a vote that is in agreement from the other four players is better because if you vote someone out that could open the possibility that someone else can join the game and a better chance of making optional.:D
Comments
I you leave, the mission is down a player anyway and you have to take a leaver penalty, so... computer says no.
R.I.P. Leonard Nimoy
system Lord Baal is dead
i mean they would do it even more and stock up for the long hull but i think you new what i meant
system Lord Baal is dead
Sure - blame the user for a ridiculous bug. That makes a lot of sense...
Who said anything about it being an emergency or being a parent? It could just be some doddery old dear on the phone who can't take the hint that you don't want to talk. I've had to afk several times because of that. (thank you aunt Breda.)
R.I.P. Leonard Nimoy
only game that will cater to yall is one you play by your self not a MMO where you team with other ppl
system Lord Baal is dead
Nah, what if it does turn out to be an emergeny? I don't set out to afk, but if a situation requires me to, I will.
R.I.P. Leonard Nimoy
That's great... if you have one.
R.I.P. Leonard Nimoy
AFKers you are here to stay, for now.
How are you to know if it's unimportant before you answer, and I've no interest in spending any amount on a new phone I don't need just for a game. As for speaker on a cell phone, it's a non issue cause I don't need to get up and leave the room to answer my cell phone.
R.I.P. Leonard Nimoy
Erm, never said I was.
R.I.P. Leonard Nimoy
Actually I used one example. And I never said it was why people were constantly afking. I was saying that someone who did find themselves in that situation shouldn't be penalized for it. Also if you recall, I originally made this argument in response to someone who said that anyone who was flagged as afk even once should be kicked from the entire game for several hours, which is ridiculous.
But hey If you don't wanna read my previous posts before commenting that's fine. I'm sure you're busy misrepresenting other people.
Anyway I have to go out now and have an actual life, so maybe I'll see your overblown response to this in the morning.
R.I.P. Leonard Nimoy
pugs are pugs, if you don't want people going afk on you, or not knowing when to blow a cube, or not following the 10% rule, then play with your own teammates in a private game.
I think the best way would be an inactivity timer to automatically kick you from the game, so someone else can queue in, because if you're playing the game, odds are if your game doesn't get any new commands from your keyboard/mouse for 60 or 90 seconds or more, you're not there. Because in an STF, even if you're sitting still, you're usually looking around with the mouse.
And I don't think there should really be a penalty, unless its habitual.. like if you get kicked for inactivity for 5 games in a row or 7 of the last 10, or whatever... then have a stiff penalty.
Founder, Midnight Squadron
http://www.midnightsquadron.com
And if a private game isn't an option, I guess your recourse is no queued PvE at all. :rolleyes:
Are you sure the AFK-detection isn't live in private games? I don't think I've seen any confirmation of that...
More often will I see people who drop out from the game, and then nobody gets queued back in to fill the spot for a really long time, if ever. That is the bigger problem, as I see it. (especially in hive)
Founder, Midnight Squadron
http://www.midnightsquadron.com
That doesn't mean that the AFK feature isn't there though, it just means that it's not necessary. Other queue mechanisms (like cooldowns) *are* present in private games, so it's quite possible that in order to keep the code simple, that AFK-detection is also live in private games.
You call my questions a Rant?? And you know for a fact my exact history of experiences in Star Trek without even knowing who i am.. You Sir are an amazing being.. Even God should worship your shadow.
system Lord Baal is dead
10-15 minutes in an STF and it would typically be over, one way or another, if you're short handed. At least, the space ones. And only a timer may not be the best idea either.
Founder, Midnight Squadron
http://www.midnightsquadron.com
THAT was all you had? Ok, disappointing.:rolleyes:
And having read your subsequent post since I was on last, you obviously have no clue what you are on about, so you know what, I'm done. There is no point wasting any more time on you.
R.I.P. Leonard Nimoy
And guess what? People are getting banned for AFKing despite being very active participants in the mission.
I told you this wasn't gonna work, and what's more, if it gets applied to private matches, even more wonky **** will happen: People make private matches specifically because they want to do weird stuff, without disturbing the peasants. If that means 4 guys spectating one guy who is trying to solo the mission, I do not see why this is wrong and that those 4 should be banned for actions taken in private with the agreement of all involved.
I wasn't, but you obviously aren't reading my posts properly or just twist them to make your own argument. Either way, you are below me.
R.I.P. Leonard Nimoy
You have in a single sentence made yourself, likely the most hated type of person on this forum by indicating that you are indeed an AFKer.
Likely a combination of your client not responding for most of the round, or you not doing any damage, healing, or debuffing through any stage of the event. This is common of indicating an AFKer.
Then hopefully it doesn't happen often for an entire stage, but if it does, you are an AFKer and shouldn't be leeching from a group knowing that you're likely to cause that entire team to loose the round with a lag spike larger than the US shutdown (too early?).
I'm sure it will look for heals and debuffs.
Then this would indicate that your connection or computer is so poor that you knowingly join a STF to take up a slot for the first quarter of that STF (being I usually run them in 12 mins with the fleet). This means you are an AFKer and shouldn't be happy, so go find another game where you can leach a quarter of what you have from others.
I doubt they would do this, my G19 keyboard can perform automated keystrokes for a period of an hour (or more). Being that STO has an app specifically for this keyboard, I'm sure they know this too and will look at other aspects such as damage, healing, and overall contribution to the group during each stage.
As the owner of a few systems myself that I administer for my company, this is true, but there is a clear difference between locking down a few predictable run-times, ports, and permissions than tracking and calculating the movements of 20 unpredictable players in a three dimensional area while applying algorithms to detect whether or not they are properly contributing to the team. Also, even you have to agree, when programs are subject to open source communities, they usually suffer from false-positive security responses. Config Server Firewall is the perfect example of this which has the potential of locking you out remotely on the first log in.
You have to remember that people play this game for enjoyment. If you make the holes in this game so tight that players have to strain to squeeze through them, this will lead to larger "server population" issues. So in this situation where the rest of the players have nothing to loose but enjoyment, the last thing you want to do is further compromise that very enjoyment to ease the little lost enjoyment they had. In short, security by obscurity is quite acceptable in this situation.
The idea I came up with works like TCP/IP ping packets. On a regular time interval (in seconds 1-5 seems good), the client computer that the player is sitting at sends a tiny data packet to the server for no reason other than to say "I'm still here". If the server receives these on a regular interval it know the player is not experiencing network lag. But if it doesn't get one for say... 20 seconds, and suddenly gets 5 of them... well that's different.
Oh and security by obscurity is a very important first step to keeping people out of your system. It's only a first line of defense but a very important one.
My character Tsin'xing
I agree vote to kick out from four players would be better who knows what this system will be like. I just played into the vortex and because the other gate needed help I was left alone to stop probes while the other guy who was with me went to help. if the player who was just hanging out helped we would have made the optional.:mad: