Guild Wars 2

Lunacy Solacio.6514:

That’s just it, they’ve been told now that it is perfectly ok so what risk is there?

Because I still question that there’s a misinterpretation of Michael’s words.

Michael Henninger.7451:

This is allowed behavior; as it was designed to function that way.

Pet behavior and mechanics is the “it.” Pets were designed to kill things on their own, and allow the ranger/necro to still loot. “This is allowed behavior” could either be referring to the pets or to the players; it’s that line that is ambiguous… I suspect it’s referring to the pets only because of how that rest of the sentence is worded.

So the risk you’re asking about is that the statement might not be a carte-blanche permission to afk farm… that it’s talking about pets only, and not players. To me that still makes it a pretty big risk after so much effort to level and any monies paid to ANet for game, expansion, and/or gemstore.

~EW

Tl;dr intentional mechanics that allow pet kills to give experience and loot =/= permission to afk farm.

You guys need to put the tin foil hats away and just go play (maybe outside).

Just because you see a ranger or necro’s pet kill something does not mean they are AFK farming. AFK…possibly. Pet killing a mob that is hitting them cause that’s what they do…also a yes. It does not mean they are macro’ing/botting/AFK farming. (I don’t disagree that there may be some of that going on, but it’s not every ranger/necro you see as is implied in this thread)

Silverwastes is a good place to use as an example. There are 4 legendaries that spawn (and worth 5 mastery points). Person spends weeks farming events (7 to be exact), defending Blue solo, and over the course of a month sees the legendary spawn once…but doesn’t get credit for it even though they participated in the entire kill. (first rage…then sad face)

Tired of the hundreds of hours you spent actively trying to get it, you now leave your character on the hill by Blue, mostly AFK, waiting for it to spawn. During your AFK time you play with your kids, clean the house, watch a movie, make breakfast (or lunch/dinner), yet you know that every 15 minutes or so you need to keyboard move your character an inch or so and check upgrade status’ and read chat. If your smart, your computer is in an area you can see the screen from both your kitchen and living room (if not, you should be doing that after you read this).

It is possible that during the noted time above, your pet may have killed multiple mobs…and, as stated by the makers of the game…this is not an exploit.

The above is a true story, except that I was on my mesmer for the entire “wait here for the stupid legendary to spawn again”, and I killed no mobs AFK but did come back to my corpse a number of times.

My overall thought: who cares if someone intentionally (or accidentally) kills a mob while AFK with a ranger or necro. If the devs are going to put any time into fixing a real problem with this game, they should fix actual game play bugs, or maybe find a way to detect the people teleporting to gathering nodes to harvest them (I see this all the time and they teleport away before you can report them as they are usually in the ground).

This game has a lot of issues, but is a great game. The fact you are unhappy that your class dies when you step away for a snack and rangers/necros don’t is a personal issue, not a “needs dev attention” issue.

Dream Shake.8741:

Tom.6478:

You can gain so much more in other ways.

ORLY? There are even better ways to earn loot while I am at work/sleeping/watching TV? Please, do tell.

This is classic afk farming and it boggles my mind that some people are defending it. Especially with the “it’s not very profitable” argument. What if some of your colleagues at work make 5% more than you just because they keep their computer on at night? I guess that’s OK since 5% is not really that much, right?

Exactly. * nods* But don’t dare bring reason into this, Dream! Clearly, we’re to think that things we get by legitimate means has much more value because we were actually at our computers when they were obtained vs .the item of the identical nature placed into the bag of the person that was out mowing their lawn. We’ll even go one further and bring our energy bills into to this to further try to “dissuade” the masses from making this too popular, perhaps? Downplay it. Perhaps the outcry against this new “policy” won’t be rescinded for those that utilize it as their bread and butter. I mean, hey! It’s all good now! It’s been sanctioned.

