AFK Miners

[Utumno]

I do rarely come across afk mining individuals.. However the past week I've been noticing one annoying pest in the Felucca Passage.

I will not name his name for the fact it's probably against the RoC. I have over and over again asked it this person was there and waited for about 10 mins and nothing.. they are on an endless loop inside the passage.. And its really making me angry that he has been getting away with it for so long.

I get checks all the time but im always there. He stealths around most of the time. But I guess someone had high reveal and ran over him. Hes running a script that makes his shoves (Im assuming) and then he auto scripts... hey I do it too but im always there.. Well I guess CP's mining radar isnt exactly Fully auto but its fast.

Can something be done about this. Ive already paged in game about this. But I would like to point it out in fact to everyone and maybe make a notion to have *Maybe* some annoying little monsters in this dungeon? to keep out the Afkers hehe.. just a thought...

Thank you all for hearing me rant, yea i know blah blah lol.. I never complain but this is one of my pet peaves.

[Xavian]

If I'm not mistaken, AFK checks on mining are use based. Just like lumberjacking. Thus, it wouldn't matter if he was stealthing or not, he would still get the checks. Also when staff does their rounds they can see him whether he is hidden or not, so they would/could check him as well. Unless he has a script that allows him to complete the AFK checks when he isn't at the computer, I doubt he is AFK. I remember it being said by staff at some point that players have no responsibility to answer to other players. IE, you could follow me around while I level, mine or chop wood and I never have to answer you, as long as I answer the programmed AFK checks or staff checks. Maybe he just doesn't want to talk to you. Maybe he has you on ignore. Who knows

[Utumno]

If I'm not mistaken, AFK checks on mining are use based. Just like lumberjacking. Thus, it wouldn't matter if he was stealthing or not, he would still get the checks. Also when staff does their rounds they can see him whether he is hidden or not, so they would/could check him as well. Unless he has a script that allows him to complete the AFK checks when he isn't at the computer, I doubt he is AFK. I remember it being said by staff at some point that players have no responsibility to answer to other players. IE, you could follow me around while I level, mine or chop wood and I never have to answer you, as long as I answer the programmed AFK checks or staff checks. Maybe he just doesn't want to talk to you. Maybe he has you on ignore. Who knows

Or maybe he's you lol.. just kidding

Yea that sounds a bit sinister to me.. The odds are and the time was spent to see if he was there. Pictures taken and a long week of his silent shovel hitting rock while I mine.

No he doesnt have to talk to me... But Its also very stated that we as players need to get proof and I have some. My analogy to your assurance that this idividual is not an afk miner is like me having the keys to a stolen car thats in my garage with mud tracks stretched all the way from the field to my garage, but Nooo It could not of been me. I was here the whole time haha!

btw you really had me lost after "Thus"

[jareck]

I remember how the AFK miners from china would destroy the economy on the OSI shards, maybe someone should look into this and make sure this guy isnt AFK mining.

Have a good day!

[Xorn]

Hi there, annoying pest reporting in.
Yes, I am the one mining in Felucca passage.

As the rule 4c states "When performing the following activities, you must not be away from keyboard: killing spawn (regular or champions), leveling weapons, fishing, gathering ore/wood/leather/wool/plants, or anything else that gains profit.".

At any time while mining I am present at the computer. I have two monitors and while miner is working on one screen, I work, play some other game, watch movies or do something else on other screen. I pay attention only to CAPTCHA request and since this place has many people running through it I don't check every one of them to see if they have something to say to me.

PS. None of my scripts can complete AFK check and I'm not planning to make it.

[+Nyx]

The person in question was caught undeniably, horribly AFK earlier today and spoken to regarding the rules. Hopefully it will be a non-issue in the future.

[Xorn]

Yes, I gave this script to one other person. I talked to him and said that when AFK check comes up, he has 5 minutes to fill it. From what he said, the check came up at the moment he was smoking and it was less than 5 minutes.

Well, we both agreed that even if he was away for 1 minute, it still counts as being AFK, so punishment was deserved. I'm still curious about the rules. What exactly are punishments for running AFK macros and do they get worse if caught repeatedly? I can read in rules what I'm not supposed to do but I can't find what will I get for breaking them.

[+Nyx]

Heh, the person I'm speaking of was afk for over 30 minutes before they noticed they'd been moved to jail. But the rules are defined in the codex:

While performing actions listed under Codex rule 4.c. you need to be at the keyboard at all times.

When gathering resources: we understand short periods of absence, such as bathroom breaks or answering the door. When a staff member comes to check you, you should reply in overhead chat immediatelly. If do not reply, you will be temporarily moved to jail. When moved to jail, you still have 10 minutes to get out without any penalty.

