Zeropoints

Well, you're not wrong! Admittedly, I did participate in some afk MM multiboxing, but have since given it up after discovering this post. This is the best argument I've seen thus far and I agree that game performance is a problem, but it isn't just limited to AFK MM's. There are lots of scenarios that can produce the same effects. I think the better approach would be to have a discussion about how we can limit these scenarios from happening. AFK MM's is not the root cause of the issue any more than too many players in a zone or area is an issue. CoX has always had the capability to have multiple instances of a particular zone. Perhaps we could limit PI's max player count per instance to the max league size and just have multiple instances. I'm just spit-balling an idea here and have no clue if that would solve the problem but it seems to me that working on a solution to the real problem, "lag", would be much more beneficial to the community as a whole. The whole reason I'm posting in this thread is because I do care about everyone's experience. That includes your experience as well as AFK MM's experience, not just mine. My goal was to promote discussion on how we could accommodate everyone's experience rather than trying to single out specific players/playstyles and demonizing activities that are allowed. I too am frustrated by the amount of people just in this thread who only care about their experience and of those that play the game the way that they feel the game should be played. There's no reason why we can't come up with a solution that is more inclusive of different playstyles rather than eliminating them because it's not how you enjoy the game. Your last statement would be more genuine if you had said "'I'm frustrated by the sheer preponderance of people who don't play how I think the game should be played and don't give a flying fuck about my experience." You make a very solid point. Do you see any solutions that don't end with removing an entire Archetype from the game? If it indeed creates a problem then I would agree with a rule change. My argument against this particular issue you mention would be that you seem to assert the notion that the league is somehow more entitled to the XP and even the location than the AFK MM. Could I not also argue that the league is greatly reducing the MM's XP/rewards. What entitlement does the league have to the rewards that are not solely generated by the league. Any player, not just MM's, that is not in the league could "leech" rewards from the league. This is by design so that everyone's contribution is rewarded. The game engine is not biased towards one player or a separate group of players. It rewards contribution. So by the game engine's own logic, AFK MM's are indeed contributing. It seems to me, and I could definitely be wrong here, that it would be easier to adjust rewards/drop rates than to remove an entire Archetype from the game. If killing mobs is not contributing then how do you define contributing? Why would killing mobs generate rewards if the game engine did not consider that as contributing? Does your MM example not apply to any player or group that is not on your team/league? Why is this argument only being made against AFK MM's if anyone can cause this type of scenario? I understand the scenario you described, but what entitles you or the league/team that you are on to farm at that location more so than ANY other player whether its an MM or not. Why not move to another location. If the MM's are AFK as you claim then they couldn't follow you. At what point are you going to take responsibility for your participation in this scenario. If you know running into traffic will get you killed and you have the option to avoid the traffic but still run into it, are you not responsible for your own death? Does the entire world now have to give up cars, driving, traveling, etc. because you didn't use the options at your disposal to not get run over. With the exception of mutiboxing with more than the allowed 3 accounts. None of these activities are violations of any rules that I am aware of. The only argument you've made here is that somehow YOUR team or league is entitled to XP more so than anyone who is not on YOUR team/league. If a player who is not on your league/team is finding it hard to fight and just clicks doors does that player not benefit from AFK MM's killing mobs. Is your league not a drain on that players rewards? Is your behavior not demonstrating GM favoritism towards whatever league/team you are on? Please understand my intention is not to single out you or anyone else for that matter. The whole point of this was to shift the conversation towards inclusive solutions that benefit everyone, but damn near every response in this thread just talks about how MM's reduced my XP/rewards. Well its not YOUR XP. YOUR XP is the amount that was awarded to you. No more, no less. Everyone is arguing for their own benefit or the benefit of the league that they are a member of. WHY AM I THE ONLY ONE ASKING FOR SOLUTIONS TO BENEFIT EVERYONE? I would disagree with that statement whole heartedly. It is the job of the CoC and any other published rules to keep things as fair as possible. A GM's job is to enforce the rules not make them up on the fly as you see fit and certainly, your personal stake in the matter should not play any part in that enforcement. Whether I should or shouldn't do something has nothing to do with whether I can or not. It has everything to do with if that behavior is allowed by the rules. "Should or shouldn't", beyond what is allowed by the rules, is a personal choice and simply your opinion. Forcing others to conform to your ideas of what constitutes good manners or etiquette is just an abuse of authority.

Why stop with MM's? All classes can go AFK. Why not ban them all? *Edited for punctuation

I'm going to play devil's advocate here because, while I understand the sentiment of this statement is well-meaning, I think it has the potential to divide the community. Player etiquette and player rules (CoC) are two different things. One is required and one is not. Etiquette is voluntary and if you don't agree with someone's etiquette you have multiple tools at your disposal to avoid those players. To my knowledge, AFK masterminds is not a violation of the CoC. If I missed that rule then you can ignore this post. My question is how is this statement not discriminatory against a specific group of players who haven't broken any rules? If AFK masterminds is such a problem that it requires a GM to "frown on" that behavior why is there no rule against afk masterminds? The big argument I see repeated here over and over is that AFK masterminds are leeching. Let's clarify a few things here. Leeching, refers to a player who is being rewarded while not contributing to whatever activity or event is being attempted by the group. So, let's define contributing. Since we're discussing ToT, I'll stick to that as an example. There are only 2 required activities in regards to farming doors at the motel, clicking doors and killing trick npc's. In order to contribute you must perform one of these activities. You can certainly argue that some players are contributing more than others but that is completely irrelevant since any contribution would immediately mean you are not leeching. There is always someone in a group who is contributing the least. AFK masterminds are contributing by killing npc's. Labeling them as leeches is simply incorrect. The other argument is that AFK MM's are reducing the rewards that players would otherwise get. Well, this is the same for every player who is contributing and since we've already discovered that MM's are contributing then they deserve some portion of the rewards. Not to mention, since the AFK mastermind is helping you kill more npc's than you could if you were solo the reward drop rate should be more frequent. It could likely be argued that in some cases, AFK masterminds helping kill npc's increases the rewards received. Again, this argument is moot or simply incorrect. So, what is the real issue with AFK MM's? It seems to me that some individuals have an issue with players getting rewarded for putting in less effort than them. My question is, why? Is it envy? Cause it sounds like envy to me. Since when did it become unethical to work smarter not harder? Again, if you don't agree with AFK MM's, then don't play with them. Don't invite them. Kick them from your league if you feel inclined to do so. These are just a few of the options you have at your disposal. As a player, you can even express your opinion on the matter in these very forums. I encourage you to do so, but stick to the facts and be honest about the situation. To my original reason for playing devil's advocate here, as a GM, it is my opinion that you should provide unbiased moderation and encourage the community to be inclusive of all playstyles that do not violate the CoC rather than promote a derogatory stigma that is unjustified. Discriminating one playstyle over another when both fall within the CoC rules is biased and furthers divisiveness in the community.