Details have not been released, to prevent those from quickly finding a work around and continue to go AFK and Leech.
I agree with the decision.
in a sense sure, I agree. those leechers who do not keep up to date will have issues, but I am fairly confident if there is an exploit, it will be uncovered by the weekend (I expect it by tomorrow, but most of these have a time to get out to the bigger public, like the foundry exploits tend to)
and tbh I am afraid of the exploit as well, that is why I asked, what is the measurement. have seen some of these conversations, and there was no definitive good answer. if you check the inactive time, the afker will just push random buttons from time to time, if you measure dps, what is accaptable? dont wanna go into this, I am just curious what is the end result
Hmmm... Why no, Sir. We're not phishing! How absurd!
Not too obvious there, are we, OP? Might want to work the sincerity up a level and try for a more oblique approach next time. Softly, softly.
if I were pwe/cryptic, I'd treat the details the same way nuclear release command codes are treated. For as long as possible.
?
a year ago it was badly needed, before the huge powercreep(s). I did not care then (could pull more then my own weight), and I do not care now. but I do like to know my game mechanics.
and knowing cryptic/pwe I assumed they would not have disclosed it, so we will have to test it ourselves (like most things). but you never know, I hoped we could get once a detailed description of a mechanic, not just a number, that is a percentage of another number, that is not disclosed ^^
Whoops! My bad! I didn't look who the poster was before I hit Reply. Apologies.
Still, I think it best if the details of how this game mechanic works remain fuzzy and incomplete. I already know I shouldn't have any concerns over it. Like most people. And if I do come up listed as AFK once, I'll chalk it up to bad luck and try again in about two hours. If it happens a second time, then I'll devote some thought to it.
I don't think the penalty is severe enough though. Not by a long shot. Leechers are stealing game time and enjoyment of a really fun game from others.
A six year old boy and his starship. Living the dream.
Whoops! My bad! I didn't look who the poster was before I hit Reply. Apologies.
Still, I think it best if the details of how this game mechanic works remain fuzzy and incomplete. I already know I shouldn't have any concerns over it. Like most people. And if I do come up listed as AFK once, I'll chalk it up to bad luck and try again in about two hours. If it happens a second time, then I'll devote some thought to it.
I don't think the penalty is severe enough though. Not by a long shot. Leechers are stealing game time and enjoyment of a really fun game from others.
well, I did have a thought in the back of my mind, if it was a dps penalty, so we can group up with dps 11k and 20k for a pug round, to make some lad suffer with barely any DPS ^^ but that was just a thought, the main reason is curiousity
My guess by reading, is that if someone walks away during the mission long enough to hit auto "afk" status that they get hit with the penalty. It's both a good and bad measure at the same time. As a good measure, yesterday a klink joined a CCE I was in cloaked and stayed there the whole time and never did a thing and he would deserve this and more, as a bad measure my poor fleet leader as food posioning and last night during a STF (with all fleet memebers) had to run afk suddenly to the rest room and he would have been caught by this. However I know he supports this even if it catches the good person sometimes who isn't feeling well but had to run to the restroom fast, I do as well even if it hits me, just to nail the SOB's who do this to cheat to rewards for nothing.
The standard auto-AFK isn't enough. Somebody could beat that just by having one of those little dipping bird things tap on the Ctrl key. Whatever metric Cryptic is using must be taking into account if the player is moving, are they taking/dealing damage, their proximity to other players and NPCs, etc, etc to try and catch even those AFK players who will script their keyboards to trick the system.
I know for a fact it must measure damage Dealt/Taken because when they released it for testing people were getting hit with it in Azure rescue when they would sneak under the bases and release the Romulan ships and not fire a shot the whole match. These people were not afk they were just avoiding agro and using an approach to hide under the base and release the ships. When the mission was over they were tagged as AFK got no rewards and a 2 hour penalty. So if you dont shoot something or take some hits your most likely going to get hit with being AFK. Seems the best thing is to just give in and play the mission rather than try to figure out how to get around the penality.
Hopefully they took that feedback into account and adjusted the metrics. I would think that a mission interact (disabling the tractors) would qualify as participation as long as it was kept up through the match. It should ideally require a fairly consistent string of participation throughout the match. Fight a bit here, interact with something there, whatever as long as you don't just do one thing at the start, then full impulse into a corner and fly around in circles.
However, when the AFK penalty was first tested, it falsely tagged players in Azure Nebula Rescue who used the stealth approach of freeing Romulan ships without firing a shot. And now ANR is not on the final published list of missions the penalty applies to (though that could be an omission from the list).
