The AFK Police

[Lines]

The police are AFK?

 

RIOT!

[Troo]

6 hours ago, Ukase said:

If you're afk long enough for the white AFK bubble to appear over your head

 

Thats not what happens though. They just teleport individual players away from the motel over and over. (AFK or not)

 

When they find ONE they justify what they are doing.

[srmalloy]

18 hours ago, High_Beam said:

I want to circle back to his concept of there being such a thing as excessive masturbation, I am pretty sure that's not a thing.  🙂

The pathology of the condition is not well understood, but prolonged or aggressive masturbation or sexual intercourse is believed to be one of the causes of Penile Mondor's Disease. And that's likely TMI, but in this case, too much may not be a good thing.

[Ukase]

1 hour ago, Troo said:

 

Thats not what happens though. They just teleport individual players away from the motel over and over. (AFK or not)

 

When they find ONE they justify what they are doing.

Troo, I have no disagreement with you. I think what happened to you, the way you describe it is inexcusable, and that player needs to get some sort of therapy. What they did is a clear over-reaction, even if you were an afk-er. I think it's normal (and maybe I'm wrong) for a player to get irked or irritated with the behavior of another player. But to do what was done to you, there's no excuse for that level of spite. 

My beef is with the players that are afk simply to take advantage of the generous nature of others. Because they can. 
I have no beef with people tending to various needs on their time - like their boss, their kid, or even a pet. Most of the time, those issues are resolved quickly. Sometimes not. I'll make a note if I have no idea what's going on - but I'll never say or do anything. But If I look later in the day, or the next day, or even the next year and see the same behavior - well, to me, that's a pattern of being a jerk. Is it that important to me that I'm going to do what was done to you? Nope. I just make notes so I know not to deal with these kinds of people because they strike me as unsavory. But that's just me and my take. It's not going to get me elected to any political office or have a statue created with my likeness. 

[Excraft]

Why not just quit the league and join another?  It's not like there aren't multiple instances of PI running ToT leagues.  There's also leagues running in KW.  

[Skyhawke]

One does not simply walk into Penile Mondor. 

[High_Beam]

1 hour ago, srmalloy said:

The pathology of the condition is not well understood, but prolonged or aggressive masturbation or sexual intercourse is believed to be one of the causes of Penile Mondor's Disease. And that's likely TMI, but in this case, too much may not be a good thing.

One word 

 

Westpac

[Troo]

5 hours ago, Excraft said:

Why not just quit the league and join another?  It's not like there aren't multiple instances of PI running ToT leagues.  There's also leagues running in KW.  

 

Definitely. 

I have no problem with dropping and moving on. In this case; I'll also report, let folks in zone know what's happening, and that they too can report the offender if they wish.

Let the mods sort it out. 

 

[randomperson]

On 10/5/2025 at 3:57 PM, Ukase said:

On Excelsior, one is too many, even if the population is less than 1100. (but that's my personal take, not a rule, as far as I know)  On some of the lower pop servers, I'd think it might actually be encouraged. Context means a lot. 

 

True. 

On the server I've been playing on, multiboxing is accepted, but you have to be good at it.    There are a few players who can run 3 MM's to get combined damage, and really nobody minds it because they're willing to do the mundane parts of a Trial or something. 

 

Also sometimes we need a multiboxer to get up to the requisite 16 for a Rikti raid. 

[mechahamham]

We've been running into a problem of event abuse and shared resource wastage for quite some time now. Going back to MSRs, the number of people who simply sit in one position in the bowl with a buff or heal on auto fire is kinda sad, really. They're not even chatting. They've genuinely left a character AFK to soak up passive rewards. (And then when the MSR raid ends, you can see them waiting quietly at Point Du Hoc for their parents to pick them up, perhaps an aoe left on auto.) They may or may not be soaking up a spot in the instance where the raid is happening that would otherwise go to an active player depending on the day and server traffic.

 

The problem is the lie. The Big Lie. The lie that's has caused and is causing endless damage and suffering: "If I'm okay with this happening, everyone else should be okay with this happening too. I don't have to be considerate of the way others feel or change my behavior because *I'm* in the right."

 

(Should we be thankful that the nature of the game limits its effects to places and people that aren't real?)

 

The answer is *communication*. Be the change you want to see and show others. If there's a league that's chasing away AFKers, and you want to start a league that's okay with AFKing, pick a zone where there's not already one going and announce that. Just like farmers announce what they want in their farms, announce what you want and what you're willing to tolerate.

 

Likewise, if you're leading a league and DON'T want to see AFKers, announce that too. It doesn't have to be any kind of statement or ethics or morality. Just, 'No AFKers, please,' will suffice.

