Musician Archive
Thread: From your Correspondent: inviting suggestions on AFK'ing
Great, I now mark myself as afk using the afk command and then load my macro.
Better yet, since I have a laser mouse that can pick up the slightest real world movement, why not just set my mouse on any object with a slight vibration that will fool the laser into thinking that I'm moving it. Wait until you set yourself afk to get a drink and it dumps ya, because I doubt they will code to discriminate between multiple differing types of afk.
Sandee wrote:
I am a MM. It was my first profession, and I am keeping it. I have done some AFK macroing, never spaming for tips, and never in the cantina, just off in a corner somewhere. Usually I played with a group in a cantina and enjoyed the social interaction.
I believe something should be done about the AFK macroing. The other day I went into a busy cantina (not showing the MM title), and I thought there was a new Guilde AFK. I actually asked, who is not afk, and only one person (of the 25) responded. I listened to that person, then tipped them, then showed my title, and offered training.
I also will not play anywhere where there are two entertainer groups.
There is a way you can stop AFK, instead of do it by technology to stop a fan or something from moving an optical mouse (how absurd). Stop the reason people want to do it.
1) Implement tipband already, dont giveany tipto afk's
2) Dont give xp of any sort(or like 1/8) to the afk'er
3) Reduce (by 1/4 or 1/8) the healing provided by an AFKer to the listener. (who would you rather listen too)
Allow people to play or dance 1 level higher when grouped with none afk'ers.
I also hated LD's standing in the middle of the room. Have LD's & AFK's moved to a side area.
It may be absurd, but it is also easy, most people have the components, and takes about 30 seconds to set up. Did I also mention that it defeats all of you ideas flat out as well??
If you want to stop afk macroing, musicians and dancers are going to have to go the way of the medics and doctors. Targeted healing. You probably will never fix xp without breaking the system for everyone, but you can stop the droves of people not being at a keyboard by making them have to target a client. Nothing else is going to work.
I am a MM. It was my first profession, and I am keeping it. I have done some AFK macroing, never spaming for tips, and never in the cantina, just off in a corner somewhere. Usually I played with a group in a cantina and enjoyed the social interaction.
I believe something should be done about the AFK macroing. The other day I went into a busy cantina (not showing the MM title), and I thought there was a new Guilde AFK. I actually asked, who is not afk, and only one person (of the 25) responded. I listened to that person, then tipped them, then showed my title, and offered training.
I also will not play anywhere where there are two entertainer groups.
There is a way you can stop AFK, instead of do it by technology to stop a fan or something from moving an optical mouse (how absurd). Stop the reason people want to do it.
1) Implement tipband already, dont giveany tipto afk's
2) Dont give xp of any sort(or like 1/8) to the afk'er
3) Reduce (by 1/4 or 1/8) the healing provided by an AFKer to the listener. (who would you rather listen too)
Allow people to play or dance 1 level higher when grouped with none afk'ers.
I also hated LD's standing in the middle of the room. Have LD's & AFK's moved to a side area.
All I am saying is, taking the technology away is unrealistic. Same as you said (with a way out example which I may have misdescribed as absurd).
But you are basically right, if there is a reward for doing it, people will find a way to do it.
You have to take away the reward for doing it, if you want to stop/discourage people from doing it.
Which you probably should do at this point.
If someone really wants to be benevolent, and heal in empty cantinas, fine, be benevolent.
But bots in cantinas blocking everyone, nerfing denyservice (which I have never needed to use), is out of hand.
I made a lot of tips in the cantina, and I will generally use another entertainer to heal my mind and BF, but I will never tip unless a person is there, and then I am generous.
Your point may be that there is no way to detect afk. If you at least make it harder, it will discourage most. Many will use in game tools. Stop macro's when go afk. Many stop.
Some will buy third party tools. Patch the game to be aware of those tools (there can not be many), some stop.
Very few will get robotic like equipment to press keys or move mice. So now there is a handfull of people that have robotic equipment, just so they can pay a monthly fee to bot in a game.
Here is an idea, for random periods change which area of the cantina, or whether the cantina or hotel will provide healing. It would take a human to recognize this.
