I’ve seen this almost the entire time Dry Top has been in the game, and although it’s not one of my most frequented maps, nor is this a game-breaking problem, it still annoys me and makes me not want to play on this map. There are a lot of Rangers afk-farming/botting the crystal race against Inquest event, as well as the Haze event.
Right now there are five of these in one map, three of whom have been there for at least three hours.
Seems like when they go to sleep, they go full Beastmastery, set heal on autocast, make sure they have autolooting, and leave the character in Dry Top to farm sand.
It seems that while I was writing this, one more of them appeared.
I appreciate the idle kicks and any improvements made to that, but it just isn’t enough against this. Maybe there should be idle kicks for those spamming one or two skills and not moving for a long time?
I don’t think “intended” is the right word. More like “allowable use of legitimate game mechanics”.
Even though this is basically cheating (getting loot while you sleep) it’s entirely within the parameters of the game design, there is no external software etc involved. So they can’t really take action against it, because they have no grounds to do so. Therefore, it is allowed.
People, as always, so quick to grasp at any straw to rationalize cheating.
It is unattended gameplay, pure and simple.
No one here has rationalised it. It is entirely possible I misremembered though (as I indicated in my post). I remember reading the word “intended” from a dev in conjunction with a thread on this subject, but I can’t find the link, so I’m guessing I’ve remembered it in the wrong context?
ANet really should get on with upgrading alot of vanilla mobs, since their design is against the very idea of GW2, supposed to use abilities that force players to utilize active defenses, have varied stats than just berserker fodder and use abilities to compliment the selection of skills given to players (boons, conditions, CC, healing and etc.).
I’m a casual PvE adventurer, I enjoy combat, adventure and helping, but not farming.
I rarely do PvP or Hard PvE, unless it’s organized.
GM says:
“If your pets are doing the killing and your mastery is doing the looting; you’re okay as far as GMs are concerned. This does not mean design can’t/won’t/should/shouldn’t update the system as it works today.”
GM says:
“If your pets are doing the killing and your mastery is doing the looting; you’re okay as far as GMs are concerned. This does not mean design can’t/won’t/should/shouldn’t update the system as it works today.”
Aha no it isn’t, but that clarifies things better than the one I was thinking of.
“Anything that automates game play to the point where you are able to not actually play the game as-intended (example: you can walk away from it) is considered a breach of the User Agreement.”
Ley lines. The perfect solution to deadlines and writers block. Now in an easy open Can.
Yeah, although I agree with what Michael Henninger says, that it’s an intended mechanic, I don’t think it should go as far as being automated, like in this case. And apologies for making another thread for already existing topic, clearly I didn’t search well enough.
“Anything that automates game play to the point where you are able to not actually play the game as-intended (example: you can walk away from it) is considered a breach of the User Agreement.”
That was from years ago.
By automated she is referring to a 3rd party program
The reality is- With mastery’s as they are – Any Necro/Guard/Ranger can afk loot farm. Without any automation on the players end.
I’ve reported the same person for afk farming since before Christmas. Nothing has ever been done. The person is still in game, and still using the same spot to afk farm.
And apologies for making another thread for already existing topic, clearly I didn’t search well enough.
Not your fault, broken search system on these forums.
Another thread on the same topic just means that the AFK-Farming situation that some people think is allowed is getting more problematic.
Because it is allowed.
GM says:
“If your pets are doing the killing and your mastery is doing the looting; you’re okay as far as GMs are concerned. This does not mean design can’t/won’t/should/shouldn’t update the system as it works today.”
And apologies for making another thread for already existing topic, clearly I didn’t search well enough.
Not your fault, broken search system on these forums.
Another thread on the same topic just means that the AFK-Farming situation that some people think is allowed is getting more problematic.
Because it is allowed.
GM says:
“If your pets are doing the killing and your mastery is doing the looting; you’re okay as far as GMs are concerned. This does not mean design can’t/won’t/should/shouldn’t update the system as it works today.”
It’s not allowed. The mechanic is allowed to gain loot. That wasn’t a go ahead to AFK farm, as clarified later in the conversation.
Show me the post that’s not 3 years old where it says it’s not allowed.