So based on that, it appears that engaging in combat of some kind is necessary. Moving around without attacking or being attacked will get you a timeout.
I think is ok with AFK Penalty, but is it not a little too hard ?
AFK Penalty : 2 hours ( very long time = STO loosing players in the future, when you dont event know how it works, or if it is fair ) is not enought with just kick you out directly from wherever you are doing ?
it appears that engaging in combat of some kind is necessary. Moving around without attacking or being attacked will get you a timeout.
THIS ... if it is true ... is a good thing.
Frankly, I don't want to know.
@athenagodde55 - Interesting first post. It's not hard at all from my point of view. 2 hours is arbitrary as Cryptic could have made it 1 hour or 3 hours. You're right that 2 hours is a long time in game terms and I think that is the point.
I was just running the mirror event, and jumped to grab a phone call as the mission started. Yes, I was AFK for a few minutes, but I came back and finished the mission. I definitely contributed to the team- if just a little late.
Now I'm out for two hours. Ironically, they saw fit to give me the rewards for the mission I was in where I was supposedly AFK, but not to allow me to continue playing.
Why can't we get one of the dozens of AFK solutions that players have brought up? Why does there have to be a draconian system that apparently doesn't even work to measure participation beyond a few minutes of AFK at the start? Why does the new AFK system allow players to be rewarded for the mission that they were AFK in, but penalizes them for future missions where they may well be present.
If I really did something wrong, fine- take away my rewards for that mission. I would've been willing to accept that as just. But I have no pattern of AFKing, I came back to contribute with the team, and I was not penalized within the mission where I slipped a bit. I was penalized for the next two hours.
And to think I had just activated a one hour XP bonus... I feel ripped off. This is just not very good. One of the most frustrating experiences I've ever had with this game.
I don't see the prob here. You went AFK to deal with the phone. RL is important and you handled your business. But don't complain now because your AFK interval was "minimal," your contributions still valuable (your opinion, maybe not team's).
You smug self-righteous fools need to can it with the preaching to the OP, 'cause this system is broken, pure and simple. I was involved in a Mirror run this evening as well, and had not been AFK for even so much as an instant...constantly destroying Mirror vessels and issuing Cruiser Commands, right up to and past the destruction of the Stadi. And yet, for all my active participation in this run, I go to launch another only to find that I had been wrongly tagged as AFK.
This AFK system is broken and needs to be either fixed or eliminated. I not only blame who programmed this idiocy, but also the whiny dullards who demanded that such a system be implemented to begin with. And this is coming from someone who's never, ever gone AFK during an STF. EVER. Yet, I'm rightfully furious that I've been penalized for something I haven't done, by a system that absolutely no one seems to know the dynamics of.
Please fix this or eliminate it altogether. This sort of blunder can only happen so many times before it drives someone from the game permanently.
"Don't try to be a great man. Just be a man and let history make its own judgments." -Zefram Cochrane
Vice-Admiral Methos Corinthian
methos71
The only proof I've got is a screen-capture of the NPC dialogue, with my BOFF confirming that the Stadi had been destroyed and also registering the loot that I had been given for the run. Here's that screen-capture for ya Mr. Perry Mason.
The only proof I've got is a screen-capture of the NPC dialogue, with my BOFF confirming that the Stadi had been destroyed and also registering the loot that I had been given for the run. Here's that screen-capture for ya Mr. Perry Mason.
Well... unfortunately, all the pic shows is you needing on drops, and gain XP (which may or may not have been from your involvement, since you are teamed for the event, team kills grant you XP (whether you shot or not)). The NPC message proves you were in the misison, and the mission completed... but nothing indicates what you did (at least from the screen shot).
Like I said in the other thread, run your combat logs (I run it for every queued mission that qualifies for an AFK penalty... mainly wanting to capture an instance, as others have claimed, that I get an AFK penalty... but have the logs to show activity.)
To date, I have not received a single AFK penalty... not saying it doesn't happen (false positives)... but so far every event I have been in, I didn't qualify for the penalty, nor have been hit with it.I have had a team mate here or there qualify... and frankly, I felt it was deserved since they didn't participate (not didn't participate a little, I mean didn't participate a lot).
I am not trolling you, I swear... I can understand how you would be upset if you got hit with the penalty unfairly... but you need to provide better evidence so they can continue to refine the system. I know your stance is to remove the penalty until there are no false positives... but to be honest, from what I have seen (and others judging by the responses in these threads), it is working as intended... and has improved my gaming experience... so please provides logs and videos of it not acting correctly (Azure Neb I know is a problem... and it maybe Mirror Incursion is a problem if you are off starting satellites).. but these things need to be shown in order for them to improve the system.
