On-ship AFKers.

Darkslinger

Darkslinger

Notorious Pirate
People AFKing during runs make me lose my:fight1:.

We could call them leeches, except leeches are more beneficial.

A couple of reasons why I lose my :chill::
  1. They do nothing. They just stand AFK waiting for our hard work to pay them off. I'm aware that pressing buttons isn't usually considered to be hard work, Mr./Mrs. Common Sense, however it's annoying to witness it happening on your own ship.
  2. They're literally a waste of space. Some pirates want to level up their cannons or repair and get loot but these individuals just stand there doing nothing while preventing other helpful pirates from joining in. I wouldn't mind if they did nothing but repair - at least they'd be useful that way.
  3. They don't get that what they're doing is wrong. They know that it annoys others, but keep doing it anyways. Upon asking one of these people why they did so, they shamelessly replied "cause they can and will" and tried to justify it by saying something along the lines of "lol how am I supposed to get 4k iron there's nothing else I can do except this idc".
I've witnessed more than 5 people doing the same thing in 30 minutes.

The only fixes I could currently think of:

-Allowing the captain of the ship to utilize a boot button. To prevent it being misused, the captain may need to submit proof or even have multiple pirates vote for a certain person to get booted. May be grossly misused, though. The kicked pirate could even get a portion of the loot - the purpose is to allow more contributing hands to join the ship.

-An "AFK" ship-ban preventing AFK pirates from boarding other ships for a couple of hours, can increase w/ repeated offense. Example: 4 hours, 12 hours, 24 hours, 48 hours.

All replies are welcome.
 
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I have no clue about a lot of the viability of putting things like this into action in the game, but I feel like captains' boot might just be the easiest way to implement a solution.

An automatic AFK ban could be bad, just because some people will load up a ship with AFK guild mates for a crew bonus and work on cannon or sailing leveling...
 
Darkslinger said:
-Allowing the captain of the ship to utilize a boot button. To prevent it being misused, the captain may need to submit proof or even have multiple pirates vote for a certain person to get booted. May be grossly misused, though. The kicked pirate could even get a portion of the loot - the purpose is to allow more contributing hands to join the ship.
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This seems fair. The ship captain is in charge of their own ship. If they are misusing the command, they will be dragged down by the community anyway. Plus, by providing some loot to the removed player (and in my opinion, removing it from the hull entirely) it creates a trade-off that the captain needs to decide upon. To lose some loot, or to deal with the player they do not want on their ship.

Chris
 
Something we could do is log inputs they are sending to the server. If they've been holding down a button for minutes on end, the game could interpret that as an AFK pirate.

Christofosho said:
This seems fair. The ship captain is in charge of their own ship. If they are misusing the command, they will be dragged down by the community anyway. Plus, by providing some loot to the removed player (and in my opinion, removing it from the hull entirely) it creates a trade-off that the captain needs to decide upon. To lose some loot, or to deal with the player they do not want on their ship.

Chris
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I'm going to have to disagree with you here, and harshly. If a player isn't being productive on the ship and the captain decides to kick them, then the amount of loot they should receive is a big fat zero.

DR1F73R said:
I have no clue about a lot of the viability of putting things like this into action in the game, but I feel like captains' boot might just be the easiest way to implement a solution.

An automatic AFK ban could be bad, just because some people will load up a ship with AFK guild mates for a crew bonus and work on cannon or sailing leveling...
Click to expand...

My idea when it comes to the scourge of AFK pirates on ships would be to send an alert to the captain of the vessel in question regarding the offending pirate. Similar to how we get pop-ups saying "[pirate] is inviting you to the [crew/guild], do you wish to join?" a popup saying "[pirate] has been AFK for a few minutes, do you wish to make them walk the plank?"

As far as the much worse ship repair or cannon AFKers are concerned, after 30 seconds, the player in question would be booted from that station.
 
Mathias said:
Something we could do is log inputs they are sending to the server. If they've been holding down a button for minutes on end, the game could interpret that as an AFK pirate.



I'm going to have to disagree with you here, and harshly. If a player isn't being productive on the ship and the captain decides to kick them, then the amount of loot they should receive is a big fat zero.



My idea when it comes to the scourge of AFK pirates on ships would be to send an alert to the captain of the vessel in question regarding the offending pirate. Similar to how we get pop-ups saying "[pirate] is inviting you to the [crew/guild], do you wish to join?" a popup saying "[pirate] has been AFK for a few minutes, do you wish to make them walk the plank?"

