Guild Wars 2

This is not the old Lion’s Arch people should be afking in. seeing so many people just collecting rewards and not helping should get you banned from the game or at the very least suspension.

This in my opinion is exploiting an event meant for a whole zone of people.

if it cant get you banned or suspended then anet should get the lasers to one shot anyone not moving for more than 30 secs.

Edit: Did not see another topic about this at first as AFK was not in title feel free to merge.

Dear AN why there is no autokick players afking on the Evacuate LA event.

Players are afk using auto click programs.

if they’re doing something without touching their keyboard, that’s botting. You can report for that.

Mirta.5029:

if they’re doing something without touching their keyboard, that’s botting. You can report for that.

He is talking about afk people-that’s not a reportable offense.

Windwalker.2047:

He is talking about afk people-that’s not a reportable offense.

“Players are afk using auto click programs.”

That sounds like a bot. Afk normally means not doing anything.

Mirta.5029:

Windwalker.2047:

He is talking about afk people-that’s not a reportable offense.

“Players are afk using auto click programs.”

That sounds like a bot. Afk normally means not doing anything.

OP hasn’t provided any evidence that botting was being done. He’s just saying that to stir up sentiment for his moral outrage over AFK leeching which is clear from the tone of his post. Note how he isn’t complaining that these people are dead weight in a full instance (assuming, since that’s the only time it would matter), he’s complaining merely because they are getting free stuff and that’s the part that really bothers him.

Filing false reports can also get you banned btw.

But you do get ‘kicked’ (logged out) if you AFK too long.

that’s why you just check back and move around a little and go “AFK” again. Most people really are not away from keyboard they just are not doing anything. Maybe looking at something else. I think what OP wants is to kick people who get group effort rewards for doing nothing to help, and while I write this I am “AFK” getting group effort rewards (No Bots)

Midnight Gypsy.9360:

that’s why you just check back and move around a little and go “AFK” again. Most people really are not away from keyboard they just are not doing anything. Maybe looking at something else. I think what OP wants is to kick people who get group effort rewards for doing nothing to help, and while I write this I am “AFK” getting group effort rewards (No Bots)

Lol you so evil

Leablo.2651:

OP hasn’t provided any evidence that botting was being done. He’s just saying that to stir up sentiment for his moral outrage over AFK leeching which is clear from the tone of his post. Note how he isn’t complaining that these people are dead weight in a full instance (assuming, since that’s the only time it would matter), he’s complaining merely because they are getting free stuff and that’s the part that really bothers him.

Filing false reports can also get you banned btw.

well I’ll let the OP gamble. After all he is sure that they’re using a click program and ain’t actually clicking.

Anyone I saw AFK usually ended up dead….there did not seem to be many safe spots in LA….

Aerinndis.2730:

Anyone I saw AFK usually ended up dead….there did not seem to be many safe spots in LA….

Yes sometimes mobs will run up to the spawn points. I find that caves in waterfalls are a safe spot, or if you can get up on some rocks where you wont argo mobs.

Hehe, I don’t AFK in there… too busy collecting survivors and loot baggies.

You can go afk 60min in there without getting kicked. I think people can go afk wherever they like in PVE, its just a design fault if they get rewards for doing nothing.

I do think the afk-timer should be limited to 5 minutes (including the 1 minute warning). Every action to bypass this auto-kick would be an exploit.

Today, I was rescueing citizens near the old TP. at the small path between the gendarran fields exit and the tp-area there was someone just standing whil I was solo killing the vet and adds that spawn there from time to time. So I decided to pull it to them. He moved away without doing anything within 20 seconds. He moved again to avoid combat till when the cycle was over he was at the back end of the TP.

I find this behaviour very bad. But it is not bannable. he was there and he was anticipating and pressing keys. so he was playing the game and rules are rules, so despite my personal opinion bout it, he is not wrong.

