Jailed for the first time since 2009

[Yoda]

it might be.. its sucky on all counts that we can't just do things without the need for such measures... The thing is there is an official way to appeal a decision or give your case its..

1. by being polite.
2. not using the forums for such things.
3. see #2
4. see #2 & 3 & loop till you understand

so Yeah lock&jail worked for 4 years before just fine aside from the odd person who couldn't let things go

[+Nyx]

Well it worked as far as y'all could tell. Behind the scenes it was much nastier. But, back then we had no real rules in place for how to treat the staff. Now that we do, at least there's advertised rules against mistreating the staff, and thus recourse for us in cases where we lock a thread and they go back to harassing us in game. I'll bring it up with the rest of the staff, see what +C wants to try.

[Annachie]

Much as I hate suggesting extra work for +C but ...


How about a moongate/teleporter in TC that takes you to a little room where an automated AFK type check happens. With a sign that this is what an AFK check looks like.

The one constant comment you see in these threads is that the first one catches people by surprise. Even to the point of a book that spells it out a bit and that you have to respond to to get out, a la Doom. Of course then there's the problem of making sure everyone goes there when they start.

[+Nyx]

It's a possibility, and might be something I can set up without any coding; but the problem is that it won't really stop any of the complaints because the point of the complaining isn't generally that they didn't know, it's that they didn't want to get caught/punished for failing. We will get just as many complaints of unjust jailing as always.

It could help some of the newer players get an idea what to expect, but how do we make sure they see it? We can't force a new player to go there, and all I could really do would be to add a one-time reward for an account under 1day clicking to say "yes I saw the afk check and understand". That will get abused and exploited almost as soon as it's in. I'm not against adding it just for the few mature people it'll actually help and as another layer of defense for the staff to have against all these excuses, I just don't know that it will really do anything noticeably positive in the long run.

[Jax2]

If I can add my 2 cents one last time -

New players, if I remember correctly, always start in TC. Many of them have no idea what to do, where to go...etc.

Wouldn't it be possible to simply start them in a different spot? What I am thinking takes a bit from what Annachie said, start them in a maze type area with a book like in doom - they read it, gives them some information on the shard, such as type [c hello to chat in public. This would move them to the next room.

Have another book that points them to the codex to read the rules and ask them to say something from the codex - rule 2, 2nd word, or something arbitrary like that.

Room 3, another book explaining afk checks, just the graphic, and an explanation of why it's flashing around them and what to look for and a warning what will happen if the miss it.

Once they've done all 3 rooms like that, they're given a small reward, maybe 1k gold or something and teleported to town center.

This could be very handy in the long run, will ensure they really did read the rules and they understand a few of the basics before even getting in the game. I am pretty sure player starting location can be changed relatively easy, can't it?

[Dyēus Phater]

The thing is that idea could be exploited too, whats to stop a person from making a bunch of new chars, gathering the gold and then deleting said chars to do it all over again.. at least for the "new starting spot" idea I support the idea of having it, but maybe not the reward, or just a one time reward per account.

[Maze Scarlethart]

The thing is that idea could be exploited too, whats to stop a person from making a bunch of new chars, gathering the gold and then deleting said chars to do it all over again.. at least for the "new starting spot" idea I support the idea of having it, but maybe not the reward, or just a one time reward per account.

It wouldn't be a great way to make gold, there is a 7 day waiting period before you can delete a character.

[lestatzero]

It's a possibility, and might be something I can set up without any coding; but the problem is that it won't really stop any of the complaints because the point of the complaining isn't generally that they didn't know, it's that they didn't want to get caught/punished for failing. We will get just as many complaints of unjust jailing as always.

It could help some of the newer players get an idea what to expect, but how do we make sure they see it? We can't force a new player to go there, and all I could really do would be to add a one-time reward for an account under 1day clicking to say "yes I saw the afk check and understand". That will get abused and exploited almost as soon as it's in. I'm not against adding it just for the few mature people it'll actually help and as another layer of defense for the staff to have against all these excuses, I just don't know that it will really do anything noticeably positive in the long run.

Personally I don't see the need to spend the time on something like this. Put a tiny fraps vid on the forums or something to display it and call it a day... Leaving something like that in game can lead to someone writing up a script to combat it if they can be exposed to it long enough, or as you said lead to other exploits and yet further work.

