AFK Button Clause

[Gunthug]

Well, recently senile made a thread about time clause, which I think is a very complex issue that requires a lot of thought. However, there's another clause which we're all familiar with, and its the one that allows you to hit the AFK button when your opponent takes longer than 45 75 seconds to make a move.

 

Unlike the issue of the 45 minute time clause dq, this is not a complex issue. This is an issue with a clear solution, and without that solution, the rule needs to go. What's sad is, players are getting shamed for utilizing this rule, when it's not their fault - this is clearly, 100% the fault of the staff who enforce this rule at tournaments, and the devs who seem too lazy to do something about it.

 

Simply put, without being able to see a timer that shows us how much longer we have to make a move, this rule is completely and utterly unfair, and quite frankly, a load of shit. It allows a lesser player to literally hover their mouse over the AFK button and wait for their opponent to slip up while deliberating a move.

 

Let's face it - situations arise constantly in a duel when you need to devote more time to a decision than at other times in the duel. Sometimes, you can't really know the best move until you do a calc or two - this takes time, quite often longer than 45 75 seconds. But forget about the length of the timer, because as it stands right now, the only way to know how much longer you have until the AFK button pops up is to manually use the overall duel timer to track the 45 75 seconds. A difficult task, given everything else you're doing in the duel. Plus, >math...imagine ur turn starting at 17:37. What am I, a calculator?

 

At the end of the day, the 45 minute time clause rule is there to prevent duels from going too long. Abolishing this stupid rule would give people the option of intentionally stretching the duel to hit time clause and a double DQ - but guess what? That's already pretty easy to do with the AFK button rule in place, so who cares? In the meantime, players are getting the boot from tournaments for taking 46 76 seconds to make a move. Think about that.

 

The rule is absolutely ridiculous, and it is irresponsible for staff to continue to allow for this horribly unfair rule to be in place simply because it's less work for them. Please, staff, stop enforcing this rule at tournaments until we can see how much time is left per move.

 

 

edit: changed 45 to 75

Edited March 23, 2015 by Gunthug

[jayfeatskydd]

Justtiicceeee

[DoubleJ]

Isnt it 70 seconds or something now? But ya we should have a timer.

[fredrichnietze]

showdown style is good. have a timer that will last for x number of minutes but rolls over form turn to turn. every turn you finish you get a small increase to the timer and it's impossible to stall for long periods of time every match. the most important part of this ofc is for both players to see the clock. this way it punishes players who stall for long periods of time every turn to try and time clause people, but still gives players enough time to make decisions. in showdown iirc you get 270 seconds? and it goes up 10-15 seconds every turn? and stops when you choose your move.

[jayfeatskydd]

Keep in mind the difference between 70 seconds and 270 seconds.

Also when I'm on showdown, no matter how far into the game I am, I don't think my timer has ever done below 70 unless I actually AFK from the battle.

[ZedEx]

I agree that it should output the time left, but heaven forbid you come prepared with a stopwatch or some shit, knowing fully well that one extra second of trying to contort one move in a Pokemon game into integral calculus could cost you the match.

Why not just remove humans entirely and let calculators battle for us.

LOL!!


I don't even see the need to calculate mid battle ( ok maybe a little ) but over for over a min..... isn't that too long?? Edited March 21, 2015 by RacheLucario
Please use the edit feature instead of double posting~

[codylramey]

Until the devs add a timer couldnt we add apart of that rule that b4 you hit the button you have to whisper a ref? This will allow the ref to whisper the person bout to be afk'd so they have a warning. If nothing is done in x amount of seconds the timer can be pressed.

[OrangeManiac]

 

 

• AFK timeouts for PvP battles have been increased to 75s.

From the last changelog.

Regardless, I agree that it's dumb when you don't even know where are you at with how much time you have left. There needs to be SOMETHING to indicate that one is running out of time. It can be a countdown timer or just a system message saying in Battle Chat "Warning you have 15 seconds until opponent can AFK Time Out" and repeat that with 10 seconds and 5 seconds. 75 seconds itself seems pretty reasonable to me / turn and that rule I do not want to be taken out but the fact you constantly need to panic in the game deciding situation that how much you have time left for this decision is just not good.

[NikhilR]

To all those people who say "lol you take more than 1 min to do a calc", it's more than just calcing. There are times in the beginning of the match where you wonder what your opponent might bring out and then much, much later stages in the match where you're 2 vs 3 and you think of the doubles switches/plays you need to make in order to pull out a win. I don't do calcs but if I'm taking time to make a move, it's because I am trying to figure out what my opponent is trying to do and that includes thinking of all the possible scenarios which could lead to a win or a loss. 

 

I honestly like the afk rule but I feel that it would be much better implemented with a timer.

[DaftCoolio]

Also its hard to coach with only 75 seconds

[PandaJJ]

Keep in mind the difference between 70 seconds and 270 seconds.

Also when I'm on showdown, no matter how far into the game I am, I don't think my timer has ever done below 70 unless I actually AFK from the battle.

 

Showdown is notorious for lag, though. I have lost several battles on showdown on time solely due the server not registering my move immediatelly, and I lose time every turn. If they didn't have more time, it would be totally broken.