Whenever, people are using botting software or glitches to avoid being kicked they should be suspended for exploiting/botting asap. Given the fact that afk-ing is allready disgusting (but allowed) I would vote for a suspension of several weeks for the first offense (till this living story is over).

oh relax, they’re getting simple rewards. not every instance reaches the 1,200 mark. they barely reach 900.

Vikkela.7261:

But you do get ‘kicked’ (logged out) if you AFK too long.

You won’t autokick within the timespan of the event

Klonex.4562:

oh relax, they’re getting simple rewards. not every instance reaches the 1,200 mark. they barely reach 900.

i lost the last two with 1100. So yea AFKers griefed us.

Easy to fix this just add a miasma at the zone outs WPs where people always AFK. If you stand in it you get stacks and then die. If u die with a certain amount of stacks it ports you out.

Klonex.4562:

oh relax, they’re getting simple rewards. not every instance reaches the 1,200 mark. they barely reach 900.

Well….it’s hard not to feel that the afkers are part of the reason why it doesn’t make 1200 so I empathize with the OPs frustration. Running about trying to rescue npcs while 3 coms stack on the doly escort event for the entire instance and others stand around afk for most of it are things that can disappoint.

Perhaps one day GW2 will have rewards for group successes that also reward individual efforts towards those goals. The appearance of rewarding non zerging tactics is sadly over shadowed by the basic fact that the zerging rewards are above and beyond what could be gained by focusing on those group goals.

Too late now, but a possible solution might be that for people to be awarded such rewards they would need to participate. In this case they would at least need to encourage some survivors before it hits 100-300-600-900-1200. This would ensure that people who just afk the entire event get nothing and those that actively search for survivors (which is the goal for this event) get the bags as a reward for saving them.

And the people who only want to do the other events still get the regular alliance bags but not the ‘save the citizen’ bags.

This is what you get with open world content. People are lazy, selfish creatures. If you want proper organization, you need an instance where someone can really be in charge with powers to kick afkers, griefers, etc. Everyone shoots this down though, crying elitism. Well which one do you want? You can’t have it both ways.

Anet would have to create a new afk detection system which uses a shorter time interval. Right now I think it’s like 10 minutes or something which is like half of the event. They can’t just kick anyone who is motionless for 30 seconds. What if people need to pee? What if their hamster explodes? Life happens outside the game too. Also, it’s not like people can’t set up an auto-click script to fool afk detection systems. People have been doing that in mmos for years.

I won’t deny there are probably people deliberately afking the entire event just for rewards. People are lazy, selfish creatures. If you want proper organization, you need some kind of instance with someone who can actually lead with powers to kick afkers, griefers, etc. Every time someone suggests instanced raids, however, everyone shoots it down crying elitism. Well, which one do you want? Randoms ruining open world with no control whatsoever? Or full control with the possibility that a few raid leaders are jerks, but that you can go find another raid?

Inb4 gear checks. Raids in GW2 can have exactly the same gear requirements as everything else in the game, which is to say freaking exotics you practically get for free from Orr temples.

mercury ranique.2170:

Given the fact that afk-ing is allready disgusting (but allowed) I would vote for a suspension of several weeks for the first offense (till this living story is over).

“Since you were following the law, the rest of us are just going to agree to put you in jail.”

This is some real third world democracy kitten right here. I guess disgust is a relative thing. Thankfully, I don’t think Anet has any intention of doing anything this monumentally stupid.

Dabrixmgp.4758:

Klonex.4562:

oh relax, they’re getting simple rewards. not every instance reaches the 1,200 mark. they barely reach 900.

i lost the last two with 1100. So yea AFKers griefed us.

Easy to fix this just add a miasma at the zone outs WPs where people always AFK. If you stand in it you get stacks and then die. If u die with a certain amount of stacks it ports you out.

there can’t be that many people afk’ing enough to cause your server to lose the 100 that you needed. zergs usually cause the fail (well, the majority of them anyway) the majority of people are more focused with farming bags instead of saving the civilians.

