Hot Button Topic: Being AFK in SoT

  • wkd1337
    Master
    Insider

    Seen this mentioned a few times around the forums, not sure if it's gotten it's own dedicated thread... so here we go!

    As we all know, people can go AFK in this game, set their hardware to have a constant input and never be disconnected... or... someone has fallen asleep and the mic picking up their snoring is enough to keep them connected.

    There are many reasons you might stumble across an AFK player in SoT... and regardless if they are cheesing or legitimately AFK I don't think it's any great offense... I personally have been inconvenienced by an AFK when I've randomly joined a galleon, but I never reported them!

    And I will admit, I myself have been AFK in SoT gasp both intentionally and unintentionally... and that's part of my point... you cant really ever prove intent and being AFK is not really a reportable offense.

    I would never use AFK cheese to boost myself to 50/50/50 but I have used it to get the end results of an Athenas voyage that I dumped hours into and couldn't finish as I had to go to bed and I have to work in the morning!

    So far I have had to go AFK on two Athenas voyages that was taking my crew way longer than it should to complete... the first time my crew, or some other crew, finished the voyage as I had gotten credit for it when I checked in the morning... and again this is after putting 2/3 hours of work into the voyage and just not having time to actively help finish.

    The second time I did not get the credit for the voyage, and did not have any voyages available when I checked in, in the morning. This was most likely due to the fact that the crew that I was trying to get this done with was complete troll. The only reason I even stuck around with them was to try and get credit... by the time I had joined the legendary voyage lobby they had already lost all of their merchant crates for the two merchant voyages... now the only way to complete them at that point is to let them expire (at that point it was 9 in game days which by the way is a long effing time). I basically, by myself, did the chest missions and the skull missions. By the time I had to bail on these guys there was 4 in game days left (it was 1 AM real time) and all they had left was two skeleton captains to kill. I'm pretty sure they got p****d that I went AFK and wasnt carrying them all to victory and just cancelled the voyage on me in true troll fashion... I'm not mad about that at all, just wanted to put these stories out there as examples to why going AFK isn't really that big of a deal... it might be cheesey and annoying but I for one dont think it's a reportable offense (looking at you random people that message me with the word "reported" when I wake up in the morning like I give a damn).

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  • Luci6396
    Captain
    Insider
    Founder

    I like the sleep emote

  • Admiral Tweedle
    Founder

    @wkd1337 Players also contend with:

    • Being instantly locked into a Brig and never let out.
    • The crew dances around you and throws vomit in your face.
    • The Galleon is then intentionally filled halfway with water so you keep drowning when you return.

    The only way to fix this shouldn't mean you have to exit the game and reenter.

  • Arch Fable

    If one goes AFK, maybe matchmaking ought to match them together after awhile instead of time out? When they get back, they can jump into another crew or stay in the one they currently occupy. This might save some momentum, if that's what the issue is. Of course this idea comes from the angle of joining an AFK player.

    Scratch the above.

    Matchmaking option: AFK, include idling players in the enlisting program while this option is marked.

    Finally learned how to strike text thorough.

  • Natsu v2
    Lord
    Insider
    Founder

    We've been doing 3 player galleons and leaving the fourth slot open lately while doing legendary voyages. I've noticed that over half the fourth players we get are AFK players. I really think there should be a vote to kick. I don't think too many people would malevolently use it to kick a hard-working random crewmate at the very end of a voyage.

  • SquallyCircle7
    Marauder

    sorry, i'm not giving afk a pass to protect the poor soul who fell asleep at the wheel, and fingers his keyboard in his sleep. it is a major problem for me, an average at best player, to have to contend forts and other crews with a galleon crew at 75%. it has made for some very frustrating gaming experiences. i don't care that you need to sleep/leave and want to keep your spot, or get your gold. this is not my problem, but you are making it mine.

  • wkd1337
    Master
    Insider

    @squallycircle7 said in Hot Button Topic: Being AFK in SoT:

    sorry, i'm not giving afk a pass to protect the poor soul who fell asleep at the wheel, and fingers his keyboard in his sleep. it is a major problem for me, an average at best player, to have to contend forts and other crews with a galleon crew at 75%. it has made for some very frustrating gaming experiences. i don't care that you need to sleep/leave and want to keep your spot, or get your gold. this is not my problem, but you are making it mine.

