Institute Temporary AFK Kick Timer

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Originally Posted by Okipuit

snip

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And what about the suggestions for a functional queueing system?

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Originally Posted by Riot55

Uh, just noticing your name.... Interesting copycat of my name.

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Unintentional, I assure you. I've been bumming around as Riot and Riot54 for ten years or so. I don't post on MMO forums regularly though.

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Originally Posted by Okipuit

Greetings, everyone.

/cut

I know that this is a "we'll need to wait and see and investigate," but it's important that we let you know where we currently stand on the topic.

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wait too long there goes a portion of your potential user base, some already left.
you guys are just digging another hole. people are going to think its broken like 1.0 and not bother.

For those for whom this is their first MMO:

MMOs at launch need to be very careful about the amount of servers and capacity they have, because there are always about twice to three times as many people playing at launch than there will be after the first 30 days. And it's even higher for ARR because those that bought 1.0 didn't even have to pay for a box for ARR.

As such, they can't be overzealous about their servers because if they are, then they have to do server merges only a couple weeks or a month after launch, which would be ridiculous.

Here's some facts you just have to deal with:
-If you choose to play on a high pop server, you're going to have queues and lockouts. Period. That's the risk you take by choosing a high pop server.
-You have a choice to not play on a high pop server. You aren't "denied" playing the game. There is always a server you can log into and play.
-If you have friends on a high pop server and absolutely want to play with them, then you have basically two choices: deal with the waiting, or convince them to make temporary characters on a low pop server.

For those who have been through MMO launches before and are complaining anyway:

Shut up. You're being nothing but immature.

Why isn't there a pinned thread with this? There should be a poll or something. This is one of many threads created for this purpose and many agree with this. (Myself, for example)

Ok the games is out what is the excuse now so we buy i game but we have to wait in line? will we get an extra month of free play since the 1st month don´t look so good...........

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Originally Posted by Kiote

The 1017 is not a problem. It's functioning as intended. You cannot have a login Queue if there is not a single space open on the server. 1017 means literally every slot on the server is in use.

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Isn't that what a queue is for? To throw a player in the second a slot in the server opens up?

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Originally Posted by Lasteran

An AFK logout needs to be implemented as quickly as one of the devs can type the code for it. For whatever reason, it was decided that players should be allowed to AFK 24 hours a day. People can't play with friends, can't join their guild's server. There are people that have been trying to log on since early access with no luck. A major factor in this debacle are the thousands of zombies hanging out by the aetheryte plazas.

There is no telling how long this fiasco will continue while waiting for servers to be installed, configured, and debugged...but what we do know is that these people will continue to AFK for hours as long as they aren't forced off the servers.

An AFK logout timer need only be a temporary addition to the game...but during this time of horrendous login and character creation restrictions it is definitely necessary.

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This one afks because it wants to be able to play, it puts in the effort to wake up fight 1017 errors and get into the game to be able to play. Until the servers are upgraded to handle the immense capacity, this one will continue to afk rather than wasting 6-7 hours clicking ok.

My 60 dollar CE + monthly fees are the same as everybody elses.

If I choose to play my game, which I pay / paid for by standing in the city AFK 24 hours a day, that's my choice.

Im so sick of reading these forums about this. All it takes is patience and dedication to get in. You will get in. I do everyday, and yes, some days it takes longer then others. I highly doubt you spammed for 6 straight hours without getting in, exaggerate much?

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Originally Posted by Sonorous47

Sounds like laziness....seriously. Beta tests ran fine....and you should have expected EXACTLY what is happening. Your SE for gods sake and this is FF of course there are TONS of players. Why would you even make an MMO and not expect to need an AFK kick time, and a login Queue. Beta testing is for testing....Release day is for playing a game that we payed for and........we cant play?!?!? WTF

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there is a login queue and the hell with afk kick timer, i dont want to be kicked just be cause i go afk for 15-30 min. I plan to pay for this game but if I get kicked even once while I am afk even if its 24 hours I'm out. Subscribing to the game means for me i can play when I want and how much I want. How I use my time online is none of anyone's business.

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Originally Posted by GinTama

there is a login queue and the hell with afk kick timer, i dont want to be kicked just be cause i go afk for 15-30 min. I plan to pay for this game but if I get kicked even once while I am afk even if its 24 hours I'm out. Subscribing to the game means for me i can play when I want and how much I want. How I use my time online is none of anyone's business.

