AFK reporting harassment in AV

[Vyndree]

I've explained it all here: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=4665490784&sid=1

The short version: A Mal'Ganis org purposely afk reports Suvega and I when we're capping towers in order to prevent us from gaining honor NOT BECAUSE WE'RE AFK, but because we're multiboxing.

I have no idea how to combat this, since afk reporting is anonymous. But it's annoying to lose the honor for the tower YOU ARE CAPPING just because someone has a stick up their butt about multiboxing and won't ticket a gm or read the forums like they should.

[Notes]

People are soooo stupid .. What happend to the time a game was just a game ? Nowadays when people don't like something they whine and whine at GM's on forums to get something done, or, as like in this case, they abuse legal ways of saying some one is wanking about at 'illigal' moments...

Can't really put down what I mean due to my English, but it's just frustrating reading all these things, specialy in this case where it's just 100% stupidity taking over any logical reasoning. Or they are really 8 years old...

I wish you best of luck and I hope something gets done to fix this. Obviously it's a funtion Blizz should look at again very soon to fix this kinda bullcrap. This WILL concern me and everyone else here so if you need any help .. ;)

[Kyudo]

To be brutally honest, I used to report everyone as soon as I joined the game (I play late and in the old days that meant 30%+ afk). But the afking has reduced since then, given Blizzard's new stance. I'm lucky in my battlegroup, (part of the reason I moved here), in that we tend to win 70%+ of AVs. I wouldn't stress to much about it, the report gives you time to get into combat, just let them waste their time.

Plus, I dunno how it is on your battlegroup, but in mine tonight there were a total of 67 AV games running... so I rarely encounter the same group repeatedly.

[Vyndree]

Here is that slippery slope again with multiboxing... now blizzard has to figure out a way to deal with other people greifing multiboxers with AFK reporting.

Isn't that a mod that will autoreport everyone in a BG? Fuck, I'd run that bitch all day long if this happened to me.

Nah, they'd wait until Suvega or I was rezzing, or Suvega was saying he was going to go cap a tower, and then all of a sudden all 5 of my characters would get the sleepy face afk debuff. Later in the BG one of them actually would say stuff like "Now's the time to report them!" in /bg

The entire bg was filled with me and suvega arguing for them to play the game (the horde pug was rolling their premade and if suvega didn't recap the towers they probably would have lost) about how, if they have problems, they should ticket a GM or check the forums for blue posts instead of afk reporting us, or stfu about how they THINK that multiboxing is botting or that it's unfair...

Who the heck reports their own team?! Especially when we're key to them winning.

Stupid premade pug. Some of the people in that mal'ganis org had played with me in the last mal'ganis org I was queued with. They told me what to defend and I did it, and we won that AV so they had no problems with me. But it's hard to reason with stubborn people. I made a nice little post in our BG forums and the Mal'ganis forum with all the blue responses to multiboxing so they can stick their foot in their mouth.

[Vyndree]

Dude, this WIM copy as BBCode thing is awesome :D


[02/16/08]

