I'm not here at the moment, leave your name at the beep.

[deviant storm]

Idling.

Why do people do it? I'm not talking about those people who really quick idle because of rl. I'm talking the ones who log in, and spend -hours- not relating to the game world around them. I don't get why people do it, and I have been seeing it a lot in game lately.

So I'm wondering why others do it. To me the better solution would be to log off, instead of frustrating others who may be trying to rp with my character. Is there a solution?

[adgohan]

I guess I'll take this one.

I idle quite a bit, and I don't log off. I have several reasons behind it, and so do many of the people I role play with who idle as well. Essentially when I idle I am doing other things on the computer, Armageddon is an extremely fun role playing game, but it is very hard (if not impossible) to immerse yourself in the game completely because there is not constant role playing. At 5 or 6am, there is still five people on, none of whom are in your vicinity, you may find it difficult to role play. Edit: (I realized this might stir some controversy, let me add that there are things to do during this time in the game, like solo-rp, I just choose not to or may have other things on mind at the time if I'd rather interact with players. There are some ways around this but none that alter my general consensus.)

When I idle, I always check the screen, so if someone does need my attention or I am playing a role that requires occasional attention to the screen, it's there. Usually I'm just looking at other things, but I very rarely *leave* the computer unless for something under 10 minutes and I never do it if I am in a public place like the Sanctuary or Barrel where constant alertness is required.

Is there a solution? Yes. I put my client's timer on 20 minutes, so if there is not any motion in 20 minutes on my side, it will disconnect me. I turn this on and off, but it psychologically helps remind me that I need to either stay awake on the MUD every once and a while, or I need to log off. The solution is to code in an idle timer for Armageddon players set at a certain amount before they disappear from the game world or go linkdead, but because of the RP effects of both of these, including the dangers that are proposed by going linkdead, I don't agree with this solution at all.

Anyway, a lot of people complain about idling, I often do it when I'm no where in particular and there's absolutely no chance someone will come up on me (NPC or PC) however I often get psionic messages with people expecting me to respond there. So it's good to check the screen regardless. I agree that everyone should pretty much be checking the screen if not completely immersed, I do not agree with the people that idle for 5-6 hours, but there have been threads about that, and the general conclusion was "it's their character, they RP it how they want to." Though based on the aforementioned I do not think the occasional idlers or the ones who simply are doing other things on the computer (like work) should be criticized. Honestly, I only see a heavy hour by hour idler in game occasionally, and they disappear pretty quick. To me, it's not a large enough issue to put another 3 page thread up, but I suppose that's up to the GDB.

[Krath]

Ditto to what the wimpy SuperSaiyen said

[Carnage]

Is there a solution? Yes. I put my client's timer on 20 minutes, so if there is not any motion in 20 minutes on my side, it will disconnect me. I turn this on and off, but it psychologically helps remind me that I need to either stay awake on the MUD every once and a while, or I need to log off

Won't this just make you go linkdead?

[adgohan]

Yes, and that's my point. It'll disconnect me, which will in turn spark the psychological response in me to get back on Armageddon (since I previously mentioned that I believe linkdeath is bad and leaves your character vulnerable) keeping in mind that I also said I rarely ever leave my computer.
I was not proposing this as a solution, moreover I was presenting something that I do to remind myself. It is not encouraging linkdeath (in fact my thread actually showed adversity to linkdeath), but since I am on my computer most of the time, if I idle in my client window for twenty minutes, then I drop link and stop "watching" and have to reconnect, which inadvertently places me back into the game and causes me to immerse myself. It's one of those psychological triggers that leads me back into the role playing world, I was not suggesting anyone else does it.

I digress from the point of my response with this clarification but hopefully it assists in the understanding of my thread, sorry.

[Lasakar]

I have the same opinion as adgohan.
It sometimes happens that I just sit in a full tavern, wait for the dawn and try to listen to the other tables. For everybody else in the room it seems idling, cause I don't move. For me is it relaxing after the day (most days are crazy!) and just gathering information. You could get the most information this way. And if somebody iddles around, it is not my problem.
Anyway, my mummy told me not to speak to strangers... :wink:

[drunkendwarf]

Another reason for the idle...

I recently joined on in a clan, and haven't yet figured out the peak hours for ppl in the clan. The place is small, the pc's are rare, and the critters about the area are icky. I'll log in, do a bit of rp, search around for other pc's...and then idle in the clan house somewheres until someone shows up and I actually have something to do.

[Jacques]

Why do I idle? It's a simple reason, really. I'm in a role in my clan that has a fairly defined schedule. I'm to be at certain places at certain times. Well, if nobody ELSE is at those places (because they're not logged on, dead, out kanking that new F-me, or whatever) then I have very little to do. But ICly I would still be there. So sometimes I'll solo RP, and sometimes I'll just set my client to remind me if anything happens, and idle until I no longer need to ICly be there and can go somewhere else to find RP. This way, if anyone needs me, I'm where I'm supposed to be, but I can limit my solo-RP to times I really WANT to solo RP.