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It wouldn't be that short of a time window, obviously...... >.> Usually it's about after an hour of being AFK when you get kicked. And you are not the only one paying for the game either.

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Originally Posted by Cendres

It wouldn't be that short of a time window, obviously...... >.> Usually it's about after an hour of being AFK when you get kicked. And you are not the only one paying for the game either.

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An hour? So I guess if I want to make dinner, I get kicked off? Or if I take a longer shower? Or run out to get carry out for dinner? Or the myriad of other activities that could take an hour but don't mean that I'm done playing for the night?

And all this just to solve a problem that won't exist in a month? A problem that really isn't a problem in the first place, since the number of AFK people is ridiculously small? A problem you all have latched on to as the One True Reason™ we can't get on, despite having absolutely no evidence?

Cripes, I hope SE doesn't take you seriously.

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Originally Posted by GinTama

there is a login queue and the hell with afk kick timer, i dont want to be kicked just be cause i go afk for 15-30 min. I plan to pay for this game but if I get kicked even once while I am afk even if its 24 hours I'm out. Subscribing to the game means for me i can play when I want and how much I want. How I use my time online is none of anyone's business.

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I'm going to take a stab in the dark here, but I'm willing to bet you've never seen this. You may find it informative.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmR-BBj3U1M

This isn't new to MMO world. All other games do this. If SE expected high logins they should of made a plan to relieve it.

I don't have a problem with being kicked after maybe 30 minutes, but please only if it is needed (like when the server is full). In a month this problem will probably not exist anymore and then I don't see why we should be kicked for being AFK.

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Originally Posted by EmeraldSerenade

I'm going to take a stab in the dark here, but I'm willing to bet you've never seen this. You may find it informative.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmR-BBj3U1M

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I hope the following people watch this
Joy Rider - Behemoth
Strawberry Lion - Ragnarok
Ceol Ashwin - Sargatanas
Yuko Skydancer - Balmung

Maybe they'll stop afk'n while they sleep and let someone else on =P

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Originally Posted by Zantitrach

I hope the following people watch this
Joy Rider - Behemoth
Strawberry Lion - Ragnarok
Ceol Ashwin - Sargatanas
Yuko Skydancer - Balmung

Maybe they'll stop afk'n while they sleep and let someone else on =P

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No, they won't. Some people are just born d-bags and can't "share" and don't see any point or value in it.
Although, this really is SE's failure to adequately develop a solid back-end. Perhaps they didn't have enough time this go-round - it's been what 2 years now?
There is no excuse on SE's behalf - but the d-bags mentioned above don't have to exacerbate an already maddening problem.
$0.02

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Originally Posted by Columbian

My 60 dollar CE + monthly fees are the same as everybody elses.

If I choose to play my game, which I pay / paid for by standing in the city AFK 24 hours a day, that's my choice.

Im so sick of reading these forums about this. All it takes is patience and dedication to get in. You will get in. I do everyday, and yes, some days it takes longer then others. I highly doubt you spammed for 6 straight hours without getting in, exaggerate much?

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Actually, I haven't paid a dime for this game since it launched 2 or 3 years ago. So, jokes on you and I won't be disappointed with the evaporation of your presence.

Agreed.

It's pretty sad that a modern MMORPG doesn't have this implemented.

While I support this, I know it won't do much. people can easily bypass this using scripts to have your toon take a step every hour or whatever. Sucks but, let's just wait it out haha. I'm the dude that logs off when he's done, so I feel your pain.

In my opinion and i could be wrong.. but after the response they gave in this thread im starting to believe they have an agenda....

This agenda being what we've im sure have all read about them breaking records for the most concurrent people logged in. What does this mean? Well this means the most people logged in at the same time at any given time so... by allowing people to stay in game because they are worried they wont be able to get back they are able to "PAD" the numbers. I see cities of people using /sit at chairs to go afk all day/night. And in a recent review they were hoping to hit the 200,000 mark that is why they will not introduce something until sometime after next weeks 'server fix'.