I think those that are defending it using the “eh, what do you gain.. a mere pittance?” defense, do so to deter those that thinking “you can’t beat ’em, join ’em!” is the way to go, so they don’t have competition out there.. OR they think if they minimize the hoopla, it’s here to stay. It’s simply The only thing I can think of. We can throw in the old “mind your own business!” line, but it is my business, it’s your business, it’s all our business. It affects events and the economy. So yeah, I’m minding it.

• Edit- With the ease of rolling a max level character today, I’m willing to bet most people who play have, or are willing to create a Ranger or Necro if they’re seriously entertaining the idea of utilizing this “farming technique”. The mastery required to auto loot isn’t all that difficult to obtain either. Oh, and I have a Necro/Ranger/Ele/Guardian/Revenant, so jelly, I am not. If you want to obtain loot/titles/etc. have a seat and have at it. If you want to play with your kids, dog, car, whatever, log off and play with those instead of the game.

Michael Henninger.7451:

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

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.

Also, using an unapproved method of preventing the inactivity timer from logging you out is very bad.

AFAIK, only Ranger and Necromancer can afk in areas that are not completely safe but afk-farming in those areas and still “playing” according to the activity timer rules is a huge waste of time.

Botters were much more obvious in the past so great job to the Arenanet team on balancing rewards for participation.

I’m not sure how pets or minions are harming other players but a good answer to this would be for my /zen suggestion but have it go automatic when someone is idle for a specific amount of time. Basically I suggested a command that would put the user in a floating lotus position and they wouldn’t be able to get reward or get killed until they move. The pet/minions would be put away. Maybe even have it automatic if they stay within a specific radius.

Tekoneiric.6817:

I’m not sure how pets or minions are harming other players but a good answer to this would be for my /zen suggestion but have it go automatic when someone is idle for a specific amount of time. Basically I suggested a command that would put the user in a floating lotus position and they wouldn’t be able to get reward or get killed until they move. The pet/minions would be put away. Maybe even have it automatic if they stay within a specific radius.

Interesting idea
How would players be kept from camping dangerous boss areas until an event spawns, if they choose /zen?

Anchoku.8142:

Tekoneiric.6817:

I’m not sure how pets or minions are harming other players but a good answer to this would be for my /zen suggestion but have it go automatic when someone is idle for a specific amount of time. Basically I suggested a command that would put the user in a floating lotus position and they wouldn’t be able to get reward or get killed until they move. The pet/minions would be put away. Maybe even have it automatic if they stay within a specific radius.

Interesting idea
How would players be kept from camping dangerous boss areas until an event spawns, if they choose /zen?

Players camp as it is, that has to be accepted. It doesn’t affect other users playing the game except as a visual distraction.

Tekoneiric.6817:

Players camp as it is, that has to be accepted. It doesn’t affect other users playing the game except as a visual distraction.

They can upscale events, which does affect other players.

The AFK farmers can also end up downed or defeated, with other players not realising they are AFK farmers, trying to revive them to be helpful, whilst still struggling against mobs. This is affecting other players too.

They can also park themselves near a renowned heart, killing mobs that appear before someone who wants to do the renowned heart genuinely.

And on the point of this thread, the point being are they allowed to do this – if the green light is lit for anybody to do this, then there will be an imbalance of the trading post economy, which does affect other players.

penelopehannibal.8947:

And on the point of this thread, the point being are they allowed to do this – if the green light is lit for anybody to do this, then there will be an imbalance of the trading post economy, which does affect other players.

They aren’t allowed to do this (to afk farm)… it was clarified by the game support lead just a little ways up the thread on this page. AFK farming is against the rules.

~EW

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

penelopehannibal.8947:

And on the point of this thread, the point being are they allowed to do this – if the green light is lit for anybody to do this, then there will be an imbalance of the trading post economy, which does affect other players.

They aren’t allowed to do this (to afk farm)… it was clarified by the game support lead just a little ways up the thread on this page. AFK farming is against the rules.

~EW

Yeah, so glad it was! I understood it was, I probably should have worded that paragraph better!!

penelopehannibal.8947:

Yeah, so glad it was! I understood it was, I probably should have worded that paragraph better!!

Ooops, I’m sorry I misunderstood ya.’

