Entertainer Archive

Okay, so someone makes a macro that lets them play music and never get tired, so they never stop playing and they never have to /startmusic.

Hmm... that's a snag.

It would help a little with AFKers for a while, but ultimately it would be just like the AFK-surveying fix...ineffectual.

I'll wrack my brain some more and maybe I can untangle the snag.

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Kuildeous wrote:

Wait, AFK-surveying has not stopped? What prevents the pop-up from working?

I'm ignorant in the ways of Artisan, so I'm curious about this. If it really doesn't work, then I won't be pushing for a similar measure for Entertainers.

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The pop-up stops your current surveying session. It doesn't stop your macro from running however.

If your macro has a line to make you stand up, then you will stand and end the surveying session, even though the window is still up. Then, when your macro makes you start surveying again, you will successfully begin surveying.

The main way to deal with the popups is to not have a long sample period. People used to have macros which would sample until their action was almost drained, then they would sit until it recovered. Now, they tend to sample for just a minute or two, and sit for just long enough to recover the action which was drained. It's slightly less efficient, but it minimizes the downtime caused by popups.

BTW, I do AFK sample, but I don't do AFK entertainment. I can see the obvious problems with AFK entertainment, but AFK sampling seems to be a much more benign issue.

-Cebo
-Musician/Medic

Well, I've tried going fencer. Then, I went medic as a side thing and accidently mastered it. Got master scout and only have Explore 4 right now. Have Marksman 0/2/0/4, and I just picked up entertainer.

I know what it's like going through trying to get all the EXP manually. If you doubt that, try going Fencer. I didn't get very far when I realized I didn't want to do it.

So, I have Entertainer now. And yes, I use a macro. If I'm going to be going to bed, I will go hide in a secret corner so that no one can find me, and I can get experience in peace.

Being an entertainer is for either RPers or the lazy people. You don't have to go out and earn your exp. RPers sit there and talk to people. Lazy people set up a macro and say "Weee I got master entertainer im so cool~!~~!"

Me? I'm partly lazy. Try going Fencer and NOT being lazy.

Lazy people DON'T get master entertainer because you can't macro your way through the image design requirement.

"You don't have to go out and earn your exp."

*cough* BS*cough* My exp, that I got WHILE AT KEYS THE WHOLE TIME, is just as 'earned' as your fencer exp or JoeBobBountyHunter's Investigation exp.

Just because entertainers generally get their exp while in a cantina does not mean that it wasn't *earned* if they were actually there playing the game.

Uhm... no. It's actually worse.

AFK Macrotainers leach XP, and maybe some paltry tips.

AFK Macrominers leach XP, Tons of resources which they can craft a lot of items and sell them at inflated prices, or just sell the resources, which means that they get heavy XP and Heavy money

Not to mention the fact that not one, not two, but three times, the developers have nerfed sampling by increasing the delay timer, making the task all the more tedious for those who are at their computer playing the game.

They need to start punishing the AFKers by first logging them out and warning them via game mail

Second offense should get the account blocked form user-defined macros for 3 days

Third offense should get the account blocked from user-define macros for 30 days

Final offenseshould getthe account blocked from user-defined macros permanantly.

If they continue after this (it can be done with 3rd party programs), then let their account be banned from the game. If they are that desparate to blatantly cheat, then let them pay the ultimate penalty. Four warnings to play by the rules would have been ignored, so the most drastic action would be called for. Only a handfull of people would go this far, though...

This way, only the ones guilty of the EULA violation (read Paragraph 7 of the EULA for proof) of using macros that allow unattended play are hit with consequences. And those consequences would be fair and consistant.

If you are going to play, then play. If not, log off and go do something else.

In Christ,
G. B. Jackson

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DarthOlomew wrote:

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BTW, I do AFK sample, but I don't do AFK entertainment. I can see the obvious problems with AFK entertainment, but AFK sampling seems to be a much more benign issue.

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Uhm... no. It's actually worse.

AFK Macrotainers leach XP, and maybe some paltry tips.

AFK Macrominers leach XP, Tons of resources which they can craft a lot of items and sell them at inflated prices, or just sell the resources, which means that they get heavy XP and Heavy money

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I asked about AFK sampling on the Artisan's board, hoping to get a response from SOE. The two player responses I got basically said that the issue was discussed to death quite a while ago. SOE apparently refuses to make a statement about whether or not using the in-game macro system to do things while AFK is a violation of the EULA. Players argue both sides of the issue. And the EULA appears to be ambiguous about the issue. (Many people believe the EULA appears to refer to "external macro programs" as being illegal, not the game's own macroing system.)

Until someone from SOE is willing to come to these boards, and say "AFK sampling is against the EULA," or "extended AFK robot entertainment is against the EULA", then punishing EITHER type of player with sanctions iswrong. SOE needs to make a clear statement about the issue before they use out-of-game actions. AFK sampling is so pervasive in the artisan community, that it's hardly even controversial among them anymore. Heck, I set my AFK message to say that I'm AFK-sampling, and I'll be back at XX:XX PDT. BTW, my one character who does AFK sampling never sells resources, and in fact never sells anything. I only do it to get resources for making medicines which I use myself for healing people. If my character had a good-paying profession to support his medic/doctor activities, then I wouldn't have to do it this way. But, as it is now, I see AFK sampling as a way to get around the problems with entertainers and medics not being able to make a living with their services.

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DarthOlomew also wrote:

Not to mention the fact that not one, not two, but three times, the developers have nerfed sampling by increasing the delay timer, making the task all the more tedious for those who are at their computer playing the game.

.....

They need to start punishing the AFKers by first logging them out and warning them via game mail

.....

This way, only the ones guilty of the EULA violation (read Paragraph 7 of the EULA for proof) of using macros that allow unattended play are hit with consequences. And those consequences would be fair and consistant.

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Why is sampling more tedious? Are you saying that you do long-term sampling, but you actually sit at the keyboard watching all of the messages scroll by? Sampling is supposed to be SAMPLING so that you know whether to put a harvester down or not. It's not supposed to be mining. The nerfs have been because it's more efficient to dig samples than to actually set up mining operations. That's the true source of the problem.

And as I said eariler, they need to make a statement that they will begin punishing AFK macroers before they actually start doing it. You need to state the rules clearly before you start punishing people for breaking them. And SOE has refused to clarify this issue. If the EULA (which I have read, particularly Paragraph 7) was so clear on the issue, why can't anyone point to a single post by an SOE employee saying "yes, AFK macroing is against the EULA."

SOE is intentionally waffling on the issue. Until they are willing to come down on one side of the fence or the other, out-of-game sanctions are absolutely unwarranted.

Personally, I wish they WOULD clarify things. Then, I would know if it's OK for me to AFK sample, and I would know whether or not I'm going to have to get used to AFK entertainers even though I hate the entire concept.

-Cebo
-Musician / Medic