 

Importantly, don't make that mistake, "I'm personally okay with this happening, so everyone else should just grow a thicker skin and bear with it." That doesn't help anyone.

[biostem]

40 minutes ago, mechahamham said:

Likewise, if you're leading a league and DON'T want to see AFKers, announce that too. It doesn't have to be any kind of statement or ethics or morality. Just, 'No AFKers, please,' will suffice.

The problem isn't the sentiment, it's the enforcement, which turns what should be leisure time into another job or further drudgery.  It isn't about whether we are OK with AFKers or not, it's to what extent you or I are willing to watch, call out, and take action against other players.  As I stated previously in this thread, I am primarily concerned with my own enjoyment, and that of my in-game or RL friends, not whether generic faceless player X is contributing equally.  If you want to start and run a league where you monitor all members for unequal participation, then that's on you...

[mechahamham]

16 minutes ago, biostem said:

The problem isn't the sentiment, it's the enforcement, which turns what should be leisure time into another job or further drudgery.  It isn't about whether we are OK with AFKers or not, it's to what extent you or I are willing to watch, call out, and take action against other players.  As I stated previously in this thread, I am primarily concerned with my own enjoyment, and that of my in-game or RL friends, not whether generic faceless player X is contributing equally.  If you want to start and run a league where you monitor all members for unequal participation, then that's on you...

 

The trick there is that if there are both options, players will self-select. "Yeesh, I don't wanna run into the AFK police," turns into "I pretty much only join AFKing's leagues because they don't police for AFKers," in short order. Likewise, "Ugh, these AFKers get to me," turns into "I join PoliceDrone939's Leagues because they ask people not to AFK."

 

An example where this works is moderated versus unmoderated message boards, be they on Reddit or anywhere else. (Back in the heydey of Usenet, before spammers really did Tragedy-of-the-Commons the unmoderated bit to death, there were wide selections of both moderated and unmoderated communities.)

 

Edited October 7 by mechahamham

[biostem]

6 minutes ago, mechahamham said:

The trick there is that if there are both options, players will self-select. "Yeesh, I don't wanna run into the AFK police," turns into "I pretty much only join AFKing's leagues because they don't police for AFKers," in short order. Likewise, "Ugh, these AFKers get to me," turns into "I join PoliceDrone939's Leagues because they ask people not to AFK."

OK, so start doing that and see how well it catches on;  Put your proposal into action...

[mechahamham]

1 hour ago, biostem said:

OK, so start doing that and see how well it catches on;  Put your proposal into action...

 

What makes you think I haven't already?

 

When I lead teams and event leagues, I tell people that I'm not a good leader, but I am a *verbose* leader. I make it clear what I'd like to happen and what I expect. It doesn't always fly, but it does seem to at least more than half the time.

[biostem]

7 minutes ago, mechahamham said:

What makes you think I haven't already?

Awesome!  Still, it doesn't seem to be catching on, so keep up the good work!

[Snarky]

15 hours ago, Ukase said:

Troo, I have no disagreement with you. I think what happened to you, the way you describe it is inexcusable, and that player needs to get some sort of therapy. What they did is a clear over-reaction, even if you were an afk-er. I think it's normal (and maybe I'm wrong) for a player to get irked or irritated with the behavior of another player. But to do what was done to you, there's no excuse for that level of spite. 

My beef is with the players that are afk simply to take advantage of the generous nature of others. Because they can. 
I have no beef with people tending to various needs on their time - like their boss, their kid, or even a pet. Most of the time, those issues are resolved quickly. Sometimes not. I'll make a note if I have no idea what's going on - but I'll never say or do anything. But If I look later in the day, or the next day, or even the next year and see the same behavior - well, to me, that's a pattern of being a jerk. Is it that important to me that I'm going to do what was done to you? Nope. I just make notes so I know not to deal with these kinds of people because they strike me as unsavory. But that's just me and my take. It's not going to get me elected to any political office or have a statue created with my likeness. 

Players taking advantage is wrong.  The Teleporter is a real dick though.

 

Now that we are going into the Holiday season it is important for us gamers to come together and support each other.

 

 

Please donate to @Snarky as we work to get holiday treats to all the little heroes of Paragon.  Thank you.

[tidge]

I can't speak to the volume of "policing" that happens, but I certainly see examples of intense policing from time to time, and it almost always bothers me. I recognize when I come close to 'crossing a line' w.r.t. to the behavior of other players with Giant Monsters in the open world (mostly because I find them to be sloppy) but for the most part there isn't anything in the game worth getting that upset about. For "ToT leagues", I'd be just as bothered by PI leagues full of sub 30s that aren't contributing any useful powers as I'd be bothered by someone AFK. For crying out loud, that level 10 could be running a bunch of Leadership toggles if nothing else.