I don't know if this is related to the afk thing, but yesterday I was queued for a CnH match and having fun in kerrat as I waited for it to pop. It popped, and apparently the stars were on my side since everybody decided they would engage on its first try and the count down timer started. Just as the timer hit 0, as is infamous with kerrat, kerrat reset also hit zero. It must be at this point that my lucky stars decided to abruptly abandon me, I was put back into kerrat, and now I was banned from every queue - PvP and PvE.
Well... unfortunately, all the pic shows is you needing on drops, and gain XP (which may or may not have been from your involvement, since you are teamed for the event, team kills grant you XP (whether you shot or not)). The NPC message proves you were in the misison, and the mission completed... but nothing indicates what you did (at least from the screen shot).
Like I said in the other thread, run your combat logs (I run it for every queued mission that qualifies for an AFK penalty... mainly wanting to capture an instance, as others have claimed, that I get an AFK penalty... but have the logs to show activity.)
To date, I have not received a single AFK penalty... not saying it doesn't happen (false positives)... but so far every event I have been in, I didn't qualify for the penalty, nor have been hit with it.I have had a team mate here or there qualify... and frankly, I felt it was deserved since they didn't participate (not didn't participate a little, I mean didn't participate a lot).
I am not trolling you, I swear... I can understand how you would be upset if you got hit with the penalty unfairly... but you need to provide better evidence so they can continue to refine the system. I know your stance is to remove the penalty until there are no false positives... but to be honest, from what I have seen (and others judging by the responses in these threads), it is working as intended... and has improved my gaming experience... so please provides logs and videos of it not acting correctly (Azure Neb I know is a problem... and it maybe Mirror Incursion is a problem if you are off starting satellites).. but these things need to be shown in order for them to improve the system.
Look kid, I don't appreciate the 'Judge Judy' routine and I'm certainly in no mood for it. I play Mirror Incursion each and every single day (if it isn't scheduled at some insane hour in the middle of the night). And I play the event for the entire hour, from start to finish. I consider it to be one of my main sources of dilithium (and a not so bad source of EC either, as I tend to net anywhere from 250K to 300Ks worth of loot for each event hour). I play Mirror daily 'cause I'm not one of these players who's content to earn EC by buying selling lock box keys. I prefer to earn my proverbial keep and I ALWAYS participate actively in any and every group event I've ever been in.
And more often than not, unless I'm abandoned by the players I had pugged with, I'll stick around until each and every Mirror ship is destroyed. If one other guy is still there, I stick it out and help them, 'cause it's frustrated me to no end when everyone jumps ship on Stadi destruction. You end up having to waste time healing post-mission completion, which delays getting on with the next run. So, if there's someone else intent on clearing out all the enemy, I'm always right there with them, blasting away. And no I wasn't dealing with the satellites, as I always ignore the things and simply chip away at the battlegroups until they're all gone and Stadi warps in.
For all the countless runs of Mirror and other STFs I've done since S8's launch, this is the one and only time that I've gotten hit with the AFK penalty. And it's NOT ACCEPTABLE that I got penalized with a two hour ban from in-game content for something I did not do. Hell, I'm so obsessive that I don't even take a smoke break for the entire hour, whilst Mirror Incursion is active. So, if I'm gonna put off jonesing for a smoke, shouldn't it occur to ya that I was never AFK?
This AFK Penalty system is clearly broken and needs to be fixed or done away with. A player should never be penalized for something they did not do. At least I'm able to voice my complaints here on the forums, because I genuinely care about and enjoy this game (hell, I've even enjoyed all the new dino stuff). Yet the average player isn't gonna say a thing after getting falsely banned from content for two hours. They're simply gonna walk away from the game and there's a pretty good chance that they won't come back.
This game has enough bugs and glitches that need fixing. Implementing a broken monitoring system that simply locks players out of content for two hours, whether they were guilty of said offense or not, does not make for sound business strategy, if you want to retain your customer base.
Does anyone have any idea how this AFK Penalty system actually works anyhow? Might help to know precisely how it works, so that players can avoid getting hit to begin with. Restaurants and stores will sometimes post 'No shirt, No shoes, No Service' signs and I can appreciate it that, 'cause it spells out rules that warrant ejection from a place of business. Where's a posting of hows and whys of this AFK Penalty?
