Artisan Archive

A couple of patches ago, SOE fixed the bug that keeps you from being auto-logged out for inactivity if you have a macro running. As far as I'm concerned, that they tried to fix this comfirms what I have always believed: designing a macro to run for hours, while you are AFK, is an exploit. You are not supposed to be doing this. If you are doing this, you are either taking advantage of a bug you found (instead of reporting it) or you are using a 3rd party utility to fool the game into think you're not AFK. Either way, it's a big major EULA violation.

Yesterday, I found two friends AFK and sampling. No big deal. Except that they were still AFK, and still sampling, when I logged off three hours later. At no point during that time did they respond to /tell, nor did they respond - even to an old friend - to me in spatial chat.

Effective immediately, no matter how friendly you are, no matter how many favors you've done me, if I find you AFK and sampling, I will check back in 20 minutes to half an hour. If you are still on auto-pilot, and are still not responding to /tell, then I am reporting you to the GMs as a possibleexploiter. Presumably they will take their time trying to get you to respond - after which time they will take appropriate action. Very likely, the least they will do is force your character to log off. I will keep doing this for as long as it takes until this abuse stops.

Any action the GMs take will be your fault, not mine or theirs. And I don't even want to hear anybody whine, "Who are they hurting?" I'm getting absolutely tired of competing against people who are getting their resources for free while I pay out about 1.5 to 2 credits per unit for materials and for the power to run the harvesters. Nor do I want to hear anybody say that if I don't want them to out-compete me, I should do what they're doing. I'm not an exploiter.

This is the only warning I will give.

Other people, especially those in other towns and on other servers, please feel free to do likewise.

You assume too much.

Did you know that you can set your status as AFK even if you're running around town?

I get swamped with tells for different things I can do and if I can't be bothered I set my status as AFK with a message. This will stay on regardless of what you are doing.

So how are you going to report this and why are you crying about it? Worry about yourself.

I understand his point. The latest sampling nerf is mainly because of macroing. A jump from a 10 second sample to a 26 second one is huge. When other peoples actions affect how I can play the game, I stop just worrying about myself.

Last I checked though, soon as you start moving aorund, your AFK flag auto shuts off.

I hang around the same town as Brad does and there is one Master Artisan who is always AFK Macro sampling at the same spot in the middle of town. I have not passed that spot once in the last five days that he wasn't there macroing away with AFK over his head. Not once! Well, not last night, but the resources have started to move so I am sure what ever he was sampling is gone somewhere else, so he has just moved his operations.

This is an exploit. We know it is. The Devs have told us it is. Don't do it!

Brad you have my support

Ogam Eastshire

Restuss/Rori/Kettemoor

doesn't your character stop sampling once his action points bottom out? or does his macro keep it from doing that?

Pauses can be set up to acount for replenishing action points. They need to put in a check to stop the AFK macroing. If after a certain time of no other input by your character is made besides sampling, you should get booted. If you do not chat or move for two hours, you are not at your machine and don't need to be logged in.

Even the most independent solo character will reply when spoken to.

OK, please post a link to the exact reference of a developer stating that AFK macroing, only using the in game system, is an EXPLOIT. Once you do that, then the macroers will have reason to fear. As it is, it currently isn't an exploit, it isn't a bug, IT IS an intended effect, one that the devs changed to reduce it's effectiveness, but still within the rights of the macroer. Once the devs put in a code to prevent macro sampling, then go ahead and report anyone you want. I just hope you go around people who are AFK only to ignore tells and are actually at the computer, report them, then they report you for harrassment. The only people who are complaining are the ones who either can't figure out how to macro sample, can't leave the computer running to macro sample, or are using mommie and daddie's computer and thus have to log out.

If they nerf macro sampling, then they have to nerf powergamers. What is the differance between someone who has the time to sit there for hours on end doing it and someone setting a macro?

Sampling is mind-numbing...but it is a necessary evil. Once you get to survey 4 the exp is useless...it takes hours to get the resources you need, and some of us don't have hours to just sit there. I have 4 harvesters going, plus I macro sample, and I still don't have what I need.