Iwould much rather watch/listen to an afk entertainer then most of the "at keyboard" tip beggers.
As some people have mentioned, add something that encourages not to afk, rather then nerf the current system. Nothing good comes from nerfing.
Does it really matter that someone did an afk macro to master? You are not a better person because you didnt, there is no prize at master.
Stopping afk/macro will not really do anything for the game. Do not feed the nerf monster, feed the add content monster.
FYI: it is extremely easy to afk a medic.
If the devs are going to listen to the correspondants, do you really want the issue being worked onafk musicians?There are many problems with the musician skill tree, dont turn their attention to an annoyance instead of the real issues.
If you summed up all the conversation about AFK macros, you'd have a few legitimate gripes (spamming words constantly would be one for example) and a bucket load of whining (its not fair... its unjust... they aren't as good as me...).
I applaud the people who have addressed ABUSIVE practices of recursive macro users. But the use of the macro while AFK isn't abusive in and of itself. Just because you've invented rules for your own behaviour ("I must be present while performing") don't inflict them on me, I'm not interested in your rules or your whining.
It took me like 9 days to make Master Musician. I am an unrepentant macro using AFK'er. I haunt less populated areas, often the only musician at all, and frequently the only entertainer period. The tips are better this way. (People complain about no tips? Get out of the big cantina's... I've made 100K over a three week period just in tips. Small potatoes to some, but as a new character with no friends or guild onmy newserver yet thats huge!)
People, SONY obviously doesn't care about recursive macro's. They made it part of the game and have done nothing about stopping it.Miners do it, entertainers do it, and artisans/craftsman WISH they could do it more effectively. At least the entertainers get to talk and interact with people in the cantina. Getting to Survey 4 without a macro is a study in brain numbing boredom.
If SONY really does care about recursive macro's, (which I doubt, but perhaps) then the only fix will be to end them. It wouldn't seem to be that hard to stop. (No keystrokes for 20 minutes boots you from the game. Hell, it might help with lag!!)
If it's a feather in your cap to have reached high status without a macro fine. Advertise it. Put it inyour biography. Drop it in conversation constantly. There are some who will watch or listen to you preferentially because of it. But the AFK macro isn't an exploit or bug. Its part of the game. Get upset at rude behaviour and help the devs invent ways to stop them. But getting upset about the "lamers" in general is both ridiculous and petty.
Tzaii Sithak, Lamer and Lizard -- Master Musician Sunrunner
ozzoo wrote:
FYI: it is extremely easy to afk a medic.
If the devs are going to listen to the correspondants, do you really want the issue being worked onafk musicians?There are many problems with the musician skill tree, dont turn their attention to an annoyance instead of the real issues.
I assume that you are refering to the afk medics that are healing the afk musicians/dancers.
Personally, an inability to talk while afk would be the best fix for me, so I don't have to listen to the repetative spam =)
Make the game stopall people (this will also stop people from sitting at the thugs in moenia and going afk for weeksand still getxpwith their rocketlauncher killing everythin that aggros on them)who have not pushed a DIFFERENT macro hotkey (1 - 8 / SHIFT 1- 8)Shift 130 minutes quit the game. You have to physically push the macro hotkey otherwise, your screwed and it kicks you out of the game. By macro hotkey I mean:
Starbright goes afk, she sets her macro up: It does flourishes ect ect, and she goes to bed.
Starbright (the char) does all thesecommands from ONE macro hotkey and in 30 min if she doesnt push another macro hotkey she is kicked out of the game.
Turn off the /ui action toolBar command.
LOL While as musician I agree AFK macro sucks and sthing must be done, saying sthing like that is just *stupid* !!! Do u think macro are only used by AFK entertainers/musicians/dancers ?
If u wanna be hated by every crafter who cant run a macro to ease the grind, and believe me even with a macro grinding crafting exp is still a pain, well then keep suggesting this silly thing. I'm master WS so the grind is behind me now, but if while I was grinding this command would have been suppressed cause of you to "fix" problem with AFK macroers I'd hate you for sure and lots of crafters as well.
Had to say that as I saw 2 ppl suggesting it and nobody replied to that, so just give up this idea, it wont happen 