Exploration improvement - allow for afk breaks

[Vorticella 958]

One of the major deterrents to exploration for me is not having a reliable way to take a short break while traveling. When I was a new player, I assumed guard towers would be a safe zone with guards automatically attacking mobs that came near, but quickly learned the hard way that it doesn't work like that! Travel in Wurm is already time consuming, and dying in a remote area because you had to step away for a bathroom break can be a seriously miserable experience. A way to keep our characters safe while stepping away to attend to things in rl for a few minutes would go a long way to encourage more travel and exploration.

 

Here are my two suggestions for this:

 

1. Guard tower safe zone. Standing idle (no actions, movement, or chatting) on a guard tower tile makes you invulnerable after eg. 15 seconds, as long as you are not in combat already. There could be a message like "The guards are protecting you while you rest." when you enter the protected state and then "The guards allow you to fend for yourself now." when you are active again. Invulnerability is removed by any activity such as performing actions, moving, or chatting which indicate you're back at the pc. Pets should be protected too.

 

2. Standing idle on a tile with a tent applies a "hidden" status effect that works the same as the newbie aggro buff, so you are harder for mobs to detect, but not actually protected if they happen to walk very close to you. 

 

I think these safety options would be easy to understand and use, and would make travel much more enjoyable. To prevent exploits, the protections could expire after eg. 30 minutes and then have a cooldown of an hour or something like that, since this is just meant for occasional short afk breaks.

 

Vote for this suggestion: https://suggestions.wurmonline.com/b/suggestions/guard-tower-safe-zones-for-travel-breaks/

 

Edited October 21, 2022 by Vorticella
Added vote link

[Enuf 116]

Why not just log out?

[Finnn 3,303]

seems OP..

if you feel like it.. you can always make random fence x4 on 1 tile and lock the gate, set permissions so any player could use same "safespot", make such spots by guard towers, and you have the same functionality at the cost of 1 lock, 4 small nails and less than 5min to saw some planks/shafts and craft 3 fences and a gate

 

at some point... somebody had similar idea with statue, flowers, hedges(as they are walls and require no repairing.. as long nobody prune them to walk-trough height

 

normally safe spots are other people's deeds, especially these with spirit templars as open deed with no fencing and templars is the same as afk-ing in the wild.....

[Vorticella 958]

47 minutes ago, Enuf said:

Why not just log out?

 

Currently that's often the only option, but there are plenty of reasons it's not ideal. Eg. leading multiple unbranded/unsaddled animals that would then walk off and be free for anyone to take (a tent can only hitch one).

 

30 minutes ago, Finnn said:

seems OP..

 

How exactly?

 

30 minutes ago, Finnn said:

if you feel like it.. you can always make random fence x4 on 1 tile and lock the gate, set permissions so any player could use same "safespot", make such spots by guard towers, and you have the same functionality at the cost of 1 lock, 4 small nails and less than 5min to saw some planks/shafts and craft 3 fences and a gate

 

You want to set all this up just to go afk for ten minutes? Also, wasn't there recently a thread complaining about the safety pens for rifts? People don't generally like random fences all over the place and I agree with that. Plus, the materials to create a safety pen aren't always readily available, and having to think of carrying all that in case it's needed is just another deterrent to go out exploring.

 

30 minutes ago, Finnn said:

normally safe spots are other people's deeds, especially these with spirit templars as open deed with no fencing and templars is the same as afk-ing in the wild.....

 

These aren't always available or accessible, but there is almost always an accessible guard tower not far away.

Edited September 17, 2022 by Vorticella

[Finnn 3,303]

you can hitch one and tame the other one to log out with the tamed creature(it disappears from the world)

 

how exactly.. alt shenanigans, it's wurm, alts are more than the mains..

[Tristanc 570]

Another option I've not seen mentioned yet is walking into deep water (enough tiles from the land where you'd have to be swimming, not merely wading) and stay there while AFK.

 

Certainly crocs and about half the bears can get to you, maybe seals and turtles too but they don't seem to be that aggressive.

 

That idea of running into water to idle without moving to escape trolls and other big bad nasties is a good one to teach to new players that are adventuring on foot out away from any starter towns with their spirit templars. 

Not excactly what the OP was requesting, just a suggestion on one option that can be used now.

[belacane 238]

The biggest issue with logging out while afk in the wild is your riding horse. You wouldn’t typically just want to leave your horse unattended. I know there are perms for individual branded horses, but I understand not everyone has that.
 

