The AFK timer is relatively (but understandably) short. Though, while I was simply looking up a guide for a vault, I was immediately booted for being AFK too long. So a very simple and easy suggestion; could we receive something like a pop-up warning 1 minute before the kick, that warns us we're about to be AFK-kicked?
Can we have an AFK timer warning?
@wolfmanbush to look something up on a guide because maybe they don't know everything about the game yet?
@uri5718 said in Can we have an AFK timer warning?:
@wolfmanbush to look something up on a guide because maybe they don't know everything about the game yet?
So you can look away from the guide to check for an in game alert but you can't press a button to reset the timer?
@wolfmanbush the problem is that the timer is so unusually short that you don't even realize you're already being afk-kicked.
@uri5718 said in Can we have an AFK timer warning?:
@wolfmanbush but then that's subjective.
Yeah and the game is based around playing not sitting around afk
People get busy and they have lives, cool. Their obligations and responsibilities and and unrelated attention focuses shouldn't negatively affect crews and the server environment with inactivity
Afkers shouldn't be catered to in a game that thrives with activity
@wolfmanbush You realize people also get booted for being afk by simply browsing an item store, right? I wasn't talking about people being AFK on a ship like you suddenly tirade about, but just anywhere, from being at an outpost to sitting on an island figuring out what to do next.
And even then, how does that dispute the possibility for implementing a normal AFK warning? You're replying to this feature with a mentality of "people that AFK on my ship are not welcome in my books", which isn't even anywhere near relevant to what I'm suggesting. I'm talking about people not being abruptly booted from the game without a warning, not about what they're doing is tolerable or not.
@uri5718 said in Can we have an AFK timer warning?:
@wolfmanbush You realize people also get booted for being afk by simply browsing an item store, right? I wasn't talking about people being AFK on a ship like you suddenly tirade about, but just anywhere, from being at an outpost to sitting on an island figuring out what to do next.
And even then, how does that dispute the possibility for implementing a normal AFK warning? You're replying to this feature with a mentality of "people that AFK on my ship are not welcome in my books", which isn't even anywhere near relevant to what I'm suggesting. I'm talking about people not being abruptly booted from the game without a warning, not about what they're doing is tolerable or not.
Does it matter why people afk? They aren't participating. They are taking up space on a server that was meant for some form of participation. Some form of activity that contributes to the entire environment.
If you get kicked for window shopping then join another game.
@wolfmanbush said in Can we have an AFK timer warning?:
If you get kicked for window shopping then join another game.
With the AFK timer being only 5 minutes, that's not rare to happen. Especially with the game not registering mouse input as activity, only actual movement using keyboard.
@uri5718
I'm sure it's more like 10 minutes, I'll go get another drink or nip to the loo fine, if you're browsing guides on your PC just alt-tab back and wiggle your mouse every now and then you should be okay, I worry more about not keeping an eye on my surroundings tbh, pesky Pirates sneaking up and all that!
@uri5718 said in Can we have an AFK timer warning?:
@wolfmanbush said in Can we have an AFK timer warning?:
If you get kicked for window shopping then join another game.
With the AFK timer being only 5 minutes, that's not rare to happen. Especially with the game not registering mouse input as activity, only actual movement using keyboard.
It's 10 minutes as far as I know
None of the scenarios you presented make much sense to me.
Wanna know 2 scenarios that seem to make more sense with this suggestion? People that don't mind sitting in a brig doing nothing for long amounts of time staring at the screen and people that would like to spend the time interacting with a chat while they have a timer safety net so they know when to re-tuck
Serving people that are not doing anything is enabling those that contribute to inactive servers in a game where active servers are very necessary.
@wagstr said in Can we have an AFK timer warning?:
@uri5718
I'm sure it's more like 10 minutes, I'll go get another drink or nip to the loo fine, if you're browsing guides on your PC just alt-tab back and wiggle your mouse every now and then you should be okay, I worry more about not keeping an eye on my surroundings tbh, pesky Pirates sneaking up and all that!
The timer was 10 minutes 2-ish years ago. For as long as I have been playing, it's only 5 minutes on PC/steam.
Also, mouse input doesn't reset the AFK timer, you need to actually move using keyboard.
@wolfmanbush none of these propositions/suggestions "serves" them, it doesn't help them AFK in any bit. It just prevents people that AREN'T AFK, just not having any keyboard input for a while, to not get autonomously booted.
@mrat13 said in Can we have an AFK timer warning?:
Wow, never seen so many people get triggered over a timer.....
It's not triggered to offer a substantive challenge to an idea. Good ideas survive the challenge and the people offering/supporting them should welcome it if they believe in it.
@wolfmanbush no, it's only meant, purposed and functioning to combat people that aren't (intentionally) AFKing to be stricken the same consequence. Especially in solo, you can't just return to your session. Your ship scuttles immediately. In multiplayer, you can just rejoin so long your partner is still there.