Tell me why the same person who has been reported by numerous people for 5-6 months is probley in game right now afk farming red in Silverwastes. Tell me why i personally know several people who afk farm requarlary without any consequence.
More importantly- tell me why there are far more people doing it today, then there ever have been.
Show me the post that’s not 3 years old where it says it’s not allowed.
Tell me why the same person who has been reported by numerous people for 5-6 months is probley in game right now afk farming red in Silverwastes. Tell me why i personally know several people who afk farm requarlary without any consequence.
More importantly- tell me why there are far more people doing it today, then there ever have been.
What’s the answer?
“Anything” That would include abuse of poorly thought out In Game mechanics to “walk away from the game”. Doesn’t matter how old Regina’s post is. It shows they have, from the start, been opposed to unattended gameplay.
Don’t be obtuse. You are using the same old “it must be ok to cheat because I see people cheating” argument. One that is far older than this game, and never valid.
Ley lines. The perfect solution to deadlines and writers block. Now in an easy open Can.
Because the post from years ago was referencing 3rd party software that automates ability’s for you.
It is much different now.
I’m not advocating this. I hate it. I actually left the guild i was in because half the roster was afking silverwates- and i had been in that guild since nearly launch of the game.
My intent posting here is quite the opposite. I want Anet to do something before it gets out of hand. But as it stands now, they haven’t done anything, and the only RECENT comment made about it implies that in it’s current form- it’s okay.
Show me the post that’s not 3 years old where it says it’s not allowed.
Tell me why the same person who has been reported by numerous people for 5-6 months is probley in game right now afk farming red in Silverwastes. Tell me why i personally know several people who afk farm requarlary without any consequence.
More importantly- tell me why there are far more people doing it today, then there ever have been.
Tl;dr intentional mechanics that allow pet kills to give experience and loot =/= permission to afk farm.
This is absolutely correct.
If your pets are doing the killing and your mastery is doing the looting; you’re okay as far as GMs are concerned. This does not mean design can’t/won’t/should/shouldn’t update the system as it works today.
What is NOT allowed- 3rd party tools that provide automation which allows your toon to move/attack while your away from the computer.
What IS allowed- Ranger/Necros/Guards, allowing pets or traits to damage the attacker while mastery’s auto loot.
They are aware this is a major flaw, but they haven’t done anything to fix it, and haven’t implemented any suspensions to those that are doing it.
I think you are unqualified to give an absolute answer, as you are not a Red Name. You are giving a mistaken opinion.
The mechanics are allowed. Using them to AFK farm is not.
Do you think this is the first thread to come out on this topic over the past few months. Afk farming has been gaining more momentum over the past few months with mastery’s.
Where is the red name saying it’s wrong? All these threads about this- always with Screenshots! and no one is saying that in it’s current form it violates the terms/conditions
Show me the post that’s not 3 years old where it says it’s not allowed.
Tell me why the same person who has been reported by numerous people for 5-6 months is probley in game right now afk farming red in Silverwastes. Tell me why i personally know several people who afk farm requarlary without any consequence.
More importantly- tell me why there are far more people doing it today, then there ever have been.
Tl;dr intentional mechanics that allow pet kills to give experience and loot =/= permission to afk farm.
This is absolutely correct.
If your pets are doing the killing and your mastery is doing the looting; you’re okay as far as GMs are concerned. This does not mean design can’t/won’t/should/shouldn’t update the system as it works today.
Just to clarify, =/= means does not equal to.
If anything that supports exactly what i had stated.
He’s saying that they’re not saying “yes you can bot” but he’s also saying that if you’re only using the in-game mechanics, they’re not going to stop you. I remember back at launch when they simply considered it botting and people would come here and whine about being banned for it. I doubt they’ve banned anyone for doing it since then.
If they were actually going to ban for it, surely they would have further clarified, rather than letting people continue on quoting his post, saying that AFK farming is now okay in these various threads.
He’s saying that they’re not saying “yes you can bot” but he’s also saying that if you’re only using the in-game mechanics, they’re not going to stop you. I remember back at launch when they simply considered it botting and people would come here and whine about being banned for it. I doubt they’ve banned anyone for doing it since then.
Exactly. Thank you.
If you trait your guardian to inflict burn damage to anything that hits you- and your auto loot mastery picks that up for you. Your good.
