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New Player Help and Warning!

S

Staples

Guest
I bought UO off of the internet about one month ago, and have played like a madman almost DAILY since then. I really enjoy the game, and I have had LOTS of support from lots of players, and I want to say a big THANK YOU to a lot of people out there on the Atlantic server!

But I need to give a small, but helpful warning to any other new players out there. A nice player taught me how to use "Macros" under the "Options" menu on the paperdoll. I should have known there was a better way to use anatomy on animals other than clicking that little blue star, but I had no idea just how much easier it was, and how hard I was making it on myself.


Well, thinking this was the best thing I had been shown in the game so far, I made the macro bound to my F5 key, set my Zippo lighter on it, and cut out some of the boredom here! So I set it up, put my lighter on the key, and sat back and basked in my new skill! I grabbed my new Patterson novel, kicked back in my recliner, and watched my anatomy skyrocket, and delved into my new book.

I was reading my new book, laid back in my chair by my computer desk, pleased with myself and my nice cup of hot chocolate. That's when the "best laid plans" came back and bit me in the leg.

I'm old, over 50 in fact. We senior citizens (to most of you) like to nap, and it happens when we least expect it.
So needless to say, I woke up about an hour and a half later, and my beloved new warrior is in a room somewhere else, and I had been disconnected. Not just disconnected, I had been suspended. I couldn't log in, and I visited the site as it instructed, and that is when I found out about "unattended macroing."

I won't go into much detail, but please look it up on the www.uo.com website. Basically you can't leave your computer alone doing tasks for you while you are away, it will get you suspended.

Now that my 2 days of suspension are up, I logged in to that character, and I am in a room that has portals that lead to various counseling rooms. Not only did my nap cost me 2 days of paid playing time, I have to have a counseling discussion on me breaking the rules.

I bought this game a month ago, purchased an advanced character token, and was planning on getting a second account for my daughter who loves the game over my shoulder. But now, since this has happened, I really can't even bring myself to want to play anymore. I definately don't want to log in and get chastized. If I wanted counseling on rule breaking I would go to class with my boy in Kindergarten. If I ever thought that the nice person that showed me how to set up macros was helping me commit a crime I would have never listened. I'm a little set back that something the game allows you to do so easily is illegal, much less the $30 that I spent for an advanced character did the same thing that I was trying to accomplish-getting to the fun part of the game. You can BUY the skill, just don't raise it easily in game, that's illegal.

In the end, I might not be playing anymore. I loved the game, just as I'm sure many of you new players do. Please use myself as an example and DO NOT use the macroing tab. Enjoy the game, it is a lot of fun, just don't do what I did.

Stay out of trouble and the fun will remain!
 
G

Guest

Guest
It isn't the macroing tab that caused the problem (I have about 80+ macros set up), it is the fact that you were unattended macroing. You were performing a task in game, while in theory you were not at your keyboard. While playing the game, you need to be playing the game, not having an action being performed over and over again while you are doing other things.

There are skills in the game that are boring to gain, and doing them over and over again may seem tedious, but when you are checked by a GM, you need to be able to respond. If you do not respond, then you are considered to be unattended macroing, which is again the games TOS.
 
G

Guest

Guest
As Midnight Sky points out, you did a no-no: unattended macroing. Anatomy, Focus and Tactics are like some bread doughs ... self-risers.

By that I mean that the execution of some ingame things allows the skill to rise all by itself, sometimes (Focus) REALLY rapidly.

And Staples? We old fogeys do NOT always need a nap! I will be 60 in 2 months and only on weekends do I snooze in my armchair!
 
G

Guest

Guest
All you need to do, is log in and send a help request to the GMs, telling them you are in jail and need to be let out. The GMs are usually very nice and have a sense of humor about your situation, especially if you explain as eloquently as you have here. They will simply tell you how to avoid this situation in the future and send you on your way. Your account will be marked with this one infraction of the rules/ToS, so please don't do it again. Your next suspension could be longer, or your account banned, especially if you are caught doing the same thing that got you suspended the first time.