~EW

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

penelopehannibal.8947:

And on the point of this thread, the point being are they allowed to do this – if the green light is lit for anybody to do this, then there will be an imbalance of the trading post economy, which does affect other players.

They aren’t allowed to do this (to afk farm)… it was clarified by the game support lead just a little ways up the thread on this page. AFK farming is against the rules.

~EW

Actually he says it is OK.

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.

@simplesimon: there is a distinction being made as to what is mechanically possible, and what is allowed by policy. He is saying that mechanically mixing pet killing + mastery looting is fine… he’s not saying that afk farming is fine.

If you interpret it differently I can understand that… but I don’t think it’s worth risking one’s account over.

~EW

I don’t see how this is not exploiting. It’s taking a game mechanic and using it to exploit something by using an unfair method. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a naked afk person standing in front of Red Fort in SW.

Solution should be that pets do not count as “active”

Shylock.4653:

General Health.9678:

This thread needs a proper GM look.

How much more you want as the post of Michael Henninger (Game Support Lead)?

The extra clarity subsequently posted.

Well, regardless of whether Michael’s posts are clear or not, I’m still reporting AFK farmers in Dredghaunt Cliffs and Straits of Devastation via Right-Click and under Botting. /shrug

Michael Henninger.7451:

This is allowed behavior; as it was designed to function that way.

This is the exact opposite of what I’ve seen stated in the past. Between this statement and the one that stated exploiting to get SAB tribulation mode tokens is allowed, I’m starting to fear that that Arenanet is now welcoming bots and exploiters with open arms.

EnemyCrusher.7324:

Michael Henninger.7451:

This is allowed behavior; as it was designed to function that way.

This is the exact opposite of what I’ve seen stated in the past. Between this statement and the one that stated exploiting to get SAB tribulation mode tokens is allowed, I’m starting to fear that that Arenanet is now welcoming bots and exploiters with open arms.

Did you look at his second post? https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Ranger-Pet-Botting/page/3#post6093187 In which he agrees that the pets are working as intended but afk farming using the pet mechanic is not ok.

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

@simplesimon: there is a distinction being made as to what is mechanically possible, and what is allowed by policy. He is saying that mechanically mixing pet killing + mastery looting is fine… he’s not saying that afk farming is fine.

If you interpret it differently I can understand that… but I don’t think it’s worth risking one’s account over.

~EW

Donari.5237:

Did you look at his second post? https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Ranger-Pet-Botting/page/3#post6093187 In which he agrees that the pets are working as intended but afk farming using the pet mechanic is not ok.

I don’t see how there is a misunderstanding on this? Or is there some other communication issue here between us?

They will not punish those doing this. It is allowed as far as they care. This could change, and should, but for now it is completely allowed, direct from his typing.

Michael Henninger.7451:

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

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.

That is explicitly saying that pet kills, mastery loots, you are fine. There is nothing being said that you need to be at the computer responding. But it can, and is, being used to AFK farm, and they don’t intend to action it (and from what I’ve seen in the past from release to recently, is they haven’t taken action on it before, either).

This is of course not botting.

Let’s be clear about something and not split hairs:

DragOneve.2359:

I’ve been seeing some rangers camped on a mob spawn letting their pet kill enemies for them, is this considered a form of botting? I know the players are AFK cause they have been there for a couple of hours.

The question is not that the pet is killing anything without assistance from the ranger. The question is the pet is killing without the player even being at the keyboard . . . for hours.

And this was the answer:

Michael Henninger.7451:

This is allowed behavior; as it was designed to function that way.

However. . . .

Michael Henninger.7451:

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

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.

If this is the case, your original answer is misleading, and you should clarify and correct it because more than a few have or will read only that answer and nothing else.

Michael Henninger.7451:

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

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.

can we engineers have our turrets reverted back to the stay alive until killed then , as they clearly were mistakingly nerfed for the Very Same Reason , rangers and necros can do it

Lunacy Solacio.6514:

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

@simplesimon: there is a distinction being made as to what is mechanically possible, and what is allowed by policy. He is saying that mechanically mixing pet killing + mastery looting is fine… he’s not saying that afk farming is fine.

