Guys, use your imaginatin. Ofc. manualy setting up AFK and being able to move or do anything else is stupid. My idea was something like this:

You can get AFK status when -
- You are AFK for 30 min - instant AFK flag cast
- You type AFK manualy - it will take 30s to set flag

Whle AFK, you will have new mark on your portrait in local or somehow changed name ... whatever, but it has to be visible to other players.


You will loose AFK status when -
- You try make any ingame action

When you make move while AFK flag is on, you loose AFK mark (players see you no longer AFK) and you are on 30s cooldown (something like undock from station timer) during which you can't move or do anything else. Unless you are no longer AFK cause someone bumped you or something.

This way players can see you are AFK and can take proper action/reaction.

All online multiplayer games I have ever played have AFK indicator, so why not EVE?

*I don't want to start another threat about cloaky AFKers in null. No, this is not about being cloaky and AFK. This is about being AFK in general*

Tactical advantage of being AFK without others knowing it is quite powerfull tool. You can greatly affect gameplay of others and you don't have to play at all. So is it valid tactics? Is it ok, that EVE life and real life are so connected? Not everyone can have his computer online all day. Not everyone will do it even if they could for many reason starting with energy consumption and ending with greener planet

So what do you think? Do we need AFK indicator? Imagine you could tell if someone is AFK or not. How much would this feature change your EVE experience?

The answer is: NO

If you introduce an AFK indicator people will just misuse it and wait at a good strategic place so long until they are shown AFK... and then I see millions of tears running from noobs saying: He was AFK so why was he able to kill me so fast?

So last night I was in a nul system, watching a group clean up old pos structures. I sat very still, waiting patiently till the lone hookbill became bored and left. During that time I was at my computer, talking to my bombing partner over xbox live, but putting in no input.

Waited a good 45 minutes to an hour. Hookbill left, we dropped cloak, bombed and torped 2 cruisers and ran when the hookbill returned to system.

How would an afk indicator change any part of that? At best, it would have shown me going afk, prompting my targets to relax more. At worst, had no impact because even though I enter no input, doesn't mean I'm not already lined up, ready to go the moment I need to. This is not a well thought out idea as it would add nothing of value, while wasting coding resources for am unneeded function.

Well, if you go AFK, players would see it. And when you get back, players would see it too and it gives them chance to act accordingly. So you have no effect on game while you are not playing. And thats the major point I am talking about. Players should not affect PvP game life when not playing.

When you log off in space and than log back, your ship is in warp and you have to wait till it lands. I want same mechanics for being AFK.

I'd love to see a MANUALLY operated AFK flag. So that if I dock up and go off to eat dinner without logging off, I can set myself as AFK so that my corp/alliance mates know that.

I do NOT think that an automatic AFK flag should be implemented (unless you can turn it off in settings).

Guys, use your imaginatin. Ofc. manualy setting up AFK and being able to move or do anything else is stupid. My idea was something like this:

You can get AFK status when -
- You are AFK for 30 min - instant AFK flag cast
- You type AFK manualy - it will take 30s to set flag

Whle AFK, you will have new mark on your portrait in local or somehow changed name ... whatever, but it has to be visible to other players.


You will loose AFK status when -
- You try make any ingame action

When you make move while AFK flag is on, you loose AFK mark (players see you no longer AFK) and you are on 30s cooldown (something like undock from station timer) during which you can't move or do anything else. Unless you are no longer AFK cause someone bumped you or something.

This way players can see you are AFK and can take proper action/reaction.

So, if I set my ship to orbit something, it is technically performing an in-game action.

well, yea the in-game ship is performing an in-game action with no player interaction at all, but im sure thats what a afk indicator would see as beeing "active"

it`s pretty much like ganking, it doesnt damage the victims too much, it has just become a almost idiot-proof thing to block a system with a cloaky (technicly) or gank a freighter, as there are no ingame mechanics to counter both effectifly.

So, I can stealth-orbit something, get my AFK flag but not be AFK and ninjagank things that come near me, waiting only to reflag for AFKness after I stealth back up?

I see no way in which this can be abused.

No guys. In-game player action can be detected simply as any player made request sent to EVE servers. Loading market, hitting orbitting button, changing direction ... simply everything you need server to respond to.

So orbiting is not players in-game action, but hitting orbiting button is.

So, I can stealth-orbit something, get my AFK flag but not be AFK and ninjagank things that come near me, waiting only to reflag for AFKness after I stealth back up?

I see no way in which this can be abused.

I dont know why your so much into orbting, it hasj ust nothing to do with this... u can just be afk cloaked orbtiting nothing, same deal.

Allthough, I have to say i dont like this proposal either, a cycle timer for covert ops cloaks (say 60 minutes) but with no deactivation delay would be a better solution, couse it would just hit the afkers, not certain ship classes as such.

Ah, but according to the op, this isn't about afk cloakers. I could be camping a war target in a station or gate camping a rarely used enterence to nul sec. If I do not poll the server every 30 minutes, I would risk being flagged afk. Given that many corps use a 3rd party voice system, even talking would not cause a server poll. You would have to chat in a window, open market, or something less than every 30 minutes or risk entering the afk state, a state which has a cooldown of 30 seconds before you can act.

Seems like forcing people to play your way.

Also, an hour is not enough time. A bomber can easily wait an hour watching a jump bridge, unmoving, while waiting for a good target. 2-3 hours minimum wait period is needed.