16:22 [Kanryn]: *Out of the shadows appears a figure. You're startled at first, but then see the familiar blue robes of one of Azeroth's and Outland's mighty guardians.*
16:22 [Kanryn]: Greetings, Velatti. This is Game Master Kanryn. Thank you for your patience. This is in regards to your petition. Do you have a moment to discuss this?
16:22 [Velatti]: hey, i'm in an av at the moment. would you like me to afk out or can you wait just a moment?
16:23 [Kanryn]: Well, how long do you believe it should be, Velatti?
16:23 [Velatti]: i'm more than happy to afk out :) one moment
16:23 [Velatti]: there we go :)
16:23 [Kanryn]: I'm sorry for any inconvenience, Velatti.
16:23 [Kanryn]: But thank you.
16:23 [Kanryn]: How are you today?
16:23 [Velatti]: it's no prob. I'm just grinding honor and that was most likely a loss as it was
16:24 [Velatti]: fairly good. lots of PvP on av weekend and all that fun stuff
16:24 [Velatti]: how are you today?
16:24 [Kanryn]: That's good to hear.
16:24 [Kanryn]: I apologize for the wait in addressing your petition, Velatti.
16:24 [Velatti]: no prob, i know the queue on weekends can be long
16:24 [Kanryn]: I have read your petition in regards to a potential issue with a some players.
16:24 [Velatti]: *nods* -- i'm more concerned about the afk flag abuse than the chat abuse... you get your bad apples sometimes but I don't like it when they ruin my honor gain
16:24 [Kanryn]: First, let me apologize for any inconvenience and/or frustration this may have caused you.
16:25 [Velatti]: they were clearly trying to flag my boyfriend suvega and I when we were most likely to get hit with the idle flag due to node defending and or graveyard running
16:25 [Kanryn]: Thank you for reporting this issue to us.
16:26 [Velatti]: it hurts to not get honor for a node that YOU capped and you earned for the rest of the team, you know? And not because you're afk, but because you choose a not so common playstyle :) and thanks for looking into it :)
16:26 [Kanryn]: You are welcome.
16:26 [Kanryn]: I do apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. While I am here with you, may I assist you with anything else today?
16:26 [Velatti]: is there anything I can do in the future about afk reporting? Since it's anonymous and I see it happen again, should I still open a ticket or..?
16:27 [Velatti]: I was lucky enough this time to hear some people on the mal'ganis org talk about "hey, everyone afk report NOW" after we announce that we're capping something
16:27 [Velatti]: but next time I may not be so lucky :(
16:27 [Kanryn]: You would simply need to engage in PvP combat with a player from the opposing faction to remove the debuff, Velatti.
16:28 [Kanryn]: Is there any other in-game issue I can assist you with today?
16:28 [Velatti]: the debuff has a 1 minute timer, though. When I'm defending towers and earning the BG honor points, it takes 2 minutes and it may not mean I go into combat that often
16:28 [Kanryn]: It removes immediately once combat is engaged, Velatti.
16:28 [Velatti]: i'm fine with normal afk reports but an org was doing it purposely to grief the 2 multiboxers
16:29 [Kanryn]: I recommend visiting our Suggestion forums at: ([http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com]) if you feel that changes need to be made in regards to this issue, Velatti.
16:29 [Velatti]: will do. so I shouldn't report when I feel I'm being griefed with afk reports?
16:29 [Velatti]: only verbal harassment?
16:29 [Velatti]: i think it's an exploit of the afk system
16:29 [Kanryn]: If you feel that you are, then please submit a petition, Velatti.
16:29 [Velatti]: ok, sounds good :) makes me feel better
16:29 [Kanryn]: Is there any other in-game issue I can help you with today?
16:29 [Velatti]: thanks much Kanryn! nope, that's the only thing I've run into
16:30 [Kanryn]: You are most welcome, Velatti. I thank you for your petition and for playing World of Warcraft. I bid you farewell and good hunting. Please have a great day.
16:30 [Velatti]: happy bansticks and wrist slapping for the rest of your workday!
16:30 [Kanryn]: I hope I was able to provide you with excellent service. Please feel free to send any feedback to wowgmfeedback-us@blizzard.com if you wish to make any comments.
16:30 [Kanryn]: *Game Master Kanryn disappears in a puff of blue smoke.*

[Vyndree]

To be brutally honest, I used to report everyone as soon as I joined the game (I play late and in the old days that meant 30%+ afk). But the afking has reduced since then, given Blizzard's new stance. I'm lucky in my battlegroup, (part of the reason I moved here), in that we tend to win 70%+ of AVs. I wouldn't stress to much about it, the report gives you time to get into combat, just let them waste their time.

Plus, I dunno how it is on your battlegroup, but in mine tonight there were a total of 67 AV games running... so I rarely encounter the same group repeatedly.

Forgot to respond to this...

On stormstrike bg, alliance LOSES consistently. Unless you're with an org or a REALLY good pug -- and even then it will be a JUST BARELY win.

At any given time, there are usually <10 AV games open during peak gaming hours. Alliance just doesn't queue up anymore unless they need to farm the losses for marks. This makes horde queues (thank god I'm alliance) about 2 hours -- but they get full honor for the whole thing.

The mal'ganis org I was with was clearly a trade chat PUG. They started for a galv rush and then realized last minute to turn to ibgy after galv was being defended (as always). The people from galv just walked over to the road choke point and wiped them all. Suvega and I ran around ninja capping towers while they sorted themselves out and eventually managed to rush Drek. If we weren't capping towers and splitting hte horde defense, they would have lost.

[accused]

so basically the GM said. "deal with it."

[Vyndree]

so basically the GM said. "deal with it."

Yep. Though you can report people even if they anonymously afk flag you even when you're not afk if you believe it's harassment.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=4665390980&sid=1

My suggestion: make in-conflict afk flags clickable so that it refreshes your afk debuff back to 60 seconds. Once it's in your control, you have to get into PvP combat to completely remove the debuff.