1st violation: You will be warned.
2nd violation: You will receive a 24 hour jail and of your resources/weapon will be impounded for one week.
3rd violation: You will receive a 5 day jail and your resources/weapon will be impounded for 3 weeks.
4th violation and further violations will be treated as a heavy violation, resulting in temporary or permanent account ban.

Once you are already in jail, if you show your presence by sending a help request (paging staff) within 5 minutes of coming to jail, the penalty (jail time and item impounding) is reduced by half. For example in the case of a 2nd violation, it would be 12 hours jail and 3.5 days item impounding.

[Utumno]

[Xavian]

Resources = Raw materials AND keys? Yes?

[Tael]

UO being an old game, some of the people who play it are old. I can't mine for long manually, and I can code, so I have a mining script that I enjoyed writing myself from scratch. I understand the rules, and I'm pretty diligent in following them, but sometimes I fall asleep in my chair. It happens, oh, once or twice a year.

It's nice to know that my fellow players would be happy to see me looted, banned, or whatever for being such an imperfect human being.

I have no interest in defending those who have no regard for the rules, but I also have no time for wannabe cops who think they deserve a response every time they yell at a miner. (My habit is to ignore such behavior, unless the person needs help with something.) I don't see the appeal of rampant self-righteousness, but the right thing to do if you're offended is to page staff and let them deal with it. I don't see what further chest-thumping accomplishes.

The AFK system works pretty well, because pretty much every time I fall asleep, I get jailed and blocked from mining for some period of time. I'm okay with that, and I'm not complaining. Let me be an inspiration to others who could probably afford to complain less themselves.

[aaron]

I dont think its about self rightousness or wanna be cops. As said by the GM's, afk'ers are rampant and a serious problem. Too often I'll be manually leveling a weapon when someone recalls in, casts all their automatic buff spells then kills everything and recalls out. Or I will be searching vendors for arrows and someone recalls in and buys them all right before me and disappears, only for it to happen again at the next npc. They affect your enjoyment.

I don't mine often but the Fel passage isn't that big and it would probably piss me off if the veins were mined dry by someone who appears to be afk and won't respond to you. Personally I don't even take a leak without recalling to my house first and afk'ing there.

[Agony]

I have no interest in defending those who have no regard for the rules, but I also have no time for wannabe cops who think they deserve a response every time they yell at a miner.

I think it has more to do with people who are walked all over by these "sleeping" people. I page all the time when someone who is illegally afk'ing doesn't respond to me when I address them, and I could care less about cops
It sounds to me like maybe you got caught afk'ing and have a problem with the authority involved.. Maybe a little bit contemptuous toward the people who page on you while you are asleep?
I fell asleep at the wheel once and woke up in jail.. About a year ago. Simple solution to that.. I drink more coffee so I don't have to give more fake lame excuses as to why I was caught afk'ing.

[Asmodean]

It's nice to know that my fellow players would be happy to see me looted, banned, or whatever for being such an imperfect human being.

It's not about punishing you for being an imperfect human being. Its about doing something against the rules more than once.

I get it that not everybody can be at the keyboard 100% of the time every time. Spilled drinks, kids screaming, sleep... it happens. The issue becomes where do you draw the line, and punish those deserving of punishment, and be lenient on those who really did just happen to fall asleep for a minute or two?

Unfortunately, since there is no way to reliably differentiate between the two, you have to take the stance that everybody is trying to cheat the system. It just doesn't work the other way unless you want even more rampant cheating.

So sorry you fall asleep when you play UO. Maybe you should play earlier in the day, or as someone else suggested have some caffeine. Or here's another idea. Instead of playing another game or watching TV on a 2nd monitor/computer, why don't you actually play the game you are scripting? and eliminate the whining, and excuses all together. After all, if you are actually playing the game, you won't have to worry as much about being caught afk since you're there n all....

Not picking on any one in particular, but it really doesn't matter in the end if you fell asleep mining, or mine afk on purpose. The end result is the same (more ingots in your bank), and should be punished accordingly. Everyone deserves one slap on the wrist, but after that... multiple offenses (intentional or not) deserve harsher penalties.

[Tael]

Too often I'll be manually leveling a weapon when someone recalls in, casts all their automatic buff spells then kills everything and recalls out. Or I will be searching vendors for arrows and someone recalls in and buys them all right before me and disappears, only for it to happen again at the next npc. They affect your enjoyment.

If you strongly believe that someone is farming AFK, by all means report them to shard staff. Everyone must abide by the rules, and I didn't suggest otherwise.