If you're new or returning: AFK in Guild Lobby

Not sure why this isn't in every returning player guide ever, but lemme tell you -- once you're 65+, do NOT log your toons when you're done playing. Park them in the guild lobby with your mercs out (set them to passive to avoid paying their fees) and the next day, go out 3-4 times as powerful as you came in with tons of free MGB buffs that last generally 2-4 hours.

I have no idea why I didn't think of this earlier as I'm sure it's well known to many players, but it wasn't something I thought about until the other day. Leveling without buffs vs having them is night and day. No medding, insane DS on tank merc, etc. Anyway, just a shout out for others not in the know!

This is known as the lag pile. It will be obvious by the large number of AFK players. On some servers it has moved from the guild lobby to the Plane of Knowledge near Franklin Teek.

The only issue I have with this is the fact there's no such thing as offline mode in guild lobby. So parking a toon there overnight and leaving the computer running just adds that much more to a power bill. Not to mention, the lag will eventually put enough strain on a graphics card to kill it.

There's nothing wrong with parking it in GL, but if you ask nicely you can usually get most of the buffs they cast within an hour.

That is the case on my server, Bristlebane (formerly Solusek Ro) and I hate it. I built yet another beefy system and that "lag pile" still brings it to its' knees ~ going as low as 15fps when I face it. Makes the simple act of mouse-turning in PoK an annoying endeavor if you're on that end of the zone.

When it was limited to the guild lobby, I didn't mind at all.

That said, to those that don't mind leaving their PC up to take advantage of this, just make sure you're in full-screen mode and tab out when you're not playing, to give your video card a break.

Question. If I get all buffed up -- including mercs and then log on, will my mercs still be buffed when I log back in? That's the main reason I don't want to log out.

Yes. Buffs don't wear off while logged out on anything. Suspending a merc also doesn't run the buffer timer down. Passive will though, even though the merc isn't doing anything.

EDIT: Even Lessons of the Devoted will stay on after logging out, so you have nearly a full 30 minutes of yesterdays running when you log back in and another 30 minutes ready to use when that one runs out.

Yther Ore.

Bristlebane (formerly Solusek Ro) for me as well. At least the lag pile isn't directly on the zone out point from the lobby any more. Moving it to the sidewalk and tree has helped the lag at least a little bit.

Lag pile sucks

Was not the lag issues addressed with the options to not see afk players, mercs, and pets. I believe they added the selection to the general options tab.

Rykard
Paladin of the 74 the season
Emarr

Or could easily make your own buff bots and have buffs on demand. Or better still, you could just play the hand your class deals, and not worry about being raid buffed all the time. It helps some sure, but not enough to warrant always waiting like that. I loathe the lagfest waiting in the GL, so much so that I bind in pok to avoid it entirely.

Would love to have a GH door that avoids GL, do those exist anywhere? I know I could add a weird gate of sorts to my house, and go through the real estate to GGH, but what about just plain GH, any options there?

I'll check that out, thanks for the heads-up. I know I can turn shadows off and then the pile doesn't hinder me, but I like my shadows. I'll look for that setting. No reason to see AFK players, etc, imo.

I have several 85th level clerics and a few 85th shammies to buff my own toons, on several servers and all of my accounts. No need to wait for buffs afk. Only time I leave up my characters is in the bazaar. But I might use offline trader next time I go to sell in baz.

I hate everybody who does this and everyone who buffs them.

Sounds reasonable.

It's one of the most annoying parts of the game currently. What's even worse are the people that decide they need to afk right next to Teek so as to not miss a buff by a few feet. Maybe people actually playing the game need to get to an npc to play?

My favorite are the people who grow their pets and park them on top of the bankers

/tar Frank?

This is interesting to me as I've never heard people complain about a congregation of players before. Is EQ such a solo/boxed game that people don't even want to see other players is PoK? That's essentially the only place you see anyone as it is.

You've never heard of people parking themselves, often while mounted, directly on top of a banker, npc, in a doorway etc, with the obvious intent of blocking other players? I want to play on your server!

Potsos76,

There have been a few threads specifically concerning the congestion in the guild lobby. During the previous threads, posters had made suggestions how to alleviate the guild lobby issues(lag, blockage of passage and npcs) resulting from mass gathering for buffs. The end results of those previous threads are now seen in the game as buffs do not time out in POK rather than just guild lobby. Additionally, The "hide" feature was also added under options, general. Again, the purpose of both of these changes were not to remove the social aspect of the game but to eliminate the lag and blocking of passages and npcs.

Rykard
Paladin of the 74th season
Emarr

I don't mind seeing other players, I simply don't wish to see all the ones that exist on a server at once. The afk hide helps some, but I'd prefer just a door straight from pok to Ghall, or how about a translocator who charges 1 gem per warp, but works without needing to be in guildhall. I avoid GL at all costs, rather do old fashioned traveling/CR than witness the tragedy of people wanting buffs.