The bald, fiery-tattooed man is gone afk.

[Akaramu]

I hate those afk or away-messages. I find them worse and more annoying than a quick OOC comment... because they look like an emote. Some people use them way too often... why cant they just make up a quick IC excuse for being absentminded?

I vote death to away messages. Who's in?

[UnderSeven]

I'm not in, but I wouldn't mind seeing a change to them currently.  They don't really do much to my knowledge.  I'd like it if they added an (afk) to your ldesc or a (gone) at least.

[Tamarin]

In my opinion, the "Gone" command should be used only if you are going to be away for a few moments to a few minutes.  If you're going to be gone for like....5 hours....obviously don't do that.  Its stupid.

But if you just need to make for or use the bathroom, I don't see the problem using an OOC comand (i.e. gone) for an OOC problem.  And when you come back...you were using the Way, or you were krath-struck.

[Kankman]

The gone command serves a double purpose. First, it lets the players in the room your character is in know you are going to be gone for a few moments (or whatever reason you gave).

Second, and most importantly, the message is stored in a place where an immortal can see it. Let's say you had to use the gone command because your phone rang..

gone a few moments, phone.


This way the staff knows why you're gone, and that you'll probably be back soon. If there is a problem, or if there is some imm-related plot comming your way, they know to hold off a couple minutes.

Putting an (afk) or (gone) in your ldesc sucks. If you want to ensure nobody steals from you, or kills you, quit. Otherwise, if your character is in the game, you are open to being a victim. Much better than putting (afk) in there would be...

change ldesc is sitting here, distractedly picking his nose.


This way if someone walks in and asks me something, I've got an IC excuse as to why I didn't reply right away.

You say, in southern-accented sirihish:

" Sorry there, had this really tough booger I was working on."

[Akaramu]

Then for Krath's sake remove the "afk" echo and make it just visible for imms... come on, it CANT be that hard to make up a quick IC excuse for being distracted. Just simulate using the way or something.

Maybe its just me, but its really destroying the atmosphere for me at times. I dont mind when people go quiet for a few minutes (a lot do it), just the gone echo really spoils it for me.

[UnderSeven]

Well as stated (and news to me i might add) the double purpose allows pcs around you to know.  I've been in many a situation where one pc gets angry at another pc for not promptly answering them.  It just helps for the pc to make it clear.  And yes, ic reasons are nice too, but are wholly separate from any ooc notices you make.

[darksheep]

If you're sitting in a tavern and someone comes in looking for you and they see you there, then they'll know that you're not able to respond to them and won't try to interact with your character. An IC reason like concentrating on cleaning a piece of cloth or something is fine, but people just entering the room won't know about your IC reason. The AFK status is fine as it is; I don't see any real way to abuse it in its current form and it's not used all that often, at least not in my experience. It would be more detrimental to RP someone to trying to interact with your character and then having to RP that the person is totally ignoring you.

[Dan]

There is a bug, im not sure if it was ever taken care of.

gone for a moment.
Okay, you are gone for a moment.

so and so attacks you!

gone
You can't do that in battle!

draw sword

You are gone remember?

catch 22


Thats my only beef with it.

[ShaLeah]

There is a bug, im not sure if it was ever taken care of.

gone for a moment.
Okay, you are gone for a moment.

so and so attacks you!

gone
You can't do that in battle!

draw sword

You are gone remember?

It does that?  That would totally suck. It should knock you automatically OFF the gone status, don't you think?

[SailorMars]

I wouldn't like to see any kind of OOC'ish ldesc, just because it would stand out so much.

I'm in favor of either moving somewhere safe to go afk, or a quick 'ooc Afk a sec.' Then as someone else suggested, come up with a quick IC excuse upon returning, if one is even needed -- depends on the situation.

Going AFK in a public place or the desert is a risk, but I guess that's just how it goes... the world keeps on turning.

[spawnloser]

Um...you can make an IC excuse as well as use the OOC command 'gone' so that the IMMs know too.  That safeguards your character in some ways.

[sacac]

I am not with you, I would like to know, so I can go up to an IC friend and know they havn't started hating me.

[Quo]

>sleep
You go to sleep.
>gone for a moment.
You'll have to wake up first.

[Akaramu]

Okay, small correction. I'm not against the "gone" command itself, I just very much dislike the way it is presented IC. Why do I have to see the word "afk" in something that looks like an emote?

[spawnloser]

Well, would you prefer that it prefixes everything with a OOC[/color]?

[Akaramu]

AFK = OOC for me.

Why not "The bald, fiery-tattooed man's eyes turn glassy as his attention shifts?" Or something like that... instead of "is gone AFK".

[Callisto]

Why not "The bald, fiery-tattooed man's eyes turn glassy as his attention shifts?" Or something like that... instead of "is gone AFK".