As far as the much worse ship repair or cannon AFKers are concerned, after 30 seconds, the player in question would be booted from that station.
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How do you know they were doing nothing when the captain decided to kick them? Keep in mind you have no kick option right now. If one were added on with a small detriment to the kicker, I'm sure that is more beneficial than none.

Chris
 
Christofosho said:
To lose some loot
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I don't think losing the loot should be an option - as the captain and crew did nothing wrong in the first place to be accountable for.

The kicked person should just receive as much as he/she contributed.

Eg: If they helped by taking down a ship or two or repairing the ship. Each repair could result in certain amount of Gold and the plunder gained from the ships they drowned is received. If they did nothing they get nothing. Think of it as an early port for certain people.
 
I don't know if this works today but in potco when the player goes afk they do not get any loot whatsoever. So if the devs add this in, or already have they don't collect all of the loot.
 
Jeapers said:
or just add the boot like for svs to normal ships?
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This was discussed before. My argument for it was that the person who would be kicked would just get the loot that they would have gotten if the ship had ported at that time, meaning that if they had been there for when the ship got a royal chest and 2 loot pouches then they would get the royal chest and the 2 loot pouches. This would prevent innocents from getting kicked and losing the loot that they earned, while leeches can be seen quickly and kicked so they don't benefit as much.
 
Stormtimbers said:
This was discussed before. My argument for it was that the person who would be kicked would just get the loot that they would have gotten if the ship had ported at that time, meaning that if they had been there for when the ship got a royal chest and 2 loot pouches then they would get the royal chest and the 2 loot pouches. This would prevent innocents from getting kicked and losing the loot that they earned, while leeches can be seen quickly and kicked so they don't benefit as much.
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This would be a weird implementation as people would request to be kicked for a quick port with all their cargo. Then they could even teleport back to the ship that still has all this cargo on-board. To prevent some kind of loot duplication glitch would require changing how the loot "earning" system stores info, which means a lot more work from the developers than you would expect for an idea that sounds so simple to start with.

Though it's also possible you could block a player from joining a ship if they've already been kicked from it, until that ship ports again. This would be the more elegant solution to the problem I listed and AFK'ers potential re-joining after being kicked, but this would also be some extra work for the developers. Not really that bad (assuming POTCO's code isn't absolutely ridiculous), but the point remains: kicking with loot being given is a much more complex idea than people realize it is.
 
Sky Kiwi said:
This would be a weird implementation as people would request to be kicked for a quick port with all their cargo. Then they could even teleport back to the ship that still has all this cargo on-board. To prevent some kind of loot duplication glitch would require changing how the loot "earning" system stores info, which means a lot more work from the developers than you would expect for an idea that sounds so simple to start with.

Though it's also possible you could block a player from joining a ship if they've already been kicked from it, until that ship ports again. This would be the more elegant solution to the problem I listed and AFK'ers potential re-joining after being kicked, but this would also be some extra work for the developers. Not really that bad (assuming POTCO's code isn't absolutely ridiculous), but the point remains: kicking with loot being given is a much more complex idea than people realize it is.
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I realize that, but it is a necessity to prevent people from being cheated out of loot
 
When i board a ship, i always respect it's crew, it's self, and it's captain. I do afk in some occasion, but i always ask the captain for permission, if he disagree, i will turn off the game till i could play again.
 
The only thing I will add is this... I KNOW there are 'AFKers' I've seen them with my own eyes... But we are in Beta right now... For the very first time last night, I decided to hope on some public ships who were making mat runs. More than one captain thanked me as my cannon skill is currently 23 and that can make for some quick destruction of enemy vessels... I'm quick with repairs and devastating behind the cannon. But in 2 out of the 6 runs that I made on public ships, my screen froze... I know that I was still there, I just couldn't see anything but that frozen screen any more. I could hear myself fire the cannon but couldn't target any more due to a lack of real time vision. It dawned on me both of those times that to any paying attention. It appeared that I was not doing anything any more and I closed down the game as quickly as possible both times so as not to appear as some inactive deck leech... (not able to get back again in time to collect my share of the mats and loot.) I know this is most likely a VERY rare circumstance where it would appear a shipmate is inactive and trying to get something for nothing... I just wanted to remind everyone that... well sometimes things happen. I like the idea of being able to boot leeches off the vessel. But if one is to be kind, fair and just to a hardworking shipmate, please make sure you are diligent in watching over your boat as captain and make sure you truly get the problem makers, and not some unfortunate victim of a bug. Sending appreciation to every fantastic captain out there who treats others kindly on their vessel! - raises a mug - ....... Good fortune, and safe travels, 'til next we meet! :)
 
Sky Kiwi said:
This would be a weird implementation as people would request to be kicked for a quick port with all their cargo. Then they could even teleport back to the ship that still has all this cargo on-board. To prevent some kind of loot duplication glitch would require changing how the loot "earning" system stores info, which means a lot more work from the developers than you would expect for an idea that sounds so simple to start with.

