Who is Online

[PeregrineV]

I feel like a stalker, but pretty cool.

http://forum.mafiascum.net/viewonline.php

Question though, the numbers.

There are 19 registered users and 36 hidden users online
There are 30 guest users online

Does this mean
19 registered users
36 registered hidden users
30 guest users


For a total of 85 users online at the time? Or are some numbers double-counted?

[RichardGHP]

I thought I was the only person who ever used this.

[animorpherv1]

@PeregrineV: From what I do know, there is no overlap.

@Richard: I use it occasionally.

[chamber]

If you think thats stalking, you should look at that page with admin privs.

[Mr. Flay]

If you think thats stalking, you should look at that page with admin privs.

Truth. That page creeps me the hell out.

Anyway, yes, that means 85 total. Though some of the guests will be Bots.

[saulres]

I thought I was the only person who ever used this.

I use it often to find out if people in the games I'm playing are reading the game or not when they're online.

[mastin2]

I thought I was the only person who ever used this.

I use it often to find out if people in the games I'm playing are reading the game or not when they're online.

Yup. I love that it auto-refreshes every minute, and you can see where the people are going.

It's not 100% effective, but it's a good 90% effective at tracking activity of anyone who isn't hidden. Augment it with a "search user's posts" tab, and bingo! You've got a roadmap of where they are and when.

I use it quite frequently in games. It's pretty much the ONLY time I stay logged in longer than 5 minutes. (I typically log in, say what I want, and log out immediately--partially to stop people from doing what I do and tracking my activity using the "Who's Online" feature. )

[Blueberry]

partially to stop people from doing what I do and tracking my activity using the "Who's Online" feature. )

And who the heck invented that? "Yo dawg, I heard you like stalking, so I gave you a stalking bar, so you can stalk while you stalk." Smart.

[Mr. Flay]

It's a core feature of phpBB. I'm all for killing it, at least for non-admins (I don't ever use it either, but there's probably some minor use to which it could be put by a responsible party).

[animorpherv1]

I could care less. Kill it.

[saulres]

Why would you kill it?

If people don't want other people to know where they are, they can hide their online status.

[Tierce]

What saulres said.

Also--

I could care less. Kill it.

How much less could you care, ani?
(It's "

couldn't

care less". Sorry, pet peeve.)

[animorpherv1]

What saulres said.

Also--

I could care less. Kill it.

How much less could you care, ani?
(It's "

couldn't

care less". Sorry, pet peeve.)

Not much. The only useful thing I use it for is judging who's on during live Survivor challenges, and it's not even very useful, as the people I search for are generally hidden .

(I know, Tierce, but thanks anyways).

[Mr. Flay]

Why would you kill it?

If people don't want other people to know where they are, they can hide their online status.

Killing it is a middle ground against removing online status information entirely. The amount of metagame bullshit that goes on related to who is posting where is ludicrous on this site. It also frequently undermines the "ongoing games" rule in unpleasant ways.

[saulres]

It also frequently undermines the "ongoing games" rule in unpleasant ways.

I'm curious now. In what ways does it undermine that? Especially considering you can search on a user's posts and see the 20 posts they made in a different game since they last posted in yours.

[animorpherv1]

It also frequently undermines the "ongoing games" rule in unpleasant ways.

I'm curious now. In what ways does it undermine that? Especially considering you can search on a user's posts and see the 20 posts they made in a different game since they last posted in yours.

"saulres is

online

viewing this forum but isn't posting here, he's lurking."

It's the same thing for my Mish Mash games. I

always

target the people you know to be online first if it's some form of elimination challenge.

[Mr. Flay]

It also frequently undermines the "ongoing games" rule in unpleasant ways.

I'm curious now. In what ways does it undermine that? Especially considering you can search on a user's posts and see the 20 posts they made in a different game since they last posted in yours.

What ani said. Plus, my version at least includes whether you're in the PM screen or not. It's an overreach for a game based on deceit and lying.

[UberNinja]

Leave it alive. It's part of the scumhunting environment.

"Talk about ongoing games" rule be damned.

People get around that rule anyway by checking recent posts and saying "I see you've posted in 10 other topics but not here, how come?" and that doesn't specifically reference any game by name or action so why is this any different?

[Mr. Flay]

"Talk about ongoing games" rule be damned.

Wrong answer.

[UberNinja]

Read the last paragraph, that should clarify somewhat.

Plus, checking someone's online status is even less "talking about ongoing games" than checking in recent posts and saying they've posted in other games but not in the current game. So I'm not sure why that's the wrong answer.

I'm saying if you can do one, you should be able to do the other.

And I don't see you guys talking about removing the ability to search user posts, soooo

[animorpherv1]

I'm saying if you can do one, you should be able to do the other.

The difference here is that who checks user's searched posts to see if they're online? No one, you're all to lazy.

[UberNinja]

Though if I'm overstepping my bounds by saying "rule be damned" then of course I understand that.

Obviously I don't mean that it's a stupid rule or don't like it; it's a good rule and I feel it's important to the continued integrity of games.
I just think that it's being kind of used as a strawman when more "egregious" ways to circumvent it exist than the "Who's Online" page.

[UberNinja]

I'm saying if you can do one, you should be able to do the other.

The difference here is that who checks user's searched posts to see if they're online? No one, you're all to lazy.

But people

do

check them to say "you've posted in three other games, why can't you post here?"

[animorpherv1]

I'm saying if you can do one, you should be able to do the other.

The difference here is that who checks user's searched posts to see if they're online? No one, you're all to lazy.

But people

do

check them to say "you've posted in three other games, why can't you post here?"

A: How often?
B: How much do you think this will increase?

[Mr. Flay]

C: We've never had a thread outlining how to use Who Is Online to metastalk before, either.