Pet Peeve - Idle Players

[Aldren]

The following is a personal opinion and reflects only my own view on the subject.

If you are going to log onto any of your characters, please be prepared to -play- and -RP- them. Please do not log in from work where it's obvious you can't dedicate any time or effort toward the MUD. Over the course of my time here, my biggest pet peeve is that people log in and idle around, doing nothing but collecting kismet for hours logged. I despise putting in effort to RP with people when I am forced to sit around for 10-15 minutes waiting for a one-word or short-sentence response. I despise sending tells to people only to see their AFK flag automatically trigger 5-10 minutes later with no response from them.

We are an RP-enforced MUD. If you cannot dedicate your time and effort to actually RP, please do not waste everyone else's time trying to squeeze RP out of you when you are too busy to actually play your characters.

/rant.

Thank you for listening.

[Brar]

I must apologize since I am somehow guilty of that recently, having an awkward not reliable internet connection at home which sometimes log me out suddenly and does not let me log back for a few hours.

I also log from work to do the "chores" like smelting and "mining" but as I am most of the time alone or almost, that should not be much of a problem I suppose.

And I am 100% in agreement with Aldren on that one.

[Mele]

See: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=14580

If you've been told your idling is excessive and it continues, kismet will be removed for the idle time.

[Selveem]

I realize that this is a personal rant, but please don't demean your feelings with claims you can't back: Not everyone who has to idle (or wants to, if that may be the case) is doing so for some nefarious purpose like kismet farming.

Additionally, I sincerely hope you're only talking about players who are in a social area while idling. If not, we're both going to have to agree to disagree here. While FK may be an RP-E MUD, it is not srs biznus - it's a game.

Your time is valuable - I agree. But just as your time is valuable, so is everyone else's. Not everyone can sit still for hours and solely play the game; I can assure you that I don't have the time.

That doesn't mean they're only on to collect kismet. Personally, I've had to idle quite a bit in the past (hell, I've fallen asleep at the computer and pissed Sharni off enough to ban me for that day). I have made all the characters I want to make that require kismet. As much as I've played, I didn't need to idle for any of that. Currently, I have enough kismet to make quite a few new kismet-required characters. It's useless to me except to reward others for good RP.

Thanks.

[Gwain]

If I ever had to go away from the game for more than five minutes, usually I leave to an alley, goi afk or quit and log back in. Right now there's only two or three rooms in the mud that won't let you quit while in them.

[Bellayana]

I can't say I've liked it when I've had it done either but sometimes incidents arise, laptop computer screens crash (crappy dell) or other technical problems happen. Electronics do not like me I've found out, after going through 4 cell phones in a year. >.> Storms pass through and knock out reception or as I've found in New York your wifi can go out in a single notice..There are other instances that I could think of, but let's also try to remember there is no malicious intent behind it. I apologize for last night when Valence was with two other characters RP'ing, I think its time for a new laptop so thankfully xmas is here and I know the present I want. haha.

[Selveem]

Also, I think Mask has more AFK hours than anyone I know. *grin Marty*

[Nysan]

I don't really think Aldren was speaking about folks that fall asleep at keyboard, have connection issues, or similar situations (or maybe he was, what do I know ).

There is a big difference between such cases and Billy-Bob, the guy at work that tabs in every 3-5 minutes to type who/inventory to shake off the afk-eating void zone. (No offense to anyone named Billy-Bob.) One is understandable and one leads to the kismet loss result Mele mentioned.

[Atheliyan]

I for one cannot help but go idle on occasion as well, considering I have 3 children. Sometimes the need arises to immediately get up and handle a situation, and you do not always have time to type afk or let everyone know you are going afk. And if I waited until I didn't have the children to interrupt me during my game time, I would never play.

[Trillarel]

What happens if I haven't logged on for a month? (RL ate my time)

I'd really like to get back into business... (metaphorically speaking)

[Tarven]

What happens if I haven't logged on for a month? (RL ate my time)

I'd really like to get back into business... (metaphorically speaking)

This would be more a player status issue. As far as being gone, just try to jump back into any RP you left behind, or start some if not! Make up an IC excuse as to where you've been. Meditating on top of a mountain? Spending time with family? Hunting down a particular villain? Make something up!

I think the 'idle players' that were originally mentioned were more people that sit(sat?) in Market Square for hours, only commenting once every 15 minutes or so.

[Anguin]

I think people who idle too long should have a portal open next to them and suck them into another dimension. That would teach them.

[Selveem]

I think people who idle too long should have a portal open next to them and suck them into another dimension. That would teach them.

Yes, damn all those idling players for playing a casual game casually!

[Areia]

See: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=14580

If you've been told your idling is excessive and it continues, kismet will be removed for the idle time.

This has always (or for as long as I have known, at least) been the game's policy, but since infraction and thus enforcement of the policy seems to be coming up somewhat frequently again, I thought it worth re-raising the topic on forums where everyone can see it.