If you interpret it differently I can understand that… but I don’t think it’s worth risking one’s account over.

~EW

Donari.5237:

Did you look at his second post? https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Ranger-Pet-Botting/page/3#post6093187 In which he agrees that the pets are working as intended but afk farming using the pet mechanic is not ok.

I don’t see how there is a misunderstanding on this? Or is there some other communication issue here between us?

They will not punish those doing this. It is allowed as far as they care. This could change, and should, but for now it is completely allowed, direct from his typing.

Michael Henninger.7451:

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

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.

That is explicitly saying that pet kills, mastery loots, you are fine. There is nothing being said that you need to be at the computer responding. But it can, and is, being used to AFK farm, and they don’t intend to action it (and from what I’ve seen in the past from release to recently, is they haven’t taken action on it before, either).

This is of course not botting.

seems like it’d be a hard thing to action against, if someone comes up while I’m on my ranger and I think I’ll only be gone a minute I could leave, but then an hour could pass or something similar where I’m not able to get back to the computer; how exactly do you action against that?

Xbon.9086:

seems like it’d be a hard thing to action against, if someone comes up while I’m on my ranger and I think I’ll only be gone a minute I could leave, but then an hour could pass or something similar where I’m not able to get back to the computer; how exactly do you action against that?

You wouldn’t be purposely circumventing the auto-kick system I imagine, unlike the AFK farmers. You’d be in the server for an hour until the game kicks you out.

penelopehannibal.8947:

Xbon.9086:

seems like it’d be a hard thing to action against, if someone comes up while I’m on my ranger and I think I’ll only be gone a minute I could leave, but then an hour could pass or something similar where I’m not able to get back to the computer; how exactly do you action against that?

You wouldn’t be purposely circumventing the auto-kick system I imagine, unlike the AFK farmers. You’d be in the server for an hour until the game kicks you out.

There are a number of ways you can remain in game for far longer than an hour in pve while being afk without using a 3rd party application. Just watch the afk farmers if you want to learn how they do it.

Xbon.9086:

seems like it’d be a hard thing to action against, if someone comes up while I’m on my ranger and I think I’ll only be gone a minute I could leave, but then an hour could pass or something similar where I’m not able to get back to the computer; how exactly do you action against that?

How do other games deal with it? It isn’t exactly a new thing. There are many different things that could be done. One of which might be to fix the issues with AFK detection which would have the result of not easily allowing people to afk without being kicked, perhaps not kick while people are chatting, and for those wanting to circumvent it, requiring them to use a 3rd party application instead which would then fall under botting.

Even without the ability to take action, to come out and say it is ok, just encourages even more people to do it that otherwise were too worried to do so. It had an effect to discourage it even without action being taken.

If your going to give 2 classes an edge let my mini’s kill like there pets. I want free xp and loot for doing absolutely nothing.

Lunacy Solacio.6514:

penelopehannibal.8947:

Xbon.9086:

seems like it’d be a hard thing to action against, if someone comes up while I’m on my ranger and I think I’ll only be gone a minute I could leave, but then an hour could pass or something similar where I’m not able to get back to the computer; how exactly do you action against that?

You wouldn’t be purposely circumventing the auto-kick system I imagine, unlike the AFK farmers. You’d be in the server for an hour until the game kicks you out.

There are a number of ways you can remain in game for far longer than an hour in pve while being afk without using a 3rd party application. Just watch the afk farmers if you want to learn how they do it.

I know, such as Ctrl + Right Clicking certain skills. Still doesn’t make it right, and it was against the rules once upon a time!

Would you all feel better if the botters improved their scripts so they didnt look like botters?

mauried.5608:

Would you all feel better if the botters improved their scripts so they didnt look like botters?

No because we’re not talking about botters here anyway.

mauried.5608:

Would you all feel better if the botters improved their scripts so they didnt look like botters?

