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Just my opinion, but AFK players seem to be the worst problem in any modern game of our current generation. What gets me is how many developers are supposedly taking a stand against quitters by initiating ban programs and anti-quit measures and so forth, but I have yet to see any scrutiny toward the thousands of players who sit idle and AFK and do just as much, if not more, damage to games than quitters do. Here’s the logic behind it:
In this day and age, if you quit in a game, you already know what’s coming to you. You’re gonna get a temp ban and if you do it enough, you’re bans will get longer and longer. Every game is practically doing it and developers are not shy in telling quitting players that they will be restricted from playing their games if they constantly quit intentionally.
but here’s the kicker; ever since the rise of quit bans, there have been more and more AFK players in practically every game. These players are well aware of what will happen to them when they quit, so naturally they’re going to just stick a rubber band on their controller or just push a button every once in awhile and viola: they can now “quit” without even getting removed from the game or receiving any punishment at all. Mind you, an AFK player does more harm than a quitter because in most games, you’re going to spawn next to an AFK player, and if the enemy knows what they’re doing, they’ll just take advantage and spawn trap you over and over. And are we going to forget about all the free kills these players give the enemy team?
So if you compare a player who quits and an AFK player side by side, I’d take the quitter any day of the week.
Quitter:
-quitter knows he/she gets punished
-they’re transparent about not caring about you and your team
-they’re eventually going to get what they deserve if they continue to quit games
-they add to the possibility of giving you an opportunity to quit unpunished
AFK/idle player:
-is well aware they are not being punished for his/her actions
-creates spawn traps for you and your team
-gives free kills to enemy
-basically gives the virtual middle finger to the rest of the team
-receives absolutely no punishment at all for the damage he/she causes
It’s time to take an actual stand against these players and develop a system to treat them just like quitters. They’re damaging every game they inhabit, and if they continue to be in future games like Halo Infinite, the quality of online matchmaking is just going to continue to suffer.
> 2535422626142909;1:
> but here’s the kicker; ever since the rise of quit bans, there have been more and more AFK players in practically every game. These players are well aware of what will happen to them when they quit, so naturally they’re going to just stick a rubber band on their controller or just push a button every once in awhile and viola: they can now “quit” without even getting removed from the game or receiving any punishment at all.
I agree with your post but the difficulty lies in this statement here. AFKers know to not make themselves seem AFK by pushing a button or tying a rubber band to their joystick every so often. Trying to sort out the people doing that from the people actually playing, from a coding perspective, would be extraordinarily difficult I imagine.
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> 2535411561717249;2:
> > 2535422626142909;1:
> > but here’s the kicker; ever since the rise of quit bans, there have been more and more AFK players in practically every game. These players are well aware of what will happen to them when they quit, so naturally they’re going to just stick a rubber band on their controller or just push a button every once in awhile and viola: they can now “quit” without even getting removed from the game or receiving any punishment at all.
>
> I agree with your post but the difficulty lies in this statement here. AFKers know to not make themselves seem AFK by pushing a button or tying a rubber band to their joystick every so often. Trying to sort out the people doing that from the people actually playing, from a coding perspective, would be extraordinarily difficult I imagine.
yes, very true. That’s something I’m aware of, but the fact is, these people are still ruining the game. And if a person is purposely bypassing the Idle boot, then that should receive a much worse punishment than a person who just quits out of a game.
What’s even crazier is that a lot of people I see quit it is BECAUSE of AFK players and the fact that they’re ruining the game, so the AFK player gets away scot free and the person who quit because the game was being ruined gets banned! So dumb! lol
Software engineers have done a lot of great things, so hopefully this is something they can provide a solution for!
A few games have actually dealt with this issue quite effectively, though it took some tweaking of their system to do so. Take Overwatch for example: at first, they had a simple timer that would boot you for being inactive. That wasn’t enough however, so they added a stipulation: you have to be ‘active’ as the match dictates. This still wasn’t enough. The final solution actually fixed the issue. Now, you must start moving within 15 seconds or you will get kicked, a timer will start a countdown with an alarm sound warning you of being booted. However, this is only a delayed effect as the game will automatically kick you without warning if you do not engage in battle for a decent amount of time.
This means the player is given very little time to idle before getting kicked and receiving the penalty of leaving the game. I think more games should incorporate this system, it works quite well.
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> 2533274879757912;4:
> A few games have actually dealt with this issue quite effectively, though it took some tweaking of their system to do so. Take Overwatch for example: at first, they had a simple timer that would boot you for being inactive. That wasn’t enough however, so they added a stipulation: you have to be ‘active’ as the match dictates. This still wasn’t enough. The final solution actually fixed the issue. Now, you must start moving within 15 seconds or you will get kicked, a timer will start a countdown with an alarm sound warning you of being booted. However, this is only a delayed effect as the game will automatically kick you without warning if you do not engage in battle for a decent amount of time.
