AFKers ruin this game. Ruin it.

[Battlecruiser_Siegfried]

Just got out of a match where I initiated the game by doing consecutive double-citadels to two different cruisers, essentially killing them both (they were each finished off by other teammates). I finished it with 3 kills and 124k damage - not my best Hood game, but not my worst.

 

We lost... just barely... because we had 2 AFKs - a Colorado and a Cleveland. Moreover, they were "loaded in" AFKs - ships with their turrets rotated. But they sat there the entire game until both were burned to the waterline. And that was the margin of defeat.

 

Something NEEDS to be done about this chronic AFKing nonsense - it is a freaking plague. These people should not be allowed to just nonchalantly walk away from the game and continue to do so, match after match, with ZERO consequences. I noticed that WG recently added a "did not contribute to the team" report function. You know what it does? The same things as all the other non-chat-related report functions: NOTHING AT ALL. I am so exhausted with being bitten in the rear by this insidious nonsense. Can't play? Fine - you're bad. Won't play? You should be stripped of your account.

[Grevester]

___________ ruin this game.

Now please, reach your hand into this hat and pull out a piece of paper to fill in the blank with.

[Battlecruiser_Siegfried]

5 minutes ago, Pulicat said:

___________ ruin this game.

Now please, reach your hand into this hat and pull out a piece of paper to fill in the blank with.

Just because other things are wrong with game does not mean that this largely correctable matter isn't a problem - though what else is to be expected from you, Pulicat? The only impression I've ever derived from your posts was overwhelmingly negative. 

 

People have suggested solutions to this matter, including:

• Strengthening the team with the AFK by a certain marginal percentage.
• Implementing temporary bans of players who are chronically AFK, or whose client loads into the game and they do not play.
• Allowing dead players to take over AFK ships to at least present a team with a fighting chance.

And what does Wargaming do? Sit on their hands - refuse to rock the boat. Well, the hull should be overturned at this point. Other games hold these players to account; other games develop systems that mitigate these matters in one way or another. But World of Warships? It just let's the matter sit and fester. And this design team should be berated over it.

[aethervox]

+1 OP.

Those players who continually get reported as being AFK & which get 0 exp MUST have their accounts progressively banned.

1 day, 1 week, 1 month then permanently for repeat offenders

[Grevester]

8 minutes ago, Battlecruiser_Renown said:

Just because other things are wrong with game does not mean that this largely correctable matter isn't a problem - though what else is to be expected from you, Pulicat? The only impression I've ever derived from your posts was overwhelmingly negative. 

 

People have suggested solutions to this matter, including:

• Strengthening the team with the AFK by a certain marginal percentage.
• Implementing temporary bans of players who are chronically AFK, or whose client loads into the game and they do not play.
• Allowing dead players to take over AFK ships to at least present a team with a fighting chance.

And what does Wargaming do? Sit on their hands - refuse to rock the boat. Well, the hull should be overturned at this point. Other games hold these players to account; other games develop systems that mitigate these matters in one way or another. But World of Warships? It just let's the matter sit and fester. And this design team should be berated over it.

No, my point was is that everyone has something to complain about. Unfortunately, they lose sight of the fact that random battles is a social battle mode which has no impact on anybody.

Please show me the game where players are punished for being afk in their social game mode.

[anonym_OlK73e329bMY]

4 minutes ago, Pulicat said:

No, my point was is that everyone has something to complain about. Unfortunately, they lose sight of the fact that random battles is a social battle mode which has no impact on anybody.

Please show me the game where players are punished for being afk in their social game mode.

Do you think they should add more serious consequences for AFKing in Ranked Battles?

[SeaQuest_]

Nothing that really can be done about it in random, but in ranked something should be done. 

[m373x]

3 minutes ago, Hiroe said:

Do you think they should add more serious consequences for AFKing in Ranked Battles?

 

At this point.. absolutely not. There are so many issues that force people to:

 

1. Restart their client

2. Reboot their system because the application does not close properly 

3. Try reloging just to be faced with multiple logging errors and be forced to do point 1. or 2. 

 

Honorable mentions: random disconnect at any time during a match with "You were disconnected due to a period of inactivity" leading to point 3. 2. and 1.

 

I agree that AFKers ruin many matches but you can't punish players when your product is not functioning properly.