Jesus, get over it.

This is a game, there are certain OOC issues we have to deal with. When someone is going AFK it should be something that you, as a player, are made aware of in a clear and no uncertain terms, so as to avoid OOC confusion, which the gone command does very well. You can change the message all you like, the command is never going to become something that melds into the surrounding game, because it would still be a stock message that people come to know as use of the GONE command.

Now, let's assume that someone came up with a reasonable way to ensure that the command would in no way disrupt our apparently delicate role-play senses... if it isn't something that easily stands out, how in the holy fuck is it going to let anyone but the staff know you're AFK? If you're in the middle of talking to someone, just going silent or suddenly using the Way is going to leave them in an awkward situation, but if you give an IC reason followed by a proper use of the OOC gone command, everyone will know ICly and OOCly what is going on. No problems.

We play a game on the internet in which we have to make room for real and sometimes unavoidable problems that pop up during the course of playing. I would much rather have the gone command that leaves no room for misunderstandings, then to have people need to use the OOC command to inform others via out of character discussion, or worse, spew out dubious emotes that leave no clear indication if the player is behind the wheel or not.

And to all of you delicate RP flowers with the apparent attention span of a nine year old, let me make this suggestion to you: Use your imagination. If you see an OOC seam in the game world, just role-play around it and continue. It is only a problem if you make it a problem.

Either way, this is a non-issue, so let it drop.

[Akaramu]

And to all of you delicate RP flowers with the apparent attention span of a nine year old, let me make this suggestion to you: Use your imagination. If you see an OOC seam in the game world, just role-play around it and continue. It is only a problem if you make it a problem.

That was a clear and unnecessary insult.

You might want to prove your own maturity with a well-argued and flamefree response next time.

I know a few players who never use the gone message, they RP around it. It works. To each his own. Besides, I said it is sometimes used -way too often- and with unnecessary additional OOC info, I dont mind the occasional emergency.

You have to understand that some people are bothered by different things than you are. People are different. People have opinions. Get over it. But dont be offensive.

[Bestatte]

Okay, small correction. I'm not against the "gone" command itself, I just very much dislike the way it is presented IC. Why do I have to see the word "afk" in something that looks like an emote?

You don't "have" to see the word AFK. That is a player convention, not part of the "gone" code. You can add any arguement you like to the afk command.

gone stark raving crazy
gone afk
gone in her mind for a few moments
gone unreachable
gone phone
gone gone gone

all of these work. Players using gone AFK are doing so for the benefit of other players, so (for instance) if you're supposed to be leading the hunting party, the rest of the party knows that you won't be responsive if some critter charges in and starts attacking. Or so the evil southern templar who you're talking to won't think you're intentionally ignoring him and you end up dead due to your insolence.

Your -character- isn't being insolent, and isn't ignoring the templar. You, the player, however, are incapable of responding at the moment.

I don't normally leave the computer long enough to do "gone," and instead will usually just use the ooc command. I'm almost always watching the screen and -can- respond if need be, but if I'm on the phone at the time it's just easier to deal with the phone and get rid of the caller, than to have to tell them to hold on every 3 seconds.

Just remember that gone is an ooc command, designed to perform an ooc function and communicate ooc information. The only time it would really bug me is if someone intends to be gone for more than 5 minutes and they're in the middle of a conversation with my character.. or if they use gone with really silly arguements such as "gone to smoke a joint" or "gone to take a shit" or anything else that falls into the "too much information" category.

[Akaramu]

The only time it would really bug me is if someone intends to be gone for more than 5 minutes and they're in the middle of a conversation with my character.. or if they use gone with really silly arguements such as "gone to smoke a joint" or "gone to take a shit" or anything else that falls into the "too much information" category.

I very much agree there... and thank you for the code information. There are one or two players I often interact with who use it -all- the time and with unnecessary OOC info, also in the middle of a conversation or an important task. Someone else just goes quiet for a minute or two, and I continue the talk until he responds again. So he can catch up on what was being said meanwhile. I personally very much prefer the quiet version, as -a few- (by no means all) players use it way too frequently, sometimes every 15 or so minutes. I would like to see an option to filter those gone messages out... if someone goes quiet, I assume they are AFK.

I agree it is useful before a desert trip or the likes, when everyone really needs to rely on that particular PC, and really needs to know they are not available at the moment. In emergencies. But sheesh, not all the time when sitting and casually talking in a crowded room.

If someone goes quiet, I assume they are AFK :wink:

[Bestatte]

I agree that a few people use "gone" too often for my own personal taste. But other people would prefer to see that gone message as often as needed, to verify whether the person is able to respond to things. So I wouldn't want to see anything changed, because what's good for me isn't necessarily good for someone else.