Bringing a tent allows you to hitch a horse to it. The horse won’t wander and if your tent is locked, cannot be taken. Problem solved. 
 

If you’re walking, there’s nothing to lose if you log out. 
 

If you’re riding a cart, just park it on the grass and logout. If your cart has correct perms, no one can touch it.

 

 

Edited September 17, 2022 by belacane

[Drogos 518]

What about your horse? If there is a starving mob nearby, could those not kill your dearest ride while you are afk? I like this suggestion! Make it possible for RL to take priority over gaming  I know some people just hold it longer, and get bad bladder when they get old, is that what we want now? Probably not. Let Wurm be better

[DaletheGood 1,073]

4 hours ago, Vorticella said:

Also, wasn't there recently a thread complaining about the safety pens for rifts?

There was, and making a pen every time you want to go afk is a horrible idea.

 

I think the OP has merit and I for one give it a thumbs up. if you're leading multiple animals, you can't log out without losing them into the forest. Can't hitch more than one to a tent, and if they're not all horses then the heading into deep water doesn't work. Plus you're not always near deep water even if you're leading all horses.

 

I would say though that there should be some sort of interaction in order to trigger the afk protection, such as right-click on the tower you're next to to enable the afk protection, or simply a new /afk-protection command in the chat window, assuming you're within the protection range of the guard tower. I'd say that you'd have to be within 10 tiles of the guard tower in order to get that protection.

[Crack 408]

common practise (many years ago) was that people often built 1x1's along highways for noobs to shelter in from mobs.. but as wurms got safer and less "wild" this practise seems to have also reduced

[Vorticella 958]

Logging out also shuffles any new items you've picked up around into your inventory, which is a nuisance if you're like me and have a messy inventory, and also tend to pick up a lot of random stuff while exploring, or carry items and mats to imp on the way, etc.. I don't want to have to reorganize my inventory just cause I had to pee. As Drogos said, the way it is now definitely causes a tendency to hold off on bathroom breaks for way too long and that's just not healthy!

 

The whole idea here is that it should be easy to step away for a few minutes, to make long trips smoother and easier. It shouldn't be an ordeal to go afk for a short break, and having the ability to do that is absolutely not "OP". It's completely normal for MMOs to have little safe areas around the world (eg guarded villages), usually not far from where you are at any given time so that you can park your character and take a break knowing it's safe while you afk.

 

Sure, sometimes there is a deed with a safe area, but it's just not reliable, and hunting around for a reasonably safe spot can often take a lot longer than you would actually need to go afk for. Guard towers just make so much more sense!

Edited September 17, 2022 by Vorticella

[Radircs 76]

1 hour ago, DaletheGood said:

I would say though that there should be some sort of interaction in order to trigger the afk protection, such as right-click on the tower you're next to to enable the afk protection, or simply a new /afk-protection command in the chat window, assuming you're within the protection range of the guard tower. I'd say that you'd have to be within 10 tiles of the guard tower in order to get that protection.

This look some what resonable. Basicly a auto cry for help the moment you enter combat. If you not totally new to Wurm your autofight + 2 Guards shuld be more then enough to survive. I mean yes you could propably troll some one then with leading like 2 or 3 Scorpions to the spot but for the normal Wurm AI it shuld be not realy a problem. From the perspectiv of gameplay interaction this shuld be relativly save. 

 

[Vorticella 958]

16 minutes ago, Radircs said:

Basicly a auto cry for help the moment you enter combat. If you not totally new to Wurm your autofight + 2 Guards shuld be more then enough to survive. I mean yes you could propably troll some one then with leading like 2 or 3 Scorpions to the spot but for the normal Wurm AI it shuld be not realy a problem. From the perspectiv of gameplay interaction this shuld be relativly save. 

 

 

The idea is that you wouldn't enter combat at all. You'd be invulnerable and basically just invisible to mobs while in afk-mode. That's why I suggest limiting it to just the single guard tower tile, having it time limited, and having it disabled as soon as you interact with the game again. You can go afk without worrying about entering combat, but the guards won't actually clear the area for you while you're gone so you still have to deal with whatever's there when you get back.

 

[Vorticella 958]

1 hour ago, DaletheGood said:

I would say though that there should be some sort of interaction in order to trigger the afk protection, such as right-click on the tower you're next to to enable the afk protection, or simply a new /afk-protection command in the chat window

 

Good point! This way you could just click and run if you have to step away in a hurry, instead of waiting for it to automatically start. Having the option visible in the right click menu would also make it easier for people to know that the mechanic is there.

