People using contact (from ask the staff)

[John]

Thats the point, you're NOT supposed to be able to know if someone is online or not.

Then we have the problem of, I live with person X. I would see them all the time. I can't see them. Is it because they've been kidnapped, killed? Or just not logging in when I am?

[Marauder Moe]

Thats the point, you're NOT supposed to be able to know if someone is online or not.

Then we have the problem of, I live with person X. I would see them all the time. I can't see them. Is it because they've been kidnapped, killed? Or just not logging in when I am?

Yes, that is a problem.  However, I don't think the staff intend for the Way to be a solution.

[John]

I don't think the staff intend for the Way to be a solution.

Probably not. But I don't see the reason the Way code being changed, solely because people were using it to work out if someone was online.

I see the change being made because some people were using the Way to wait till someone logged out before doing certain things.

[spawnloser]

If you should and normally do see someone all the time but are unable to reach them, I would send an email to the mud or clan IMM and present your case.  In the email include why you think you should know if this person is actually around but not logging in or if the person has been missing for the last IG month.  The staff can decided whether you should have that information and provide what would be realistically known.

[Carida]

Well.. since noone asked the question. I will.  How do you know that they are waying you just to see if you are online? I get lots of missways all the time.  They contact you and then leave your mind when they realized they got the wrong person. So there's no real way for you to know that this person is contacting you to see if your online or not.. since you don't see a short description when they do make contact or when they withdraw.

[Kalden]

I really don't see what all the furor is about.

Using the Way to contact someone and then hunting them is fine. ICly, they should be huntable anytime, but realistically, they're only huntable when they're online. When it comes right down to it, if I know them well enough to contact them, then I should be able to.

Using the Way to avoid conflict isn't a good way to deal with it, but there's no real problem to be fixed. You just have to tell the people it's bad and leave it up to them. You can't control people's log-in times, and force them to play because they're being hunted, or tell them that they're bad because they're logging off. RL comes up, all the time.

The hunters and the hunted can complain all they want, but it's just something you have to live with.