[Battlecruiser_Siegfried]

1 minute ago, m373x said:

 

At this point.. absolutely not. There are so many issues that force people to:

 

1. Restart their client

2. Reboot their system because the application does not close properly 

3. Try reloging just to be faced with multiple logging errors and be forced to do point 1. or 2. 

 

Honorable mentions: random disconnect at any time during a match with "You were disconnected due to a period of inactivity" leading to point 3. 2. and 1.

 

I agree that AFKers ruin many matches but you can't punish players when your product is not functioning properly.

 

"Dead" ships whose turrets don't turn, fine; it's a crash. "Live" ships whose client has loaded the game, punish.

 

Or we could go the carrot route instead: buff the shorthanded team or allow dead stick takeovers. This latter option literally hurts no-one - the AFKer would merely have to wait for the match to end to regain access to the boat. These measures don't have to be punitive, but something DOES have to be done. 

[_Sarcasticat_]

It's really sucky to see AFK'rs on your team, but finding an AFK cruiser broadside on - nothing like it. Farming easy damage right there.

 

While I disagree AFK'rs ruin the game, they're certainly not enjoyable in the 50-50 chances. Just because you lost a game due to them doesn't mean the game's ruined. Just you being furious due to losing a high damage game. I understand the frustration, and it's warranted to some degree, but not to the overreactions you've gone to.

 

I disagree that players should really be punished for going AFK. Sometimes people like me log onto a game and just when it loads in, something happens (i.e. your parent calls you and the pump's broken, someone got hurt, your dog's ripping something up, your dog's fighting, PEOPLE are fighting, etc, etc) and there could be hundreds of good reasons to it. I'm sure this has been said 1,000,000 other times, but the hate is really fresh within you, so I understand. 

 

As for people who log on and play hundreds of games to just get some EXP per game without playing at all, no matter how minimal it is, just to get past a ship...How could you tell they're doing that on purpose? WG NA might be able if it's even possible to see what players log on in a battle then, using the Esc, click out of a battle on their own will. I doubt they could tell, and it's likely the reason it's not in place yet, not because they're super lazy people who just sit around and snicker at our complaints.

 

EDIT: I agree with Taylor3006 on this one. Tracking the amount of AFKs (if you can) would be a good idea. 

[Taylor3006]

I think that people who are "afk" need to be tracked by Wargaming. If someone has a certain number (make your own up) of afk games, Wargaming could contact them to find out if there is a problem. Serial abusers could be punished, people who are just having crash problems could be helped. There are always going to be people who are afk in online, multiplayer games. Sometimes the problem is technological, sometimes it is real life interference. I would imagine that most players have had a problem where they have been afk in the game. It is going to happen, just got to get used to it. But if we can track problem players maybe we could correct the bad behavior or help them if it is technological. We don't need blanket condemnation of everyone who occasionally ends up "afk".

[m373x]

18 minutes ago, Battlecruiser_Renown said:

Live" ships whose client has loaded the game, punish.

Maybe, however with the option to:

 

1. Report AFK player via ingame report system

2. Report AFK player via support ticket

 

one would naturally think that with multiple options to report AFKers WG is taking some measures against these players. Maybe @NikoPower can shed some light on the matter if regular AFK offenders suffer any penalties.

[Eisennagel]

 

 

I get similar problems whichever, wherever PvP game I go to.

[Grevester]

43 minutes ago, Hiroe said:

Do you think they should add more serious consequences for AFKing in Ranked Battles?

Not with bans or suspensions no.

I think at best, if you do nothing for any reason, whether it be driving to a corner, disconnecting from the game on purpose or being afk, you lose a star on that alone, and then gain or lose another based on whether your team wins or loses.

[Chobittsu]

So today I was sailing along in my Algerie, and my game crashed, so I reboot it after several attempts and a long loading screen. I return just in time to see my ship explode, ending the match.
AFKers aren't always at fault. Sometimes it's hardware, sometimes it's software.   Should people be punished because their power goes out? Because their toddler reset the modem? Because someone broke into their house and stole their PC right out from under them?   That'd be pretty ****ty.

[HellaCopterRescue]

Ruin the game? It's all about perspectives. 

 

I see it as a challenge, having to carry the AFK players.

 

For an example I had a game where there was one DD on each team and we both had Shima's. Our Shima was afk and our team noticed and everybody was freaking out. I told the team we have to carry him and everyone tried really hard in that game. It turned out pretty close and I ended up turning the game around with 4 min left because I radared the shimi sitting in smoke and dwindled him down setting a fire with my last shell that brought him down.

The weird thing the shima player got in the game and said that WoWs kept kicking him to the Connect screen and that he was sorry.