@uri5718 said in Can we have an AFK timer warning?:
@wagstr said in Can we have an AFK timer warning?:
@uri5718
I'm sure it's more like 10 minutes, I'll go get another drink or nip to the loo fine, if you're browsing guides on your PC just alt-tab back and wiggle your mouse every now and then you should be okay, I worry more about not keeping an eye on my surroundings tbh, pesky Pirates sneaking up and all that!
The timer was 10 minutes 2-ish years ago. For as long as I have been playing, it's only 5 minutes on PC/steam.
Also, mouse input doesn't reset the AFK timer, you need to actually move using keyboard.
Wrong and wrong unless you are tucking/emoting.
@wagstr I'm going to double-check that AFK timer in a bit because the occurrence I saw it happen absolutely wasn't 10 minutes as it states.
Also, it does happen when in interfaces, that's been the most recurring instance it happens all over the forums here and on Steam. In second, it also frequently happens during long straight journeys when people don't have much or anything at all to do.
@wagstr but repeating my point; the suggestion is just a harmless timer. It's not a justification for whether being AFK should be a thing, just an assistance for reminding people that are genuinely still at their game but have been standing still a long time, to not get booted. It has nothing to do with whether AFK people are bad, or trying to find justification or reason why someone's being a man down in a party, like how you're trying to approach/defy it. Because if a player is genuinely AFK, they're still going to get booted with the timer. It's a reminder/prompt, not a macro.
Not in all instances, standing still for a long time equates being away from your game. Just by googling about the AFK timer for sea of thieves, you could see plenty of search results where a person genuinely still in their game got booted by the game for being assumed 'away'. For example as mentioned, you could be in an interface during a long time, doing something else while you hold vision/guard, and even these conditions are treated as "afk".
The timer should prevent those instances to not get judged the same by nudging the player to show some activity before the game boots them. Especially when in single-player, this boot is punishing hard, as you lose all your progress and, unlike a crash/dc, cannot rejoin by relogging.
Literally got booted from my game last night when I was just shopping or looking through challenges/reputation/etc (I forget which). I guess I was taking a while but that's not a good enough reason for me to be booted given I'm still giving input to the game when navigating the menus/store but that's beside the point here. I'm just agreeing a timer popup/warning would've been nice.
@uri5718 said in Can we have an AFK timer warning?:
The AFK timer is relatively (but understandably) short. Though, while I was simply looking up a guide for a vault, I was immediately booted for being AFK too long. So a very simple and easy suggestion; could we receive something like a pop-up warning 1 minute before the kick, that warns us we're about to be AFK-kicked?
I think a one-minute warning sounds reasonable. Why not? In the meantime, here's a tip. When I need to go AFK for more than a few minutes, I set a timer on my watch for nine minutes. When the timer goes off I know I have one minute to get back. It works. But an on-screen warning seems like a good idea.
@thagoochiestman said in Can we have an AFK timer warning?:
@uri5718 There are times when it feels like people around here don't want anything about this game to change; so regardless of how reasonable, commonplace, or good a suggestion might be, it is almost always shot down.
The forums.....the forums never change.
@blackbeard-lufy @ThaGoochiestMan
No, it's that "why should I have to be responsible for myself, the game should do it for me" mindset..
@uri5718 said in Can we have an AFK timer warning?:
The timer was 10 minutes 2-ish years ago. For as long as I have been playing, it's only 5 minutes on PC/steam.
The timer is and always has been 10 minutes. Time it yourself.
@wagstr said in Can we have an AFK timer warning?:
@blackbeard-lufy @ThaGoochiestMan
No, it's that "why should I have to be responsible for myself, the game should do it for me" mindset..
give them their one minute timer
then stealth kick them 3 minutes later if they go afk again after a short moment of activity to circumvent the system that targets a lack of activity that obviously the developers are trying to combat
@wolfmanbush It always seemed to me the biggest reason for the AFK timers was for open crews where sometimes you have people that'll put themselves in a perpetual spin and go afk trying to collect on the loot turn in of everyone else. I don't think people alt tabbing to look at something else while sailing with a close group of friends or sailing solo was at the top of the concerns list.
@blackbeard-lufy said in Can we have an AFK timer warning?:
@wolfmanbush It always seemed to me the biggest reason for the AFK timers was for open crews where sometimes you have people that'll put themselves in a perpetual spin and go afk trying to collect on the loot turn in of everyone else. I don't think people alt tabbing to look at something else while sailing with a close group of friends or sailing solo was at the top of the concerns list.
The alt tab reason is incredibly weak to me. The idea that people can keep track of an alert but not press a button every couple of minutes just seems bizarre to me
Really all people have here is that they shop so much they get disconnected sitting there. People just wanna squat servers and there is no reason to enable them they bring nothing to the environment while squatting
@wolfmanbush To this point you've only been raging against people clogging your servers with being AFK. You're addressing actual idle people. I'm addressing a change for NON-IDLE people.
Can you please stop your condescending and sideline-destructive parade and actually address the feature/suggestion itself, rather than about whatever closely relatable ails you? Because that's a completely different subject, and is very easily answered; Don't want unreliable and unexpected behavior? Don't go with randoms.
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