My gut is telling me that this false positive was likely caused by lag or an outright glitch in this system's implementation. Because it certainly wasn't caused by a lack of activity on my part. It'd be nice if someone told us exactly how this system works, before we're able to determine what's wrong with it. And kicking someone who actively participated is just plain wrong, no matter what kind of misguided spin you put on the situation.
"Don't try to be a great man. Just be a man and let history make its own judgments." -Zefram Cochrane
Vice-Admiral Methos Corinthian
methos71
Another that got loot for contributing after getting dinged afk...doesn't seem to be working as intended.
You said yourself you were afk...should be another layer where if you contribute a fair bit to the event, you get unbanned
Right here, yet one more.
I did more than half of an instance, had a REALLY important call, and got 2 hours.
I mentioned this in another post (which, not surprisingly, was deleted). The choice not to prioritize this game over everything is detrimental. Either leave early and take an hour or stay in and take 2 hours if you don't make it back in time. There shouldn't be any penalty if the person was actually playing. Leeching and botting are VERY different from being fully engaged and suddenly stopping. Unfortunately, PWE doesn't think the real world is as significant as the ones they create.
My Old Blog about things that could and should have been added when I wrote it. Not sure what I want to do with it now. I'll just keep it available now that most of it is outdated.
The only proof I've got is a screen-capture of the NPC dialogue, with my BOFF confirming that the Stadi had been destroyed and also registering the loot that I had been given for the run. Here's that screen-capture for ya Mr. Perry Mason.
Near as I can tell, given what looks like an absolutely awful build, you probably got dinged for failing to pewpew hard enough. This was reported back when people were getting banned in Azure, too, where a few guys HAD fired shots, but apparently not ENOUGH shots.
It does, however, seem very unfair to punish someone like this merely because they are bad. I wonder if this could happen if some unlucky schmoe gets teamed with the 30K+ DPS team that mows everything down like grass before they can even reach the battle, where, through no fault of their own (aside from being terrible and underequipped), they were unable to effectively contribute because the mission ended before they could even get to the battle.
Is it really fair to punish someone for nonparticipation merely because they can't make a ship that can fly like the wind and spew thunderbolts like a god, and thus are unable to reach the fight before it ends?
Giving the leechers information on how to beat the system so they can continue to abuse the queues is exactly why they will never tell us any details on how the penalty is programmed.
That's just plain common sense.
But best wishes on what you say are false positives. If they are actually happening I hope they get resolved quickly.
No, common sense and common decency within any civilized society dictates that its citizens be made aware of what the laws and rules of the land are, to the exact letter. Ya know, that shtick that started a couple of thousand years ago with the likes of The Code of Hammurabi and The Ten Commandments? Rules and laws are written and dictated for a reason...so that people know what they should and should not be doing.
If you want anarchy, go try Second Life. They do anarchy with panache over there, from what I understand. Yet, I, for one, would like a bit of order and sensibility to my STO, rather than caving in to some nonsensical paranoia about scheming players.
Therefore, it's not only commonly sensible, but should be expected that we all know what actions or inactions might prompt a two hour ban from game content. For my part, I know that I had been going pew-pew and cruiser command this and that the whole time and I still got a two hour AFK penalty. Pretty sure I deserve to know why, as I certainly wasn't 'AFK'.
I did more than half of an instance, had a REALLY important call, and got 2 hours.
I mentioned this in another post (which, not surprisingly, was deleted). The choice not to prioritize this game over everything is detrimental. Either leave early and take an hour or stay in and take 2 hours if you don't make it back in time. There shouldn't be any penalty if the person was actually playing. Leeching and botting are VERY different from being fully engaged and suddenly stopping. Unfortunately, PWE doesn't think the real world is as significant as the ones they create.
Sadly it sounds like you were indeed 'Away From Keyboard', so I can at least fathom how you legitimately incurred a penalty. At least you definitively know why you got that two hour ban. Me, who was mashing keys and my mouse and going pew-pew the whole time, but getting the same penalty? I haven't a clue why I got penalized.
That said, being a 42 year old man with an actual life and having friends of the same age, who also have lives and also play this game, I empathize with your situation and think it's absurd that anyone should be penalized for paying heed to actual life, rather than tending to a game.
Hence, I tend to play when I'm absolutely confident that I'll have no distractions. Cigarette fiend that I am, I still put off smoking for the full hour whilst Mirror Incursion is going on, 'cause I wanna rake in that dilithium and EC. Yet, I still somehow got penalized.
