Anti-AFK system upgrade

Vote on the shard-related matters and/or give your arguments.
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Anti-AFK system to include everything?

Yes, make it include everything, with some exceptions
22
29%
No
55
71%
 
Total votes: 77

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+Colibri
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Anti-AFK system upgrade

Post by +Colibri »

There is a popular topic about what should be changed in regards to the AFK rules and also the Anti-AFK system we have in the game.

I have given this some thought and even though I could implement the anti-afk system into many parts of the game, there will still be things that are afk-able - blind spots will remain that will eventually get exploited (until the anti-afk system is added to them as well).

There is a simpler solution. To make it so that doing anything on the shard requires the player to be at the keyboard.

A few things would be excluded from the system:
- Standing still
- A special area where you can do anything (to allow training of certain skills. There however will be no resources inside - ore/wood/etc).
- The public training room
- Fighting a personal trainer or your own pet (as long as you stand still).
- ... Additional exceptions are possible, as long as that exception wouldn't open a possibility to make gold/resources with the click of the "Play macro" button.

So, instead of defining which things trigger the anti-afk system, it would be the other way around. The system would check everything except for a few defined things.

With this post I just want an overall opinion of the players. Please keep in mind that the results of this poll aren't the deciding factor of what I will do in the end. Making this change would prevent a lot of headaches in the future.
+Colibri, Administrator of UO Excelsior Shard

Don't know what the purpose of your life is? Well then make something up! ;)
(Old Colibrian proverb)
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Devlin
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Re: Anti-AFK system upgrade

Post by Devlin »

Coli quote: "So, instead of defining which things trigger the anti-afk system, it would be the other way around. The system would check everything except for a few defined things."


I'm assuming the new system would use AFK checks on anything non-kosher? So essentially the actions of a few will now have an impact on the gameplay of the entirety of the shard?

The only other option is, as you said, to sit down and create a list of every AFK-able offense, create a system to detect it and then punish the culprits. However, that is a lengthy process that has no guarantee to eliminate all AFK-able actions, on top of leaving a lot of work to be done down the road, as new loopholes and exploits are discovered, creating the need for more brainstorming, coding, etc.

EDIT: Why is BBC disabled in this section?
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+Colibri
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Re: Anti-AFK system upgrade

Post by +Colibri »

Well, if this changes:
- There would be a much smaller chance of another "flax episode".
- No reason to get mad at a staffer for jailing you for AFK.

If not:
- There would still be great opportunities to macro things that aren't automatically checked for AFK. Which is against the rules anyway.
+Colibri, Administrator of UO Excelsior Shard

Don't know what the purpose of your life is? Well then make something up! ;)
(Old Colibrian proverb)
Nelapsi
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Re: Anti-AFK system upgrade

Post by Nelapsi »

Maybe I am not understanding something but it almost reads like... If you are caught breathing outside of the "safe zone" you will be checked for afk. I'd rather you code something fun actually...

No offense but no amount of coding in the world will make up for the lack of staff members
Rune
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Re: Anti-AFK system upgrade

Post by Rune »

im not really sure what to think about this

the afk checks really means nothing if theres no real punishment ,so those that likes to cheat will continue to do so while the rest of us will have our game play annoyed with more checks

seems to me ppl dont really take notice when they get caught and punished ,its like oh this wasnt so bad ill continue when i get out

so since being told off by the staff and being in prison doesnt help much why not hurt ppl on their wallet i bet that will work much better

2-3 times getting caught afk lvling or afk gather resources = deletion of weapon or ALL keys plus name and crime being posted on forum
omnifighter
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Re: Anti-AFK system upgrade

Post by omnifighter »

This whole situation frustrates me.

NOTE:I have no problem punishing people who do things that are against the rules

Adding another AFK check won't solve the problem, because anything that can be implemented, can eventually be scripted against. We spend far too much time time trying to find ways of checking up on people who are AFK, and in the mean time those who aren't AFK just have to deal with another added frustration of just wanting to play the game. Hire more staff, have a better reporting system, jail people for two weeks if they're doing something they're not supposed to and call it a day.

