Request for Leader Kanks

[Nonleader Kank]

Posting anonymously on purpose because I don't want anyone saying "oh they're talking about me" or "him" or "her" it's a request for anyone who plays a leadership role with people "under" them.

If you're in any kind of leadership role that other players depend on and you are OOCly distracted away from the game in the middle of RP (even just normal conversations) please use ooc or gone to let everyone else know that you're not paying attention and we can continue doing what we're doing without you. It is very frustrating to ask your boss a question, and sit there for 10 minutes waiting for an answer just because the boss's player isn't paying attention to the game but is definitely logged in and not linkdead.

If you are ICly distracted (by the Way I guess), please re-set your ldesc, or emote something about how your character isn't paying attention, or tell the people standing there waiting for you to continue on without you, or something so we don't all just stand there waiting and wondering why we're just standing there waiting when there's schedules to keep and critters to kill and stuff to craft and thirst to quench and elves to run away from or whatever else.

If you're just linkdead don't worry we'll figure it out but if you make a habit of not paying attention, and not being linkdead, we might not figure it out. We can probably come up with things to do if you can't be watching the game screen, and we don't expect you to be logged in every time we're logged in. But if you're there, and we're there, and everyone is RPing, and every single time it happens you just - stop interacting for who knows how long and with no warning and no indication that you're even planning on returning to the RP, it becomes a real headache from a RP standpoint. Thanks.

[Hymwen]

I agree, and not just limited to leader PCs. I haven't had the problem often, but there was one particular PC I always hated talking to because they'd frequently go afk unannounced for 5-10 minutes or longer, even sometimes in the middle of conversations.

[Marauder Moe]

I agree.  When things start happening IG, the game (the other players) deserves your full attention.  If you can't give it, you need to try and excuse yourself from the scene.

[Blur]

I kinda agree since this did happen to me recently but i don't know the story on the player's side so i just let it go and make excuses for the other player myself.  Its not a huge deal to me so long as its not frequent which i don't think it is.

[Bebop]

I agree people should do this generally but especially leaders.  I have experienced it more than once where I am in the middle of something and it takes RL HOURS to finish a conversation that shouldn't take more than 30 minutes because each respeonse is five-ten minutes in the making.

I think there should be a regular level of IMM monitoring on leadership roles and that problems like that, and lack of IC playing time should be addressed because it effects people and their characters IC and OOC when they have devoted themselves to a clan only to have the game/character/playing time ruined by a careless leader.  From newly promoted Byn Sarge to Merchant Family Member, to Nobles to Templars, they are all important to the PCs under them and while I think everyone should be given a chance I definitely think there should be some standards that involve a level of OOC courtesy.

[Leader Kank #1]

Speaking as someone in a leadership position, I don't make a habit of going AFK unexcused for long periods of time, but I'm not sorry to say that RL takes precedence over the game anyday, whether I'm logged in, or whatever.  If some emergency comes up to where I don't have a moment to type "gone afk briefly" then so be it, your character can wait a moment until I get back to respond.

Most of the times, I've gone AFK when not one of the people under me was around, and have codedly typed "gone afk briefly", someone would come in and say "yada yada yada" to me, and wait for a response and not get one because I was away from the keyboard.   In those circumstances, you're SOL, and can't complain because we did type it, you just weren't around.  Other times, if I -forget- (yes it does happen occassionally) I will have typed out an emote stated my characters distraction.  Also- You can't just assume that it's because we're distractedly OOCly and that's why we aren't responding.  We might have the whole city-state + in our heads and are trying to work out who needs what, when they need what and how much they wanna pay for what.

I don't see s reason to direct this directly for those in leadership positons, either. because there's been -many- occassions that someone under me has gone AFK unexpectedly for long periods of time and not announced it.  There's been many times someone under me has either gone linkdead, chosen not to respond, or whatever to evade punishment too.  You don't see me harking on the forums because of it.

As to the comment Bebop made about OOC time devotion and monitoring.. we do get monitored, moreso than a recruit in some house, and moreso than some independent hunter/warrior walking out and about.  I don't think that someone getting OOCly distracted and taken away from the game briefly constitutes as necessarily a "problem."  RL happens, shit happens, to us leaders, as well as to you non-leaders, it's just more noticed when it happens to us leaders.

Suffice to say, don't just jump to the conclusion that we aren't actively doing anything and are away from the keyboard and just didn't announce it.  There's more than likely an IC explanation that our leaders don't feel we need to explain to our underlings.  If we don't respond, give us a moment and don't get all pissy and leave in a huff.  There's been more than one occassion that I've had to supervise my underlings, -and- way half the city-state at the same time.  It's taxing, as leaders we're trying to do our best, and complaining and dropping threads like this doesn't help.

[FiveDisgruntledMonkeysWit]

Also, keep in mind that stuff happens. I play on a very buggy computer, and a couple of nights ago, my computer froze up. I was still logged into the game, but I couldn't type in any commands or even 'x' out of the window. I could do was stare helplessly and watch the text roll by.
So, yeah. Stuff happens.

[NonLeader Kank]

Leader #1 obviously this thread doesn't apply to you. It looks like you skimmed over the last paragraph without reading it very well:

If you're just linkdead don't worry we'll figure it out but if you make a habit of not paying attention, and not being linkdead, we might not figure it out. We can probably come up with things to do if you can't be watching the game screen, and we don't expect you to be logged in every time we're logged in. But if you're there, and we're there, and everyone is RPing, and every single time it happens you just - stop interacting for who knows how long and with no warning and no indication that you're even planning on returning to the RP, it becomes a real headache from a RP standpoint. Thanks.

I bolded and underlined the pertinent parts for clarification, but it was and still is in my original post. I don't think anyone is complaining about people needing to go AFK in a hurry and not having time to type an OOC explanation. I know I for one don't begrudge anyone's real life priority. And I have no problem with someone suddenly getting stuck with half of Zalanthas in their minds over the Way. But when you are a leader, and there are people in the same room as you who are followers, and are waiting for your order, or waiting to be dismissed, or waiting to find out if we're supposed to kill the defiler you just saw 2 rooms south...

IF this happens EVERY TIME that you suddenly stop responding for a good 5-10 minutes at a time, or IF it takes you a minimum of 2 full RL minutes to type out the word "Yeah" with no emotes, and it takes you that every single time you type anything, ever, all the time, then you - as a leader who has other players relying on you to -be- a leader - are being unfair and should probably log out until you can better focus your attention on the game. ICly it is extremely difficult and can result in PC deaths. OOCly it is unfair to people who can only play a limited time every day and spend most of it waiting for their "boss" to do something other than stand there, every single time they meet up.