>
> This means the player is given very little time to idle before getting kicked and receiving the penalty of leaving the game. I think more games should incorporate this system, it works quite well.
yes definitely. Some people say that 15-30 seconds is much to short of a time for AFK players to get booted, but honestly I feel like it’s perfectly fair. It may sound like a short amount of time, but if you get a timer and take your hands off the controller and see how much stuff goes on in a game in 30 seconds, you realize just how damaging it can be. Once you load into a game, you assume responsibility for what happens next, whether you have kids, dogs, or just some nachos in the microwave; nobody is forced into lobbies they quit or stand idle in.
what’s crazy is that games like Gears of War have such horrible AFK problems even when there are like 3 or 4 different playlists that have no quit penalty at all, yet these people constantly load into ranked matches with quit penalties and then complain when they get banned lol! HOW.
It’s gotten even worse ever since consoles implemented the feature where you can run apps in the background of your game and stuff like that. My guess is that many AFK players are browsing their dashboard or some app on their Xbox while they’re AFK, but like I said, that’s really no excuse at all.
They just stand there kick them from the match if they don’t move for 2 minutes.
The problem with kicking based off of inactivity is that the system has to differentiate between inactivity and camping. While camping is a pain, it is a legal strategy, so you shouldn’t be kicked for playing how you want to.
I’ve honestly never had any “real” problems with AFK players since 2017. 343 should implement a system where an AFK player is AFK so long a member of 343 is able to control their spartan 
of course that will never happen, or…
Yeh they need to be careful about the kick system. I’ve been in games before when I’ve had someone randomly knocking on the door, I’ve had no choice but to answer it…even if it’s someone going to the wrong address, been removed in some games because some things are out of my control and there are times where I know it’s taking too long, forced quit because I know I can’t continue for unforeseen circumstances and there are times where I’ve been kicked because I decided to get a quick drink. Though I suspect some just do it due to poor planning, which is why I generally don’t start another game if I’m due for a takeaway. I’d say 2-5 minutes should be the kick-timer. Anyway I’m generally not afk/quitting so it doesn’t effect me as much but it does seem like a common problem online.
PS: If I see people afk…in modes like Infection I’m more likely to cause their death but anyway there’s no perfect solution to solving possible afk/quitting in Infinite but I just hope they don’t go overboard with the restrictions.
> 2535405449919732;7:
> The problem with kicking based off of inactivity is that the system has to differentiate between inactivity and camping. While camping is a pain, it is a legal strategy, so you shouldn’t be kicked for playing how you want to.
I remember this being an issue, especially in a shooter game such as Halo. Camping, while obnoxious and displeasing to other players, is a viable strategy.
Crouching corners with a shotgun in a losing while winning situation (2v4 but winning the match) can create a frustration when you’re just trying to wait the game timer out because your team is at a disadvantage. Obviously I wouldn’t want to engage the enemy unless absolutely necessary, so camping wastes time in hopes of keeping the lead and getting surprise jumps on the enemy.
How crappy would it be to crouch a corner for a minute or two in a match like this, only to get kicked for inactivity? You’re well aware and playing, but the style of play is a bannable offence now…
My suggestion? Watch for button presses more frequently. Or stick movements that aren’t held at certain angles for extended periods (rubberbanders). As long as you can sit physically in one spot and just visually look around in different directions, that should be enough to differentiate camping from AFK.
> 2533274795739611;10:
> > 2535405449919732;7:
> > The problem with kicking based off of inactivity is that the system has to differentiate between inactivity and camping. While camping is a pain, it is a legal strategy, so you shouldn’t be kicked for playing how you want to.
>
> I remember this being an issue, especially in a shooter game such as Halo. Camping, while obnoxious and displeasing to other players, is a viable strategy.
>
> Crouching corners with a shotgun in a losing while winning situation (2v4 but winning the match) can create a frustration when you’re just trying to wait the game timer out because your team is at a disadvantage. Obviously I wouldn’t want to engage the enemy unless absolutely necessary, so camping wastes time in hopes of keeping the lead and getting surprise jumps on the enemy.
>
> How crappy would it be to crouch a corner for a minute or two in a match like this, only to get kicked for inactivity? You’re well aware and playing, but the style of play is a bannable offence now…
>
> My suggestion? Watch for button presses more frequently. Or stick movements that aren’t held at certain angles for extended periods (rubberbanders). As long as you can sit physically in one spot and just visually look around in different directions, that should be enough to differentiate camping from AFK.
A camper can still swap a weapon or go into zoom for example in order to avoid being considered AFK. Hopefully the camper gets a kill every now and then so that would indicate activity, too. Even if you are not looking for a kill because you are just hiding you can still zoom in/out to make the game aware that you’re not AFK.
Besides, the wake up John in H5 comes after 3 minutes. That is plenty of time to open the door, get a drink or even a quick run to the bathroom. Still having a team member being idle for just one minute is annoying enough so I can only agree with the OP this needs to be dealt with.
I would like players to be returned to the playlist selection after a match is completed rather than putting them right into the next search. That alone would eliminate a huge junk of AFK players who just forgot to quit out of matchmaking before doing something else.