I'd rather you spend time implementing new features, adding new dungeons. I love playing on EX shard, but this whole checking on people constantly for AFK is getting very irritating.
Jecks
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Re: Anti-AFK system upgrade

Post by Jecks »

[quote="Nelapsi"]Maybe I am not understanding something but it almost reads like... If you are caught breathing outside of the "safe zone" you will be checked for afk. I'd rather you code something fun actually...

No offense but no amount of coding in the world will make up for the lack of staff members[/quote]

^ That.

It seems like most, if not all the coding lately has been oriented around nerfs and countering gold farming. Its actually pretty discouraging. I'd like to see more positive projects in the works, not just another thing for people to gripe and fight over.

Just sayin'.
kenarn
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Re: Anti-AFK system upgrade

Post by kenarn »

yes there has been alot of nerfing but i think that is mainly bc they are attempting to fix the economy. the issue isnt people donating or people doinh this or that, the issue is there are so many amazing ways to make alot of money on this shard.

then theres the people who take advantage of this and make millions
and then you have people who dont and complain that other people have to much money.

so it really comes down to the aspect of the game, that every game has a issue with.
People its simple as that one word.
People
they can make a game better or worse but either way you cannot eliminate the way people are.
Cornbread
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Re: Anti-AFK system upgrade

Post by Cornbread »

[quote="Nelapsi"]Maybe I am not understanding something but it almost reads like... If you are caught breathing outside of the "safe zone" you will be checked for afk. I'd rather you code something fun actually...

No offense but no amount of coding in the world will make up for the lack of staff members[/quote]

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Only thing I can think that would be great is if you could somehow afk check recall macros for leveling and then maybe if while fighting you aren't taking X amount of steps in a given time. As far as I can remember all the way back to when I started I always ran around while fighting. Even back when I farmed Twisted Weild for days on end I still has to run with my mules from mob to mob.
Asmodean
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Re: Anti-AFK system upgrade

Post by Asmodean »

I understand the reasoning behind this, and I can agree with both sides. On one side you don't want people afk money making, which is a good rule, as it helps combat millions of gold entering the economy without people actually doing anything, as with the 'flax episode'. On the other you don't want to overburden people who abide by the rules with an abundance of afk checks.

In either case, more AFK checks will accomplish nothing if harsher penalties aren't instituted for multiple offenses. I would rather see specific activities AFK checked, more regularly (once per 60 minutes or so i think is a minor enough annoyance) than blanket afk checks across the board. If i'm running to the bank, there is no reason for me to get afk checked.

When it comes to scripting crafting skills, its a tough question, but i think craft skills ARE money making skills, and should be afk checked, as people abuse the leniency for allowing you to train alchemy up with AFK keg making for instance, for profit, which i believe should be against the rules, just like the flax thing). I think these offenses should have escalating [b]PERMANENT[/b] penalties for multiple failed checks.

When it comes to afk weapon leveling, I think some sort of better system, more staff, or even a way for a player to initiate an afk check (once per 60 mins?) to catch those abusing the rules. I also feel this should come with harsher escalating [b] PERMANENT [/b] punishments than just taking the weapon away temporarily, and jailing someone for a week or what not. If that's my punishment, where is the incentive not to do it again? Ok, I'm jailed for a week... I'll just play XYZ game, then go back to afk levelling here, and repeat if/when i get caught again.

I really liked some of the suggestions for the escalating penalties, and if after (5? 7?) times, you can't learn, you get a ban. I understand you want some peoples donations, but that doesn't give them the right to cheat. If it does give them that right, then shame on you.

I also really liked the trinket idea, to make people earn some amount of things before being let out of jail. It makes the jail sentence that much more of a problem/annoyance, and makes people not want to go back there.