Would it matter? If anyone does anything about reports of this stuff, they only get smacked on the hand for doing it in the first place. That’s blatant 3rd party stuff, too.

Siobhan.5273:

mauried.5608:

Would you all feel better if the botters improved their scripts so they didnt look like botters?

Would it matter? If anyone does anything about reports of this stuff, they only get smacked on the hand for doing it in the first place. That’s blatant 3rd party stuff, too.

That’s the wrong conclusion to come to. Just because 1 person supposedly received only a warning for using third party software, doesn’t mean they won’t suspend/ban anybody for it. It’s on a case-by-case basis.

It’s possible they may be relaxing their policies a bit, letting more things slide and/or giving out less harsh punishments. But it doesn’t mean that people should do whatever they want.

Can you be banned for using 3rd party hardware to make a bot?

Charrbeque.8729:

That’s the wrong conclusion to come to. Just because 1 person supposedly received only a warning for using third party software, doesn’t mean they won’t suspend/ban anybody for it. It’s on a case-by-case basis.

It’s possible they may be relaxing their policies a bit, letting more things slide and/or giving out less harsh punishments. But it doesn’t mean that people should do whatever they want.

I’m also going by stuff I’ve submitted. I have watched, as has my husband, numerous people afk’ing/botting in areas such as the one I posted the screenshots of on the first page of this thread, SW, etc (and know my husband did too), and seen the same people there for days, doing the same thing (it actually became a running joke between us, “there is our pal so-and-so! they haven’t even moved!” kind of banter). We stopped reporting as it was pretty clear those people were cozy and not concerned about being made to go. One was so obviously a bot, I even sent in a screenshot (I still have them) There is a right-click report option, but it seems not to really function (I say that based on experience and finally having to send in a running log to have something addressed) , on many levels, and it’s not my job to continually document these people and keep running logs on areas that are problem. ArenaNet should know these areas better than me, I’m not spending my time doing this for them.

I said it earlier in this thread, and I’ll say it again, gem sales must be awesome because hard line, the answer should just be, no.

^ yeah, there’s one in Timberline in the middle of the aggressive grawl camp that’s been there for ages. I’d love to know how many bags that player has picked up. I’ve reported it just to make a point but “pointless” springs to mind.

This game is rated for 12 years aged children. I find it very disgusting that children need to do the bot police work for the game company. Child labor.

Likewise, hackers in WvW/EotM. Not friendly place for children. The game should be rated 16+.

Have these issues been discussed in governments, or in EU, or in America? With respect to games-for-children. Do parents or politicians know what happens in these games-for-children?

Michael Henninger.7451:

This is allowed behavior; as it was designed to function that way.

Isn’t there a mastery skill that auto loots?
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Advanced_Logistics

if yes, then it’s not just a form of exploit but botting, caused by a poor game design and the ignorance of Anet staff. I’ve seen a ranger camping at mob spawn area with very defensive equipment and skills to keep his pet alive. This definitely sounds sketchy and must be reconsidered for a fix.

jway.8293:

Michael Henninger.7451:

This is allowed behavior; as it was designed to function that way.

Isn’t there a mastery skill that auto loots?
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Advanced_Logistics

if yes, then it’s not just a form of exploit but botting, caused by a poor game design and the ignorance of Anet staff. I’ve seen a ranger camping at mob spawn area with very defensive equipment and skills to keep his pet alive. This definitely sounds sketchy and must be reconsidered for a fix.

Not sure how you missed this thread, https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Please-a-clear-statement-re-AFK-farming, when locating this old thread.

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

jway.8293:

Michael Henninger.7451:

This is allowed behavior; as it was designed to function that way.

Isn’t there a mastery skill that auto loots?
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Advanced_Logistics

if yes, then it’s not just a form of exploit but botting, caused by a poor game design and the ignorance of Anet staff. I’ve seen a ranger camping at mob spawn area with very defensive equipment and skills to keep his pet alive. This definitely sounds sketchy and must be reconsidered for a fix.

Not sure how you missed this thread, https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Please-a-clear-statement-re-AFK-farming, when locating this old thread.