Maybe people should be able to choose “afk during event” as a report option. That way people who routinely afk can be dealt with by the same Anet moderators that deal with bots and other offenders. Someone with 10 afk reports might get away with it, but someone with 900 afk reports can get suspended.

Also maybe they could revamp the commander system to include the power to “flag” someone as afk which would then kick them to character select after 60 seconds if they remain inactive. Not a suspension, or a ban, just disconnected for truly being afk after being flagged as such.

So, how would you like it if a whole guild ran by and reported you as AFK just to get you kicked the Character Select?

GW1 leech report was easier to use since it was only usable against your own team and the slot would not refill. Here it could lead to serious trouble in an open world system.

No one should need to afk in Lion’s Arch now. If anet creates a 10 minute time out like in wvw and kicks people to the character selection screen after 10 minutes of afk, that will kick most afk players. But it really should be 5 minutes since the LA event isn’t that long. If people put in the effort to run macros or auto click programs to avoid afk kick then well, give them their bags for that effort.

Maybe people should get over themselves and learn to mind their own business.

Believe whatever you want, but even twenty people AFKing in LA won’t ruin the event for you as long as the rest of them are spread out doing what they need to do

I go out of my way some days to find afkers, been finding people afk swimming/running in the jumping puzzles and in the underwater cave deep below the city. Leeching bags is what they do.

There shouldn’t be any loot for standing around. The real problem here isn’t that people are afk, the problem is that they are rewarded for it. It’s actually encouraging that kind of behaviour.

There’s also little sense in talking reason to those people, because if they had that in them they’d wait for 100 people rescued and then join a new overflow. That way you’ they’d get at least twice the amount of bags they currently do for standing around.

Ravion Hawk.4736:

So, how would you like it if a whole guild ran by and reported you as AFK just to get you kicked the Character Select?

GW1 leech report was easier to use since it was only usable against your own team and the slot would not refill. Here it could lead to serious trouble in an open world system.

The system I’m suggesting means you would be “flagged” by a single commander as afk, after which a 60 second timer starts and if you remain inactive, you go to character select. You can log back in when you stop being afk. Your account isn’t banned. If you move your character or do something before the 60 second timer runs out, the timer goes away, you don’t get kicked, and you continue playing as normal. You wouldn’t have any actual disruption whatsoever if you are actively playing.

That’s the commander system revamp.

The other system is separate:

If a whole guild came by and right click → report afk, you would get a bunch of reports against you, and an Anet moderator would be notified of it. The moderator would review the case and make a judgement on whether or not you were actually inactive for a significant period of time. If you were, then you get a temporary account suspension. It would work exactly the same way as reports for botting and gold selling. A guild can’t simply get an account banned by mass-reporting someone. Anet has to review the reports. By the way, that’s why bots don’t magically disappear the instant you report them. That’s why it takes time for those things. The purpose of this system is to deal with repeat offenders; people who afk all the time in multiple events over the course of days, week,s or months.

My suggestion is a two-fold system. One for the short term, and one for the long term.

Windwalker.2047:

Mirta.5029:

if they’re doing something without touching their keyboard, that’s botting. You can report for that.

He is talking about afk people-that’s not a reportable offense.

its griefing. i have missed 1200 by less than 100 several times. Easily would have had a few of them if not for 6-7 AFKers. They are purposely trying to ruin part of the event (Getting 1200 rescues) so they are griefing which can be reported.

And how can you prove whether or not that person had to run and answer the phone for a VERY important call instead of going “HA, I’ma totally kittening ruin the event for everybody by afking somehow.”

Easy fix, make it to where you have to participate to get the rewards….or ban the people that are repeatedly doing it.

They are actually banning people who stay afk for mor than 5 min.

Cant be done, some people are just born that lame so let them be.