If your Ranger pet/ Or necro minions hit something for you that attacks you- Your good.
No consequences.
These are not bots. They are afkers, functioning on a bad..current design.
Also- The difference between now and then is that you needed to use some sort of outside program to pick the loot up for you. It was a huge issue at the launch of the game. Tons of ranger/bear farming for days- Alot diffrent now.
Show me the post that’s not 3 years old where it says it’s not allowed.
Tell me why the same person who has been reported by numerous people for 5-6 months is probley in game right now afk farming red in Silverwastes. Tell me why i personally know several people who afk farm requarlary without any consequence.
More importantly- tell me why there are far more people doing it today, then there ever have been.
Tl;dr intentional mechanics that allow pet kills to give experience and loot =/= permission to afk farm.
This is absolutely correct.
If your pets are doing the killing and your mastery is doing the looting; you’re okay as far as GMs are concerned. This does not mean design can’t/won’t/should/shouldn’t update the system as it works today.
Just to clarify, =/= means does not equal to.
If anything that supports exactly what i had stated.
Where in that post does it say it’s wrong?
This part:
EphemeralWallaby.7643: Tl;dr intentional mechanics that allow pet kills to give experience and loot =/= permission to afk farm.
ANet Michael Henninger.7451: This is absolutely correct.
Be careful what you ask for
ANet may give it to you.
Yes, they don´t give permission to farm, but if they do not forbid it, then you can do it if you want. At least that is what I understand when I read the post.
What got out of the quoted conversation from the Dev is that allowing your pet to kill a mob without assistance from you while you’re playing is fine. For example, my ranger can be out playing. I sic it on a mob while I harvest a node, it kills the mob and I get the loot from the kill. This is an example of the allowed mechanics in the game. What is not allowed mechanics is being afk and letting the professional mechanics kill mobs while the computer runs unattended.
The Devs response was trying to differentiate between allowed mechanics and afk farming using allowed mechanics, but unfortunately not saying it well.
Be careful what you ask for
ANet may give it to you.
What got out of the quoted conversation from the Dev is that allowing your pet to kill a mob without assistance from you while you’re playing is fine. For example, my ranger can be out playing. I sic it on a mob while I harvest a node, it kills the mob and I get the loot from the kill. This is an example of the allowed mechanics in the game. What is not allowed mechanics is being afk and letting the professional mechanics kill mobs while the computer runs unattended.
The Devs response was trying to differentiate between allowed mechanics and afk farming using allowed mechanics, but unfortunately not saying it well.
“Anything that automates game play to the point where you are able to not actually play the game as-intended (example: you can walk away from it) is considered a breach of the User Agreement.”
That was from years ago.
By automated she is referring to a 3rd party program
The reality is- With mastery’s as they are – Any Necro/Guard/Ranger can afk loot farm. Without any automation on the players end.
I’ve reported the same person for afk farming since before Christmas. Nothing has ever been done. The person is still in game, and still using the same spot to afk farm.
Policies or statements that someone makes don’t have expiration dates. Whether she stated it months ago, or even years, doesn’t matter.
If you read the entire thread, you’ll see that it wasn’t just about 3rd party programs.
3 years ago, we didn´t have a mastery to take the items so if people were farming afk, they had to use bots.
Moreover, statements change with time. Some months ago, they were going to release a full set of legendaries, but they changed their mind. We shouldn´t use a post which is 3 years old to say what is forbidden or not.
If i remember rightly afk farming with a pet is intended behaviour according to a recent dev post.
I know other people will comment, but this is a misunderstanding of what the ANet staffer said.
It is intended that pet kills will count for event and loot credit and that this can happen even if the player is AFK.
It is not intended that people abuse this in order to gain rewards without playing the game.
In other words, it’s fine if you occasionally rush away from GW2 to diaper your baby or care for an ailing relative (or just forget to come back after reheating your coffee). It’s not ok to plan to be gone.
For those, like the OP, who assume and/or guess that someone is AFK farming, file a report to ANet.
There’s usually no value in posting here, on the forums because (a) you can’t name suspects and (b) we will just argue about whether the action is “actionable” or not. ANet staff get paid to investigate stuff like this — if you think there’s an issue that’s worth your time spent to report it, they’ll think it’s worth their time to investigate.
