Official News - page 4

WHY CONSTANTLY LOGGING IN AND OUT IS A REAL ANNOYANCE

SpyNet Notice is a very useful facility that tells you when players log in and out of Fed2 DataSpace. It's handy if you are watching for someone in particular to come into the game, or players of a particular rank that might help you out, or if you just want to see people coming in and out.

However, the usefulness of SpyNet Notice goes away if anybody starts logging in and out frequently. The continual messages that "Adventurer Richardhead has entered Federation DataSpace" and that he has left again cause a huge annoyance. And "frequently" doesn't have to mean every ten seconds - even if there's a 5 minute gap, that's still enough to be a real pain for those who rely on SpyNet Notice.

If you happen to be in a public place somewhere, whether in Sol or on a player planet, constantly logging in and out is also disruptive to those in the same room as you. It's hard to enjoy a quiet drink and a chat with friends if somebody is constantly barging in and out of the room noisily.

There are two reasons why a player might be logging in and out this often (that's not counting sheer bloody-mindedness, of course):

• Communications problems. Getting your computer to connect to the Internet, and then connect to the Fed2 server, isn't always easy. Routers can be set up wrong; wireless connections in particular have a whole load of things that can go wrong. VoIP software, too, can cause problems because it is often given priority over other programs. Standard factory settings on routers do often muck up telnet connections, which is what the connection to Fed2 is. If you suspect this is causing you to log in and out a log, please email feedback@ibgames.com and ask for advice on fixing the problem.

• Macro problems. If you use a macro, or some kind of auto-logon program, or a trigger, then it can go wrong. If you have left it running unattended and it goes wrong, then you won't be able to do anything to stop it. If it causes you to disconnect from Fed2 and then log back on again, you are going to end up annoying everyone.

In either case, if your logging on and off becomes a nuisance, then a member of staff will TB you to ask what the problem is. If you don't respond (because you are running an unattended macro) they will lock you out. That's the easiest way to stop you annoying everybody!

Even if you do respond to the TB, if you don't co-operate in trying to solve the problem that is making you log in and out constantly, you may get locked out.

You think this sounds harsh? Well if you are causing a nuisance to the majority of other players in the game, then it's your responsibility to fix the problem - and if you won't, we'll stop you from being a nuisance the hard way!

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