Near as I can tell, given what looks like an absolutely awful build, you probably got dinged for failing to pewpew hard enough. This was reported back when people were getting banned in Azure, too, where a few guys HAD fired shots, but apparently not ENOUGH shots.
It does, however, seem very unfair to punish someone like this merely because they are bad. I wonder if this could happen if some unlucky schmoe gets teamed with the 30K+ DPS team that mows everything down like grass before they can even reach the battle, where, through no fault of their own (aside from being terrible and underequipped), they were unable to effectively contribute because the mission ended before they could even get to the battle.
Is it really fair to punish someone for nonparticipation merely because they can't make a ship that can fly like the wind and spew thunderbolts like a god, and thus are unable to reach the fight before it ends?
Now this is the only truly constructive thing I've read about this mess I encountered earlier this evening! And I don't think it had anything to do with my build as I strictly stick to PVE and I do fine with it. Besides, we're talking about an 'AFK Penalty' here, not a 'You've Got A Bad Build Penalty'.
Though, you might be on to something, because that last group I flew with positively melted everything in sight with an insane quickness! Yet, I've flown more than my fair share of runs with high DPS teammates, since they started imposing this AFK Penalty and never once had a problem.
Aside from my questionable build, I also suspect that lag might've been to blame, as I did indeed experience some lag when playing earlier this evening (ironically after not having experienced lag in some time).
That said, neither questionable builds nor lag should warrant a two hour ban from game content. Yet, I appreciate your input Doffingcomrade, as it was definitely insightful and hopefully constructive, in that it points out that the current AFK Penalty system is indeed broken.
"Don't try to be a great man. Just be a man and let history make its own judgments." -Zefram Cochrane
Vice-Admiral Methos Corinthian
methos71
No, common sense and common decency within any civilized society dictates that its citizens be made aware of what the laws and rules of the land are, to the exact letter. Ya know, that shtick that started a couple of thousand years ago with the likes of The Code of Hammurabi and The Ten Commandments? Rules and laws are written and dictated for a reason...so that people know what they should and should not be doing....
um, no. The rules are posted, the rules say that if you go AFK or leech you will be punished, they don't need to say how the rules are enforced. If you are speeding on the highway and get caught in a speed trap, you can't say, "I'm sorry officer, but I didn't see any signs saying this was a speed trap." Yes they are required to tell you it is illegal to speed, but they don't have to warn you where they are going to be watching for speeders. The exact criteria are kept secret to keep people from finding ways around the rules. If they posted signs pointing out speed traps, then the police wouldn't catch any speeders because people will just slow down around the speed traps.
No, common sense and common decency within any civilized society dictates that its citizens be made aware of what the laws and rules of the land are, to the exact letter. Ya know, that shtick that started a couple of thousand years ago with the likes of The Code of Hammurabi and The Ten Commandments? Rules and laws are written and dictated for a reason...so that people know what they should and should not be doing.
Therefore, it's not only commonly sensible, but should be expected that we all know what actions or inactions might prompt a two hour ban from game content. For my part, I know that I had been going pew-pew and cruiser command this and that the whole time and I still got a two hour AFK penalty. Pretty sure I deserve to know why, as I certainly wasn't 'AFK'.
The rules are known, you have to participate to not get the AFK penalty ban. If you are participating and getting the penalty then there is a bug in the system, so file a bug report, and then post the bug report number on the Bug Report support forums with a description of what you are doing and the fact that you are still getting penalized despite participating.
um, no. The rules are posted, the rules say that if you go AFK or leech you will be punished, they don't need to say how the rules are enforced. If you are speeding on the highway and get caught in a speed trap, you can't say, "I'm sorry officer, but I didn't see any signs saying this was a speed trap." Yes they are required to tell you it is illegal to speed, but they don't have to warn you where they are going to be watching for speeders. The exact criteria are kept secret to keep people from finding ways around the rules. If they posted signs pointing out speed traps, then the police wouldn't catch any speeders because people will just slow down around the speed traps.
So Mr. Johnny Law, using your ridiculous analogy, you mind telling me why I was given a ticket for speeding, when I wasn't speeding?
It's a fool who blindly obeys authority, without question, when they've been falsely penalized for an infraction they never committed to begin with.
You wouldn't by chance be from Cuba or North Korea? They've a tendency to incarcerate and punish there without rhyme nor reason after all. The old Soviet Union, in crafting that 'ol 20th century authoritarian communist mold, during their October Revolution of 1917, made it a priority to "kill all the lawyers", so they could get away with not having to tell people why they might have been shipped off to a gulag in Siberia.