John Smith: “you should kill monsters, because killing monsters is awesome.”
Honestly, whether it’s allowed or not, the worst part about that area is when just a few people want to complete that event but the amount of AFKers upscales the event so that it cannot be completed normally. I went there the other day and there were 4 of us doing the event with 8 standing around doing nothing.
They should make a mechanic that automatically kicks people who aren’t moving for “x” amount of time inside a static event zone. This could be implemented to work whether the zone is active or not that way after a certain amount of time not moving (i.e. using your movement button) they’re gone even if they use a skill. There are probably things I haven’t thought of as to why this wouldn’t work but something should be done.
AFK farm in the middle of nowhere, I don’t care, just don’t stand around my event!
People are really misunderstanding how this works.
The pet’s aren’t actually killing the mobs themselves, they are simply on guard mode and attack anything that hits the ranger or the pet. This only happens during the crystals and escort events. During which, the pets manage to tag for enough damage to get loot credit from mobs the other active players kill.
Without other people to leach off of, this doesn’t work nearly as well. I’ve often come across dead rangers late at night that got wrecked by the Elite Inquest Assassins that weren’t killed because no active players showed up to do the actual work.
This also then has the added benefit of giving one participation loot as well.
Both events tend to scale mobs that can’t be easily soloed by pets. It’s simply an advanced form of event leaching no different than when people used to hide in the sewers during the LA Scarlet invasion.
3 years ago, we didn´t have a mastery to take the items so if people were farming afk, they had to use bots.
Moreover, statements change with time. Some months ago, they were going to release a full set of legendaries, but they changed their mind. We shouldn´t use a post which is 3 years old to say what is forbidden or not.
Just because things have the potential to change over time doesn’t mean that Anet needs to state their stances every week, month year, decade, etc. They have a stance. Unless they indicate that it has changed, it hasn’t.
If i remember rightly afk farming with a pet is intended behaviour according to a recent dev post.
I know other people will comment, but this is a misunderstanding of what the ANet staffer said.
Indeed, my bad. I also had not seen the follow up dev comment and other dev comments in the past. Not playing a ranger I haven’t really followed this discussion previously and I generally I leave others to their own devices in game when it doesn’t interfere with me.
Best way to survive Dry Top grind considering how unbearably boring the whole zone is to farm. It was probably discovered when a Ranger fell asleep from boredom while grinding Geodes.
| Fort Aspenwood (NA): Sylvari Daredevil Thief Main: All Classes 80. | Please Remove/Fix Thief Trait: “Last Refuge.” “Hard to Catch” is a Horrible and Useless Trait. Fixed 6/23/15. Praise Dwayna.
“Anything that automates game play to the point where you are able to not actually play the game as-intended (example: you can walk away from it) is considered a breach of the User Agreement.”
That was from years ago.
By automated she is referring to a 3rd party program
The reality is- With mastery’s as they are – Any Necro/Guard/Ranger can afk loot farm. Without any automation on the players end.
I’ve reported the same person for afk farming since before Christmas. Nothing has ever been done. The person is still in game, and still using the same spot to afk farm.
No, she wasnt. The fact she said “ANYTHING” means she’s referring to literally ANYTHING. I dont need to use anything outside of the game to automate the ability to farm.
What got out of the quoted conversation from the Dev is that allowing your pet to kill a mob without assistance from you while you’re playing is fine. For example, my ranger can be out playing. I sic it on a mob while I harvest a node, it kills the mob and I get the loot from the kill. This is an example of the allowed mechanics in the game. What is not allowed mechanics is being afk and letting the professional mechanics kill mobs while the computer runs unattended.
The Devs response was trying to differentiate between allowed mechanics and afk farming using allowed mechanics, but unfortunately not saying it well.
Then clearly this needs clarification.
All it’s done is propelled afk farming.
Not only does it need clarification, there needs to be consequence for those abusing the mechanic for days and weeks on end.
There isn’t that many of us have seen, cause guess what? They’re still at it, and word is spreading like wildfire. Make a ranger or necro, get that mastery up, and voila. You’re good to go from what I have seen for quite awhile.. especially recently.