Another possible solution that some of us were discussing on teamspeak, (especially for weapon levelling), would be a system similar to jail, or incorporate jail into it), that first offense, you get a warning, 2nd offense you get 50% tokens/gold for a month, 3rd you only receive 25% normal tokens/gold for 6 months, and 4th, you receive 100% less tokens/gold for a year. This would be on top of weapon confiscation/deletion, and all times are just examples.

I firmly believe, that if a player cannot change their ways after 4-5 punishments, they aren't going to learn from their mistakes, and should just be banned, whether they have donated in the past or not.

It comes down to what kind of shard you want to run. You can be strict but fair, you can be lenient but fair, or you can be corrupt and let cheaters cheat because you only care about donations. The decision is up to you, but please, make it, and stand by it. Standing by idly shows lack of leadership, and whats the point of having these rules, if the enforcement of them means nothing other than a slap on the wrist, or a minor inconvenience.

ps: could we also get +Nyx's patch implemented? (Its been done for 6? 8? months now?) And give her and +Veritas some wiggle room to make some changes without express consent from you, (or maybe consent in a more timely manner?) Maybe find another 2-3 staffers since Mocha and Jade seem to be MIA. I'll volunteer some time if needed!
pps: could i get a corpse retrieval? page has been in your que for a couple months now :D
Crushed
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Re: Anti-AFK system upgrade

Post by Crushed »

So from what i have read this wants to add an Afk check to even skills like animal lore etc. ? What is the point in that?
Zalia
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Re: Anti-AFK system upgrade

Post by Zalia »

Instead of this new suggestion, how about people caught AFK weapon leveling get their weapon deleted, as well as jail etc. AFK resource collecting, have all those resources confiscated, as wella s jailed etc. The real problem, is when they are caught they shrug it off and just do it again............
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Devlin
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Re: Anti-AFK system upgrade

Post by Devlin »

[quote="Nelapsi"]No offense but no amount of coding in the world will make up for the lack of staff members[/quote]

Nelapsi and I have been agreeing lately, are the planets in alignment or something?

edit: stupid lack of bbc
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Spartan
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Re: Anti-AFK system upgrade

Post by Spartan »

In my opinion this new system being implemented will kill off new and current players. As mentioned above, more time should be spent on coding new features(dungeons, mobs, gear, anything!!!) Not to mention the BoD system could use an overhaul...As for the afk levelers and gatherers, increase punishment! AFK Levelers--delete weapon, take all raw gold on player and jail for 2weeks-month for 1st offense, 2nd offense ban them! AFK resource gathering-- same thing but take away players tools, all resources and any raw gold in pack and jail for them for an extensive period of time(2weeks-month) and upon a second offense, Ban Hammer comes out! Dont want cheaters! Dont tolerate it or simply implement a NO TOLERANCE rule and just ban ANY offenders. I beleive there would be much less motivation to afk anything your not supposed to if the punishment resulted in ban or a serious jailing and revoking of related items. =)
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Layfon Alseif
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Re: Anti-AFK system upgrade

Post by Layfon Alseif »

[quote="Jecks"]It seems like most, if not all the coding lately has been oriented around nerfs and countering gold farming. Its actually pretty discouraging. I'd like to see more positive projects in the works, not just another thing for people to gripe and fight over.[/quote]

[quote="Nelapsi"]No offense but no amount of coding in the world will make up for the lack of staff members[/quote]

Nice thought blurbs.

A battle lost or won is easily described, understood, and appreciated, but the moral growth of a great nation(shard) requires reflection, as well as observation, to appreciate it.

- Frederick Douglass

[quote="+Colibri"]Well, if this changes:
- There would be a much smaller chance of another "flax episode".
[/quote]

If this is an issue why not add a limit of flax plants per account. Reflecting the same standard beehives are held to in comparison with the revenue they produce.

P.S. hey Spartan! :D
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