Acceptable AFK Playing?

Discussion in 'The Newbie Zone' started by DillyBar, Mar 28, 2018.

  1. Felicite Augur

    My chat windows are all messed up now and while I get /tells and /say, they both go to windows that have some types of spam mixed in. My biggest fear is having a GM talk to me while I'm there and playing, and not seeing it (and it they used /say all bets are off). They really need a protocol with a couple of attempts or someway to insure visibility - couldn't they use the system where words appear across your screen to chat with you? Or at least a way to force a "tell window" in the middle of your screen?
    AlmarsGuides likes this.
  2. Talonthalis Elder

    I believe there is a box to click under "options" that will open separate tell windows, already.
  3. Prisim Lorekeeper

    Some of you are a little too paranoid. Do you really think they have the manpower to randomly check thousands of players 24/7?? Or that's even a remote priority? If you are doing something egregious and someone reports you, perhaps. If you are doing something weak and ineffectual, don't worry about it. Best advice for semi-afk working skills, do it in a location where you can't possibly be interfering with anything anyone else might want to do and worry not.
    Zhaunil_AB likes this.
  4. jiri_ Augur

    There is, and it's super useful.
  5. AlmarsGuides Augur

    As someone who boxes 12 I am usually more likely to be reported by another person AND I pull so many enemies that I am often spammed in /say by them so I would likely miss it if a GM were to show up and talk to me in /say. That worries me all the time when I play in a zone like Sul Vius: Demiplane of Life with mobs that spam /say
    Felicite likes this.
  6. Aurastrider Augur

    If someone is using /say in a combat zone while a person is killing and expects a reply they are foolish for thinking they will get a response. /tell is the acceptable form of direct private communication in a combat setting. /say is filtered in with all of the other combat nonsense that spams the chat screen. Any logical and knowledgeable representative of this game should know this in advance if they are investigating someone and should never use a lack of response to /say and correlate it to afk game play. Even doing a /tell when someone is actively killing or doing something and expecting an immediate response is not acceptable. Most people are not going to risk getting their toons killed just to respond right away. If someone is on a lesson burn or has an xp pot running or is doing something time sensitive they might also decide to delay their response. In short a lack of an immediate response is not a very effective measure for determining afk game play. They should have better tools available to them to determine that sort of activity.
  7. Twinnrova Journeyman

    Botting in general is cheating and devalues the real work of a player that is present to play the game. Automated accounts adding to the supply of any particular resource flood the market and lower the average trading price point for the item. When real players gather or craft what little amount of an item or resource they can in comparison to a bot that is performing the same actions 24/7, their work will earn them less platinum than if only real players were contributing to supply.

    That being said, in my opinion any kind of botting should be condemned and result in escalating temporary bans and permanent bans. Rather than focusing on making botting easier to detect and report for players, EverQuest should implement a bot watching algorithm like other modern MMOs. This path is a more long-term solution that, if done properly, can automatically remove a large percentage of bots over time. However, the common issue is that companies are reluctant to enforce their own rules on players that support them financially. Whether integrity or money is more important to Daybreak seems to be the real question.
    Zhaunil_AB and Corwyhn Lionheart like this.
  8. AlmarsGuides Augur


    This is completely bias information considering the same type of 'botting' that effects a market and devalues items also HELPS many players. On servers like Phinigel where there are no 'bots' like there would be on Ragefire/Lockjaw it's significantly harder to acquire some items. Some people like it that way while on the other hand, some people don't. If I wanted to level something like Baking I enjoy knowing that there are 10 stacks of Mephit Meat, Hobgoblin Meat, Jord Meat and whatever else I want in The Bazaar because there are boxers who go in there and farm endless amounts of the stuff.

    The same goes for gearing up your character. It's significantly noticeable how much more gear is on servers that allow boxing and ones that do not. It makes the game more enjoyable being able to get more gear for cheaper rather than paying 1/4 of a krono per piece like you'd have to do on a server without boxing.