There is absolutely no reason to be ok with people idling on a game and not playing it when other paying customers are trying to get on, especially after Producer posted that these limits were to make it fair for those who were playing to be able to play a stable game. WHERE IS IT FAIR THAT YOU CANT GET IN BECAUSE SOMEONE ISNT ACTUALLY PLAYING AND TAKING UP SPOTS

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Originally Posted by Southas

While I support this, I know it won't do much. people can easily bypass this using scripts to have your avatar take a step every hour or whatever.

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If they really want to go through that much trouble, let them.
Most of the playerbase wouldn't be so obsessed with staying on and doing nothing.

I've never understood why people do this, aside from having a bazaar feature like in FFXI, but I've also never seen it as an issue. I understand that it's an issue at the moment, but wait until the server limitations are increased before complaining about this sort of thing. Congestion issues have only gotten better and better since the start from my experience.

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Originally Posted by xaerostrike

24/h AFK is just stupid and is one the main causes for the Server issues.... The Devs should have implemented this ages ago...

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this, and also NOT removed the queue, so then the servers don't get constant spam from people trying to enter the realms.

I can't believe so many people are clamoring to make the game worse over a temporary problem. No, wait, I can.

Impliment NOW a 30-60 min afk auto KICK.. When everything settels down, make it like in FFXI you can enable or disable your own auto kick AFK function.....


Its just BINARY!!!!!
01101001 01110100 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01101010 01110101 01110011 01110100 00100000 01100010 01101001 01101110 01100001 01110010 01111001

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Originally Posted by Trevor

I can't believe so many people are clamoring to make the game worse over a temporary problem. No, wait, I can.

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Hopefully temporary. And how is an AFK kicker worse?

It gets rid of players who aren't doing anything but hogging game space. There is no reason to be away for more than 30 minutes and still be on. What could you possibly be doing in the game by just standing still for hours?

No. Seriously.
Why do you need to be on for over an hour doing nothing but taking up space? It's not like you can't just log back on again because, good news, there will be room and a functioning que system.

I sincerely hope they don't implement this. It's one of the things I'm loving they DIDN'T do like every other MMO. There's other ways to fix server load problems, and this surely wont be the grand fix. It may help temporarily, nothing more.

-1 again
Just let this thread die because its not going to happen

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Originally Posted by Gramul

Hopefully temporary. And how is an AFK kicker worse?

It gets rid of players who aren't doing anything but hogging game space. There is no reason to be away for more than 30 minutes and still be on. What could you possibly be doing in the game by just standing still for hours?

No. Seriously.
Why do you need to be on for over an hour doing nothing but taking up space? It's not like you can't just log back on again because, good news, there will be room and a functioning que system.

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I think thats none of your business, people pay for that "space". I know it sucks that people cant log but that hardly is the problem of other people and I don't see why they have to suffer.

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Originally Posted by Synra

Seriously, look at my level on the left. I got to 20 in Phase 4. Since early access began, I have gained a whole 3 levels.

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I understand you are frustrated, I am too, but exaggerating to make a point will get you no where. You have gained 27 levels since EA began, as you gained 3 levels of ACN, 16 levels of THM and 8 levels of Weaver.

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Originally Posted by GinTama

I think thats none of your business, people pay for that "space". I know it sucks that people cant log but that hardly is the problem of other people and I don't see why they have to suffer.

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I guess some of us still have regard for our fellow gamers and don't want to screw everyone else over to make our lives easier. If you want to sit on the server AFK for a whole day, when you know there are people that can't log in because you are doing so, then that is your prerogative, but it also makes you a bit of an asshat.

The AFK time out situation reminds me of 14's predecessor. In 11 your afk time out was default set to 10 minutes, but you could set it to be logged in indefinitely. It was just how it was designed. People would do this in part because your vendor was your character. Food for thought.

I just spotted this thread on the Dev Tracker and I'm genuinely shocked by the fact that there's no kick timer. This will clearly have a negative effect on the community.

I don't like complain about the game as I think SE have done a great job but like someone else said, this almost seems lazy.

I cant remember the last online game I played that doesn't have one. It just seems ridiculous to me. I'm in a room full of people and they all agree.

Please implement ASAP!

Another way to look at this thread.

Effectively you're asking to boot people out of the viewing stands because the football pitch is full.

The stands are not overcrowded and bear little relation to the playing field.