 

In general, I don't see why they can't just quick fix the problem with the timer, since it's an urgent issue. It's a shame that they never quick fix anything, it drives players away from the game between updates...

[Gunthug]

Oops, I forgot they changed it to 75 seconds. It's tough to know this without the timer showing, lel. As I said, though, the timer length at the moment is irrelevant - the issue is the players knowing how long they even have
[quote name="PoochieHead" post="1017672" timestamp="1426915216" date="Today, 01:20 AM"]
"But I can't r-run long ass calcs in the middle of a b-battle?! MOOOOOOODS" [img]http://i.imgur.com/3FHPYB8.png[/img]

I disagree. Keep the AFK clause so some common sense and timeliness remains. No one cares if you want to run calcs for 5 minutes during an on-going tourney. Even Showdown and Pokemon Online have AFK timers, and those are simulators dedicated to the kind of person who will run a shit-ton of tests before they do anything. The entire premise of this thread reeks of salt, if only because toward the end of your post you're implying it would be best to [b]REMOVE THE TIMER[/b] [b]ENTIRELY[/b] rather than even extend it. That's like ripping out a light fixture to change a lightbulb. I agree that it should output the time left, but [i]heaven forbid[/i] you come prepared with a stopwatch or some shit, knowing [i]fully well[/i] that one extra second of trying to contort one move in a Pokemon game into integral calculus could cost you the match.

But that's just what I think.[/quote]
not really sure why you chose to be so hostile and douchey with your response, but I'll assume that's just a reflection of you as a person. You point out that showdown has a timer, but if you read my post, I point out that the real issue is that we can't see our timer, like showdown.

I also never said I wanted 5 minutes to do calcs, so that's a really weak straw man in an attempt to bolster the garbage laced "argument" you put forward.

It would be incredible if we had a game where staff were willing to change a light bulb. But I'd rather rip out the fixture than continuously watch good players get electrocuted, especially when the fixture serves no real purpose. Is this clause actually shortening matches? No. It's not. There's another clause in place for that

Edited March 21, 2015 by Noad

[JSTUD]

Implement a timer to show how many seconds you have left and I think the number of victories from afk will diminish.

[Vaeldras]

Yeh, we def need a timer and at least 100 secs.

As long as we're not able to open our favourite calculator and use the shit out of it on every single turn

[flavajabari]

 
My patience for stupidity is thin right now.

 

and this solves what?

you gonna snipe the stopwatch whenever your opponent decides to make a move, then deduct 2sec while doing calcs?

i dunno what you're trying to prove here

[ThinkNice]

 
My patience for stupidity is thin right now.

Yeah let's hit  a timer every turn, because this shouldn't be a standard feature in the game itself. It's like saying you need to look up every specific card in yugioh in a manual because the cards themselves don't give the vital information needed to play the game.

[Toast]

Agreed, a simple solution of adding how much time is left would be pretty beneficial, I've also been stuck in a situation where I needed time to think but I was worried about the timer.

[Gunthug]

Another tournament, another high profile afk button clause ruling. Let's hear your excuse, staff: Why continue to use a rule that simply isn't fair?

[jayfeatskydd]

Doubt we're getting the timer anytime soon, LF the repeal of the rule until implemented. 

[BurntZebra]

Another tournament, another high profile afk button clause ruling. Let's hear your excuse, staff: Why continue to use a rule that simply isn't fair?

Well the argument can be made that no one should "need" 75 seconds to make a move. Most moves can be made in about 15 seconds if you're not being coached. That being said, I don't think the rule is that fair when there is no visible countdown timer.

[DrCraig]

Another tournament, another high profile afk button clause ruling. Let's hear your excuse, staff: Why continue to use a rule that simply isn't fair?

Yes Gunthug, the only reason the staff run tournaments is to punish everybody.

[Gunthug]

Yes Gunthug, the only reason the staff run tournaments is to punish everybody.

Where in the fuck did you get that from what I said?

This really pisses me off. You essentially tried to make me look foolish by pretending I said something I didnt. You're well aware of what a strawman is, I'm sure. So don't do it to me Edited March 22, 2015 by Gunthug

[Gunthug]

Well the argument can be made that no one should "need" 75 seconds to make a move. Most moves can be made in about 15 seconds if you're not being coached. That being said, I don't think the rule is that fair when there is no visible countdown timer.

I completely agree with what you stated at the end, and at the moment, that's all I think we need - a visible countdown timer

Edit: however, in the absense of such technology, staff needs to drop the rule. The unfairness outweighs any benefit the rule currently provides, and I've seen no argument to the contrary

My apologies for the double posting but I can't quite two people at once on my phone Edited March 22, 2015 by Gunthug

[DrCraig]

Where in the fuck did you get that from what I said?
This really pisses me off. You essentially tried to make me look foolish by pretending I said something I didnt. You're well aware of what a strawman is, I'm sure. So don't do it to me

You're making it like the staff isn't trying to change anything

[Gunthug]

You're making it like the staff isn't trying to change anything

i think lower level staff have been awesome of late. For the last few months, really. But for the reasons I've already stated, staff (non devs) don't have to TRY to change anything to fix this problem. They simply need to take this rule away until it can be fairly and properly enforced. And if staff don't think this is the right decision, let's hear why