Dancer Archive
Thread: POLL: AFK Play
Esharra wrote:
Just curious to see where we stand on this topic.
1. Do you leave the keyboard while your avatar is dancing?
No, I do not leave my avatar dancing/playing unless it's (as already said) phone, someone at the door bio break, etc.
2. What do you think is an acceptable amount of time to leave an avatar unattended while dancing?
I'd say fifteen minutes is a good enough bit of time for most folks to 'do what they have to do'. If something comes up that takes more than that, then they should log out.
3. Would you be willing to give up any degree of unattended play beyond the 15 minutes for theAFK flag to appear above your head.
I don't care about this one. It's N/A for me as I don't AFK for hours for any reason, and I never have.
Please feel free to explain your answers. Thanks!
Esharra wrote:
Just curious to see where we stand on this topic.
1. Do you leave the keyboard while your avatar is dancing?
Yep, but only for a short while, if I need to get something to drink/eat or use the bathroom. Occasionally I've buffed friends and hopped over to my alt (or just plain fell asleepin my computer chair)and left myself running. It's way too easy to just leave your character running for awhile without even bothering with it. I don't think that's cool.
2. What do you think is an acceptable amount of time to leave an avatar unattended while dancing?
15 minutes. If anything takes more than 15 minutes, I logout or at least stop skill animating and deal with what I need to, then come back later.
3. Would you be willing to give up any degree of unattended play beyond the 15 minutes for theAFK flag to appear above your head.
Yep, if something requires you to be AFK for longer than 15 minutes, then you shouldn't be "playing the game," you should be doing whatever it is you're doing and the game should kick you out or at least make you unable to do anything (a la being AFK while in combat, no ability to attack), and THEN since you haven't done anything for another 1/2 hour, kick you out.
Please feel free to explain your answers. Thanks!
When a game makes you feel inclined to find a way to make the game play itself, then the game isn't fun enough to hold your attention. Make the game more fun, and people will want to play it. Nevertheless, those who are dedicated to AFK play shouldn't be allowed to hamper someone else who wishes to actually play the game.
Esharra wrote:
1. Do you leave the keyboard while your avatar is dancing?
I do not.
2. What do you think is an acceptable amount of time to leave an avatar unattended while dancing?
It is never acceptable, though it is tolerable for perhapstwo minutes.
3. Would you be willing to give up any degree of unattended play beyond the 15 minutes for theAFK flag toappear above your head.
I would be willing to give up any degree of unattended activity when I am unattended. And I would say that two minutes is acceptable.
Esharra wrote:
Just curious to see where we stand on this topic.
1. Do you leave the keyboard while your avatar is dancing?
Confession time. Yes, I do. Of course, for a bio break or to get some water. But, there are times, generally on the weekend, where I may take a quick shower, or I may run to the laundry room, something like that. But, it's rarely, if ever, more than 15 minutes at a time. Except for that one time back in February 2004, but, I won't go into that.
2. What do you think is an acceptable amount of time to leave an avatar unattended while dancing?
Confession time again. I never really cared about afk all that much. The only time I do is when it is negatively affecting the game. One could argue that afk in and of itself affects the game negatively. But, if someone is dancing afk, they are not spamming, and they are not botting, and they are not basically doing anything to cause direct harm to my gameplay, then I don't care.
3. Would you be willing to give up any degree of unattended play beyond the 15 minutes for theAFK flag to appear above your head.
Absolutely! No ifs, ands or bots!
Please feel free to explain your answers. Thanks!
kirah_ashlin wrote:Oh, and I haven't checked the other two forums to see, but will/has Scip and Sart run similar polls for the Musicians and Entertainers? (I'd include our ID friends, but I don't believe AFK affects them in this manner, correct?)
Sure, I'll go ahead and so so! Then we can combine the results so as to have bigger numbers (everyone likes bigger numbers, right?).
BTW, my compliments to all who have posted thus far for staying on topic and just giving their answers on such a hot button issue
.(BTW, no need for the musicians who have already posted here to feel necessary to run off and delete their post here and go reply to the poll I'll put in Musician; we'll combine the results, so wherever you post is good).
*Scurries off to make the Musician poll*
Message Edited by Aleyo on 04-08-2005 04:59 PM
Esharra wrote:Just curious to see where we stand on this topic.
1. Do you leave the keyboard while your avatar is dancing?
2. What do you think is an acceptable amount of time to leave an avatar unattended while dancing?
3. Would you be willing to give up any degree of unattended play beyond the 15 minutes for the AFK flag to appear above your head.
Please feel free to explain your answers. Thanks!
1. Yes sometimes, for bio breaks, to get some food/drinks, door, phone.
2. 10 mins max, if i expect to be gone longer I stop dancing.
3. Yes, auto-logoff after 15-30 minutes would be something I'd like
1. Do you leave the keyboard while your avatar is playing music?
2. What do you think is an acceptable amount of time to leave an avatar unattended while playing music?
3. Would you be willing to give up any degree of unattended play beyond the 15 minutes for the AFK flag to appear above your head.