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Originally Posted by Okipuit

Currently, the implementation of a feature that would automatically disconnect a user who is idle for a specific amount of time is something that will be investigated once the currently announced plans and adjustments have been completed. Once that is in place, we'll be able to see a clearer picture of the concurrency numbers and get a better understanding of what steps need to be taken next.

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Thanks for the note, but please pass along to the team that this point of view is very unintuitive.

Normally, when one is in a crisis state, one tries to employ quick and simple tactics to stabilize the situation while working on a long term solution. More hardware is a long term solution. Booting AFK characters and offering a functional login queue are simple tactics that would stabilize this crisis and alleviate a lot of customer stress.

With respect, your team is doing things precisely backwards.

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Originally Posted by GinTama

I think thats none of your business, people pay for that "space". I know it sucks that people cant log but that hardly is the problem of other people and I don't see why they have to suffer.

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Thats great and all, but everyone else trying to log in paying for that "space" too - space which they cannot use.

ok, wait untill we have enough server capacity till we implement a idle log out system... ok yea that makes sense. Wait until the problem is resolved to implement the temporary solution.

Thanks to everyone for all the replies! This is truly a heated debate. I stated in the OP that I would suggest a temporary implemention of some kind of AFK logout timer. I know it is not THE solution...but it would help during these launch time tribulations.

I, persoanlly, log out when I'm not going to be able to play for over an hour and I think it's the right thing to do. One AFK kicked is one active player online. That is what it boils down to.

I fully support removing the kick timer once this login issues are corrected but for right now this is something we need.

By imposing heinous login restrictions SE has rewarded the selfish and barred active users from playing the game.

My proposal would be to have a 45 minute AFK timer that only resets when a character gains experience. This boots actual AFKs (if you havent earned 1xp in 45 minutes you arent playing) and stops motion scripting from faking out the timer.

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Originally Posted by Sebazy

Another way to look at this thread.

Effectively you're asking to boot people out of the viewing stands because the football pitch is full.

The stands are not overcrowded and bear little relation to the playing field.

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So people who get 1017 are just fans watching instead of wanting to be on the pitch playing. . .

useless metaphor is useless. . . .

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Originally Posted by Lasteran

My proposal would be to have a 45 minute AFK timer that only resets when a character gains experience. This boots actual AFKs (if you havent earned 1xp in 45 minutes you arent playing) and stops motion scripting from faking out the timer.

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That's not true. There are a lot of things you can do in game for 45 minutes that don't involve earning exp. The RP community in particular will tell you that. For non-RPers, farming lower level mats, exploring for hidden things(after your map has been fully filled out), low level duties, hanging around talking to friends, waiting on duty finder as a dps, and a myriad other things. For instance, I spent two hours this morning killing low level monsters that I get no exp for as part of a project to fill out a database of what creatures drop what items. In short, I couldn't disagree with your proposal more. I'd be getting kicked often while actively playing the game.

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Originally Posted by Lasteran

Simple solution: Spend 30 seconds crafting an item once every 45 minutes. Now you're fine.

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I say no. I'm not going to watch the clock when I'm in the middle of something that may not necessarily give me xp, and nobody should have to honestly. If someone is actively playing the game, they should be able to do so without being kicked, regardless of how they choose to be playing it.

That's just a bad solution. Institute an AFK kick timer sure, but only a small fraction of people will even know how to make a movement script and even less of them will bother to do so. It's ridiculous to institute a function that punishes innocent people because they weren't watching a clock to see they needed to make a bronze ingot fast or be booted from the game. That's heavy handed and even less fair than the issues we currently have going on with login problems.

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Originally Posted by SirDiscoFrog

I dont know if this is possible but when you haven't been actively doing something (moving, chatting, getting exp, etc.) a pop up box could come up after the 2 hours of inactivity just to make sure you are there. If you dont respond to the pop up box after 60-120 seconds, you get kicked. This way if they cant include chat or moving as 'activity' and RPers/Explores/Market Watchers/etc, who can potentially be unfairly kicked, have a chance to react so they can stay on. :D

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Why even get that complicated? Just a simple no activity timer is all that's needed. Yes, a few people will find a way around it, but the vast majority will not and that's what we're really looking for isn't it? Occam's Razor guys.