Would this solve the AFK-Hosting? (Stores)

[imported_Founder]

This will probably never happen, but who knows...

If this game is turning into RL-like, why not make stores and other lots into RL-like as well?

Every time a visitor enters the lot(clicks it,) the owner/roomies on the lot will get a "knock knock" blue pop-up window saying:

"Jane Doe is trying to enter -- Do you want to let them in? YES/NO?"

This way, somebody at a store(live human behind the screen) would have to be present at their computer to click YES. Once that is done, visitor would know that live human is there to answer them and that they are not AFK-hosting. If owner/roomies are AFK, then they can't get any visitors...simple as that.

Another issue this would solve is when a lot is under harassment attack and somebody is creating new, 0-day sims to enter lots to cause trouble. The owner would be able to look at their profile before letting someone in.


I know that this feature will not be implemented so easily, but wouldnt this solve the AFK-hosting?

 

[imported_Juniper Skye]

This might be a little irritating for money or skill lot owners to have to go through that prompt each time.

For store lots I would like to see an actual check out process where the owner or roomie has to click a register or something to that effect when a customer is finished shopping. Something like this:

Customer A clickes register : "would this complete your transaction?" then possibly a list of items being purchased would pop up

Store Owner or Roomie B clicks on register: "thanks for you purchases and have a great day!"

Someone more creative could probably make something better of that, but it would insinuate an actual GAME PLAY.

 

[MandiK]

Probably, but it would suck for everyone. Id rather let the stores be.

 

[Guest]

I think it would be an interesting idea for stores- maybe if there has been no activity on the lot for a certain period but there are simatars on the property- say 15 minutes or a 1/2 hour- the "knock-knock" box could go into effect like the timeout box does. If you have a skill or money lot, there are usually people out and about, not just hiding like a lot of stores, so I'm not sure if the idea would work outside of stores.....

Or Juniper's idea to make the end of the transaction something that requires actual game interaction....

 

[Paula778]

But read they are planning the opposite...

so houses can be open without any1 online.

Therefore I think we don't need to solve afk-hosting 'problem' anymore, won't that be relaxing

 

[Guest]

This is all to stop the hide feature in stores and keep us from getting the massive store visiter hours?

well the reason the highest hour stores keep their spots on the list os by useing the hide feature on 5 - 10 of their other accounted sims...

I am guilty of useing this feature also and dont really want to see anything change with it BUT another idea could be when the property has hideing sims on lot they could do a "hide timeout" like the 5:00 minute countdown for inactivity but for hideing sims after a certain amount of time it would pop up and knock off hideing sims...

 

[Guest]

How is that possable to have a property ONLINE with no residents there to keep it open?

Id like to see how they plan to implement that!

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

How is that possable to have a property ONLINE with no residents there to keep it open?

Id like to see how they plan to implement that!

[/ QUOTE ]

The job lots are places we can visit without requiring a roomie/owner to keep them open, so it may not be a difficult thing to code.

Its been discussed often with Greg and is definitely something the devs have been looking into.

Polly

 

[Guest]

I still dont understand much about what Amnesty means I know its away for people to get back the anniversery gifts they lost over the years

and I hope i get my pet statues and mystic trees for 1st and 2nd year...

But im not sure what has to be dont to make my account ready for it?

I was told you have to set up your account for it and not sure what they mean by that...

my vote:
with all the other things they have messed up and things that are supposed to happen and never did (IE- Lava Game, Currency change"

I really dont think amnesty will ever happen so my vote is (3-Never) but the optimist in me wants to vote (1- On time april 30th) guess we wait and see

if anyone has the answer to my above question please tell me...

 

[imported_Founder]

<blockquote><hr>

This is all to stop the hide feature in stores and keep us from getting the massive store visiter hours?

well the reason the highest hour stores keep their spots on the list os by useing the hide feature on 5 - 10 of their other accounted sims...

[/ QUOTE ]

Not at all...if they want to spend money on 10 accounts to keep themselves on top, more power to them, BUT....they still need customers to sell their stuff, don't they? This is to stop them being AFK and not to knock them off Top X List.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

I still dont understand much about what Amnesty means I know its away for people to get back the anniversery gifts they lost over the years

and I hope i get my pet statues and mystic trees for 1st and 2nd year...

But im not sure what has to be dont to make my account ready for it?

