Will we ever be able to see who is seeking for party and is afk or not?

[robinkle]

Will we ever be able to see who is seeking afk or not?

If the flag could switch to a different color (blue?) after a certain amount of time where the player havent typed or moved, we could see who's afk or not, and it would make it simpler to make parties, with less frustration.

For those who arent playing but still are able to see a tell, could use their special flag so it wont become "blue."

[LyonheartLakshmi]

What if I decide to seek while I'm watching TV, browsing through a catalog, or playing my PSP, while at the same time keeping an eye on the screen from time to time to catch /tells? With the audible chime that comes with new /tells, a player can easily not do anything active in the game but still be paying enough attention to respond to an invitation.

Am I going to be forced to make a manual input to the game once every 5, 10, or 15 minutes just to avoid having the game mark me as AFK? Perhaps you'd suggest a configuration on the timer, so I can bump it up to 30 minutes. But if you give the players that option, doesn't that just defeat the purpose of the suggested feature?

The game already comes with a "log me out if I'm idle for X amount of time" feature. Most players who spend large amounts of time in this game turn this off completely. This AFK flag feature sounds like it will fall into the same pattern. It'll either trade an old source of frustration for a new one, or simply become self-defeating.

[robinkle]

What if I decide to seek while I'm watching TV, browsing through a catalog, or playing my PSP, while at the same time keeping an eye on the screen from time to time to catch /tells? With the audible chime that comes with new /tells, a player can easily not do anything active in the game but still be paying enough attention to respond to an invitation.

Am I going to be forced to make a manual input to the game once every 5, 10, or 15 minutes just to avoid having the game mark me as AFK? Perhaps you'd suggest a configuration on the timer, so I can bump it up to 30 minutes. But if you give the players that option, doesn't that just defeat the purpose of the suggested feature?

The game already comes with a "log me out if I'm idle for X amount of time" feature. Most players who spend large amounts of time in this game turn this off completely. This AFK flag feature sounds like it will fall into the same pattern. It'll either trade an old source of frustration for a new one, or simply become self-defeating.

" For those who arent playing but still are able to see a tell, could use their special flag so it wont become "blue.""

Make sure you read the whole post.

This AFK flag feature sounds like it will fall into the same pattern. It'll either trade an old source of frustration for a new one, or simply become self-defeating

Not if its made in a way that ppl need to turn it on for each time they put up the flag.

[Raydeus]

No thanks, I rather be able to pretent I'm AFK if I get an invite from a rank 2 job55/sub15.

"I know you are there because your flag hasn't changed color" would mess with that.

[robinkle]

No thanks, I rather be able to pretent I'm AFK if I get an invite from a rank 2 job55/sub15.

"I know you are there because your flag hasn't changed color" would mess with that.

Can't you say no to invites that comes from Rank 2's?

What I post is just an idea. If everyone would feel like telling a better way of making my idea better, please do so.

[Mhurron]

If everyone would feel like telling a better way of making my idea better, please do so.

Send /tells. If they respond you know they're there, if not, move on to someone else.

[robinkle]

Send /tells. If they respond you know they're there, if not, move on to someone else.

Whats best? What would take less time?. see a color that tells you if the person is afk or not. or send a tell to everyone who seeks?

[Jei]

If seeking AFK means no tell, who's gonna do it...?

[Hantz]

You're going to send them tells anyway if you're interested in picking them up.

[robinkle]

If seeking AFK means no tell, who's gonna do it...?

I wish I understood what you ment.

I mean. as a party starter you would like to avoid that players are seeking afk, or you would like today, spend time looking for a member at 5/6. Because you had a intersting setup seeking, but 1 was afk.

If you can see that ppl is active, you could start a party without any trouble.
It happens alot of times thay players comment "Why is ppl seeking afk?!"
My point is to solve that.

Even knowing startig a party would go smooth, it might encourage more players to start parties.

[Sevv]

In theory it is a great idea, but it just wouldn't work.

[robinkle]

In theory it is a great idea, but it just wouldn't work.

Can I ask you to explain why it wont work?
I apreciate that you like the idea :)

[Sevv]

Can I ask you to explain why it wont work.
I apreciate that you like the idea :)

Like many have said, If we are seeking we are close by to our computers/tvs. With the add of the chime tell feature I can (Play wii/watch tv/work/clean/etc) and not miss a single invite.

So let us say they add this feature and it is an automatic thing that happens, I can still be waiting on my invite and potentionally miss an invite by waiting too long and not cetching the time.

And if it is a toggle by the player, the players who usually tend to be the problem will not turn it on. And people will still send them tells, hell my /seacom right now is
* yellow (not seeking)
75 {Job}: {Warrior}, {Ninja}, {Dragoon}
{World}: O {Runic Portal} 6/6
{Away} {Work} 6:30~6:00 EST

I will still have 3-4 pt invites from the day, every time I get home.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Make sure you read the whole post.

He did, your idea just wasn't good.

Honestly, a bigger concern for me is the jobs that aren't getting invites at all.

There's a chime for /tells now, I never deactivate it. Right now, if I was seeking on my COR, I could hear the chime and come back to respond. Its not my problem if somone else isn't informed that it exists on doesn't activate it. Send a tell and you will know if somone is AFK or not.

[KingOfZeal]

It won't work for many of the reasons that Lyon said in his post: I may not be actively playing, but I'm keeping an eye (or ear) out for that ring. If I'm doing something else, like for example, watching TV on the other side of my room, I'm not going to get up every (insert frequency here) just so my flag doesn't get changed. It is self-defeating most of the time.

And, in regard to

For those who arent playing but still are able to see a tell, could use their special flag so it wont become "blue."

...what would be the point of having a whole new flag then? People would use this one and then the problem would stay the same. On top of this, most people who DO AFK seek (and don't listen for tells and such) aren't necessarily gone for a long period of time -- they are afk for a reason, like going to the bathroom, running an errand, that sort of thing.

Can't you say no to invites that comes from Rank 2's?

What I post is just an idea. If everyone would feel like telling a better way of making my idea better, please do so.

I can tell you have never experienced these kinds of people, of you wouldn't have asked this. No, 3/4 of the time you can't. You know why? Because then they start to harass you. Not to the point of being able to get a GM called on you though. In really bad cases, they'll spread rumors/lies about you.

Case in point: on my Bard search comment, I have as the last line "{Caedarva Mire} {No thanks!}". The other day, I received a tell from somebody asking why I say that. I replied saying that it's always overcamped and I just hate it anyway. They then asked "well, we're going out there, interested?"

Needless to say, I said no. About 10-15 minutes later, I get another tell from this guy:
"xxx>> your a baby
>>xxx : no, I have standards -.-
xxx>> dumb ones"

I soon found my blacklist expanded by one entry (I do have this conversation in logs, by the way, if anybody is interested).

I (and many others) find, that in many cases like that, it's easier to ignore people like that than to bother with them.


Also, in regard to the last point in that quoted post, yes, you did suggest an idea. However, many more of us have posted replies on how this isn't or won't work. Please be graceful and accept the fact that it won't work, and isn't really a good idea in practice.