[Drogos 518]

Yeah, I like the click the guard tower, and ask for refuge until interacting with game again, regardless of time really, suddenly there is a visitor at the door, and things happen, I see no reason why this needs to be time limited.

[Vorticella 958]

5 minutes ago, Drogos said:

Yeah, I like the click the guard tower, and ask for refuge until interacting with game again, regardless of time really, suddenly there is a visitor at the door, and things happen, I see no reason why this needs to be time limited.

 

I agree! Was only thinking of the time limit because people might abuse indefinite invulnerability in some way, but if that's unlikely then I agree it would be much better if it was not time limited!

[kordethbludscythe 762]

4 hours ago, DaletheGood said:

I think the OP has merit and I for one give it a thumbs up. if you're leading multiple animals, you can't log out without losing them into the forest. Can't hitch more than one to a tent, and if they're not all horses then the heading into deep water doesn't work. Plus you're not always near deep water even if you're leading all horses.

 

I would say though that there should be some sort of interaction in order to trigger the afk protection, such as right-click on the tower you're next to to enable the afk protection, or simply a new /afk-protection command in the chat window, assuming you're within the protection range of the guard tower. I'd say that you'd have to be within 10 tiles of the guard tower in order to get that protection.

i 100% agree with DaletheGood on this(what am i thinking) a means to be able to safely go afk and be somewhat protected by the guard towers is needed , for instance i am constantly having to afk because i am on medication that forces me to pee upwards of 2-4 times an hour and it doesnt allow me to hold it at all. this would make those mad dashes less stressful when traveling by a whole lot. i dont worry when not traveling away from my deeds because i always employ at least 1 templar on all my deeds but traveling is a bit dangerous because i am known to aggro everything.

[Sidereal 1,119]

I'm mildly opposed the original idea - as it seems like the easiest solution is don't plan on leading animals while out exploring and save the animal gathering for a different trip.

That having been said, nearly all of my deaths in the last few years have been AFK deaths and I've learned and re-learned the hard way to always log out even for a very short break.  And even though it's annoying, it's far less annoying than coming back with a fresh cup of tea only to discover the Swirly Death Screen of Blood.  In a pinch, one can always duck into a cave, but that means hoping it's unoccupied - and that's even assuming there's a cave nearby.  Finding a guard tower and then going idle for 15 seconds to start the protection window is almost certainly going to be close to the 60s /lotime of just logging out.

 

3 hours ago, kordethbludscythe said:

for instance i am constantly having to afk because i am on medication that forces me to pee upwards of 2-4 times an hour and it doesnt allow me to hold it at all.

Let me add that I am absolutely sympathetic to the situation @kordethbludscythe describes, and that this is squarely an accessibility issue.  Not everyone has the luxury of being able to spare a few minutes to find a safe spot when our bodies make sudden, urgent demands due to medication, age, or other physical condition.

And then there's the /lotime window to consider - someone unlucky enough to be coming off of a scrap with a wolf that promptly logs out when nature calls may log in to find that Swirly Death Screen of Blood because of the troll decided to take a crack in that 5 minute interval.

So in summary - wouldn't it be nice if there were some way to almost certainly guarantee safety for a short break without having to log out that couldn't be abused in PvP?  It sure would, but I'm not sure how to best implement that beyond just logging out. 🤔

[gorgian 181]

Stealth

 

Wiki definition:

- It is possible to be completely invisible to other players and creatures when in stealth mode

[Vorticella 958]

7 hours ago, Sidereal said:

I'm mildly opposed the original idea - as it seems like the easiest solution is don't plan on leading animals while out exploring and save the animal gathering for a different trip.

That having been said, nearly all of my deaths in the last few years have been AFK deaths and I've learned and re-learned the hard way to always log out even for a very short break.  And even though it's annoying, it's far less annoying than coming back with a fresh cup of tea only to discover the Swirly Death Screen of Blood.  In a pinch, one can always duck into a cave, but that means hoping it's unoccupied - and that's even assuming there's a cave nearby.  Finding a guard tower and then going idle for 15 seconds to start the protection window is almost certainly going to be close to the 60s /lotime of just logging out.

 

Let me add that I am absolutely sympathetic to the situation @kordethbludscythe describes, and that this is squarely an accessibility issue.  Not everyone has the luxury of being able to spare a few minutes to find a safe spot when our bodies make sudden, urgent demands due to medication, age, or other physical condition.

And then there's the /lotime window to consider - someone unlucky enough to be coming off of a scrap with a wolf that promptly logs out when nature calls may log in to find that Swirly Death Screen of Blood because of the troll decided to take a crack in that 5 minute interval.