But as a caveat, if I'm going to idle for longer than half an IG day, I'll usually just log off and log back on later.

[UnderSeven]

I idle.  I play an ISO role.  I'm usually able to see and react pretty quickly if something happens.  But the fact is I spend most of my time alone.  70 to 80% of my online time is spent in a place alone.  The most I can do other than emote to myself is contact people or idle.

Frankly I think given the option of that or logging out, idling is better because at least that way I'm around incase someone else comes.

[Dan]

I am never idle.

When I log in I am rp'ing with myself, environment, NPC's and just about everything until I get tired of not seeing anyone else and decide to log back out. I can think of a few reasons why people would idle all the time, and one would be that they want to get their time played up an hour or two while they do other stuff. So that they can say they have had a 20 day warrior or something along those lines. Its the same idea as people who posted in -every- thread not that long ago just to have the most posts.

I really think people should log off if they aren't going to be alert. It really puts a damper on my RP when I see someone, interact with them, wait five minutes and then leave, only to get a way some ten minutes later to tell me to come back. More annoying than anything else.

[Callisto]

Idle = Character Play Time +++.

If I'm going to be idle for more then 10 mins, I log out. It's a little rude to just log in and go idle, since it places people in an uncomfortable situation after attempting to interact with them - it is even worse if it happens to be a noble or a Templar.

[Anonymous]

Frankly I think given the option of that or logging out, idling is better because at least that way I'm around incase someone else comes.

Exactly.  Which is more frustrating, getting a delayed response from someone you need to speak with, or no response at all?

[Dan]

Well, it isn't so much that I find it frustrating as it is that I see it as rude. Why log in if you aren't going to play the game?

[Forest Junkie]

Well, it isn't so much that I find it frustrating as it is that I see it as rude. Why log in if you aren't going to play the game?

I see you're point, but remember to try to be considerate in most cases. I always give the player the benefit of the doubt when they idle.

Why? Because sometimes, RL emergencies that I can NOT prevent come up unexpectedly, and I -have- to leave the pc for a few minutes.

All in all, some people just can't play as much as others, and they like the game so much, they try  to play at any given opportunity. Even if there is nothing to do for their characters. Hence, the idling.

Granted, I do not appreciate idling for several hours at a time, (just log out people) but I can completely understand someone having to leave their pc unattended in a bar for a few minutes. Hey, it happens.

[Bestatte]

I idle often when I'm alone (meaning, no other PCs present in the room). But only VERY rarely am I not watching the screen when I do it. If I gotta pee, I'm not gonna log out. Nor to answer the phone (which is right next to me), nor to run to the kitchen and butter the toast and bring it back into my office.

I don't have any problem with people idling for a minute or so, and I have no problem with people idling in a secluded spot where I don't see them anyway. If I need to find their mind, and find it, at least I know I did successfully and eventually they'll notice something's on their screen. It removes the onus from me to find their mind. I did MY job - now it's up to them to do theirs.

But yeah if they're in a bar, and go idle longer than it takes the average person to tell the telemarketer that NO, you don't wanna buy more life insurance to please eat a whole jar of "shut the fuck up kthxbye"...then it bugs me. I come to RP, to interact, and if your character is there I might be there to interact with him. If you have to go away from the monitor for more than a few minutes, please take your character with you, or at LEAST bring him somewhere that the general public won't see him.

[Angela Christine]

Once or twice :roll: I've logged in to find my character still sitting at the bar.  Apparently in my late-night sleepiness I thought I stood up and quit out, but somehow did not.  Weird.  So my poor character was left sitting around linkdead for hours.  I'm lucky she still had her pants when I logged back in.  Whew.  A couple times I've minimised the mud window because I got an incoming email and then forgot I was logged into the game and gone on to do a bunch of other stuff.  I don't remember/realize I'm logged in until I go to turn off the computer.  I've even heard of people falling asleep at the keyboard, but I don't think I've done that one yet.

My point is that sometimes people are idle or linkdead by accident.  Not a catastrophic "my house burned down" or "my city had a three day blackout" type accident, although those happen too.  Careless, but not intentionally rude.


AC

[spawnloser]

Once or twice :roll: I've logged in to find my character still sitting at the bar.  Apparently in my late-night sleepiness I thought I stood up and quit out, but somehow did not. ... I've even heard of people falling asleep at the keyboard, but I don't think I've done that one yet.

Yeah...I've done that too...I was a bit irked with myself.

Anyway, I find no problem idling if I want to be available but have nothing to do on the mud.  I just put myself behind a locked door and rely on people's ability to 'contact' me.