I've had a total of 3 tickets opened today for AV harassment/exploiting (some guy was attacking me throught he floor of one of the towers). I couldn't fit all the text into one ticket. >.<

[kllrwlf]

Disclaimer, I'm pretty sure you want to do the honorable thing and do what's right and all that... I'm different.

If that was happening to me, I would do the following:

1. Just turtle. Why? Well if I try to cap a tower and can't get honor for it, what's the point? I get more honor on defense and turtling compared to the ZERO that i get for the tower.
2. When I get the afk tag timer, it doesn't matter because I'll be engaging the enemy within seconds.
3. Start afk tagging other people that I suspect that are doing it to me.

After a couple of games, I would ask at the beginning... "hey guys, do you want to try to win? otherwise, I'm going on D". I'm sure they would be glad to have me cap some towers then instead of the huge time sink that I would be putting them through...

Number 3 might be a little low...

This is about control. Those turds are trying to control you by abusing the afk system. Once they understand that you can control their time, they might think twice before messing with you.

[Mokoi]

Vyndree does your guild have a website? I couldnt see any, let me know =)

[Vyndree]

Vyndree does your guild have a website? I couldnt see any, let me know =)

It's more Suvega's guild... as far as I know they have a member's only forum and that's it. Top alliance guild on the server -- only guild alliance side to kill Illidan.

Since I took a break from raiding to level my shammies, I'm just in as friend status. :)

[Gallo]

As I level my shammies, this AV issue has always worried me. I knew that this could be a problem. Please keep us updated Vyn.... maybe you've just had a bad few days on your server.

[Vyndree]

As I level my shammies, this AV issue has always worried me. I knew that this could be a problem. Please keep us updated Vyn.... maybe you've just had a bad few days on your server.

It's AV weekend, what can I say?

[Mokoi]

Vyndree does your guild have a website? I couldnt see any, let me know =)

It's more Suvega's guild... as far as I know they have a member's only forum and that's it. Top alliance guild on the server -- only guild alliance side to kill Illidan.

Since I took a break from raiding to level my shammies, I'm just in as friend status. :)

ahh gotcha.

I am trying to find a good alliance guild that raids, is committed and is multi-boxer friendly. I have a guild but they are slow in progress, some of the old schools i like have retired and the rest are in a state of "flux". not sure if its home anymore.

[Tehtsuo]

Disclaimer, I'm pretty sure you want to do the honorable thing and do what's right and all that... I'm different.

If that was happening to me, I would do the following:

1. Just turtle. Why? Well if I try to cap a tower and can't get honor for it, what's the point? I get more honor on defense and turtling compared to the ZERO that i get for the tower.
2. When I get the afk tag timer, it doesn't matter because I'll be engaging the enemy within seconds.
3. Start afk tagging other people that I suspect that are doing it to me.

After a couple of games, I would ask at the beginning... "hey guys, do you want to try to win? otherwise, I'm going on D". I'm sure they would be glad to have me cap some towers then instead of the huge time sink that I would be putting them through...

Number 3 might be a little low...

This is about control. Those turds are trying to control you by abusing the afk system. Once they understand that you can control their time, they might think twice before messing with you.I agree with turtling to render the afk flag system inoperable. However, trying to announce that's what you're doing usually doesn't do too much. You're trying to reason with 30 some odd people who know they're right and you're wrong.... in every circumstance. It's better to just farm honor till the inevitable loss, especially once diminishing honor goes away.

[kllrwlf]

I agree with turtling to render the afk flag system inoperable. However, trying to announce that's what you're doing usually doesn't do too much. You're trying to reason with 30 some odd people who know they're right and you're wrong.... in every circumstance. It's better to just farm honor till the inevitable loss, especially once diminishing honor goes away.

True, but at this point (if it was happening to me), it wouldn't be about right or wrong. It's just about control. I wouldn't need the other 30 odd people to know that I'm right or wrong, I just need them to understand that I can also control their time as much as they are trying to control mine. :)

[Skuggomann]

LoL i se a simple solution to this:


A) Dont have all yoru toons at the same place.

B) Afk JUST REMEMBER NOT TO DO IT IN TUNNELS!! (i ahve grinded over 120'000 HP jstu wachign godild movies/tv shoes and numlock waling into a wall r sum xD)

C) Dont cap flags? think that wud solv it, leav the borign stuff to the reporters and go stand in Vaandars chamber and nuke Hodes wen they pop inn xD

[Vyndree]

LoL i se a simple solution to this:


A) Dont have all yoru toons at the same place.