I was neither going AFK nor was I leeching. Hence I shouldn't have been penalized, which is why I've been droning on and on about this broken AFK Penalty system.
"Don't try to be a great man. Just be a man and let history make its own judgments." -Zefram Cochrane
Vice-Admiral Methos Corinthian
methos71
ferdzso0
Member Posts: 0 Arc User
Comments
I agree with the decision.
Star Trek Online, Now with out the Trek....
Not too obvious there, are we, OP? Might want to work the sincerity up a level and try for a more oblique approach next time. Softly, softly.
if I were pwe/cryptic, I'd treat the details the same way nuclear release command codes are treated. For as long as possible.
in a sense sure, I agree. those leechers who do not keep up to date will have issues, but I am fairly confident if there is an exploit, it will be uncovered by the weekend (I expect it by tomorrow, but most of these have a time to get out to the bigger public, like the foundry exploits tend to)
and tbh I am afraid of the exploit as well, that is why I asked, what is the measurement. have seen some of these conversations, and there was no definitive good answer. if you check the inactive time, the afker will just push random buttons from time to time, if you measure dps, what is accaptable? dont wanna go into this, I am just curious what is the end result
?
a year ago it was badly needed, before the huge powercreep(s). I did not care then (could pull more then my own weight), and I do not care now. but I do like to know my game mechanics.
and knowing cryptic/pwe I assumed they would not have disclosed it, so we will have to test it ourselves (like most things). but you never know, I hoped we could get once a detailed description of a mechanic, not just a number, that is a percentage of another number, that is not disclosed ^^
10k DPS Vesta threads: 1; 2
Still, I think it best if the details of how this game mechanic works remain fuzzy and incomplete. I already know I shouldn't have any concerns over it. Like most people. And if I do come up listed as AFK once, I'll chalk it up to bad luck and try again in about two hours. If it happens a second time, then I'll devote some thought to it.
I don't think the penalty is severe enough though. Not by a long shot. Leechers are stealing game time and enjoyment of a really fun game from others.
well, I did have a thought in the back of my mind, if it was a dps penalty, so we can group up with dps 11k and 20k for a pug round, to make some lad suffer with barely any DPS ^^ but that was just a thought, the main reason is curiousity
10k DPS Vesta threads: 1; 2
However, when the AFK penalty was first tested, it falsely tagged players in Azure Nebula Rescue who used the stealth approach of freeing Romulan ships without firing a shot. And now ANR is not on the final published list of missions the penalty applies to (though that could be an omission from the list).
So based on that, it appears that engaging in combat of some kind is necessary. Moving around without attacking or being attacked will get you a timeout.
AFK Penalty : 2 hours ( very long time = STO loosing players in the future, when you dont event know how it works, or if it is fair ) is not enought with just kick you out directly from wherever you are doing ?
THIS ... if it is true ... is a good thing.
Frankly, I don't want to know.
@athenagodde55 - Interesting first post. It's not hard at all from my point of view. 2 hours is arbitrary as Cryptic could have made it 1 hour or 3 hours. You're right that 2 hours is a long time in game terms and I think that is the point.
Now I'm out for two hours. Ironically, they saw fit to give me the rewards for the mission I was in where I was supposedly AFK, but not to allow me to continue playing.
Why can't we get one of the dozens of AFK solutions that players have brought up? Why does there have to be a draconian system that apparently doesn't even work to measure participation beyond a few minutes of AFK at the start? Why does the new AFK system allow players to be rewarded for the mission that they were AFK in, but penalizes them for future missions where they may well be present.
If I really did something wrong, fine- take away my rewards for that mission. I would've been willing to accept that as just. But I have no pattern of AFKing, I came back to contribute with the team, and I was not penalized within the mission where I slipped a bit. I was penalized for the next two hours.
And to think I had just activated a one hour XP bonus... I feel ripped off. This is just not very good. One of the most frustrating experiences I've ever had with this game.
You said yourself you were afk...should be another layer where if you contribute a fair bit to the event, you get unbanned
My PvE/PvP hybrid skill tree
Star Trek Online, Now with out the Trek....
This AFK system is broken and needs to be either fixed or eliminated. I not only blame who programmed this idiocy, but also the whiny dullards who demanded that such a system be implemented to begin with. And this is coming from someone who's never, ever gone AFK during an STF. EVER. Yet, I'm rightfully furious that I've been penalized for something I haven't done, by a system that absolutely no one seems to know the dynamics of.
Please fix this or eliminate it altogether. This sort of blunder can only happen so many times before it drives someone from the game permanently.