So in summary - wouldn't it be nice if there were some way to almost certainly guarantee safety for a short break without having to log out that couldn't be abused in PvP?  It sure would, but I'm not sure how to best implement that beyond just logging out. 🤔

 

I'm a bit confused. Your first line says you're opposed to the idea, but in the last line you describe pretty much what my idea would offer, saying that would be nice to have. And if they're worried about it being abused in PvP they can just not add it in PvP. But I can't see how it would be abusable if it only makes you invulnerable to creatures, not players. 

 

7 hours ago, Sidereal said:

it seems like the easiest solution is don't plan on leading animals while out exploring and save the animal gathering for a different trip.

 

You don't always know when you're going to run across eg. a champ animal you've been wanting for months, a special colour horse or an abandoned horse with good traits from a fallen deed, a black sheep, whatever. Sometimes multiple of these things can happen at once. Plus, animal gathering trips are usually plenty long enough to need breaks too. 

 

I struggle to understand why anyone would be opposed to having the opportunity to safely take a break while out in Wurmian wilderness. This doesn't let you cheat your way out of combat or get any kind of advantage at all. It's literally just offering some peace of mind while you go pee, hang your laundry, take a stretch break, grab some food, rest your eyes, etc. Traveling over land in Wurm usually means sitting at the pc fully focused on the game for extended periods and not feeling like you can comfortably take a break when you need to. This would not be a significant change to the game, but it would dramatically improve the exploration experience.

 

6 hours ago, gorgian said:

Stealth

 

Wiki definition:

- It is possible to be completely invisible to other players and creatures when in stealth mode

 

I've never heard of anyone using this, does it actually work? I've tested it before and I remember it was too hard to use, but I can't remember exactly why.

 

Edit: Unfortunately stealth doesn't seem to work while leading creatures. Wiki says you have to be at least one tile away from other creatures and players, and you can't get that far away when leading animals. I tried anyway in case lead creatures don't count, but I got the message [09:39:52] You are too close to other creatures now.

Edited September 18, 2022 by Vorticella

[gorgian 181]

On 9/18/2022 at 4:41 AM, Vorticella said:

Edit: Unfortunately stealth doesn't seem to work while leading creatures. Wiki says you have to be at least one tile away from other creatures and players, and you can't get that far away when leading animals. I tried anyway in case lead creatures don't count, but I got the message [09:39:52] You are too close to other creatures now.

 

 

Lots of ways to be 1 tile away if exploring. example as follows:

 

- have saddles on horses, stop leading step one tile away.

- place a tent down, hitch horse to tent, move one tile away.

- get off cart move 1 tile away.

-tame animal move one tile away.

-place animals in fenced off area(abandon deed some time has them open) move one tile away.

 

But honestly, its just as easy to log off and then back on real quick with how fast pc's are now a-days. 10 years ago I would be different sure.

[Vorticella 958]

1 hour ago, gorgian said:

 

 

Lots of ways to be 1 tile away if exploring. example as follows:

 

- have saddles on horses, stop leading step one tile away.

- place a tent down, hitch horse to tent, move one tile away.

- get off cart move 1 tile away.

-tame animal move one tile away.

-place animals in fenced off area(abandon deed some time has them open) move one tile away.

 

But honestly, its just as easy to log off and then back on real quick with how fast pc's are now a-days. 10 years ago I would be different sure.

 

We've already established that stealth and logging out aren't the solutions.

[Sheffie 1,120]

A good solution needs to be available when someone knocks at the door, in other words, at short notice. You cannot find a guard tower before answering the door. It seems that solutions based on guard towers won't help in all cases. Arguably, someone who needs a bathroom break might be expected to locate a guard tower, but that might be a bit much to ask. And I agree that, considering the various medical conditions that people might have, this is an accessibility issue.

[gorgian 181]

I think stealth is the way to go. It fits almost every point except leading animals. Maybe it just needs a tweak, so you can use stealth when "leading animals". 

[Katrat 2,296]

+1 Honestly this is the only reason my fs is over 90 but that certainly is not a quick fix to getting decimated by a troll the moment you step away for what ever reason. There really does need to be a faster and more accessible means of safely going afk that doesn't involve years of skill grinding, hiding in the water (Where bears and crocs can swim) or logging out leaving your animals to run amok. The OP's tower idea does seem like a viable solution and though there are places where no towers can be found most of these areas could be avoided if a players fs is not up to tanking trolls or multiple mobs.