B) Afk JUST REMEMBER NOT TO DO IT IN TUNNELS!! (i ahve grinded over 120'000 HP jstu wachign godild movies/tv shoes and numlock waling into a wall r sum xD)

C) Dont cap flags? think that wud solv it, leav the borign stuff to the reporters and go stand in Vaandars chamber and nuke Hodes wen they pop inn xD

I'm not trying to afk farm honor, Skuggo. ;) I'm playing the game.

They're reporting me afk regardless of whether I'm playing or not -- they just want to grief me.

[Skuggomann]

I'm not trying to afk farm honor, Skuggo. ;) I'm playing the game.

They're reporting me afk regardless of whether I'm playing or not -- they just want to grief me.



I realize that to the fullest it was just a simple sugestuion that you shud actually afk farm XD its much mroe funn in the long run (if yoru goign for 100'000+ HK) to wach soem godold movies :) (or porn if that floats your boat, for me i get to distracted and forget im in AV and get AFK'ed out :S /writenote must get a stopwach that pepes every 4 min 30 sec)

[zanthor]

The problem is exactly what you suggested - the fact that there are LEGITIMATE TIMES in AV that you will go more than 3-4 minutes without conflict... during this time you may actually be helping the cause, pushing forward for your team and doing something thats useful... but with the reporting system as it is, you are fucked.

[Vyndree]

This greatly disturbs me.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=4665323237&sid=1&pageNo=1#6

...we currently do not hold that reporting someone who is knowingly active at their computer and participating in the match is a trackable form of a harassment.

I have added to my post in the suggestion forums here: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=4665390980&postId=47749281282&sid=1#2
Please add your comments if you have any further suggestions.

This is not acceptable use of an in-game reporting feature. This is harassment and exploitation of the game. It needs to stop, or at the very least, be recorded and actionable.

[Ughmahedhurtz]

it was just a simple sugestuion that you shud actually afk farm XD its much mroe funn in the long run (if yoru goign for 100'000+ HK) to wach soem godold movies :) (or porn if that floats your boat, for me i get to distracted and forget im in AV and get AFK'ed out :S /writenote must get a stopwach that pepes every 4 min 30 sec)Lest this thread turn into something unintended, may I suggest that you refrain from suggesting people break the game's ToS? I'd certainly hate to see you banned from these forums. I understand your point to the fullest but Ellay has repeatedly stated that advocating or explaining how to break a game's ToS is strictly verboten.

This PSA brought to you by Don's Free PSA's, Inc.

[Jaws5]

The only way to deal with this is to play off and kill other side, or play def and kill other side. Get afked all the time. most of the time i run toward the nearest alliance person and hit them. U can also hit a npc remove it.

Next time i make a new grp they will be all different names and looks , should help some
:)

[Stabface]

Maybe you should just point out that you have enough toons in the BG to report everyone in it as AFK ? :)

[Jaws5]

good point it takes 5 to afk out a player by reporting them
:)

[Vyndree]

Maybe you should just point out that you have enough toons in the BG to report everyone in it as AFK ? :)

I'm not going to encourage that sort of childish behavior. I'd only be encouraging them to do the same.

While I'm all for "payback", I'd like it to be doled out officially by a GM, not ignored because it's "working as intended".

[Eteocles]

Skuggo I'm gonna summon treants with Thorns on in your pants for that. AV's enough of a pain in the ass without AFKers...I caught a horde 60 shaman AFKing behind Galv's building at the very freaking start, hiding inside a catapult on my twins last weekend thanks to catform humanoid tracking...stealthed around, unshifted, shadowmelded, then 2shotted him with 2x 2 starfires from both alts...he didn't react till a good 2+seconds after i killed him, he targeted me(corpse's targets still show if you have it on) and he targeted me after death then checked the other druid, I /spat on him for afking and went back to work on Galv/IB with my team lol

Edit: The reason for the shadowmeld is that, normally when you cast, if the victim has no target, it auto-targets you...if you shadowmeld first, then cast, your cast starts before you re"load" into the world and the victim isn't alerted to your presence until the next cast ;p Quite useful when ganking your daily gankers as they turn in later...

[Jaws5]

:) one other suggestion do not ask AV leader to be in same grp. I do not ask any longer. Then most of the time you are not as noticeable. It sucks to not be in same grp, but it happens. in aV Iam just happy to be in same AV with all 5 toons

I kill Bal first then move on to north or south bunker. most of the time noone notices me that way.

Then again i think Horde players are more forgiving than allaince overall as a general rule