Player Status in a Campaign

The general purpose of the Player Statuses is to enable automatic hiding of Players that are no longer active in the Campaign, and to notify the automatically hidden Players that they have been hidden, in case they want to become active again. And to enable the Players to become visible again by becoming active again.

To find the Player Statuses, go to the Campaign's Settings > Players tab.

Each Player will have a Status dropdown with four options: Auto Active, Auto Inactive, Always Active, Always Inactive

The Player's current Status will show in the dropdown.

To change the Players' Statuses, choose the desired option for each Player, then scroll to the bottom, and click Save.

Note: if you change a Player's Status to "Auto Active", but the Player does not meet the Auto Active Criteria, then the Player will be automatically set to "Auto Inactive", and will be sent the Auto Inactive Email Notification.

Player Status Options

Auto Active

If a Player has Status "Auto Active", the system will periodically check to see if the Player meets the Auto Active Criteria.

During a check, if the Player does not meet the Auto Active Criteria, then the system will automatically shift the Player to the "Auto Inactive" Status, and then send the Player the Auto Inactive Email Notification.

"Auto Active" is the default Status for a Player joining a Campaign. If you want the default Status to be "Always Active", there is a setting for that in the Campaign Settings > Advanced tab.

Auto Inactive

If a Player has Status "Auto Inactive", the Player will not be visible in the Campaign (except on the Settings > Players tab). The Player also won't receive any email notifications from the Campaign.

If the Player visits the Campaign while logged in, the Player will be automatically shifted to the "Auto Active" Status, and again become visible in the Campaign.

Always Active

If a Player has Status "Always Active", the Player will always be visible in the Campaign, even if they don't meet the Auto Active Criteria, and they will never be sent the Auto Inactive Email Notification.

The Player's Status will stay "Always Active" unless the GM changes it.

If you want this to be the default Status for a Player joining your Campaign, there is a setting for that in the Campaign Settings > Advanced tab.

Always Inactive

If a Player has Status "Always Inactive", the Player will never be visible in the Campaign, even if they meet the Auto Active Criteria, and even if they visit the Campaign.

The Player's Status will stay "Always Inactive" unless the GM changes it.

Changing a Player's Status to "Always Inactive" will not send the Auto Inactive Email Notification to the Player, since there is no way for the Player to become active again on their own.

This option is mainly provided so GMs can see what an Inactive/invisible Player will look like.

Auto Active Criteria

Note: These criteria may change in the future.

The general idea is that the system tries to determine if there is a group of Players in the Campaign that is engaged and active, and then some other Player(s) that are not engaged and not active in the Campaign. The system is generally looking for a gap of 4 weeks between last logged in dates to distinguish between the groups. So, if some Players have been logging in the last few weeks, and then another group of Players hasn't logged in in more than seven weeks, then that other group of Players will be shifted to Auto Inactive and sent the Auto Inactive Email Notifications.

The specifics ...

If a Campaign has not been updated in the last four weeks, then the system won't automatically shift any of the Players to Auto Inactive or send any Auto Inactive Email Notifications.

If a Campaign has fewer than three Active Players (Statuses of either Auto Active or Always Active), then the system will not automatically shift any of the Auto Active Players to Auto Inactive, since that would only leave one Active Player in the Campaign.

Then, the system looks at only the Auto Active Players (and ignores the Always Active Players for this purpose), and orders the Auto Active Players by the last time the Player logged in, with the most recent at the top, and the furthest back at the bottom.

Then it finds the Player in the middle of that order. So, every Player below that Player in the order has last logged in some time before that Middle Player. (It's looking at the middle so that it doesn't Auto Inactive more than half of the Auto Active Players at one time.)

The system then checks each of those bottom-half Players vs the Middle Player. If the checked Player hasn't logged in within 4 weeks of the Middle Player, then that checked Player is shifted to Auto Inactive and sent the Auto Inactive Email Notification.

Auto Inactive Email Notification

This is the email that is sent to a Player when the Player is shifted from "Auto Active" to "Auto Inactive":

Subject: [[Campaign Name]] Invisibility Cloak Auto-Equipped!

Body:

Hail [Player Member Name]!

It seems you've been off questing elsewhere for a while, so the system has automatically equipped you with an 'Invisibility Cloak' in this Campaign.

Don't worry, it's not a curse, just a little magic to keep the roster tidy while you're away.

To remove the cloak, and rejoin the party, simply visit the Campaign while logged in. The magic will wear off instantly, and you'll be immediately visible to all your fellow Campaign members once more.

Also, so we're not spamming you, you won't get any further email notifications from this Campaign until you're visible again.

If you'd prefer to leave this Campaign permanently, find this Campaign in your Edit Profile > Campaigns list, and click the 'Leave Campaign' button.

Guard that link like a dragon's hoard! Anyone that clicks it will be automatically logged in to your OP account.

If you need any help, or have any questions, just hit reply. We're happy to help!

In blood and dice,

The Obsidian Portal Team