    Yeah but you guys joined MY Galleon... bringing it into danger and cannon fire and here I am just trying to sleep in the captains quarters! :P

  • duvelsuper2
    Marauder

    @wkd1337 said in Hot Button Topic: Being AFK in SoT:

    @squallycircle7 said in Hot Button Topic: Being AFK in SoT:

    sorry, i'm not giving afk a pass to protect the poor soul who fell asleep at the wheel, and fingers his keyboard in his sleep. it is a major problem for me, an average at best player, to have to contend forts and other crews with a galleon crew at 75%. it has made for some very frustrating gaming experiences. i don't care that you need to sleep/leave and want to keep your spot, or get your gold. this is not my problem, but you are making it mine.

    Yeah but you guys joined MY Galleon... bringing it into danger and cannon fire nd hear I am just trying to sleep in the captains quarters! :P

    Agreed. Its been said that 3 man crews are just as capable as a 4 man so having an afk in your crew should be no issue.

  • Arch Fable

    @natsu-v2 said in Hot Button Topic: Being AFK in SoT:

    We've been doing 3 player galleons and leaving the fourth slot open lately while doing legendary voyages. I've noticed that over half the fourth players we get are AFK players. I really think there should be a vote to kick. I don't think too many people would malevolently use it to kick a hard-working random crewmate at the very end of a voyage.

    No need. Prevention is better than mitigation here, although mitigation should count too. Another matchmaking option would solve the issue from this end. One that includes idling players in the enlisting program when marked. Leave it unmarked and only active players can join your crew. This won't solve rubberbanding though.

    Scratch the above. Don't think the devs can pull this off. Private crews is the way to go.

  • SquallyCircle7
    Marauder

    @duvelsuper2
    no, actually they can perform exactly 75% of the tasks a full crew can :) please don't defend afk'ers just because you personally can do contested forts with only 2 teammates. they may not affect your enjoyment of the game, but they do for me.

  • wkd1337
    Master
    Insider

    I'm excited for private lobbies just like everyone else. My whole point to this thread is there still will be people going AFK in public lobbies (and private, probably) and there really isn't anything actually bad about that. It sucks, it's annoying, it's cheesy... but it's not actually wrong. Being AFK isn't/shouldn't be a reportable offense as per some of the things I listed in my original post.

  • Scrap Logic

    AFK should be used to take a p**s or grab a drink or tuck your kids in. 10 minutes max is AFK. Anything longer is being an a55hat. This is like life. You do 75% of the work, you do not deserve 100% of the reward. Hell, if going AFK to collect something you didn’t finish is the way it should be; then why not apply it to active forts? If you kill 60% of the waves but don’t finish to the key, then the devs should give you 60% of the loot.

  • wkd1337
    Master
    Insider

    @scrap-logic said in Hot Button Topic: Being AFK in SoT:

    AFK should be used to take a p**s or grab a drink or tuck your kids in. 10 minutes max is AFK. Anything longer is being an a55hat. This is like life. You do 75% of the work, you do not deserve 100% of the reward. Hell, if going AFK to collect something you didn’t finish is the way it should be; then why not apply it to active forts? If you kill 60% of the waves but don’t finish to the key, then the devs should give you 60% of the loot.

    So I don't get what you mean by the devs giving me loot but if all I'm going to take out of your statement is that going AFK for long stretches of time is cheesy, or as you call it "a55hat" I would agree. But what I'm saying is what kind of punitive action would you expect against something like this? My argument that it doesn't warrant any, and that mechanics could be added to the game to deter this kind of behavior. I only did it because I could, not because I particularly enjoy doing so, or want to continue to do it over and over again.

  • Scrap Logic

    @wkd1337 you stated that you go AFK to collect rewards if the team finishes the voyage. That is being an a55hat. If you cannot finish, for whatever reason, then you don’t collect.

    As for punitive measures, a kick option will seriously screw ransoms who land on 3 man crew teams. The same groups that insta brig will start kicking on the way to the outpost. So, for now, if someone goes AFK for an extended period, the only option is to report. The AFK’er is dead weight taking up a spot an active player could use to support the mission. And it fits the reporting profile of disrupting the multiplayer aspect of the game.

  • Admiral RRRSole

    I'm getting old and need a two minute toilet break pretty often, especially since I play the game in the evening after a few afternoon beers, a few more beers and then some beer followed by a coffee. :o)
    I do wait for a quiet time with a clear horizon before announcing my brief departure from the game for a few shakes.

    What gets my goat up is the random streamer who would rather answer their freakin' stream chat than help out in any way, shape or form.
    They aren't exactly afk and simply turn a little every so often so as not to be kicked.
    Stop boasting to your audience of how good you are at playing the game and reaching higher reps. Bloody well earn it!

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