So many people AFK...

[RH92]

Hello everybody,

I am going to jump right in and say it pisses me off, sorry. I lost so many games because of 1 or even 2 people staying AFK for like 3-5 minutes, there is nothing you can do about it. I can forgive bad players their mistakes, they at least tried. However having a constatly AFK player is a massive burden you can't even replace. Even if he leaves you gain nothing with the A.I operating the character, sometimes it is even worse as he is basically a experience boost for your enemies (I had a game where A.I Kael'thas was throwing Phoenix on minions). Why do even people join the game when they know they are going to be AFK?

Do you think there is a way to fix it?

[Deleted]

I've been afk once, I started up alt-tab to read something and then forgot I joined a game. Then I started up the game again to find out I was 20 minutes into a match, I felt sorry for the guys on my team. :/

[Deleted]

Sometimes when I tab out of the game and come back it takes up to a minute for me to get back into the game, because they do this weird thing where my computer tries to catch up to the action. Don't know what that's all about.

[Deleted]

Maybe Blizzard could offer a seperate queue that funnels players into the AI spots left by AFKers, the chances of getting into a losing game is high, but there could be a reward for doing it, maybe a unique skin for 100 games playing a sub and/or 10 bonus gold for everyone on a team with a sub player.

[Deleted]

I've been afk once, I started up alt-tab to read something and then forgot I joined a game. Then I started up the game again to find out I was 20 minutes into a match, I felt sorry for the guys on my team. :/

I can sympathise with that. I wish the client would force itself on me when its game time. Smite does it!

[theredviola]

Maybe Blizzard could offer a seperate queue that funnels players into the AI spots left by AFKers, the chances of getting into a losing game is high, but there could be a reward for doing it, maybe a unique skin for 100 games playing a sub and/or 10 bonus gold for everyone on a team with a sub player.

This seems like a reasonable compromise. The que times are what detours me from playing.

[Nerraw]

Even without extra rewards, it'd still be a vast increase in gold/xp-per-minute if you got the full amount for joining a game in progress.

[DeadmanWalking]

There may be completely legitimate reasons why someone is afk at the beginning of a match, they could be seeing the cut scene in the beginning for the first time and I have learned you don't come between a player and their cut scenes. They could be pulling up a website that shows a legitimate build for that character. I keep my builds on a .pdf which tells me the purpose of each build, what the name of the ability is and the # of the ability from top to bottom so I can see #3 at level 7 and pick the 3rd option without having to take time to read the name of the ability.

There are usually completely legitimate reasons for people doing things.

[Sliske]

There is really nothing you can do. You can make the penalty higher (such as not being able to play again for 1hr) but at the end of the day that doesn't stop people leaving and its a rule that stops people playing your game.

I think though, considering there really is nothing they can do to stop people getting surprise phonecalls, lag, people answering the door, cat on fire, whatever, that they shouldn't be adding stuff like the treasure goblin next patch.

I can already see people getting extremely pissed off that they missed the treasure goblin kill because 1-3 people are afk. I can just see an entire game dissolving into a flamefest before the gates have even opened. Unless it is easily killable by a single hero (even tanks / healers) it will cause really major flaming. People get pissed off when they lose gold / experience / items. This is exactly that.

[ophion1990]

Maybe Blizzard could offer a seperate queue that funnels players into the AI spots left by AFKers, the chances of getting into a losing game is high, but there could be a reward for doing it, maybe a unique skin for 100 games playing a sub and/or 10 bonus gold for everyone on a team with a sub player.

If it's a seperate que, sure, I guess. As long as they don't use the same atrocious system WoW has where anyone can get thrown in an already lost BG.

There may be completely legitimate reasons why someone is afk at the beginning of a match, they could be seeing the cut scene in the beginning for the first time and I have learned you don't come between a player and their cut scenes. They could be pulling up a website that shows a legitimate build for that character. I keep my builds on a .pdf which tells me the purpose of each build, what the name of the ability is and the # of the ability from top to bottom so I can see #3 at level 7 and pick the 3rd option without having to take time to read the name of the ability.

There are usually completely legitimate reasons for people doing things.

How is going AFK to look up info about a hero a legitimate reason? You should do that stuff before queing up, not when you're in a game...

[RH92]

I can sympathise with that. I wish the client would force itself on me when its game time. Smite does it!

Doesn't it start to glow on your panel bar? Or is it only when someone writes you a whisper?

