DO NOT GO AFK OUTSIDE THE GATES

Magile · Post by **Magile** » Fri May 16, 2008 11:02 pm

Rion of Erb wrote:I thought the RP XP script only awarded XP for active time IG, thus going AFK for hours wouldn't get you much XP.

1.7xp/8minutes is serious business compared to people who clear all statics and destroy every spawn they come across, Rion. Also, #alfa is srs business too.

JaydeMoon · Post by **JaydeMoon** » Fri May 16, 2008 11:03 pm

Rion:

AFK 'bumping'. Being 'afk' but occasionally tapping the keyboard or mouse to fool the scripts into thinking you AREN'T AFK.

We had macros for this in back in the old days of MMORPGs.

Magile · Post by **Magile** » Fri May 16, 2008 11:06 pm

JaydeMoon wrote:Rion:

AFK 'bumping'. Being 'afk' but occasionally tapping the keyboard or mouse to fool the scripts into thinking you AREN'T AFK.

We had macros for this in back in the old days of MMORPGs.

That was big in World of Warcraft where you could "AFK" in battlegrounds but have mods that'd make you jump or take a step to prevent you getting flagged. That got fixed, eventually.

Mulu · Post by **Mulu** » Fri May 16, 2008 11:18 pm

Oh I'm sure you could run a macro to do the same thing here. Of course, after thinking about it, the absolute worst lag effect is people logging in or out. Now that the RP increment script has been fixed, there is no longer any reason to relog to save xp, and going afk in town (and not bumping to get xp obviously) should be better than logging out and back in lag wise.

MorbidKate · Post by **MorbidKate** » Sat May 17, 2008 12:07 am

TPI had RP XP scripts and we caught a player who created a script to pump out emotes so he'd score xp while off doing other things. I personally see AFK bumping as exploiting because the intent is to trick the script into thinking your an active and interacting player and score xp you never should have gotten.

RP XP scripts were a sensitive topic in ALFA1 so I'd really hate to see something happen to it because of intentional misuse.

Kate

Vendrin · Post by **Vendrin** » Sat May 17, 2008 12:25 am

This has gotten way out of hand... Oh noes. 2 xp per in game hour. BAN!

Magile · Post by **Magile** » Sat May 17, 2008 12:51 am

Vendrin wrote:This has gotten way out of hand... Oh noes. 2 xp per in game hour. BAN!

1.7460317460317460317460317460317/in-game hour (that doesn't round up). Or something to that effect.

Mulu · Post by **Mulu** » Sat May 17, 2008 12:52 am

Well if you're logged in but not actually playing 16 RL hours x 9 compression ratio = 144 game hours x 1.7xp = 244 xp per RL day x 7 days = 1708 xp per week risk free from doing nothing, it starts to add up for those who have the time and ability to casually monitor their toon while doing other things.

I agree with Kate, anyone who is logged in but not actually playing is exploiting and that may well see RP increment get removed for the rest of us. Seriously, it's hard enough to get xp in ALFA, and if you're logged in you should be playing the game. I'd have no problem with someone getting 1708 xp per week from increment while actually roleplaying, that's what it's for. But just for clicking a chat macro once/minute? Seems lame to me.

When I'm logged in, I'm playing.

Vendrin · Post by **Vendrin** » Sat May 17, 2008 12:57 am

Honestly if someone is putting in 16 hours a day... let em. And I doubt anyone is actually doing that. It's ic for some to guard the bridge, as long as they aren't actually afk, who the fuck cares?

Mulu · Post by **Mulu** » Sat May 17, 2008 1:01 am

It isn't just on the bridge, I see it in many places. Vacant toons who occasionally *Looks around* but take no other actions for hours at a time. I know it's hard to get XP in ALFA, far too hard at low level, and far too dangerous. I see this behavior as a symptom of a poor rewards design, in other words the DM team and admin brought this on themselves. But the response won't be to improve reward designs, it will be to remove or further nerf rp xp. Remember who you are dealing with here.

MorbidKate · Post by **MorbidKate** » Sat May 17, 2008 1:12 am

Vendrin wrote:This has gotten way out of hand... Oh noes. 2 xp per in game hour. BAN!

It doesn't sound like much but the intent is to log big hours to score free xp with no risk and no player interaction. It's not like their staring at the screen all the time getting bored, Their off doing other stuff.

The RP XP script is too important to players who get little to no DM interaction to risk it getting chopped due to misuse.

Kate

MorbidKate · Post by **MorbidKate** » Sat May 17, 2008 1:36 am

Mulu,

I certainly wouldn't fault the TSM DM crew over this. Just like spawn farming, it's the kind of behaviour that happens when a DM crew is understaffed and players know they aren't being watched. The solution is a few more ad hoc DMs... who don't grow on trees and silent DM client logiins.

Those who do DM and build deserve all the support we can give them.

Kate

psycho_leo · Post by **psycho_leo** » Sat May 17, 2008 1:38 am

When the increment values were discussed and decided upon, exploiting by "AFK bumping" was a possibility and concerns were raised, but the incrments would be low, so the occasional player that decided to log on and spends 8 hours day staring at his keyboard and emoting *does nothing* wouldn't get that much ahead. And now people are up in arms over this. I don't know if that's what originated this thread, nor do I care to be honest. But this makes me chuckle, seriously.

Rick7475 · Post by **Rick7475** » Sat May 17, 2008 1:39 am

OK, to clarify again

It isn't about guard duty.

It isn't about not being allowed to go AFK.

It is about going AFK for longer than normal periods of time and exploiting resources. If it is legit, like you had to leave for what you thought was 5 minutes to answer your Mother in law and end up listening to her for an hour or 10 hours, then that is legit. But if you are going AFK for whatever reason to keep your PC logged for an hour (for what other reason than to exploit?) then you are tying up resources.

The other reason, as I mentioned, is that the Marches is a dangerous place. I used to live in Northern Ontario, a place I think has some similarities to TSM, and we had bears, wolves, wolverines, and even Bobcats scouring the city outskirts for garbage, handouts and what not. And if you farm, they will come for your livestock. I have also hunted for many years, and if someone tells me that wild animals like bears do not come near civilized areas, then let me take you for a drive outside North Bay Ontario, a city of 55,000, at 6am , and you and I can count the bears. I remember seeing at least 2 or 3 bears a week on the way to school after 8am. So, if you go AFK outside the gates, and there are no guards near or they are INSIDE the gates, why shouldn't a bear come sniffing around? If it is spring, and the bear has young, she will attack you. If the animal is wounded, it goes into a rage and attacks anyone.

And going AFK at the bridge could well be a plot ruiner. The big heavy door was placed there for a reason, because maybe the DM's wanted to simulate a mini-seige of types. Can't do that with Joe-AFK at the bridge or he might die. So we gotta wait, and if Joe-AFK is planning on going AFK for an hour or 2, like what was witnessed before, well damn, there goes the DM time, and DM plot, all because someone went AFK because it was their sworn right to go AFK where ever they wanted

Mulu · Post by **Mulu** » Sat May 17, 2008 2:26 am

MorbidKate wrote:Mulu,

I certainly wouldn't fault the TSM DM crew over this. Just like spawn farming, it's the kind of behaviour that happens when a DM crew is understaffed and players know they aren't being watched. The solution is a few more ad hoc DMs... who don't grow on trees and silent DM client logiins.

Those who do DM and build deserve all the support we can give them.

Kate

Yeah, I guess my comment is really more aimed at admin and what I was talking about in the static nerf thread. Make it too hard to play D&D and people won't....