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I wish I didn't have to post this, but I just want some clarification on an issue that came up in response to a bug report that I placed. I do not intend this to be critical in any way, just seeking clarity.

The issue I speak of is the act of quitting out of one's browser in order to force the server to drop your character, and hence being able to get out of combat you don't want to be in. The bug report that I placed made reference to such an incident, and the respond given by Mark was (in part) to say that doing such a thing is a big no-no.

Now, my question is twofold: in what sense is this sort of thing a big no-no, and why is it such a big no-no?

Let me set the scene first. My character Umeko was trapped in combat with a flea of all things. She was tired and could not hit the flea, but the flea was also tired and could not hit her. Neither of them could flee the battle. In short, we were locked in endless combat that would never lead to either my player's death nor the death of the flea.... except for the fact that Umeko was slowly starving and dehydrating to death, and being locked in combat, could not eat or drink anything. In this situation I had three options as I saw it:

1) Wait to see what happens. Probably my character dies of dehydration after a short while.

2) Hope and pray for another player to log on to help me out of this mess.

3) Quit out of my browser.

I chose the latter option because it seemed like the simplest and most reasonable means of achieving a very reasonable goal - ending an interminable combat session.

Now, to my questions. In what sense is it incumbent upon me to avoid this particular course of action? I really am asking, this is not sarcastic at all, but as far as I know there is no explicit mention of such policy in the user agreement. So why am I obligated not to quit out of my browser for this purpose?

But second, and most importantly, assuming there is such policy that I am commited to somehow... what is the point of this policy? Again, not intending this to be sarcastic, just trying to understand.

Thanks for listening and I hope this can lead to some interesting debate.

- Colin

If you initiate a combat you must accept responsibility for the outcome. That's the TC way, and there's nothing to debate. If you manipulate the technology by closing your browser window you're cheating. There's nothing to debate about that either.

I had believed it was not possible to do this. Fights should continue even if you close your browser. I'll go back and ensure that's what happens.

Okay, well that perhaps was the answer I was looking for. Let me try to approach the issue this way: maybe what you were saying, Mark, is that a character should not be able to escape battle through this method. In other words, it was not that I actually violated any rules or policies, but rather that the physics did not behave as expected?

I am just curious, and I hope you will forgive me for reiterating my question on pain of sounding stupid, but it seems to me like there is nowehere any kind of clearly stated policy that, if the technology so allows a player to escape battle by quitting, they nonetheless ought not to do so.

This still seems essentially correc to me. If it is not - if you truly believe that there is a clear statement somewhere that such moves are not to be made - I would like to know where it is.

I guess I just feel like I did something wrong without knowing it was wrong, and I find it hard to accept that one can really be blameworthy in such a situation. I'm just trying to figure out if I was really innocent or if it is my fault for having missed some articulate policy regarding this sort of situation.

Thanks again.

- Colinc

I find this all very coy. You're saying that you really, seriously, honestly, no kidding, didn't understand that escaping combat by artificial means is outside the spirit of TC? And then the argument becomes, manipulation of this sort is actually ok because there's no legalese anywhere which specifically bans it per se?

This answer is impatient but I don't know what else to tell you. I don't like manipulation. The purpose of this "beta" business is among other things to help to identify and close these kinds of stupid loopholes in the system. In future, many thanks for bugging them rather than taking advantage of them.

Okay, fair enough. I guess I can't say it was obvious to me that there was nothing wrong with quitting out of a battle. But it was, to be fair, also not perfectly clear that there was something wrong with it.

I'll take this as my notice and in future circumstances not take advantage of any such technological loopholes.

I should also mention that I have had something like 4 or 5 characters recently killed in combat, so its not as though I regularly resort to such methods for my own gain. In fact, I am perfectly happy to accept the outcome of any battle normally. Even if its character death.

It just seemed like this situation was sort of absnormal somehow... not this kind of battle one would be expected to see through to the bitter end.

Well, that's my last word on the subject.

- Colin

Thank you!

Let me suggest that for now, just bug the fact that quitting the browser lets you exit combat. That's a major bug IMO.

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