I have been afk checked a couple of times off and on over the years... Never once have i seen an issue / had an issue with it. 60 Seconds is more than enough IMO to pass a check....

Aside from some of the events where you can only attempt things once... Or those areas you cant recall out of; you can come back to just about anything you have to leave when going afk. For those things that you can only try once ... Guess what... Plan ahead ...

[lestatzero]

If I can add my 2 cents one last time -

New players, if I remember correctly, always start in TC. Many of them have no idea what to do, where to go...etc.

Wouldn't it be possible to simply start them in a different spot? What I am thinking takes a bit from what Annachie said, start them in a maze type area with a book like in doom - they read it, gives them some information on the shard, such as type [c hello to chat in public. This would move them to the next room.

Have another book that points them to the codex to read the rules and ask them to say something from the codex - rule 2, 2nd word, or something arbitrary like that.

Room 3, another book explaining afk checks, just the graphic, and an explanation of why it's flashing around them and what to look for and a warning what will happen if the miss it.

Once they've done all 3 rooms like that, they're given a small reward, maybe 1k gold or something and teleported to town center.

This could be very handy in the long run, will ensure they really did read the rules and they understand a few of the basics before even getting in the game. I am pretty sure player starting location can be changed relatively easy, can't it?

Setting up stuff like this would involve taking +C off of other much needed projects for other parts of the shard to do this ..

Then you have to look into several other factors when making it... Like Applying it to Only new accounts ... Forcing that first character to finish that run ( preventing new characters from being made until that point) ... and then adding code to place all subsequent characters from that acct into just something Like TC ...

Not to say that it can't be done ... Just the fact to do it right would involve edits to several different aspects of the shard ... Starting from the character creation to the time to actually make the in-game content ... Designate a specific area to run this ...

Suggestions are all well in good but many times it takes much more effort and behind the curtain tasks to make them happen.

[Dyēus Phater]

The thing is that idea could be exploited too, whats to stop a person from making a bunch of new chars, gathering the gold and then deleting said chars to do it all over again.. at least for the "new starting spot" idea I support the idea of having it, but maybe not the reward, or just a one time reward per account.

It wouldn't be a great way to make gold, there is a 7 day waiting period before you can delete a character.

even so, It still could be exploited.

[Miranda Ventrata]

I do like the idea of a tutorial of sorts, with the maze type area. Have as much good newbie info as possible in it. Such as what afk checks look like (both kinds). Plus other things, how to fight, enter and exit combat etc. The reward could be the skillball they currently get for free anyhow. So no extra rewards really, but just a different way of getting it rather than the old way of it just being in bank. I noticed when i started the first char got 10k, and any other chars i made got 1k. So, perhaps chars after the first, (the 1kers) have the option of skipping tutorial and getting their stuff. But the 10ker, the first one, doesn't have the option.

[Gaara]

Problem with a quick lock is then they either make another one, get jailed for that, and start even more drama; or they go on a high horse of "they locked the thread because they knew I was right and was gonna prove them wrong"

Seen this happen in another game, though the community there was pretty much as bad as it can get... I think the way this kind of stuff is handled here is a better way to approach.

[patrix]

This whole discussion is in itself a tutorial on AFK checks. Is there really any need for elaborate in game changes to cater for those who a. didn't read the codex, b. don't read the forums c. complain on forums.
I don't think so.

[+Nyx]

Yeah, I'm not really interested in spending my time on that sorta thing. I've already given details about the actual Mistvale city for new players to start in (the current Mistvale Safe Haven is based on the city) - it's already built and ready to go, and eventually when our current projects are done, +C and I will be working on making a shard tutorial for new players to go through upon account creation. Until then, there's nothing majorly wrong with the current system, and we already make allowances for newer players' first AFK checks, to help familiarize them. Going beyond that would just be an inefficient use of my time.

Instead, I'll be finishing up this pesky new patch, which benefits the entire shard, rather than just a small portion of folks with complaints about the afk system.

[Severus]

Concentrate on what your doing and there isnt a problem!..

"hey Mr Officer, I only crashed into that car because I needed to CHECK my phone".

"Sorry Mum, I didnt mean to fall into the LAKE, I just didnt see it..."

Might not of meant to but things happen, all avoided by paying attention.