3 years ago, we didn´t have a mastery to take the items so if people were farming afk, they had to use bots.
Moreover, statements change with time. Some months ago, they were going to release a full set of legendaries, but they changed their mind. We shouldn´t use a post which is 3 years old to say what is forbidden or not.
Just because things have the potential to change over time doesn’t mean that Anet needs to state their stances every week, month year, decade, etc. They have a stance. Unless they indicate that it has changed, it hasn’t.
I don’t like afk farming and I hope anet finds a way to stop it, that disclaimer aside….
… The problem is that the rule you speak of was put in place when only 3rd party software could loot for an afk farmer. That has changed, and now we have the ability to auto loot clarification of the previous statement is needed, particularly when one of the developers made a contradictory statement about pet/minion mechanics being used to gain loot in unintended ways not being considered as an exploit. There are plenty of exploits that anet has fixed, I don’t see why they’d let this hang out there and not address it further because they addressed a similar concept 3 years ago. They need to clarify if they consider this an disallowed exploit.
3 years ago, we didn´t have a mastery to take the items so if people were farming afk, they had to use bots.
Moreover, statements change with time. Some months ago, they were going to release a full set of legendaries, but they changed their mind. We shouldn´t use a post which is 3 years old to say what is forbidden or not.
Just because things have the potential to change over time doesn’t mean that Anet needs to state their stances every week, month year, decade, etc. They have a stance. Unless they indicate that it has changed, it hasn’t.
I don’t like afk farming and I hope anet finds a way to stop it, that disclaimer aside….
… The problem is that the rule you speak of was put in place when only 3rd party software could loot for an afk farmer. That has changed, and now we have the ability to auto loot clarification of the previous statement is needed, particularly when one of the developers made a contradictory statement about pet/minion mechanics being used to gain loot in unintended ways not being considered as an exploit. There are plenty of exploits that anet has fixed, I don’t see why they’d let this hang out there and not address it further because they addressed a similar concept 3 years ago. They need to clarify if they consider this an disallowed exploit.
They don’t need to clarify. Their statement is pretty simply as it is. Back around launch, there were people who did this to level their characters.
3 years ago, we didn´t have a mastery to take the items so if people were farming afk, they had to use bots.
Moreover, statements change with time. Some months ago, they were going to release a full set of legendaries, but they changed their mind. We shouldn´t use a post which is 3 years old to say what is forbidden or not.
Just because things have the potential to change over time doesn’t mean that Anet needs to state their stances every week, month year, decade, etc. They have a stance. Unless they indicate that it has changed, it hasn’t.
I don’t like afk farming and I hope anet finds a way to stop it, that disclaimer aside….
… The problem is that the rule you speak of was put in place when only 3rd party software could loot for an afk farmer. That has changed, and now we have the ability to auto loot clarification of the previous statement is needed, particularly when one of the developers made a contradictory statement about pet/minion mechanics being used to gain loot in unintended ways not being considered as an exploit. There are plenty of exploits that anet has fixed, I don’t see why they’d let this hang out there and not address it further because they addressed a similar concept 3 years ago. They need to clarify if they consider this an disallowed exploit.
They don’t need to clarify. Their statement is pretty simply as it is. Back around launch, there were people who did this to level their characters.
Obviously, they do need to clarify, see all the people that are confused? That means they need clarification. People ask for clarification, that means they need clarification, you don’t get to decide what others need clarified for them.
Particularly since no action has been taken against players that do this even though they’ve been reported repeatedly
3 years ago, we didn´t have a mastery to take the items so if people were farming afk, they had to use bots.
Moreover, statements change with time. Some months ago, they were going to release a full set of legendaries, but they changed their mind. We shouldn´t use a post which is 3 years old to say what is forbidden or not.
Just because things have the potential to change over time doesn’t mean that Anet needs to state their stances every week, month year, decade, etc. They have a stance. Unless they indicate that it has changed, it hasn’t.
I don’t like afk farming and I hope anet finds a way to stop it, that disclaimer aside….
… The problem is that the rule you speak of was put in place when only 3rd party software could loot for an afk farmer. That has changed, and now we have the ability to auto loot clarification of the previous statement is needed, particularly when one of the developers made a contradictory statement about pet/minion mechanics being used to gain loot in unintended ways not being considered as an exploit. There are plenty of exploits that anet has fixed, I don’t see why they’d let this hang out there and not address it further because they addressed a similar concept 3 years ago. They need to clarify if they consider this an disallowed exploit.
