Yes the maturity of the playerbase as a whole has changed.
However, there will always... ALWAYS be those who do not change and will abuse the system if given the opportunity.
I have a 2 year old so I understand time constraints as I am sure many of us have kids, wives, husbands... etc. I plan accordingly. It means I am unable to play as much as I would like but it is a sacrifice I take as a parent.
I don't personally agree with the change. I am but one of many though.
I think the idea is trying to solve the problem, that we can’t play unless we dedicate so much time. It keeps some adults away.
I think the idea is trying to solve the problem, that we can’t play unless we dedicate so much time. It keeps some adults away.
Thank you for the clarification but I am already aware of what the change is trying to solve. As Kyz and I have suggested it will be abused and for that reason I do not agree with it.
I just think with the amount of intelligence we have in this community, from literal rocket scientist to computer engineers we can find out a way to make this game more casual friendly and more parent friendly to help increase and maintain a higher activity level. Not all ideas are A's but they are at least ideas, anyone else got one?
It is really very simple. Something has come up and I need to go but the game wont let me, what do we do?
First we need to divide this problem into two parts.
The first part is being bloody because of an NPC: In this case I am all for an emergency logout command that totally bypasses your bloody timer. If someone really has to go, let them flee from the mob and quit out right away. To avoid abuse all we have to do is tack on a 15-30 minute lockout to avoid abuse with using logout to whittle tough mobs to death.
The major difficulty with balancing this is PvP. For every 1 emergency there will be 10 instances of people abusing an emergency logout to deny a kill. I don't think any type of cost will make this work, whether it be lives or rares or gold or cp, whatever you charge the person it will feel unfair. The person who has to leave for real reasons will feel doubly punished and the people abusing it will calculate in every instance if the cost is worth the denial of the kill.
For the second case I think we can find a compromise that will suit people who have to go in an emergency while still giving the PKer a chance to land the kill. Many times myself I have avoided my assailant only to sit around waiting to quit. In many cases if you can get away for 3 minutes you can get away for 5, it's just a waiting game. So I propose a delayed logout command that let's you quit out while bloodied by PK but it leaves your character in whatever room you tried to quit from. You would still be on who and where but if someone sends you a tell or finds the room you are in they would see a unique message like or whatever. If you enter the emergency exit command your char will autolog as soon as the blood is gone, but if someone finds you they have the choice to kill you or not. So you cant deny PK with this ability but you can certainly give yourself a chance to get out if you use a good hiding spot. Additionally your opponent will be informed of your situation if they find you, heck you can even send a tell ICly saying you have to go. Many players will respect that and cease pursuit.
It is not a perfect solution as you may still be found and killed, but that's a fair risk IMO.
Of course if you use this command in a PK situation the same 15-30 minute lockout timer should also be applied.
I think the idea is trying to solve the problem, that we can’t play unless we dedicate so much time. It keeps some adults away.
I don't understand.
You need 20 (score sheet) hours to keep your rares per month. That's 40 minutes a day. That's not that much of a time investment.
I also don't think that's exactly the problem this suggestion is trying to solve. It tries to solve the problem that you can't just log out whenever you want. But that's how most real time multiplayer games work. You can't log out because you are playing with other people. If real time multiplayer games allowed this type of "logging out", then people would very easily avoid losses.
This is the very reason we have a bloody timer. It's not a perfect solution, since most people log out the moment their bane logs in (and I am absolutely sure that something in RL popped up exactly at that moment, even though they've been idling for 3 hours alone).
To be clear, I am not against making the game more casual friendly.
If you look at the changes in this game thus far, it is already a hell of a lot more user friendly than it was 10+ years ago. Leveling is fast, training is fast, getting gear is easier than it was and more options in gear for everyone.
It just needs to be something that makes sense and cannot be abused.
It seems to me, and I am an old fool who's kids are grown, that younger parents desire a "force quit" command. As well as some players who play at work.
So here is a foolish notion. Implement it.
Force quit
Force quit confirm.
You have chosen to escape the Forsaken Lands. Sacrifices must be made for your decision.
Cost is 5 RP, and one Random Worn Rare multiplied by the number of times your IP has used the command that month. Force quit locks the IP out for 15 minutes.
Players should manage their time. But emergencies do happen. I will sacrifice for the emergency, but would not sacrifice to avoid being killed. The IP attachments should diminish abuse.
As one of the people asking about this - I'd be perfectly fine with taking a cost to quit. I also think that Rare equipment would be the one least likely to be abused. I also agree that a Lock out on your IP (and on the character - to avoid people re-connecting from another IP) would make sense.
As things stand I don't play - because I tried before - and after the 4th or 5th time that I had an issue where I had to DC and walk away, I decided it wasn't working. Now to be clear I wasn't killed AFK any of these times - so you could argue that I didn't lose anything - we have a pretty classy playerbase. Its not about losing things, its about putting myself in a situation where I am forced to choose between the game - and my family. If playing the game is going to put me in that situation - then I won't play - simple as that. Its a personal choice - and I understand it is one I am making. I would like to be able to play, but as long as the game doesn't allow a way to leave when I have to - I'll always make the choice to put my family first.
3 rares - as Erelei suggested - would be a good sweet spot in my opinion. I don't think people will abuse this if they are at risk of losing their best items.