That’s funny because I went AFK to use the rest room, come back, and find myself dead because someone brought a bunch of mobs to kill me. Now I understand if the person is AFK the entirety of the LA event but WTF…. Not everyone that AFKs is griefing or AFKing on purpose give me a break.

Leeching in this circumstance is not griefing – if they were actually trying to make you fail it would be (albeit incredibly hard to prove), but it helps them if you make 1200 as well. They just don’t want to work for it.

Sirius.4510:

Leeching in this circumstance is not griefing – if they were actually trying to make you fail it would be (albeit incredibly hard to prove), but it helps them if you make 1200 as well. They just don’t want to work for it.

Sorry, it IS griefing, or more specifically, leeching which was a reportable offense in GW1 and should be here as well. The devs have now starting kicking and banning these afkers now so hopefully having a 72 hour timeout (should be longer IMHO) will teach them a lesson.
In LA this evening, I counted 28 afkers at a single gate! It’s out of hand, so I fully support having these leechers suspended. If you have to leave to do something else, just waypoint out so another player who actually wants to PLAY the game can take your place. Why should a whole server suffer because a hand full of players want to be lazy and leech off of the efforts of everyone else?

AFKers should not be getting any rewards, simple. They had a similar system in the Scarlet Invasion events, you don’t take part you don’t get rewards. Of course they only had a reward at the end so it’s probably a bit more difficult to implement.

Aveneo.2068:

Too late now, but a possible solution might be that for people to be awarded such rewards they would need to participate. In this case they would at least need to encourage some survivors before it hits 100-300-600-900-1200. This would ensure that people who just afk the entire event get nothing and those that actively search for survivors (which is the goal for this event) get the bags as a reward for saving them.

Too late for this one yes but that makes perfect sense as a philosophy for the futre, only give credit for each “tier” that you participate in, so if you are saving people constantly then you’ll get credit each tier up to the 1200 tier easily but if you zone in, save a citizen and then AFK for a half an hour then you get credit for the first tier and nothing else.

They may need to adjust the “tiers” to ensure that everyone actively participating can get credit for them but so long as all you have to do is shout at/“encourage” scared people, help revive a citizen, heal a citizen who’s under attack or kill someone attacking a citizen then it should be possibly for everyone to get credit easily enough.

Also kicking AFKers from these zones on a fairly aggressive timer might not be a bad idea.

ShiningSquirrel.3751:

The devs have now starting kicking and banning these afkers now so hopefully having a 72 hour timeout (should be longer IMHO) will teach them a lesson.

Source?

Xenon.4537:

The system I’m suggesting means you would be “flagged” by a single commander as afk, after which a 60 second timer starts and if you remain inactive, you go to character select. You can log back in when you stop being afk. Your account isn’t banned. If you move your character or do something before the 60 second timer runs out, the timer goes away, you don’t get kicked, and you continue playing as normal. You wouldn’t have any actual disruption whatsoever if you are actively playing.

That’s the commander system revamp.

I don’t think that this should be part of any commander functionality, commanders are simply people who have paid gold to buy an ability, they are not any more trustworthy, better judges of character, or in any other way superior to any other players and so shouldn’t have increased powers like this.

Besides, I think most AFKers aren’t actually AFK, they can be browsing the web or chatting in guild chat they’re just not playing the game, a ping like this would be easy for them to detect and nudge the w key to bypass.

Personally, I think that being AFK is not and should not be enough to get anyone suspended ever. People have legitimate reasons why they might need to go AFK and be completely sure that they will be right back in just a minute or two but then are tied up for an hour or two (anyone with small children, for example).

The “simple” solution for this is to make sure that events in the future do not award anything to people who are doing nothing to participate in them; if you’re standing somewhere AFK then you’re not saving citizens, if you don’t save citizens then you should get nothing.

That how it works throughout the game, look at any of the other events (the defend, rescue, kill or deploy events) if they occur right next to you and you do nothing to get involved in them then you don’t get credit for them, this should be the same. This AFK leeching problem seems to be because they don’t seem to have put in a way of tracking actual participation in the main rescue event.