[Troo]

5 hours ago, Snarky said:

Players taking advantage is wrong.  The Teleporter is a real dick though.

 

Exactly.

 

Leeching is wrong.

Players policing players is worse.

 

I have no problem with and support a team leader encouraging folks and/or running a team the way they have communicated. 

PUG events,.. it's gonna be a bit of a shit show. 

[CountZero]

There is a simple way to sort the leechers at the murder motel. Do a little GM hunting but on the return taxi-port pull back to near the motel but not in it. Active players will walk the 100 yards or so, the leechers will stay at the landing point.

[Xalon]

In all online games, there will always be those people that are too lazy or selfish to play normally. AFKers and multiboxers and anyone else who are afraid to play the game normally. 

 

This is what leads to criminal behavior. They have no self control and cannot follow the rules, so they have to do something to get any advantage they can. Of course, earning things the right way means nothing to them. 

 

They will always be around 😕

[Krimson]

If we're talking about laziness... Being in a League does not improve spawns for your specific team. You can form a team of 6-8 and knock on ANY valid door. If you can't vet a team of 6-8 stop farming and go run missions. 

[WuTang]

Speaking of "leeching," doesn't this also affect the team's XP accumulation? If one team has a bunch of do-nothings, don't they get less XP overall? This I think has been my experience, in an MSR as well. If other teams on the league are doing more damage they are getting more of the XP. If this is the case I can see AFKers being a problem. I know a couple of friends who jumped in a ToT league together, both the same level going in, but coming out one had 2 levels up on the other.

 

Also, just don't have auto-accept teleport on (or whatever it's called). I pretty much never have it on unless I'm on a team with friends. This also stumps the whole teleport the AFKer somewhere else tactic, if the AFKer is wise enough to make sure it's off.

Edited October 9 by WuTang

[CountZero]

1 hour ago, WuTang said:

Also, just don't have auto-accept teleport on (or whatever it's called). I pretty much never have it on unless I'm on a team with friends. This also stumps the whole teleport the AFKer somewhere else tactic, if the AFKer is wise enough to make sure it's off.

Not really. If the entire league (minus the anchor) tp to a GM, then the 3 people left a the murder motel who aren't moving....

[srmalloy]

1 hour ago, WuTang said:

I know a couple of friends who jumped in a ToT league together, both the same level going in, but coming out one had 2 levels up on the other.

This can simply be an artifact of where you are in the league, since a league is functionally a social construct to allow up to six teams to work together to complete content -- each member of a team in a league receives XP and other rewards only for the mobs damaged by the members of that team, so if your friends got invited to a ToT league, and one got put on a team that they filled out to eight, while the other was in a team of four, the one on the short team wouldn't be getting as much XP, even if they were individually dealing out the same amount of damage.

 

 

[srmalloy]

1 hour ago, WuTang said:

Also, just don't have auto-accept teleport on (or whatever it's called). I pretty much never have it on unless I'm on a team with friends. This also stumps the whole teleport the AFKer somewhere else tactic, if the AFKer is wise enough to make sure it's off.

Depending on the AFKer's AT, it can bugger their leeching. There is a quirk with at least ATT and the Incandescence Destiny powers (and maybe the regular Teleport Other as well; I don't have experience with that one to say for sure) -- except for the untouchable Tier-4 Radial Lore pet, all of a character's pets auto-accept teleports, regardless of the character's teleport setting; this can (and has, from my personal experience) bugger MMs with ten feet of wrought-iron fencepost wrapped in curare-dipped razor wire and no lubricants, where if they're stuck in fighting mobs they can suddenly find themselves all alone trying to get their mouse to the 'accept' button on the teleport prompt window before they get flattened. Other ATs can survive well enough without their pets to have time to click the accept teleport prompt, but MMs get the short end of the defenses/HP stick. As soon as the pets arrive at the Incandescence target, they'll take off back to their summoner if they delay long enough in accepting the teleport, but the 'teleport when out of range' pet movement doesn't appear to kick in right away, so you're setting up a window of vulnerability by yanking an MM's pets away from them.

 

You can see this in action in a relatively neutral setting during a Hami raid in the Abyss -- when the league gets Incandescenced back to the form-up point once Hami spawns, the raid leader will direct two (or all, for the final run) teams to summon lore pets, and shortly after that one of the other core raid leaders will fire off another Incandescence to cluster people up for AoE buffs, and every pet but the afore-mentioned untouchable T4 Radial Lore pet will automatically be ported, regardless of the individual characters' team/league teleport settings.