    I agree with you that AFK botting shouldn't be allowed... However I really hate hearing this falacious argument that automation destroys markets... because it does no such thing. You're not taking into consideration how many instances it actually helps to have a market flooded with items from people who automate. Maybe you'd rather have an economy where you get the absolute most out of every item you farm, every named drop, that's not what everyone wants though. I much prefer having an economy where whenever I want an item I can just buy it without having to over pay for it or waste my time farming it since no one has it for sale.
    Maurasi likes this.
  9. Sazar Journeyman

    Hm, i think not.

    I petition two group,s (beginning march) who FULL Auto Bot in the house of thule (and two week,s later in the grounds...!), and i dont mean AFK camping with mercs, no they auto Bot 7days/24 hours, with the exact same move,s , no response on tell,s or hail,s (must be a very powerfull macro tool) .
  10. High Voltage Augur

    Get away from trying to fight that. If you cannot, go play other games to see if it's different there.
  11. moogs Augur

    Disagree. More hugs. :p Go get 'em, Sazar.
    Zhaunil_AB likes this.
  12. Gnomeland Augur

    Automatic farming - and the market associated with it - is a form of player response to game design built around harrowing time sinks, of which the best example is trade skills. It's not surprising that the vast majority of automatic farming targets trade skill drops, both because it is easier, and because the demand is high.

    Everyone understands what these time sinks are about: the need to occupy a player's attention for thousands of hours, so that they would stay subscribed through the course of a year. But as the player population gets older and their life responsibilities typically increase, they lose the ability to spend thousands of hours on a game. Many players quit, as a result, while others find ways to trade money for time - thus the krono market.

    Removing automatic farming, without removing the corresponding time sinks, is a recipe for disaster. I find it hard to believe that the player base would be satisfied with having to farm trade skill drops themselves, in place of where they usually get it from these days - the activity itself is simply not what you typically do for fun.
    Maurasi and moogs like this.
  13. Quatr Augur

    There is a difference between "this could get your account suspended or banned" and "this will get your account suspended or banned" :p
  14. Grubbie New Member


    I am not advocating afk boxers, but no where, in ANY rule book, EULA, ToS, is it even remotely close to requiring me to answer any tells from anyone, including a GM. So that box team could've been just ignoring your messages.

    Same steps, moves, spell casting sequences, everything exactly the same, is difficult to pull off, and does imply afk-boxing. It is not proof. I get why some people do it, I would be bored silly within 10 minutes if I did it, I don't even box anymore.

    I hope they find a way to deal with stuff like this though.
  15. smash Augur

    If i see a person afk kill, do i report it? Sure does, and well if person does the crime, then pay the time
    Zhaunil_AB likes this.
  16. AlmarsGuides Augur

    I agree with you that the skill cap should be lowered to make it easier for everyone to get it and automation to do it isn't an appropriate solution. However, the devs show no interest in lowering the time it takes to cap a skill and if they aren't going to balance it properly it leaves it open to players to figure out cheap ways to do something they really don't want to do.

    Even though I don't think automation is the appropriate solution I refuse to 'knock' people who use it to level up their skills because.... I mean seriously who actually wants to sit in front of a computer for 5 hours spamming a single button the entire time? No one I have ever met.... If using a cheap method to raise a skill like swimming, magics or your defensives keeps you playing EQ (my opinion is) more power to you and thanks for helping to keep the game alive =P


    I don't fully agree with telling someone to specialize their class because no matter how you cut that cake you're asking them to forsake some of their classes abilities, spells or what it can do by only leveling 'some' of them.
  17. Quatr Augur

    I suppose from DB's perspective they already provide a way to max all of your skills up to level 85 -- Heroic Characters.
  18. AlmarsGuides Augur


    Best part about heroics isn't the skills for me, it's the time it saves me not having to do Dragons of Norrath progression and Omens of War. That's like whole days of my time =P
  19. Quatr Augur

    I agree. When I had a free Heroic character token, I used it to heroic a 105 toon, primarily because of the DON and OOW AAs.
  20. Qbert Gallifreyan

    I like /vtell; when I am in the guild hall afk I leave a message for people shooting me a tell to /vtell me. I always have my headphones on.