Though it's also possible you could block a player from joining a ship if they've already been kicked from it, until that ship ports again. This would be the more elegant solution to the problem I listed and AFK'ers potential re-joining after being kicked, but this would also be some extra work for the developers. Not really that bad (assuming POTCO's code isn't absolutely ridiculous), but the point remains: kicking with loot being given is a much more complex idea than people realize it is.
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What if once you were booted, you could not reboard the ship until it ports and sets sail again?
 
Remington said:
The only thing I will add is this... I KNOW there are 'AFKers' I've seen them with my own eyes... But we are in Beta right now... For the very first time last night, I decided to hope on some public ships who were making mat runs. More than one captain thanked me as my cannon skill is currently 23 and that can make for some quick destruction of enemy vessels... I'm quick with repairs and devastating behind the cannon. But in 2 out of the 6 runs that I made on public ships, my screen froze... I know that I was still there, I just couldn't see anything but that frozen screen any more. I could hear myself fire the cannon but couldn't target any more due to a lack of real time vision. It dawned on me both of those times that to any paying attention. It appeared that I was not doing anything any more and I closed down the game as quickly as possible both times so as not to appear as some inactive deck leech... (not able to get back again in time to collect my share of the mats and loot.) I know this is most likely a VERY rare circumstance where it would appear a shipmate is inactive and trying to get something for nothing... I just wanted to remind everyone that... well sometimes things happen. I like the idea of being able to boot leeches off the vessel. But if one is to be kind, fair and just to a hardworking shipmate, please make sure you are diligent in watching over your boat as captain and make sure you truly get the problem makers, and not some unfortunate victim of a bug. Sending appreciation to every fantastic captain out there who treats others kindly on their vessel! - raises a mug - ....... Good fortune, and safe travels, 'til next we meet! :)
Click to expand...
You can't compare your situation to theirs. You boarded the ship and undertook certain tasks like using the cannon/repairing. They just stand there and do nothing as soon as they board. Looking forward to meet you in-game and witness your devastating cannon-skills firsthand!
 
Sky Kiwi said:
Though it's also possible you could block a player from joining a ship if they've already been kicked from it, until that ship ports again. This would be the more elegant solution to the problem I listed and AFK'ers potential re-joining after being kicked, but this would also be some extra work for the developers. Not really that bad (assuming POTCO's code isn't absolutely ridiculous), but the point remains: kicking with loot being given is a much more complex idea than people realize it is.
Click to expand...

You make multiple good points such as the loot duplication exploit you mentioned in the paragraph above as well as the points you mention here. In my opinion, my final decision would be to prevent kicked individuals from getting any loot whatsoever and issue them varying ship-bans - unless they would board multiple ships and rapidly gain loot when being kicked. This will prevent them from repeating their offense.

An auto AFK kick won't be suitable, as in some cases players actually ask for permission. Also, with closer friends it's more acceptable for them to be AFK especially if the ship isn't open to the public - so an auto kick won't do.

In the kick/boot player option there should be a list of choices:
  • Player is AFK
  • Rude or unwanted behavior
  • Other (requires you to write a complaint, will require moderation efforts)
  • Etc..

1 kick - If a player is kicked from a ship, this will result in a 24-hour ship ban from that certain ship. A warning is displayed when they are on land ("You have been kicked from so-and-so's ship. Reason: ...)

2 kicks - 2nd and final warning is displayed. Banned from boarding the ship they were kicked from for 24-hours.

3 kicks - Ship-banned and prevented from boarding any other ships for 24-hours.

If this behavior is repeated after the 24-hour ship-ban, the ban duplicates. The system is reset after 24 hours of no kicks.

As kicking will be misused, a crew vote has to be made. If the majority agrees - the kick is triggered. This is an imperfect workaround, so any other suggestions regarding the prevention of kick/boot misuse will be greatly appreciated.
 
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