Vice-Admiral Methos Corinthian
methos71
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v70/Methos6848/Star%20Trek%20Online%20Adventures/AFKNonsense.jpg
Vice-Admiral Methos Corinthian
methos71
simple as that.
Well... unfortunately, all the pic shows is you needing on drops, and gain XP (which may or may not have been from your involvement, since you are teamed for the event, team kills grant you XP (whether you shot or not)). The NPC message proves you were in the misison, and the mission completed... but nothing indicates what you did (at least from the screen shot).
Like I said in the other thread, run your combat logs (I run it for every queued mission that qualifies for an AFK penalty... mainly wanting to capture an instance, as others have claimed, that I get an AFK penalty... but have the logs to show activity.)
To date, I have not received a single AFK penalty... not saying it doesn't happen (false positives)... but so far every event I have been in, I didn't qualify for the penalty, nor have been hit with it.I have had a team mate here or there qualify... and frankly, I felt it was deserved since they didn't participate (not didn't participate a little, I mean didn't participate a lot).
I am not trolling you, I swear... I can understand how you would be upset if you got hit with the penalty unfairly... but you need to provide better evidence so they can continue to refine the system. I know your stance is to remove the penalty until there are no false positives... but to be honest, from what I have seen (and others judging by the responses in these threads), it is working as intended... and has improved my gaming experience... so please provides logs and videos of it not acting correctly (Azure Neb I know is a problem... and it maybe Mirror Incursion is a problem if you are off starting satellites).. but these things need to be shown in order for them to improve the system.
Star Trek Online, Now with out the Trek....
I QQ'd a lot.
Elite Defense Stovokor
And more often than not, unless I'm abandoned by the players I had pugged with, I'll stick around until each and every Mirror ship is destroyed. If one other guy is still there, I stick it out and help them, 'cause it's frustrated me to no end when everyone jumps ship on Stadi destruction. You end up having to waste time healing post-mission completion, which delays getting on with the next run. So, if there's someone else intent on clearing out all the enemy, I'm always right there with them, blasting away. And no I wasn't dealing with the satellites, as I always ignore the things and simply chip away at the battlegroups until they're all gone and Stadi warps in.
For all the countless runs of Mirror and other STFs I've done since S8's launch, this is the one and only time that I've gotten hit with the AFK penalty. And it's NOT ACCEPTABLE that I got penalized with a two hour ban from in-game content for something I did not do. Hell, I'm so obsessive that I don't even take a smoke break for the entire hour, whilst Mirror Incursion is active. So, if I'm gonna put off jonesing for a smoke, shouldn't it occur to ya that I was never AFK?
This AFK Penalty system is clearly broken and needs to be fixed or done away with. A player should never be penalized for something they did not do. At least I'm able to voice my complaints here on the forums, because I genuinely care about and enjoy this game (hell, I've even enjoyed all the new dino stuff). Yet the average player isn't gonna say a thing after getting falsely banned from content for two hours. They're simply gonna walk away from the game and there's a pretty good chance that they won't come back.
This game has enough bugs and glitches that need fixing. Implementing a broken monitoring system that simply locks players out of content for two hours, whether they were guilty of said offense or not, does not make for sound business strategy, if you want to retain your customer base.
Does anyone have any idea how this AFK Penalty system actually works anyhow? Might help to know precisely how it works, so that players can avoid getting hit to begin with. Restaurants and stores will sometimes post 'No shirt, No shoes, No Service' signs and I can appreciate it that, 'cause it spells out rules that warrant ejection from a place of business. Where's a posting of hows and whys of this AFK Penalty?
My gut is telling me that this false positive was likely caused by lag or an outright glitch in this system's implementation. Because it certainly wasn't caused by a lack of activity on my part. It'd be nice if someone told us exactly how this system works, before we're able to determine what's wrong with it. And kicking someone who actively participated is just plain wrong, no matter what kind of misguided spin you put on the situation.
Vice-Admiral Methos Corinthian
methos71
I wish you the best of luck, and truthfully hope your issue is resolved.
Good luck.
Star Trek Online, Now with out the Trek....
Right here, yet one more.
I did more than half of an instance, had a REALLY important call, and got 2 hours.
I mentioned this in another post (which, not surprisingly, was deleted). The choice not to prioritize this game over everything is detrimental. Either leave early and take an hour or stay in and take 2 hours if you don't make it back in time. There shouldn't be any penalty if the person was actually playing. Leeching and botting are VERY different from being fully engaged and suddenly stopping. Unfortunately, PWE doesn't think the real world is as significant as the ones they create.