I think it would be easier to have goals in the instance. For example, if you don’t rescue a civ/particpate in an event/encourage a soldier at least once every 5 mins then you get kicked.

Or perhaps they can add a better mechanic, such as someone hauls you out thinking you’re a ‘scared citizen’ needing ‘encouragement’.

Sirius.4510:

Leeching in this circumstance is not griefing – if they were actually trying to make you fail it would be (albeit incredibly hard to prove), but it helps them if you make 1200 as well. They just don’t want to work for it.

But they are taking the spots of people who would want to work for it, which makes it harder to succeed. It is lame and thoughtless.

Klonex.4562:

oh relax, they’re getting simple rewards. not every instance reaches the 1,200 mark. they barely reach 900.

They’re getting rewarding for zero effort, which is lame. Worse, they’re taking up spots that could be filled by players who actually want to help.

If Anet have a problem with afk’ers, let them deal with it. Giving the option to report or vote for kicking others, no no no.
There are lots and lots of reasons why some dont participate or help YOU Reach whatever goal you have, some legit and some not so legit, it isnt up to you to decide.
I dont go for rescuing in every cycle, I need lots of blades and I try to gather some heirlooms as well. Am I supposed to ask other players if its ok? Ask if its ok if I just stay here for a while, answering the phone, checking up a guide?
Yes it sucks if you really want the 1,2k rescued, and I could have helped you, though in all my rounds in LA I have seen only once People try to organise and ask the rest of the players to go for rescuing while we waited for LA to open. It almost worked and it was great fun to scatter around in small groups, beeing the rescue heroes. But, I could say I sacrified my goal to try to help others with theirs, where is my reward?
Dont get me wrong, I do dedicate some cycles to rescuing, it is fun and I like small groups rather than zergs.
There is a certain part of the playerbase who wants everything instanced, so they can control who they are playing with. Though I understand the reasoning, I dont want that. One of the big things about this game, for me, is that you dont know what to expect. Implementing some kind of “player-police” to control open world event?
Thats even worse that instancing.
People are what People is, it will never be different. Try not to let that bother you, it is after all you who decide if it gets to you or not.
I hope you get your reward.

Usually what causes servers to fail is people zerging and not saving civilians and don’t say this isn’t true because it is. If anet really wanted to prevent afkers they should really implement some sort of participation detection. Also no, don’t ban people for afking because innocent players get caught in the cross-fire most that I could see acceptable is a kick to character screen but still that would affect innocents.

They should have had it where for each tier(maybe not the first because it’s so short at 100) you have to res or encourage a single civilian which shouldn’t be too hard to do.

Here’s the logic behind a lot of afkers: “Why should I afk in Divinity’s Reach(or whatever other normal map) when I can go afk in LA and get something out of it?”

If anet just made it so afkers didn’t get rewards(kinda like they did when they changed the scarlet invasions) people wouldn’t afk in LA.

Banning people for AFKing won’t work as, like Silent Avenger said, innocent people get caught in the crossfire. Maybe they stopped to manically sort out inventory space (that’s what usually causes me to stop for a while), or maybe they needed a bathroom break or the baby woke up etc.

Generally, I don’t really care if a few people are AFKing. If they’ve had the grace not to stop by an event and rather by the exit, they at least aren’t scaling the events to make them harder but not contributing.

Re the rewards, well, they’re not really significant rewards they’re getting. But I do think it is a good idea if you got rewards by contribution – obviously Anet can monitor that, as you get the bronze, silver and gold medals according to contribution (not a failsafe, but it’s there), so maybe the rewards should scale with that.

They should’ve just designed better mechanics for the event and not punish players for not playing how they want. I’d much rather condone serial afkers than have the innocent ones penalized for doing something more important than playing through a 50min event without any breaks.