One factory costs over 16000 resource units to craft. Bone armor, while it doesn't need a ton of minerals, it needs hide, which I can't get if I am stuck sampling during my play time.

If they nerf macro surveying, casual gamers will no longer be able to compete. And don't tell me they can buy stuff on the bazaar, because most times I don't see what I need there and when I do its price is highway robbery. And again, don't say go on missions, because a casual gamer doesn't have time to waste doing things he doesnt want to do.

This is a game, lighten up. Play it how you want and let others play how they want. If they truely wanted to fix the macro problem in a truely constructive and player controlled way they should get rid of the stupid duel option and just let you PK ppl without permission. You see someone surveying...shoot them in the back of the head

I can't believe this guy just told us he is going to be a hall monitor. I'm truely stunned.

I've got to agree with RedelHawke on this one....

First off, someone is definatly going to report you for harrassment.

Second, It's not an exploit. If macroing was placed in the game, to the extent in which it is now... And macroing was going on in beta, you are telling me the Dev's didn't see this one coming, and it's an exploit? BS. Macroing is being used (in all it's forms) just the way the dev's intended. If it wasn't being used correctly, you would have either heard or seen a post on the message board about it, or they would have removed extended macroing from the game.

My question to you: If extended macroing wasn't/isn't allowed... Then why did they make every command in the game (expecially /sample) a macro command, and on top of that, why did they give you a text box THAT BIG (over 5000+ characters) to create a macro in?

I understand why you are upset, I just don't believe it's warranted. And I believe that if a person has the means to do it, and it was as prevelant (from the developer's standpoint) within the game as it is currently, then it's not an exploit, and it's being used as it should.

If the dev's want people to stop... THEY can warn them (trust me they know it's going on i'm sure.), and if they want to stop it, they will remove extended macroing, or the ability to load a macro.txt all together.

You don't implement commands and abilities like that into a game that spent 3 years testing, if you don't want people to use them.

Just my thoughts.

This is just really stupid, yes stupid, report away, becuse it is not a violation. Why you think it would be I am not sure. Some sampling is very, very boring and slow, so I hit my sampling micro and sit there and stare at the screen, I know a handful of people in the game and they are off doing what ever they do. Ahh I have to go to the bathroom so type AFK and go, comeback and forget to remove AFK. Or I just tired of people telling me wanting training while I am busy doing sampling so I type AFK.
Just so you know I e-mailed customer survice about this and they said it was not a violation.

Hmm, I just started and I don't have harvestors and such. I go AFK Sampling all the time. Why? Because there is nothing freaking to do while sampling. I read my mail, eat a sandwhich, walk the dog, whatever. I may stay in the same spot for 2 hours to get my MEASLEY 600 material. And I go Auto-AFK nearly every time. I almost always get back before my action has regened. I sit for a bit, then back to sampling. I think it is weak, I don't like it, but I am poor, and I need material to craft. So I deal with it. So should you.

NOTE: This isn't macroed! Yet I give off the evidence you present.

Ditto F&L.

Someone can be at their computer and macro sampling. Chances are if I'm out there to get materials, I'm not staring at my screen looking for tells or spatial chat. I use 2 wind generators and 7 resources extactors and have a small house. The only things I sample by hand are those that are in a no-build zone. When I do sample by hand, I'm usually either crafting, reading, or watching TV.If I'm crafting, I havewindows blocking my screen, offering even less chance that I'm going to see your spatial chat. Chances are also that if I see someone threatening to report me for something, they get ignored pretty quick.

Reporting people won't do anything to them. The devs control all the code. If a game system isn't working as intended, they'll change it. They're not going to run around telling people not to do it.

What is the best thing you hope to accomplish? Keep those who don't play often enough to support harvesters from being artisans at all? Do you hope to drive up resource and item costs? The non-powergamers already have no market due to UXP and item grinding. Who is going to buy a novice muzzle for 100 credits when I can make 99% versions and flood the bazaar for the same price? In t

I hardly think macro sampling is efficient enough to flood the market with low cost items. At best it's supplemental income for someone who can't run missions for 2 hours everyday to have any credits to their name.

Keep the non-powergamers even further out of the game? What chance does a novice artisan have of selling a 18-32 CDEF pistol anyway?