They don’t need to clarify. Their statement is pretty simply as it is. Back around launch, there were people who did this to level their characters.
Obviously, they do need to clarify, see all the people that are confused? That means they need clarification. People ask for clarification, that means they need clarification, you don’t get to decide what others need clarified for them.
Particularly since no action has been taken against players that do this even though they’ve been reported repeatedly
It’s not obvious to me that we “need” clarification. ANet has definitively stated again and again that it’s not okay to abuse game mechanics, that it’s not okay to gain rewards while AFK.
Players spin ANet statements to mean whatever they like and folks who want to believe that they get more with less effort are inclined to believe that. No amount of clarification is going to change that innately human behavior. (It’s the same thing that allows politicians to get away with promising the moon and delivering a photocopy of a painting of the moon.)
John Smith: “you should kill monsters, because killing monsters is awesome.”
“Anything that automates game play to the point where you are able to not actually play the game as-intended (example: you can walk away from it) is considered a breach of the User Agreement.”
This statement is incredibly vague.
“Walk away from it” – it could mean anything. You can automate the game and still stay near it – or you can walk away from it and still interact.
A wireless mouse allows me to click skills while not even close to my screen.
The question is this – if someone is playing the game – casting spells (minions for necros) or just heals on a ranger but very very rarely – allowing their pets to do most of the work is that unintended?
Is it “automated” if you do it yourself every now and again? Because honestly you can hold down 1 all day every day and watch something else on your second monitor.
If here they fall they shall live on when ever you cry “For Ascalon!”
Show me the post that’s not 3 years old where it says it’s not allowed.
Tell me why the same person who has been reported by numerous people for 5-6 months is probley in game right now afk farming red in Silverwastes. Tell me why i personally know several people who afk farm requarlary without any consequence.
More importantly- tell me why there are far more people doing it today, then there ever have been.
What’s the answer?
“Anything” That would include abuse of poorly thought out In Game mechanics to “walk away from the game”. Doesn’t matter how old Regina’s post is. It shows they have, from the start, been opposed to unattended gameplay.
Don’t be obtuse. You are using the same old “it must be ok to cheat because I see people cheating” argument. One that is far older than this game, and never valid.
So how do you define “attended gameplay”?
How do you differentiated unattended from attended but just very very poorly.
How do you differentiate between a really disinterested player that just pokes the game every now and again because they’ve got nothing better to do and an evil afk-farmer mastermind that wants to take over all of the loot.
If here they fall they shall live on when ever you cry “For Ascalon!”
“Anything that automates game play to the point where you are able to not actually play the game as-intended (example: you can walk away from it) is considered a breach of the User Agreement.”
That was from years ago.
By automated she is referring to a 3rd party program
The reality is- With mastery’s as they are – Any Necro/Guard/Ranger can afk loot farm. Without any automation on the players end.
I’ve reported the same person for afk farming since before Christmas. Nothing has ever been done. The person is still in game, and still using the same spot to afk farm.
No, she wasnt. The fact she said “ANYTHING” means she’s referring to literally ANYTHING. I dont need to use anything outside of the game to automate the ability to farm.
I’ve played this game long enough that 90% of it is automatic to me at this point – does that mean i’m not playing it as intended?
As far as I see it she is referring to using either software or hardware to automate it.
Because yes – you can have a software for using skills automatically or have a small machine pressing the keys for you – both of these I regard as automated.
However – if a human is involved then the process can no longer be considered automatic. At least in my opinion.
If here they fall they shall live on when ever you cry “For Ascalon!”
3 years ago, we didn´t have a mastery to take the items so if people were farming afk, they had to use bots.
Moreover, statements change with time. Some months ago, they were going to release a full set of legendaries, but they changed their mind. We shouldn´t use a post which is 3 years old to say what is forbidden or not.
Just because things have the potential to change over time doesn’t mean that Anet needs to state their stances every week, month year, decade, etc. They have a stance. Unless they indicate that it has changed, it hasn’t.
