DUST Search - Will Getting Rid Of AFKing Help Or Hurt?

John Demonsbane wrote:

I mentioned this in another thread briefly but it was a bit off topic so didn't really go into it. I don't do it, but also don't see the major problem with AFK, because if someone has a real life, job, kids and cant spend 3-4 hours a day playing, why not let them have a small chance of keeping up with everyone else so they don't fall so far behind that they decided it's not worth it anymore. I can't read minds so I don't know, but I'm willing to bet that more people quit due to the SP grind than from being butthurt because their favorite toy got nerfed or whatever else people are b!tching about in the forums (like, oh, AFK'ing!). IMHO, both pale in comparison to basic game mechanics being flawed.
That said, I do empathize with people who are mad because 8 people sitting in the MCC all match will certainly result in getting killed a lot.

So, you have 2 solutions. Smack down the AFK'ers by autokilling them over and over again or taking skill points they won in other battles away. OR, in the spirit of "hey let's buff other things instead of nerfing" how about we make actually playing the matches more worthwhile (soonTM). Hooray!

1) Increase the number of FW battles, like, exponentially. It's ludicrous waiting 30 minutes for a battle. There's no way its due to lack of demand because they always fill up in 10 seconds. That way, you can always get in, and I don't see much reason for someone to AFK there, so nobody has to worry about getting redlined in 3 minutes because half your team never left the MCC.

2) Create more incentive to actually play and get WP.
- Give more SP for earning WP and less for time spent in battle
- Give an SP or ISK bonus for winning the match
- Give an SP bonus or maybe much more frequent salvage for being in the top 10 or top 5 on the killboard, even if only in
FW and not pubs. 10% extra SP to #1, 5% to #2 and #3, 1% for the next few, just an example.

3) Relieve the SP grind (please)
- Make skills less expensive or reduce some of the branching of the skill tree
- Have more 2x or 3x SP events, omega boosters, something to make progression a little less maddening
- Increasing passive SP is also an option but I'm guessing probably less desirable to the people reading this

4) This last one comes under reducing the grind but is a little more complicated: How about letting people drop back one level of a skill within, say, a few days or a week of unlocking it. They would have to give up a certain amount of the SP to do it, maybe 10-15%, but they could still do so. Example: I spent 1 million SP or whatever to go from CalLogi 4 to 5 the day before they announce the nerf. I don't want that suit anymore. So, I can drop back to level 4, and I get maybe 900k of my 1 million SP back. Not a full refund or respec, but something to take the sting out of recently made bad decisions.
It would have to be only one level, so you can't drop back to level 1 or get out of the class completely if you were at level 4, you can only go to 3. It would also have to be at the end of a branch, meaning you couldn't, say, drop caldari medium dropsuits from 3 to 2 and then get yourself completely out of the logi tree altogether and get a massive refund, you could only do it at the furthest out you have skilled, being the logi skill in this example. Same for weapons, you couldn't get rid of the main sidearm skill to get back all the SP you put into SMG's or whatever so you could start that branch over and go to flaylocks instead. Might help solve a bunch of gripes all at once. Might also be incredibly difficult to program, I have no idea.


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GTA-V FTW Mannar Focused Warfare Gallente Federation 51	Posted - 2013.07.20 22:51:00 - [1] - Quote CCP Nullarbor wrote: AFK will be dealt with for all game modes so don't worry about that. https://forums.dust514.com/default.aspx?g=posts&m=1079686#post1079686 So yeah in a game like this game where playing it is like work due to the SP grind will getting rid of a way to ease the pain of the grind help or hurt the game? Will this just be another thing that will push the already small player base away? It is my opinion that this will hurt this game more than it is going to help it. What does everyone else think?
GTA-V FTW Mannar Focused Warfare Gallente Federation 51	Posted - 2013.07.21 02:37:00 - [2] - Quote John Demonsbane wrote: I mentioned this in another thread briefly but it was a bit off topic so didn't really go into it. I don't do it, but also don't see the major problem with AFK, because if someone has a real life, job, kids and cant spend 3-4 hours a day playing, why not let them have a small chance of keeping up with everyone else so they don't fall so far behind that they decided it's not worth it anymore. I can't read minds so I don't know, but I'm willing to bet that more people quit due to the SP grind than from being butthurt because their favorite toy got nerfed or whatever else people are b!tching about in the forums (like, oh, AFK'ing!). IMHO, both pale in comparison to basic game mechanics being flawed. That said, I do empathize with people who are mad because 8 people sitting in the MCC all match will certainly result in getting killed a lot. So, you have 2 solutions. Smack down the AFK'ers by autokilling them over and over again or taking skill points they won in other battles away. OR, in the spirit of "hey let's buff other things instead of nerfing" how about we make actually playing the matches more worthwhile (soonTM). Hooray! 1) Increase the number of FW battles, like, exponentially. It's ludicrous waiting 30 minutes for a battle. There's no way its due to lack of demand because they always fill up in 10 seconds. That way, you can always get in, and I don't see much reason for someone to AFK there, so nobody has to worry about getting redlined in 3 minutes because half your team never left the MCC. 2) Create more incentive to actually play and get WP. - Give more SP for earning WP and less for time spent in battle - Give an SP or ISK bonus for winning the match - Give an SP bonus or maybe much more frequent salvage for being in the top 10 or top 5 on the killboard, even if only in FW and not pubs. 10% extra SP to #1, 5% to #2 and #3, 1% for the next few, just an example. 3) Relieve the SP grind (please) - Make skills less expensive or reduce some of the branching of the skill tree - Have more 2x or 3x SP events, omega boosters, something to make progression a little less maddening - Increasing passive SP is also an option but I'm guessing probably less desirable to the people reading this 4) This last one comes under reducing the grind but is a little more complicated: How about letting people drop back one level of a skill within, say, a few days or a week of unlocking it. They would have to give up a certain amount of the SP to do it, maybe 10-15%, but they could still do so. Example: I spent 1 million SP or whatever to go from CalLogi 4 to 5 the day before they announce the nerf. I don't want that suit anymore. So, I can drop back to level 4, and I get maybe 900k of my 1 million SP back. Not a full refund or respec, but something to take the sting out of recently made bad decisions. It would have to be only one level, so you can't drop back to level 1 or get out of the class completely if you were at level 4, you can only go to 3. It would also have to be at the end of a branch, meaning you couldn't, say, drop caldari medium dropsuits from 3 to 2 and then get yourself completely out of the logi tree altogether and get a massive refund, you could only do it at the furthest out you have skilled, being the logi skill in this example. Same for weapons, you couldn't get rid of the main sidearm skill to get back all the SP you put into SMG's or whatever so you could start that branch over and go to flaylocks instead. Might help solve a bunch of gripes all at once. Might also be incredibly difficult to program, I have no idea. You should post this in the above link as well, looks like the Dev's are looking at that thread for ideas.