 

You see not everyone is doing it purposefully and changing your perspective on it will open you to other possibility

[Taylor3006]

Yeah I agree, don't think most people are doing this purposefully. Maybe the "pink" players loading into PvE may, but there is no benefit to doing so normally. I had to laugh at one solution someone mentioned a while back. They used their ship to "push" the afk player towards the enemy to make use of its AA and secondaries as well as using them as a shield. Was a great idea, just wish I could remember if he won the match or not.

[Chobittsu]

1 minute ago, Taylor3006 said:

Yeah I agree, don't think most people are doing this purposefully. Maybe the "pink" players loading into PvE may, but there is no benefit to doing so normally. I had to laugh at one solution someone mentioned a while back. They used their ship to "push" the afk player towards the enemy to make use of its AA and secondaries as well as using them as a shield. Was a great idea, just wish I could remember if he won the match or not.

 

At the cost of a bit of HP and some paint, you get to control two ships, you'd think folks would want more AFKers for this reason  :D

[HellaCopterRescue]

3 minutes ago, Taylor3006 said:

 I had to laugh at one solution someone mentioned a while back. They used their ship to "push" the afk player towards the enemy to make use of its AA and secondaries as well as using them as a shield. Was a great idea, just wish I could remember if he won the match or not.

 

That probably takes more skill and patience then possibly getting out of the situation that player put himself in lol

 

6 minutes ago, Chobittsu said:

At the cost of a bit of HP and some paint, you get to control two ships, you'd think folks would want more AFKers for this reason  :D

 

hahaha indeed

[Chaos_EN2]

3 hours ago, Battlecruiser_Renown said:

Just got out of a match where I initiated the game by doing consecutive double-citadels to two different cruisers, essentially killing them both (they were each finished off by other teammates). I finished it with 3 kills and 124k damage - not my best Hood game, but not my worst.

 

We lost... just barely... because we had 2 AFKs - a Colorado and a Cleveland. Moreover, they were "loaded in" AFKs - ships with their turrets rotated. But they sat there the entire game until both were burned to the waterline. And that was the margin of defeat.

 

Something NEEDS to be done about this chronic AFKing nonsense - it is a freaking plague. These people should not be allowed to just nonchalantly walk away from the game and continue to do so, match after match, with ZERO consequences. I noticed that WG recently added a "did not contribute to the team" report function. You know what it does? The same things as all the other non-chat-related report functions: NOTHING AT ALL. I am so exhausted with being bitten in the rear by this insidious nonsense. Can't play? Fine - you're bad. Won't play? You should be stripped of your account.

While I understand your frustration I think banning accounts is a bit harsh. So if I lose connection or answer the door or there is a family emergency and I cannot play I should be banned/stripped of my account?

Does not seem very fair! I could see a AFK not getting any XP and/or credits and have it count as an loss. But Banned/Stripped of the account nope.

OP I have question for you if you are playing and a Family Member starts to have a heart attack (AND I hope this never happens) and YOU go AFK would you be alright with being banned?   

[CylonRed]

Actually they aren't and there is nothing that can be done without really destroying the game for good.

[Taylor3006]

Look it is just a damn game. If I queue up for a game and my sister calls, guess who is getting priority? It isn't some silly game. It doesn't have to be an emergency, like someone mentioned earlier it could be dogs barking. Kids could want something to eat, UPS may have a package, could be almost anything that is more important than a game. If the OP has a problem with people being afk, he needs to play something other than an online multiplayer game. Sounds to emotionally fragile or lacks a real life.

[m373x]

56 minutes ago, Taylor3006 said:

If I queue up for a game and my sister calls, guess who is getting priority?

LEWD!

[Spooooooooooooooooooooon]

Habitually AFK players should be shunted into Coop for XXX number of games.  How many is habitual, and how many games of coop, that's open to discussion

[Soshi_Sone]

8 hours ago, Taylor3006 said:

I think that people who are "afk" need to be tracked by Wargaming.

 

Report them via the in-game report feature.  There is now a specific AFK option.  I'm pretty sure WG tracks those reports.  If a certain threshold is breached, they probably look at the account to see what's up.

 

In general, I only report AFK that are out the entire game.  If it looks like they loaded in and got disconnected, of if they make it in before the match ends, I don't report.  Do some get dinged when it's not their fault.  Yeah.  But I suspect those times are very few compared to their normal participation, so not a big deal.  Those who are AFK game after game after game...something is amiss.