I don’t like afk farming and I hope anet finds a way to stop it, that disclaimer aside….
… The problem is that the rule you speak of was put in place when only 3rd party software could loot for an afk farmer. That has changed, and now we have the ability to auto loot clarification of the previous statement is needed, particularly when one of the developers made a contradictory statement about pet/minion mechanics being used to gain loot in unintended ways not being considered as an exploit. There are plenty of exploits that anet has fixed, I don’t see why they’d let this hang out there and not address it further because they addressed a similar concept 3 years ago. They need to clarify if they consider this an disallowed exploit.
They don’t need to clarify. Their statement is pretty simply as it is. Back around launch, there were people who did this to level their characters.
Obviously, they do need to clarify, see all the people that are confused? That means they need clarification. People ask for clarification, that means they need clarification, you don’t get to decide what others need clarified for them.
Particularly since no action has been taken against players that do this even though they’ve been reported repeatedly
It’s not obvious to me that we “need” clarification. ANet has definitively stated again and again that it’s not okay to abuse game mechanics, that it’s not okay to gain rewards while AFK.
Players spin ANet statements to mean whatever they like and folks who want to believe that they get more with less effort are inclined to believe that. No amount of clarification is going to change that innately human behavior. (It’s the same thing that allows politicians to get away with promising the moon and delivering a photocopy of a painting of the moon.)
You’re right – but define afk.
If here they fall they shall live on when ever you cry “For Ascalon!”
3 years ago, we didn´t have a mastery to take the items so if people were farming afk, they had to use bots.
Moreover, statements change with time. Some months ago, they were going to release a full set of legendaries, but they changed their mind. We shouldn´t use a post which is 3 years old to say what is forbidden or not.
Just because things have the potential to change over time doesn’t mean that Anet needs to state their stances every week, month year, decade, etc. They have a stance. Unless they indicate that it has changed, it hasn’t.
I don’t like afk farming and I hope anet finds a way to stop it, that disclaimer aside….
… The problem is that the rule you speak of was put in place when only 3rd party software could loot for an afk farmer. That has changed, and now we have the ability to auto loot clarification of the previous statement is needed, particularly when one of the developers made a contradictory statement about pet/minion mechanics being used to gain loot in unintended ways not being considered as an exploit. There are plenty of exploits that anet has fixed, I don’t see why they’d let this hang out there and not address it further because they addressed a similar concept 3 years ago. They need to clarify if they consider this an disallowed exploit.
They don’t need to clarify. Their statement is pretty simply as it is. Back around launch, there were people who did this to level their characters.
Obviously, they do need to clarify, see all the people that are confused? That means they need clarification. People ask for clarification, that means they need clarification, you don’t get to decide what others need clarified for them.
Particularly since no action has been taken against players that do this even though they’ve been reported repeatedly
It’s not obvious to me that we “need” clarification. ANet has definitively stated again and again that it’s not okay to abuse game mechanics, that it’s not okay to gain rewards while AFK.
Players spin ANet statements to mean whatever they like and folks who want to believe that they get more with less effort are inclined to believe that. No amount of clarification is going to change that innately human behavior. (It’s the same thing that allows politicians to get away with promising the moon and delivering a photocopy of a painting of the moon.)
You’re right – but define afk.
There is no definition I can provide that is going to prevent absolutely everyone from using it to justify their current actions.
Put another way, let’s suppose ANet releases yet another clarification about the policy. How many people do you think are going to change their current behavior? How many will go, “oh, right, that’s really clear now — I didn’t realize that when I was leaving my character sit for hours while I watched a move and occasionally rez’d them that someone might think I was exploiting a game mechanic.”
The vast majority of players don’t play in a way that a clarification matters. The vast majority of the rest are sufficiently informed by the current phrasing. Some of the rest won’t change their behavior regardless (except to perhaps try to make it harder to be detected). That leaves a really tiny fraction of people that might be affected by ANet issuing another statement.
tl;dr ANet could restate the policy, but (a) they don’t have to and (b) it probably won’t matter much if they do. If you think there’s an individual exploiting minion/pet mechanics, /report them and let ANet deal with it — if they find themselves getting too many reports, they’ll make appropriate adjustments.
John Smith: “you should kill monsters, because killing monsters is awesome.”