I was told you have to set up your account for it and not sure what they mean by that...

my vote:
with all the other things they have messed up and things that are supposed to happen and never did (IE- Lava Game, Currency change"

I really dont think amnesty will ever happen so my vote is (3-Never) but the optimist in me wants to vote (1- On time april 30th) guess we wait and see

if anyone has the answer to my above question please tell me...

[/ QUOTE ]

the bolded part made me lol.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

I still dont understand much about what Amnesty means I know its away for people to get back the anniversery gifts they lost over the years

and I hope i get my pet statues and mystic trees for 1st and 2nd year...

But im not sure what has to be dont to make my account ready for it?

I was told you have to set up your account for it and not sure what they mean by that...

my vote:
with all the other things they have messed up and things that are supposed to happen and never did (IE- Lava Game, Currency change"

I really dont think amnesty will ever happen so my vote is (3-Never) but the optimist in me wants to vote (1- On time april 30th) guess we wait and see

if anyone has the answer to my above question please tell me...

[/ QUOTE ]

I think your amnesty questions are better suited for your Amnesty Questions thread.

 

[Guest]

sorry i didnt mean to post that here some how it got mixed up with another thread...

 

[Guest]

You could do something as simple as looking in the house bio, seeing who's and Iming them. If they answer than you know that they are watching the store. They most likely aren't AFK.

 

[imported_Founder]

<blockquote><hr>

You could do something as simple as looking in the house bio, seeing who's and Iming them. If they answer than you know that they are watching the store. They most likely aren't AFK.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah but the point is if they arent there to answer the knock-knock, the visitor wont come in and buy their stuff.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

For store lots I would like to see an actual check out process where the owner or roomie has to click a register or something to that effect when a customer is finished shopping.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think this is a great idea actually.

It could be a voluntary thing.

On one hand there could be the afk / empty warehouse stores - EA charge the stores to keep them open. The more they pay the higher on the list (or fixed prices for the positions on the list / auction bidding for the top 10).

On the other hand there could be the non-afk stores. They would not have to pay for being on a list, since they would be paying in work time.

So - two lists, one afk list where you must pay and one that is free/non-afk.

This would also be good for the customers. If they need personal service they could go directly to the non-afk list.

To check that the people on the non-afk list are really there, they could have a cash register item. These stores would be rated on the quality of their customer service and the overall feel of the store, perhaps by the customers giving the store 1-5 stars when they make a purchase.
The unmanned warehouse stores could be rated the same way with an exception for the top 10 who have paid very much to be there.
(Some wrinkles there that need ironing out so people can't cheat.)

- OR - if one didn't want to give the customers that power to hand out stars, we could have all the open lots visible in a list. And there could be regular afk-checks or something, if a store was afk for over 15 minutes it would automatically drop off the non-afk list.

I want to get rid of this constant need to sit and keep the store open all day long. You would still be high on the list even though you choose to only be open 3 hours a day.

Sound good?

 

[Zsazsa Zee]

I'd rather let the stores be as well. Many people who come to stores are not interested in "chit-chat". They buy what they want and leave. With the economy the way it is, many stores can't afford to do special orders. For most, if it isn't out, they don't have it.

 

[DGLita]

just hitting reply

I have set up a simple website to try to overcome this problem, stores owners post there to say they are open and active, customers post there to say what they need, and a store can then contact them in game. You need to register but accpetance is automatic

http://groups.msn.com/EAlandStoresOnline

 

[imported_Qute Pi]

I don't think this should be for all properties. Even with stores; since they are making it so you can keep the property open without being there, I think the best solution to the "afk 24 hiding sims on a prop for visitor hours" problem would be to change the lists.

 

[Guest]

how about this idea....

a sim goes to a store, fills up their "shopping cart" with the items then want... and then case out with an NPC or MOMI cashier. The catch being that the cashier will leave after X amount of time, unless the owner or roomie directs them to stay.

That way, store owners who are simply playing another sim and are not overiding the time-out feature, can direct the cashier to stay, or make a call, click on cash register, etc, to call another cashier into work.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>

You could do something as simple as looking in the house bio, seeing who's and Iming them. If they answer than you know that they are watching the store. They most likely aren't AFK.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah but the point is if they arent there to answer the knock-knock, the visitor wont come in and buy their stuff.

[/ QUOTE ]

I understand what you saying but if they don't answer the IM then why bother going in. Give your money to someone who actually is watching the store.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

how about this idea....

a sim goes to a store, fills up their "shopping cart" with the items then want... and then case out with an NPC or MOMI cashier. The catch being that the cashier will leave after X amount of time, unless the owner or roomie directs them to stay.