There may be completely legitimate reasons why someone is afk at the beginning of a match, they could be seeing the cut scene in the beginning for the first time and I have learned you don't come between a player and their cut scenes. They could be pulling up a website that shows a legitimate build for that character. I keep my builds on a .pdf which tells me the purpose of each build, what the name of the ability is and the # of the ability from top to bottom so I can see #3 at level 7 and pick the 3rd option without having to take time to read the name of the ability.

There are usually completely legitimate reasons for people doing things.

Sure I understand your point, having different build for different maps and with and against different comps.

However I don't think you need 3-5 minutes to set up your build, it is absurd. Also, looking for a build while already playing a game? You should do it prior playing a game or in an A.I match if you are willingly going to slow your team down. You can even get a first glance of idea what build to go while it is loading, before the game starts you already see your team.

In my opinion it is just disrespectful. Or at least say you are deciding which build to go. It doesn't take that much time to type it into a chat.

I think though, considering there really is nothing they can do to stop people getting surprise phonecalls, lag, people answering the door, cat on fire, whatever, that they shouldn't be adding stuff like the treasure goblin next patch.

There is nothing wrong with this, I am completely fine with it. However they should at least say something.

"Having a phone call, sorry", "Sorry had to answer the door"

Then they come back, see the game isn't going well and either quit or just slack to an end. Rarely I see them trying to do something with it. Again, I find it extremely disrespectful to other people.

I had a few games where someone said he needs to go AFK, okay no problem, and when he came back he played even harder to make up for it.

[Doctor]

A couple times, the loading bar on the map screen goes to full, but the match never starts, so I have to alt+f4 and restart the client. Also, I'm fairly certain there is an AFK timer that kicks you out of the game if you don't do anything for a long time, maybe that was only in beta though.

[RH92]

Also, I'm fairly certain there is an AFK timer that kicks you out of the game if you don't do anything for a long time, maybe that was only in beta though.

Doesn't matter, it still cripples your team with a horrible A.I.. It will only place the AFKer into a Leaver matchmaking.

[Evilmaniac]

I've found that the AFK queue has a higher quality of players. In the last few weeks i've have about 90% win rate from afk queue while the normal QM queue has atrocious win rates. So if my QM group is just of poor quality I AFK and get thrown right back into the good groups.

[RobertoCarlos]

Bet that no pause feature surely is coming in handy right about now.

[Hand Banana]

I can sympathise with that. I wish the client would force itself on me when its game time. Smite does it!

??

It forces you back into the game when the queue pops and you get the load screen for the map. At least it does for me every time.

[RH92]

I thought about solution, let the players decide when to start a match.

The game loads and you are hit with a window saying "Are you ready to start the match?". You can pick talent while the window is up and when all the players will be ready the 10 sec countdown will start. However there will be a timer, if you aren't ready in, let's say, 2 minutes you will be kicked out with no penalty and replaced by another player. The process will start again with the new player.

What do you think?

[DeadmanWalking]

I thought about solution, let the players decide when to start a match.

The game loads and you are hit with a window saying "Are you ready to start the match?". You can pick talent while the window is up and when all the players will be ready the 10 sec countdown will start. However there will be a timer, if you aren't ready in, let's say, 2 minutes you will be kicked out with no penalty and replaced by another player. The process will start again with the new player.

What do you think?

The answer to the solution is to make some friends who you can group up with that you know are good players who won't do any afk bullshit.

If you choose to use the random group finder all the time then you choose to be at the mercy of randomness and sometimes you roll craps.

Finding people to play with is easy, when you see people you think are good then hit tab and there you can invite them to a group or invite for friend list.

[RH92]

The answer to the solution is to make some friends who you can group up with that you know are good players who won't do any afk bullshit.

If you choose to use the random group finder all the time then you choose to be at the mercy of randomness and sometimes you roll craps.

Finding people to play with is easy, when you see people you think are good then hit tab and there you can invite them to a group or invite for friend list.

Okay, I never thought of that before!

Yeah, completely ignore what I said and keep singing your own tune.

[Mormolyce]

It's infuriating.

1) After a period of inactivity you should be force-dced (not sure if this is currently the case, if so the window is too long).
2) If someone remains AFK for the first minute of the game (ie, they never participated at all), it should simply end.
3) Punishment for repeat offenders - leaver's league style.
4) Surely that AI can be improved.

^ What I'd suggest.