out of my character

[Mystearia]

ok i normally don't complain about silly things but this has been a slight issue the past few times i've been on en world...especially tonight i've noticed that when i first got on there were seven maybe eight people on enworld... at least four of them were either Busy or away status.. and at least two more were just sitting in the lounge, i'm not gonna name names but is it common for people to just sit there and do nothing for three to four hours at a time?
now i know i'm gonna get responses like they just observe the isrp and thats fine and dandy, but it's a pain in the arse when you have ten people online and eight of them are in the lounge and the rest are AFK, now if this arguement isn't clear enough for anyone. i'm sorry, if ya can't read it quickly sorry bout that too... if you just dont care what i'm saying read another post by someone else, just dont complain about my punctuation or writing style. oh and if yer gonna tell me to get over it or just leave... well it doesn't matter what you say now does it?
i'm a pissy little man aren't i?

 

[Magi_Trelian]

Relax. No one should tell you to go away.

Yes, it's common for certain people to stay in the Lounge for hours at a time without playing.

The "busy" or "away" problem is more curious. I haven't seen that many AFK at any given time myself, but yes, it can happen.

If you want to find out who might be active (it won't help with the busy/away-ness), you can use this link:

http://www.enworld.org/isrp/chat/index.php

Up at the top right is a link to "who's in the chat?" that will list users by rooms without you needing to log in first.

 

[Ghaelun HammerFrost]

i have to agree with mystearia..whats the point really in coming on en world if you are going to not do anything. it is quite ridiculous to just be there for no apparent reason and not even interact.

 

[Mortonia]

Some people (and I am thinking of one person in particular) come into the lounge and wait, because they are waiting for a particular person to come online. It's not that they hate any of the rest of us, but that particular character happens to be involved in a storyline that takes place outside the normal environs of the public ISRP rooms. Since there's no good explanation for the character to bounce back and forth, they wait in the lounge.

What I find highly ironic is that you come out and essentially call these people stupid for doing this when you don't even know why they're doing it. Just because the reason isn't apparent to you doesn't mean there isn't a reason.

As for the AFK/Busy issue - hey, life happens. As a parent of three, I get up and down regularly while I role-play. The people I RP with know this, and understand it.

You are obviously not one of those people.

The point is, you are once again criticizing folks without bothering to even consider their side of the story. You just came in here and flew off the handle. We're all very sorry that our role-play habits are inconvenient for you. Well, ok we're probably not, but it sounds nice anyway.

 

[Lonanae]

I admit I often come online and sit in the lounge with an AFK sign. I have a reason and my reason is that I wait for another certain character because they are not always on MSN and I am not as well and if I'm in the lounge they'll see that I am online and come play. My character is involved, as Mortonia said about another character, in a different area than what is already there and so I wait to play.

I'm not trying to be rude to anyone by placing the AFK symbol but I also have a child and life does happen and when it does you must tend. Those I RP with also understand this, as Mortonia said once again. You can always just look over your messenger list, if you have one, and see who will play with you if you want to play so badly. This is the only post I'll post.

 

[Zackori Kaji]

Well I can see why some people would just sit around and wait. But that in itself brings up an old problem that was sorta addressed and certainly ranted about that people seem to be rping in little clicks of sorts. The thing that people still sorta do that I have seen, just siting around Waiting for Certain people and do not participate with the others around the site. Correct me if I am wrong but thats just my observation.

 

[Mystearia]

Mortonia i know that not everyone is 18 years old like myself... and i also know that some have busier lives than others... but the whole thing is that there is no explainable reason short of needing to go to the hospital or haveing a sick child ect to be AFK for more than 20-30 minutes... now thats just a rough guess but i myself cannot be away or afk more than 15min because enworld kicks me off if i seem to go over that limit. and as zackori pointed out people come to play with friends more than they come to play with new people. the clicks have been the downfall of many good stories because certian characters were involved in a few too many story lines.
and thank you trelian for the help...

oh and thank you to those who posted... it was much less agitateing than when i was speaking on ghaeluns post earlier this month

 

[Willow_Calypso]

Well I can see why some people would just sit around and wait. But that in itself brings up an old problem that was sorta addressed and certainly ranted about that people seem to be rping in little clicks of sorts. The thing that people still sorta do that I have seen, just siting around Waiting for Certain people and do not participate with the others around the site. Correct me if I am wrong but thats just my observation.

Cliques are normal, especially among older players. We have a tendency to understand the circumstances of unexpected or prolonged AFK due to family, work, or a variety of other things. We play when we have time to play and enjoy playing with people of likeness to us.

Mortonia i know that not everyone is 18 years old like myself... and i also know that some have busier lives than others... but the whole thing is that there is no explainable reason short of needing to go to the hospital or haveing a sick child ect to be AFK for more than 20-30 minutes... now thats just a rough guess but i myself cannot be away or afk more than 15min because enworld kicks me off if i seem to go over that limit. and as zackori pointed out people come to play with friends more than they come to play with new people. the clicks have been the downfall of many good stories because certian characters were involved in a few too many story lines.
and thank you trelian for the help..

I am slightly offended, because I think it is asinine to try and tell other people what warrants and doesn't warrant a prolonged AFK/AWAY status. There are all sorts of reasons one would need to step away from the computer, especially for those who have spouses and children.

It is opinions like these that the cause a majority of older family-orientated players to form cliques and groups. Flexibility is key to someone who doesn't have a lot of time.

 

[Bari]

Honestly, I'm 16, and even I know that going to the hospital (or at least the public hospitals here, because they're full of people - and I don't have money to pay a private one) and having a sick child definetly warrant much more than 30 minutes. People don't live, or at least shouldn't live, on the computer. If I had a son with high fewver, that fell asleep, maybe I'd log in. Bu should he wake up in the next fifteen minutes, I'm gonna AFK and keep on with him until I'm absolutely sure there's no need. If I'm playing and my uncle is sick at the hospital, I'm not gonna return in at the very unexcusable least two hours. I know those were just examples on your part... but well, they are definetly not good examples. We live for the real world, and no matter how much we value the people online, the inmediate physical surroundings come first, always.

As a side note, when one posts, one can't just ask people to not answer against one's point of view. That's the idea of public forums: We post, we debate, we come to a conclusion. Personally, and this is not meant as an attack (and if it's taken as so, I'll gladly remove it) I don't see the point in telling people to not-AFK. For as much as some of us would love to, we can't cancel reality. Even if it's for a while. I do understand the aim at disbanding the little RP groups, but you've got to remember that those groups are formed for a reason. And one angry post won't solve it. As for myself, I used to think the same thing, and personally I think those little groups have opened up... to the point I really don't remember if they were there in the first place.

 

[Willow_Calypso]

Very very well said, Bari! You are wise beyond your years. I applaud you.