That way, store owners who are simply playing another sim and are not overiding the time-out feature, can direct the cashier to stay, or make a call, click on cash register, etc, to call another cashier into work.

[/ QUOTE ]

Would the NPC be paid for his services like a repairman or maid?

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

how about this idea....

a sim goes to a store, fills up their "shopping cart" with the items then want... and then case out with an NPC or MOMI cashier. The catch being that the cashier will leave after X amount of time, unless the owner or roomie directs them to stay.

That way, store owners who are simply playing another sim and are not overiding the time-out feature, can direct the cashier to stay, or make a call, click on cash register, etc, to call another cashier into work.

[/ QUOTE ]

this is a great idea .. i believe that having the owner or roomies themselves as cashiers is a bit irritating since they might need to restock stuff, receive special orders, green, trade with customers... therefore, an NPC or another sim player (another job) is perfect and they will be payed per hour automatically. The wage would be set by the owner/roomie and the other sim player working as the cashier would have to accept that wage or offer another one. As a cashier, you wont loose green, as if u r hiding or in a residential lot. This way it would be more realistic and the owner would have to keep on directing the NPC or player to stay. (the player would choose whether or not they would stay). And lets say, every shift would be 4 or 5 sim hours .. so every 4 or 5 sim hours, they would have to direct them again..

Note that no roomie or the owner can become a cashier...

just my idea..

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

a sim goes to a store, fills up their "shopping cart" with the items then want... and then case out with an NPC or MOMI cashier. The catch being that the cashier will leave after X amount of time, unless the owner or roomie directs them to stay.

That way, store owners who are simply playing another sim and are not overiding the time-out feature, can direct the cashier to stay

[/ QUOTE ]

It's a good idea, but you are forgetting the bot programs.
I'm sure the bad guys could come up with a modification to the bot program that clicks the cashier every few minutes too.

So perhaps a small modification:
The cash register would come with an npc cashier, but you could also stand there yourself and be the cashier (same as with the Blackjack table they used to have in the casinos).

If you choose the npc cashier you can then log off and the store will be open anyway, but listed as an afk store and you will be charged for it to be open.

If you choose to be the cashier, you have to manually accept purchases (and made in a manner that is not a big hassle to click, but still changes randomly so a bot program could not anticipate it).

 

[Guest]

Don't break the game just because there is no good way to find places you want to go. Just junk the top100 list. Who needs it? It means nothing, or whatever it means is less important than all the other things you want to know about places.

Who cares if people AFK to stay open? It is useful. People complain because it may also affect where they are on the silly top100 list. Eliminate the list, you eliminate the need to do something about it.

Let's make a yellow pages so stores can advertise what they have or what prices they have or whatever else they want to say. Let's rank other lots based on the relationships between the roommates and visitors, based on player reviews and recommendations. Let me bookmark my favorite places. Let me search based on property descriptions.

Don't bother trying to patch a fundamentally broken mechanism. And don't change basic game operations to try to do it.

 

[imported_Shirl1211]

<blockquote><hr>

This will probably never happen, but who knows...

If this game is turning into RL-like, why not make stores and other lots into RL-like as well?

Every time a visitor enters the lot(clicks it,) the owner/roomies on the lot will get a "knock knock" blue pop-up window saying:

"Jane Doe is trying to enter -- Do you want to let them in? YES/NO?"

This way, somebody at a store(live human behind the screen) would have to be present at their computer to click YES. Once that is done, visitor would know that live human is there to answer them and that they are not AFK-hosting. If owner/roomies are AFK, then they can't get any visitors...simple as that.

Another issue this would solve is when a lot is under harassment attack and somebody is creating new, 0-day sims to enter lots to cause trouble. The owner would be able to look at their profile before letting someone in.


I know that this feature will not be implemented so easily, but wouldnt this solve the AFK-hosting?

[/ QUOTE ]



If they were to take the AFK players out of the game it would be the en to Ea Land. I am certain more then half of this game goes AFK or hides from time to time and i'll say this for the stores, I own one and when people ask how much a catalog item is that I don't have out and I tell them they leave and since I run more then one account at a time , I am going to enjoy the conversation at the money house and just click back to the store to keep it from timing out.

 

[Guest]

Well, if there were 2 categories, afk and non-afk, everyone could choose which way they wanna play and never have to defend themselves for that. Seems good for all parties.