For example: I am a PC member. I try to be active as possible in quickly and smoothly getting players' questions answered, but being also an avid worker on many other aspects of the game, there are times where I'll be working on things outside of the game proper. I was doing so the other day, working on a faith-related noteboard post that is taking some time to perfect. I walked my character inside their temple, which is not open to the general player public, locked myself in a bedroom, and even for RP's sake, set my pose to 'seated at the desk writing' or some such. That way, I could both work on what I needed to work on while also remaining available for Asks or Tells (I check back on my client every minute or two, and have it set to beep when an Ask/Tell/Say shows up to be doubly sure I don't miss anything). I am consciously doing other things while sitting silently in the room, but those other things I am doing are directly related to adding content to the game, and it is very unlikely that this work will make me miss something that happens in the game itself. This sort of behavior, as I understand the policy, is fine.

For second example: Jill plays a character who is often needed or wanted by others. Or maybe she's not, but instead happens to find herself in a publicly-accessible room, or even better, a room commonly visited or bypassed by others. Jill is playing another game on her XBox, or seeing to family matters, or at her office working on a detailed report for her boss; either way she is paying her MUD client little if any mind and will be doing so for the next hour at least. Her character's FM sends her tells asking for an update on her faith quest, her best friend passes by and stops to say hello and catch up, and a stranger character spots her and makes an attempt to interact, because after all, it's a game of interactions. She misses all of them and eventually ends up being kicked out by the game's idling check, leaving her fellow players let down and, as I've come to notice to be just as possible, a few days later she'll log on and complain that no one ever gives her attention and why isn't her FM active. This sort of behavior hurts other players, hurts the game, and can even hurt you in the long run by depriving you of your chance to take the opportunities others throw your way. This is what is against the rules.

In short, if you cannot respond to another player within a reasonable length of time, simply quit out and come back to the game later. I quit out of the game to write up this post because I knew it would take a lot of my attention.

Of course, there is as always the grey area, where maybe you have a really terrible Internet connection (like I do sometimes), or maybe your fire alarm suddenly goes off because the guy down the hall doesn't know how to cook a freaking meal without setting stuff on fire and you really just need to GTFO (also has happened to me more than once). I suspect these sorts of situations are handled on a case-by-case basis, and I suspect that they are also handled as fairly as anything else the imms oversee. I wouldn't worry about this sort of stuff, unless maybe it becomes a regular pattern for you, in which case you might want to consider a different ISP, telling off that guy to just freaking stop by McDonald's on his way home from now on, what have you.

As a final quick point, I would echo Mele's linked post above: no one is perfect. I have in past gone idle if not AFK in MS, without even realizing it, or got up to let the dog out quick only to come back and notice that I'd forgotten to set my AFK flag. I have also come across a lot of idle players, even some of which I knew to be imm or staff. Everyone makes mistakes, but if everyone makes effort to be conscientious and mindful of his/her fellow players, it will be good for everyone in the end.

[Hrosskell]

Man, what a read! I'm wondering what this adds to the already very clear message that Mele has sent and why you felt the need to personally elaborate on it from the capacity of a PC Member. So far as I know, we are not enforcers or adjudicators in any capacity, but if I'm missing something here, I'd be glad to read further.

This entire thread has reeked, quite honestly, of self-importance and uncalled for chastisement, and it is my sincere belief it should have stayed dead some 6 years ago. If you are not staff or an approved helpfile, you do not have the right to tell other people how they should play the game.

[Areia]

Was not telling anyone how to play the game. There's little about this in the helpfiles, nothing has been posted on forums for a few years, and just a few OOC echoes in game, which not everyone will be able to see, since, well, not everyone is logged in 24/7. So I thought I'd mention it here, as I said, that everyone can see and thus be reminded about the topic. I made up no rules, I left out nothing that would do the policy injustice. I simply echoed the policy as stated in game through echoes that most players won't see.

I might have posted elsewhere, but I try not to double threads when unnecessary, which helps people find stuff later. Doing so is another thing asked of us, simply to search for a topic before creating your own thread about it.

Also wasn't posting in any "capacity", as I have zero authority in game, and I'm fairly sure everyone knows that by the lack of a staff marker on my account. I gave an example of myself as a member of PC to illustrate the sorts of things that are okay to do, and a second hypothetical to illustrate what's not okay. I don't really think it's that complicated. I might have as easily said that sometimes I hang around in unpopulated places waiting for other characters to log on while I do other stuff IRL, which I also do. This was a player's reply to a player-made post in a forum accessible to players for players that no imm ever felt the need to delete or even lock. Or am I missing something there?

I also clearly said that I've made these same mistakes in past, so uh, how exactly am I being self-important? Maybe chill for once and not accuse me of being horrible right out of the gate?

Finally, Mele, if I stepped on toes, I'm genuinely sorry, and feel free to delete. Just thought I'd put it out there to be a small help to the community. Definitely didn't mean to do something I shouldn't have.

[Harroghty]

We have those pet peeves that make us want to let off some steam somewhere. If that place is a post and it's not specifically attacking someone or being generally disruptive, then it is probably not a big deal. Most posts speak for themselves and people can interpret them as they choose.