Yes, gaining some skills can be extremely boring, but it is more fun if you do it while playing the game and using your macros as you go. I hope you continue to love and play UO.
 
H

Highball

Guest
What can i say ? I don't know any person that reads ALL the text, rules and do's 'n don'ts before accepting terms.

If you did, you could have had a warning.

If you're caught by the police driving your car in a way ... steering with your legs or knees - they won't accept excuses like

"Well i had to look on a road map - otherwise i would have been lost" ... or

"Well if i can't drive a car without my hands holding the steering wheel - it's no fun driving, and i won't drive a car anymore".

The skill raising CAN be a tedious process as well as driving a car for many hundred miles - but i have no pity ... rules are rules - you violated them.

AND ... the violation was not in your method, but the unattended macroing.

THEIR rules have it that you put a strain on the server connections by repeatedly keypresses in quick succession - and if we all did that, THEIR explanatation is that you cause lag because of your repeatedly transmission signals getting a priority before other players.

Then you may argue -
"There's no difference in being present and macroing unattended"

Right ... there's no difference, it still does the same, but they want to be able to stop the signals pounding on the servers if possible.
And demanding that we're present if macroing is a sane rule since, once in awhile we are being bored by looking at the screen autoraising skills and do something else ... THEN their servers may rest.

Face the consequense and move forward - get back on the horse !
 
I

imported_xStrikerx

Guest
I always wondered if "unattentive" macroing is considered the same as "unattended" macroing. I quite frequently hold down a button with my finger but turn away to watch TV or something while holding it down and just look back every 10 minutes or so.
 
G

Guest

Guest
<blockquote><hr>

I always wondered if "unattentive" macroing is considered the same as "unattended" macroing. I quite frequently hold down a button with my finger but turn away to watch TV or something while holding it down and just look back every 10 minutes or so.

[/ QUOTE ]

If you can't respond to a GMs challenge (They show up, ask you a question) then you are classified as unattended. So, within that 10 minutes, could be the time that they show up and see if you are there.
 

Frarc

Stratics Legend
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
You made a mistake and you get caught. If you like UO you learned a good lesson. Accept your punishment and move on with this great game.



Oh and next time ask us around here how to work on skills without having to hold time to weight a key. You might be suprised how many ways there are to get skills up without that it gets boring.
 
H

Highball

Guest
I wanted to compare the actual signal stress on servers to a natural game pause between skill activation.

Hang on 'cause it is a serious stress ...

When i i.e. train hiding i can activate the skill every 11.3 seconds - means that you won't gain, it won't activate and
you got at message that "You must wait a few moments to use another skill", if you activate an attempt more frequent than 11.3 sec.

So punching a button that has hiding skill assigned - every 11.3 seconds is the natural game pause and every keypress
inbetween puts unnecessary stress on signal processing and servers.

Then i opened a notepad and readied the key x (any key, was just to see how many x'es my keyboard would repeat in 11.3 seconds).
When due time i put my finger on the x and held it down for 11.3 seconds.

Result = 138

The 139th would have been like the second keypress to activate skill.

I find that the result speaks for itself.

Using two keypresses to activate the skill twice compared to 139 keypresses - where the 137 are TOTALLY unnecessary !

Even THEN it's allowed as long as we are present. What they want is not to disallow this method, but to diminish any chance
of server stress - because it causes LAG to the rest of us.

Imagine that you are close to cap a skill - you only need .2 points in maxed.

You can surely put your Zippo on your key as it IS allowed. But let's assume that you haven't learned the lesson.
You drop your Zippo on the key and leaves the keyboard.

Intentionally or you forget ? You have it pounding the servers for 4 hours - and to gain the two points it might only have taken 15 minutes.

EVERY time you press a key or do anything that moves on the screen you communicate with the servers and get a respond !!!

Do you find the rules fair - or not ?

I do and have no pity.
 
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