^Yep, it has been covered in the link provided. You should go and read it. Bottom line-no big deal -it is allowed unless 3rd party software is used or player is found to be AFK by a GM. AFK is not botting btw.

While I think AFK farming is an issue in some ways, I have to ask those complaining about it: If AFK farming is sooo bad because people are not at their keyboards while still gaining loot in GW2, are you also going to demand that all buy/sell orders on the TP go inactive when a person logs off for the night?

Aint it botting if they use a heal skill around the same time.. without moving? and just standing still letting pets attacj.. Ive seen the same with a necro also.. and different places. Coz if this is a new way to farm in guild wars, then i need to gear my ranger, go afk and let the farm begin :P :P :P ofc im kidding coz ppl who afk, where its obvious that they aint there, makes me so mad.. and even more mad when i see them for weeks at the same spot.

So are macros ok? now i need 2 know.. can i make a click macro 2 open bags if i farm?

Nannabie.6943:

Aint it botting if they use a heal skill around the same time.. without moving? and just standing still letting pets attacj.. Ive seen the same with a necro also.. and different places. Coz if this is a new way to farm in guild wars, then i need to gear my ranger, go afk and let the farm begin :P :P :P ofc im kidding coz ppl who afk, where its obvious that they aint there, makes me so mad.. and even more mad when i see them for weeks at the same spot.

So are macros ok? now i need 2 know.. can i make a click macro 2 open bags if i farm?

No. That would result in a suspension.

Neural.1824:

While I think AFK farming is an issue in some ways, I have to ask those complaining about it: If AFK farming is sooo bad because people are not at their keyboards while still gaining loot in GW2, are you also going to demand that all buy/sell orders on the TP go inactive when a person logs off for the night?

Why would anyone demand that? You should try to come up with something better than this. Your point is invalid as buy/sell orders on the TP are in no way influenced by the online/offline status or your character. People doing afk farming gain an advantage over those who log out regularly when going to sleep/work/school, because their character is obtaining wealth while he should not. The TP is completely different from that, as you cannot gain an advantage over anyone else by being logged on or off. The TP was designed to work without your interaction, killing mobs was not.

Blude.6812:

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

jway.8293:

Michael Henninger.7451:

This is allowed behavior; as it was designed to function that way.

Isn’t there a mastery skill that auto loots?
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Advanced_Logistics

if yes, then it’s not just a form of exploit but botting, caused by a poor game design and the ignorance of Anet staff. I’ve seen a ranger camping at mob spawn area with very defensive equipment and skills to keep his pet alive. This definitely sounds sketchy and must be reconsidered for a fix.

Not sure how you missed this thread, https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Please-a-clear-statement-re-AFK-farming, when locating this old thread.

^Yep, it has been covered in the link provided. You should go and read it. Bottom line-no big deal -it is allowed unless 3rd party software is used or player is found to be AFK by a GM. AFK is not botting btw.

You’re wrong. It isn’t allowed.

The last two statements from Chris Cleary in the “please a clear statement re AFK farming…” thread are clear on the subject. If you read nothing else, please read them:

Chris Cleary.8017:

I’ll pitch in on this thread, as there seems to be some confusion about this situation.

The auto-cast feature was never intended to be used as an AFK farming mechanism, and usage of the auto-cast feature while AFK is fine as long as it is not used to facilitate unattended gameplay.

Mastery auto-loot also stopping players from being flagged afk seems like a bug instead of a feature, and I’ll be sure to bring it up today while we have a chat about this internally.

1) Using skill (1 or more) while AFK
2) AFKing in a place where it is beneficial for your character to be at
3) Unresponsive to interaction with GMs

If all 3 of these apply to what you are doing, you may get actioned for it.

Chris Cleary.8017:

I would rather us fix the underlying issue with this rather than band-aid the issue by enforcing rules and punishments that don’t solve the issue at all.