It does, however, seem very unfair to punish someone like this merely because they are bad. I wonder if this could happen if some unlucky schmoe gets teamed with the 30K+ DPS team that mows everything down like grass before they can even reach the battle, where, through no fault of their own (aside from being terrible and underequipped), they were unable to effectively contribute because the mission ended before they could even get to the battle.
Is it really fair to punish someone for nonparticipation merely because they can't make a ship that can fly like the wind and spew thunderbolts like a god, and thus are unable to reach the fight before it ends?
No, common sense and common decency within any civilized society dictates that its citizens be made aware of what the laws and rules of the land are, to the exact letter. Ya know, that shtick that started a couple of thousand years ago with the likes of The Code of Hammurabi and The Ten Commandments? Rules and laws are written and dictated for a reason...so that people know what they should and should not be doing.
If you want anarchy, go try Second Life. They do anarchy with panache over there, from what I understand. Yet, I, for one, would like a bit of order and sensibility to my STO, rather than caving in to some nonsensical paranoia about scheming players.
Therefore, it's not only commonly sensible, but should be expected that we all know what actions or inactions might prompt a two hour ban from game content. For my part, I know that I had been going pew-pew and cruiser command this and that the whole time and I still got a two hour AFK penalty. Pretty sure I deserve to know why, as I certainly wasn't 'AFK'.
Sadly it sounds like you were indeed 'Away From Keyboard', so I can at least fathom how you legitimately incurred a penalty. At least you definitively know why you got that two hour ban. Me, who was mashing keys and my mouse and going pew-pew the whole time, but getting the same penalty? I haven't a clue why I got penalized.
That said, being a 42 year old man with an actual life and having friends of the same age, who also have lives and also play this game, I empathize with your situation and think it's absurd that anyone should be penalized for paying heed to actual life, rather than tending to a game.
Hence, I tend to play when I'm absolutely confident that I'll have no distractions. Cigarette fiend that I am, I still put off smoking for the full hour whilst Mirror Incursion is going on, 'cause I wanna rake in that dilithium and EC. Yet, I still somehow got penalized.
Now this is the only truly constructive thing I've read about this mess I encountered earlier this evening! And I don't think it had anything to do with my build as I strictly stick to PVE and I do fine with it. Besides, we're talking about an 'AFK Penalty' here, not a 'You've Got A Bad Build Penalty'.
Though, you might be on to something, because that last group I flew with positively melted everything in sight with an insane quickness! Yet, I've flown more than my fair share of runs with high DPS teammates, since they started imposing this AFK Penalty and never once had a problem.
Aside from my questionable build, I also suspect that lag might've been to blame, as I did indeed experience some lag when playing earlier this evening (ironically after not having experienced lag in some time).
That said, neither questionable builds nor lag should warrant a two hour ban from game content. Yet, I appreciate your input Doffingcomrade, as it was definitely insightful and hopefully constructive, in that it points out that the current AFK Penalty system is indeed broken.
Vice-Admiral Methos Corinthian
methos71
um, no. The rules are posted, the rules say that if you go AFK or leech you will be punished, they don't need to say how the rules are enforced. If you are speeding on the highway and get caught in a speed trap, you can't say, "I'm sorry officer, but I didn't see any signs saying this was a speed trap." Yes they are required to tell you it is illegal to speed, but they don't have to warn you where they are going to be watching for speeders. The exact criteria are kept secret to keep people from finding ways around the rules. If they posted signs pointing out speed traps, then the police wouldn't catch any speeders because people will just slow down around the speed traps.
The rules are known, you have to participate to not get the AFK penalty ban. If you are participating and getting the penalty then there is a bug in the system, so file a bug report, and then post the bug report number on the Bug Report support forums with a description of what you are doing and the fact that you are still getting penalized despite participating.
It's a fool who blindly obeys authority, without question, when they've been falsely penalized for an infraction they never committed to begin with.
You wouldn't by chance be from Cuba or North Korea? They've a tendency to incarcerate and punish there without rhyme nor reason after all. The old Soviet Union, in crafting that 'ol 20th century authoritarian communist mold, during their October Revolution of 1917, made it a priority to "kill all the lawyers", so they could get away with not having to tell people why they might have been shipped off to a gulag in Siberia.
I was neither going AFK nor was I leeching. Hence I shouldn't have been penalized, which is why I've been droning on and on about this broken AFK Penalty system.
Vice-Admiral Methos Corinthian
methos71