In addition, I would rather know that someone is -intentionally- gone, as opposed to accidentally gone - like, if they fell asleep at their computer, or are link-dead but the game hasn't recognized the link drop yet...I have no way of knowing if that person is planning to respond soon or not. The gone command gives me at least some indication. That way, I won't sit there staring at the monitor for 20 minutes assuming that they've just gone to pour their cup of tea, or get rid of the telemarketer on the phone, or take a quick pee...when the whole time, the player isn't even connected to the internet anymore.

I have encountered a couple of people who park themselves at a table, and I'll see them come in so I know they -were- active and responsive at the time. I'll attempt to interact with them with no response. I might assume they just had to check a help file for a moment and need to focus on it. Or maybe answer the phone, or pour that tea, so I'll stand there and wait. And wait. And wait. If it's a noble character or a templar, I'm not gonna just walk away, because they MIGHT be watching and MIGHT be testing my character, or MIGHT be intentionally ignoring my character.

Without that "gone" command, with some arguement indicating that they are -intentionally- not paying attention but -do- intend to return in a few minutes, I would feel very uncomfortable walking away, yet I'll be damned if I'm gonna just stand there indefinitely waiting for who the hell knows what.

Sometimes these people are gone for hours - and they're not linkdead at all. They just park their characters somewhere and stop paying attention. Very annoying. At least with the "gone" command I have a slim chance of catching them using it and know that they're not there, and that they don't intend to come back any time soon.

(though that's another matter entirely - nobles and templars, north and south, clan leaders of all kinds - if you are -intentionally- gone for more than a few minutes, please do everyone a big favor and either go to a private or semi-private, unpopulated area, or just log off. You do no one any manner of service by being there where people know your character is important and someone they might need to talk to, and you don't intend to be paying any attention to the game screen during that time)

[Angela Christine]

Heh, when I first started playing my favorite was "gone to visit the land of flush toilets" but I got over it.  

If gone gets under your skin that much you can get rid of it if you are using one of the trigger happy client programs.  You program in a trigger that recognises usual gone string, and changes it to something else.  You could have it show up in a colour that is almost, but not quite, invisible against your background colour, so that it isn't so glaring and is easier to ignore.  Or you could have it gag the gone string altogether, and never see the echo when someone uses the gone command.  Or you could have it gag the echo and replace it with a string of text that you would find less jarring, but that would still let you know that someone is gone.  That way for you, and only you, "The bald, fiery-tattooed man is gone AFK" would automagically display as "The bald, fiery-tattooed man's eyes turn glassy as his attention shifts."

I don't use triggers myself, but I assume it wouldn't be too hard to get a triggery client to recognise "The <wildcard> is gone <wildcard>" and change it to something less offensive.

AC

[Angela Christine]

Oh, and I thought the main purpose of Gone wasn't for people that saw the echo, an OOC could do just as well (although I personally find the OOC command more jarring than the Gone command).  I thought it was mostly for people who were not around when you went AFK, but try to communicate with you later.  The helpfile says that communication requests will be responded to with whatever your gone message was.  So if you are sitting someplace and nothing is going on, but your dog is dancing by the door with his leash in his mouth, you can "gone to walk the dog."  Then if someone tries to tell you something the code will tell them that you are gone to walk the dog, and they can assume that you will be available again within 15 minutes or so.  An OOC won't do that, and a vague IC ldesc change can be misleading.  Gone is clear and unambigous.

Gone

When a message is attached to this command, all incoming communication requests will be replied to with that message. It is useful for instances when no one is aware that you have left your terminal. You will not be able to do anything with your character while he/she is in a 'gone' state. When you return to your terminal, type "gone" by itself to return the character to his/her normal state.

Syntax:
    gone <message>
    gone

Example:
    > gone afk a while, back soon
    > gone

Notes:
    The command automatically appends a period to your message, whether you have one there already. Thus, "gone for coffee." will give other players the message "<your character's sdesc> is gone for coffee.."

    While you are gone, your character can still be robbed
or killed. If you are going to be gone for a while, it might be a good idea to just log out (see help quit).

AC

[ashjpd]

>sleep
You go to sleep.
>gone for a moment.
You'll have to wake up first.

and...

There is a bug, im not sure if it was ever taken care of.

gone for a moment.
Okay, you are gone for a moment.

so and so attacks you!

gone
You can't do that in battle!

draw sword

You are gone remember?

catch 22


Thats my only beef with it.

Do these really happen? Cause that would really suck, especialy if you spent a lot of time on yout character. COuld someone look into these and see if they are fixed. Because, even though I never use the gone command, I will -never- use it with these kind of bugs.

[Carnage]

That was a clear and unnecessary insult.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.

You might want to prove your own maturity with a well-argued and flamefree response next time.

Actually, it was pretty well-argued. I don't see how you can say it wasn't. The rest of it, dabbled with some hardcore common sense and edge, is Callisto.