Please feel free to explain your answers. Thanks!
*edited to fix embarrassing copy/paste errors*
Message Edited by Aleyo on 04-08-2005 05:17 PM
2. 5 minutes.
3. Yes, I do not think there should be any ability to AFK perform, just as I do not feel ANY profession should be AFK-able. No other professions are able to progress entirely without player input as Entertainers are.
Message Edited by Bionic on 04-08-2005 06:16 PM
Esharra wrote:
Just curious to see where we stand on this topic.
1. Do you leave the keyboard while your avatar is dancing?
In the past, with my other toonsI have danced afk. This time I am not doing that except for the quick break. My problem is if I just run to get the kids a drinkor something it can takelonger than I expect and I can be gone for more that 1/2hour.
2. What do you think is an acceptable amount of time to leave an avatar unattended while dancing?
15 mins seems to be the consensus here and I agree.
3. Would you be willing to give up any degree of unattended play beyond the 15 minutes for theAFK flag to appear above your head.
Yes
Please feel free to explain your answers. Thanks!
Esharra wrote:
Just curious to see where we stand on this topic.
1. Do you leave the keyboard while your avatar is dancing?
2. What do you think is an acceptable amount of time to leave an avatar unattended while dancing?
3. Would you be willing to give up any degree of unattended play beyond the 15 minutes for theAFK flag to appear above your head.
Please feel free to explain your answers. Thanks!
What would happen if I didn't vote with the rest of the dancers? Would I need to make flame-resistant clothing? I was debating weather or not to post a response to this but figured I may as well.
1. yes
2. all the time if it does not interfere with other players
3. reluctantly I would give it up.
I dance afk in our player city cantina or in my house. I do not 'talk' while dancing afk either. It is basically one small wayI can help my PA if they need healing. I am not a master dancer so I don't buff. I also dance afk to get much needed FSXP to fill those branches. Now having said that... I do not like buffbots in NPC cantinas. I do feel it is up to each PA and City to agree whether or not they want buffbots running in their cantinas. Certainly if someone in my PA told me to stop dancing in the cantina afk then I would respect that. I have also danced in cantinas and the afk spam messages are totally annoying. So yes I dance afk but I try not to interfere with anyone else when I do so. I see no problem at all dancing alone overnight in my own house though.
Akaara wrote:
Would I need to make flame-resistant clothing?
Esharra wrote:Just curious to see where we stand on this topic.
1. Do you leave the keyboard while your avatar is dancing?
2. What do you think is an acceptable amount of time to leave an avatar unattended while dancing?
3. Would you be willing to give up any degree of unattended play beyond the 15 minutes for the AFK flag to appear above your head.
Please feel free to explain your answers. Thanks!
1. Yes I will sometimes, but generally only for about a minute or two for the usual reasons or maybe to alt-tab out to check something on the web. I may go slightly longer - like 5 minutes or so if I'm someplace by myself waiting for someone to come by, but then I'm usually nearby keeping an eye on the screen to see if anyone's around. If I know I'm going to be gone for longer than a few minutes I'll stop and sit down somewhere. If I'm going to be gone for around 10 minutes or more, I'll stop dancing, go somewhere out of the way, and put up my AFK flag. That just seems like courtesy to me. I don't want people thinking that I'm there if I'm not, and I don't need to be gaining any benefits while I'm not actively trying to earn them.
2. Well - my answer to the first question applies to myself here. I can be understanding of others who may have need to go AFK for slightly longer times - 15 minutes sounds like a reasonable upper limit. Much beyond that and there seems to be little point in the system allowing it to continue on "autopilot" when it's not being "played". The character should be brought to a stand-still state, all actions ceased, and an AFK flag forced. Up to another 15 minutes or so and the system should disconnect so that system resources are not being used by unmanned characters (and so that players are not encouraged to let characters advance in the game world without being there to control them).
3. Admittedly I don't quite understand this question exactly. Are you asking me if I can tolerate any higher amount of allowed AFK time for (other) players than 15 minutes? If so then I suppose I could tolerate 30 minutes as a maximum amount of time before the AFK flag is forced and any other system actions that might kick in at that point.
If you're asking would I mind if some amount of AFK operations are allowed after an AFK flag is forced following 15 minutes of inactivity, then the only thing I, personally, wouldn't mind too much is just a "keep-alive" ability that could allow you to stay connected for longer periods of time than 15 minutes, but doesn't allow any interaction with the game world. I don't like the idea of any permissible operation that continues to allow you to gain XP, offer mechanics to others, or even spam messages or emotes once a character is flagged as AFK. Even an AFK "keep-alive" ability may need to time out at some point (maybe an hour or so).
Finally, if you're asking would I personally be willing to give up the option to have my character perform any kind of unattended play after a 15 minute AFK timeout, then I would say, absolutely. I never rely on AFK to do anything for me. If I'm not at the keys making it happen, then it ain't happenin'.