posted by
SWG Restoration
June 13, 2022
Since Restoration launched, we've had a lot of discussions internally and with the community about both what should and shouldn't be allowed with regards to playing "AFK" (Away From Keyboard) (aka unattended) and how we should go about addressing it. The initial iteration of preventative measures included Thimble, an NPC that could attack you if you didn't answer him, and a series of rules which were overly broad followed by countless exceptions carved out for different scenarios which made the entire system even more confusing.
We've focused a lot over the past several months on how to redesign this system so that it is simplified and clear while still providing appropriate coverage for our goals of protecting the in-game economy and keeping the game world equitable, accessible, and fun. We also need to fill in some gaps our existing implementation created and fix some things it broke. This Developer Diary discusses how we're approaching it.
Foremost, we want to identify the two key factors that have always informed our decisions around unattended gameplay and automation:
"We do take the unattended macroing issues seriously, and this ability will go away... I think that unattended macroing doesn't belong in our game and it will be removed. I have committed us to this, and I remain committed to it. When more people play AFK than ATK, we haven't done our job very well, and we need to fix that... Not everyone on the team (or in the game) is going to be happy about this change."
SOETyrant / Gordon Walton (2004) in From TH & SOETyrant - Recursive Macros
"You may not decrypt or modify any data transmitted between client and server; you may not use or distribute macros or other programs which would allow unattended game play."
Sony Online Entertainment (2004) Star Wars Galaxies Terms of Use
"If the use of [automation macros] mostly made play more convenient, then why were game admins opposed? Well, it meant, fundamentally, that players were more efficient, and the game had been tuned to a given player efficiency rate. A higher efficiency meant that the game ran out of content faster on several different axes — not only did players finish the levelling process faster, but at any given moment, there were fewer monsters left alive, and therefore less for everyone else. The social pressure for everyone to bot could get quite intense, as nobody likes being worse at something than everyone else."
Raph Koster (2008) A brief history of botting
"Our observations of interaction patterns in two SWG locations (the cantina and the starport), however, reveal that some progress remains to be made for these places to be completely successful. Our data reveals a relatively low level of interactivity between the players, characterized by short interactions centered on instrumental purposes (e.g. getting healed; purchasing services). We believe this stems in great part from a lack of incentives for players to actively engage in non-instrumental interactions in these two locations. In particular, SWG’s powerful macro system automates the performance of instrumental action while stripping away any reason to converse with other players."
Nicolas Ducheneaut and Robert Moore (2004) The Social Side of Gaming: A Study of Interaction Patterns in a Massively Multiplayer Online Game
Additionally, allowing unattended (and therefore unlimited) play creates issues with the virtual economy, such as inflation because too many generated credits enter the economy and deflation because some items become too common. If you're interested in this subject, you might like some great videos about it from Extra Credits, including MMO Economies - Hyperinflation, Reserve Currencies & You!, and MMO Economies - How to Manage Inflation in Virtual Economies.
Here's how we're changing our Community Standards to make clear where we're placing the line:
You may use the mechanics provided in-game, such as macros, to play the game unattended to the extent permissible by the respective systems.
"Unattended" means you are not physically providing input at the computer with your keyboard and mouse inside the game client (e.g., pressing the keys to move around or typing chat messages to other players).
If you do play unattended, you may not derive system-generated benefits as a result.
A "system-generated benefit" is anything that benefits your player and is received from a game system (i.e., not from another player), such as loot, credits, or experience points.
Players are no longer considered active at the keyboard when they haven't provided input from the mouse and keyboard for more than 15 minutes, regardless of whether they are running a macro). When you're considered inactive, you can't loot or harvest from corpses or loot or gain credits in space.
Thimble has been retired. We have approached removing AFK play with two prongs: deterring (preventing the use of macros to play unattended for extended periods of time while balancing the need for certain player-to-player transactions to remain in place and the legitimate purposes macros have in automating certain game features) and demotivating (removing the incentive, e.g., loot and credits from players who aren't at the keyboard).
When you're considered inactive (no input for more than 15 minutes), corpses will no longer generate loot or harvestable materials, and space will no longer grant credits or loot when you destroy a ship.
Combat Leveling and/or Gaining Combat Experience Points
Yes. Combat levels are achieved by experience points, which are a system-generated benefit.
Farming Mobs for Loot, Collections, etc.
Yes. Loot is a system-generated benefit.
Hand Sampling
Yes. Hand sampling generates experience and resources, which are system-generated benefits. We are aware of an immediate concern raised by those in the Artisan professions that some planets do not allow harvesters and therefore this necessitates hand sampling. Our position is unchanged. This keeps the resources on planets without harvesters rare and creates pricing diversity in the economy, both of which are intentional game mechanics. Hand sampling is intended to be slow, as it is a manual process for new Artisans or to be used where harvesters would be functionally impractical; That does not change the fact that to gain system-generated benefits, you need to be playing the game.
Doctors Buffing in Hospitals or Other Places
No. Doctor Buffs are a player-to-player service, not a system-generated service; However, if your player is not a Master Doctor, because you can gain experience from buffing, the system-generated benefit rules apply when earning experience points. In short, a Master Doctor providing buffs will not be ATK-checked.
Entertainer Buff Building and Image Designing
No. See generally, Doctor Buffing in Hospitals or Other Places. But the profession exception is for Master Dancers and Master Musicians.
We'll be implementing these changes over the coming months and look forward to sharing more with you soon.
May The Force Be With You,
The SWG Restoration Development Team