The core issue here is we don’t want to have players feeling that their main source of income is generated while they are not at the computer. We have already started to see the impact of this in-game and within the community. Not only does this behavior impact players in the world when they run across a pack of unattended farmers, but also the players who are performing the unattended farming. Eventually these players spend less and less time actually playing the game, and more time unattended farming.

We see the same trends in players that use bots, macros and cheats. It eventually leads to players falling out of the game (from both encountering the impact in the world, or by participating themselves).

While there is an economic impact of having a large number of players farming like this, I’m more more concerned about behavior trends shifting than anything else.

The 3 rules above aren’t just for your protection, they are for everyone’s protection. GMs have been trained to identify and handle these situations, it’s one of the first things they learn. GMs are overly generous on the amount of time that players are given to respond.

As for how we intend on fixing that, some of us had a meeting today to talk about that. While there are some systems working against each other here, we all agreed that we didn’t want to make any changes that anyone would actually run into unless they were no longer at their keyboard for an extended period.

Rest assured, we aren’t going to take away auto-loot in the world, or remove your ability to auto-cast. Everything we implement will only impact players who aren’t actually performing actions. I’m sure when we do implement something, it’ll be in the patch notes to read about. Until then, follow the 3 rules above. After that, they won’t be relevant anymore.

(Automation is still against the rules, unless you are using it to play music in-game)

~EW

penelopehannibal.8947:

Blude.6812:

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

jway.8293:

Michael Henninger.7451:

This is allowed behavior; as it was designed to function that way.

Isn’t there a mastery skill that auto loots?
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Advanced_Logistics

if yes, then it’s not just a form of exploit but botting, caused by a poor game design and the ignorance of Anet staff. I’ve seen a ranger camping at mob spawn area with very defensive equipment and skills to keep his pet alive. This definitely sounds sketchy and must be reconsidered for a fix.

Not sure how you missed this thread, https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Please-a-clear-statement-re-AFK-farming, when locating this old thread.

^Yep, it has been covered in the link provided. You should go and read it. Bottom line-no big deal -it is allowed unless 3rd party software is used or player is found to be AFK by a GM. AFK is not botting btw.

You’re wrong. It isn’t allowed.

Best learn to actually and comprehend. You can farm all you want, 3rd party software=no. AFK is not botting. AFK is another issue that can be dealt with by a GM if they meet the 3 requirements for a kick/suspension. And just above from a DEV
"

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

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."

Blude.6812:

penelopehannibal.8947:

Blude.6812:

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

jway.8293:

Michael Henninger.7451:

This is allowed behavior; as it was designed to function that way.

Isn’t there a mastery skill that auto loots?
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Advanced_Logistics

if yes, then it’s not just a form of exploit but botting, caused by a poor game design and the ignorance of Anet staff. I’ve seen a ranger camping at mob spawn area with very defensive equipment and skills to keep his pet alive. This definitely sounds sketchy and must be reconsidered for a fix.

Not sure how you missed this thread, https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Please-a-clear-statement-re-AFK-farming, when locating this old thread.

^Yep, it has been covered in the link provided. You should go and read it. Bottom line-no big deal -it is allowed unless 3rd party software is used or player is found to be AFK by a GM. AFK is not botting btw.

You’re wrong. It isn’t allowed.

Best learn to actually and comprehend. You can farm all you want, 3rd party software=no. AFK is not botting. AFK is another issue that can be dealt with by a GM if they meet the 3 requirements for a kick/suspension. And just above from a DEV
"

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

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."

First, you seem to have missed the above line by Chris, “AFK is fine as long as it is not used to facilitate unattended gameplay.”

Second, for my quote you used just above, =/= means “does not equal” just to be sure we’re clear on that. The immediate response to my quote above was “this is absolutely correct.” The context of that exchange was to establish that just because you are mechanically able to do something, doesn’t mean it’s okay to do it by policy.

Third, AFK farming as it’s generally practiced atm does violate all 3 rules stipulated above in Chris Cleary’s statement.

AFK farming isn’t okay to do… even w/o 3rd party software. It is unattended gameplay violating the 3 rules, and it was made clear that ANet does not want to see it happening.

~EW