AFK Timer and Login Queue Improvements

[Zandragal]

Hello,

StarVault I think you can significantly improve player experience with 2 changes.

1. Add numbering to the queue so people can visually see what position they are at when waiting in the queue. An estimated "time left in queue" would also be nice if that is technically feasible.

2. Add an ingame AFK timer that disconnects players after 15 or 30 minutes of inactivity.


The reason #2 is important is because 1000s of players are simply parking their character somewhere ingame and then going AFK to sleep overnight, leave the house, or whatever it is they need to do. They do this because they want to skip the queue times which I sort of understand, the queues are atrocious. But it's a negative feedback loop because people parking characters ingame that are not actively playing for 30+ minutes are hogging slots that could go to active players waiting in queue.

If a 15-30 minute ingame AFK timer were added, you would see much shorter queue times due to clearing out all of the "parked" characters.

This has been my TEDtalk.

GLHF

 

[The_Riddick]

1. It's been proven there is no actual queue position system in place here.

 

[Vagabond80]

They say the Q is a real Q but it’s obviously provably NOT a real Q. So they are wrong, if they are wrong why are they wrong?Likely they don’t know they are wrong or they are also being pedantic and Ignoring the real issue with the Q.

it’s broken. It may look like a Q in the programming and act like a Q from a certain angle of view, but it isn’t a real Q. Some people can get in some can’t. My entire clan is in the ‘can’t’ group. We haven’t been able to play since Thursday evening. I’m not trying to exaggerate the Q time I’m not trying to flame the devs. We can’t play period. I’ve logged probably 20 hours of Q time this weekend. 6 Friday night, 8 Saturday and probably 6 Sunday (Sunday I refreshed Q every 30 mins or so between matches of another game).

I was originally against a wipe. I’m quickly changing my mind. The initial land rush is almost over from what I can see of the online map database and the PvP fights posted there. That’s a very important fun dynamic part of the game we completely missed out on that isn’t coming back. Especially with the current siege system. They also need an afk timer until this is sorted. I’m no programmer but I’m confused as to why this hasn’t been added yet it seems such a simple fix

 

[Zandragal]

They also need an afk timer until this is sorted. I’m no programmer but I’m confused as to why this hasn’t been added yet it seems such a simple fix

It's a feature they should have developed during beta/alpha. Actually designing the functionality to decide what does or does not count as "activity" in game isn't all that simple, but it is certainly standard in any modern MMO.

It was an oversight on their part, and I hope they quickly fix it.

 

[Vagabond80]

It's a feature they should have developed during beta/alpha. Actually designing the functionality to decide what does or does not count as "activity" in game isn't all that simple, but it is certainly standard in any modern MMO.

It was an oversight on their part, and I hope they quickly fix it.

yes and no, the game was actually designed to allow people to afk macro overnight. They’ve never been against that since skills are east to get andit doesn’t affect gameplay or PvP. But using a macro means you aren’t AFK so why not kick? That I agree with, it was definitely not important before now

 

[Zandragal]

yes and no, the game was actually designed to allow people to afk macro overnight. They’ve never been against that since skills are east to get andit doesn’t affect gameplay or PvP. But using a macro means you aren’t AFK so why not kick? That I agree with, it was definitely not important before now

I think it's plain to see that it is very negatively affecting gameplay (queues) and frequently PvP (lag spikes). It's not even a question of whether it gives players an unfair advantage - as you said it doesn't really matter since skills are so easy to grind. It's just a basic technical decision to prioritize the resources for people actually playing the game instead of 5000 parked characters doing literally fuck-all.

 

[juneau54]

I think it's plain to see that it is very negatively affecting gameplay (queues) and frequently PvP (lag spikes). It's not even a question of whether it gives players an unfair advantage - as you said it doesn't really matter since skills are so easy to grind. It's just a basic technical decision to prioritize the resources for people actually playing the game instead of 5000 parked characters doing literally fuck-all.

What is this "gameplay" you speak of? I've spent the last 4 days waking up at 7 am or 8 am, logging into the queue, and never getting in by 10 pm. You mean there's a game somewhere? Sounds cool! Wish I could experience it.

 

[HappyPig]

If servers aren't ready for people, why not give everyone a 3 hour timer for playtime and a 10min forced break before their next log in?
At least you can force people to cycle in and out.

 

[finegamingconnoisseur]

They need to implement a system that periodically prompts the player who is performing very little activity (whether or not they are physically at their keyboard) to answer a series of simple random questions like 10 + 5 equals or type the name of their character. I remember some mmorpgs I've played in the past having this system in place to deter afk macro'ing.

If the player doesn't type an answer within one minute then the game could prompt them again. If still no response after another minute then they get kicked from the server. They could target only players who appear to be standing still and making small timed movements that suggest an afk macro is being used. Thus, players engaged in pvp or pve where actual player activity is involved won't need to be bothered.