Institute Temporary AFK Kick Timer

[seekerofpower]

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.

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.

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.

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.

[Natakeu]

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.

[Centra]

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!

[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.

[Sebastien]

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.

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.

[SugarUnicorn]

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.

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

[Felix7007]

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.

[Lasteran]

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.

[sayuu]

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.

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

useless metaphor is useless. . . .

[Amenian]

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.