Activity (*) Explanation
In this FAQ I try to explain the appearance of the activity asterisk in the galaxy view. In previous updates the circumstances under which the asterisk appears has been changed around quite a bit so it is a bit confusing.
I take no responsibilty for the correctness of the points covered here. Also note that the fleet events that trigger activity are yet not 100% clear.
Credits go to Francolino from the Game Technics team, thanks to whose work (he spent a LOT of time on this) I was able to write this explanation.
1. Activity indicators:
Activity indicators will tell you if there is/was an activity at a planet at a certain period of time.
There are three phases:
There is activity at a planet: 0 minutes - 14 minutes 59 seconds
There was activity at a planet XX minutes ago - 14 minutes 59 secons - 59 minutes 59 secons
There was no activity - beyond 59 minutes 59 seconds
There are three ways you can see the activity:
For the first 14 minutes 59 seconds after the activity stops (*) will be shown next to the planet name. Beyond 15 minutes a time is then displayed in place of the star (15 min). This time value is shown up until 59 minutes 59 seconds (59 min) and then after that point there will be no activity indicator displayed next to the planetname.
If you scroll over the planet picture, you will see another activity indicator. When there's an activity at the planet (for the first 14 minutes 59 seconds), you can see an orange triangle:
Beyond 15 minutes, you will see "Activity: XXm". Time indicator here also dissapears at 59 minutes 59 seconds. You can only see it when scrolling over a planet picture. Scrolling over a moon picture will not show this kind of activity.
Third way of seeing activity is via espionage reports. Whenever you probe a moon/planet, you will see activity report which tells you if there's been any activity at the planet/moon. Activity report is under resources and you see it in any case, no matter what your espionage technology is. If there's activity only at moon and you probe a planet, the report will show no activity vice versa. If you're probing a planet with a moon, this is the only way to see whether the activity was made on planet or moon. It will look like this:
For the first 14 minutes 59 seconds:
Quoted
Your espionage report shows abnormalities in the atmosphere of the planet which suggests activity within the last 15 minutes.
For time between 14 minutes 59 seconds and 59 minutes 59 seconds:
Quoted
Your espionage report shows abnormalities in the atmosphere of the planet which suggests activity within the last XX minutes.
After 59 minutes 59 seconds:
Quoted
Your espionage does not show abnormalities in the atmosphere of the planet. There appears to have been no activity on the planet within the last hour.
NOTE: Seeing your own activity is a bug. Your own activity does not behave like a normal activity, thus it can not be used to test the activity.
2. Activity behaviour/creating activty:
The data in a quote may not be up to date, it is a copy from this thread: Current game details
Quoted
State June 12th 2010
General :
- A * appears on the home planet when you login.
- A * appears on the current planet / moon when you logout.
- A * appears on the NEW location at changing the current planet / moon.
- A * appears on the current planet / moon with EVERY click on all menu items.
- NO * appears with click on Support / GameForge / Help / Board / Rules / Imprint.
- The * (or the time) from the planet and the associated moon overlaps. It appears always the last activity.
Events :
- A * appears on the current planet / moon with click on relaod at eventlist, sensor phalanx and fleet movement.
- A * appears on the current planet / moon with autoreload at eventlist and fleet movement.
- NEW foreign fleets ONLY appears in the eventlist when reloading the overview.
Flights :
- A * appears at departure on the starting planet / moon.
- A * appears at arrival on the target planet / moon. Exception mission ACS defend - NO * appears.
- A * appears at return on the starting planet / moon.
- A * appears at abort on the current planet / moon.
Special situations :
- Normal * behavior for banned players without vacation mode.
- Normal * behavior for inactive players. ( i and I )
- NO account deletion in existing PURCHASED DM
- NO * from activation of vacation mode.
3. How can I use activity?
Activity is a very important part of the gameplay. There are many strategies based on it.
Activity indicators can tell you two things. One is that a player is/was online and making activity. The other is that actvity was caused the other way - with fleet contact. Once you combine watching the activity and probing a planet, you can determine player's online times and fleetsave times. This is very useful when it gets to hunting and planning missions like moon destruction or blind lanx.
Note: Server forces you to log off at 3:00 AM ST. As logging in again creates activity, players with no activity at homeworld are not online at this time. It is quite safe to attack that time of a day.
See details here:
Watching activity will also help to prevent you from being ninja'd, as well as hiding your activity can make you look offline thus ninja-ing a player.
In this FAQ I try to explain the appearance of the activity asterisk in the galaxy view. In previous updates the circumstances under which the asterisk appears has been changed around quite a bit so it is a bit confusing.
I take no responsibilty for the correctness of the points covered here. Also note that the fleet events that trigger activity are yet not 100% clear.
Credits go to Francolino from the Game Technics team, thanks to whose work (he spent a LOT of time on this) I was able to write this explanation.
1. Activity indicators:
Activity indicators will tell you if there is/was an activity at a planet at a certain period of time.
There are three phases:
There is activity at a planet: 0 minutes - 14 minutes 59 seconds
There was activity at a planet XX minutes ago - 14 minutes 59 secons - 59 minutes 59 secons
There was no activity - beyond 59 minutes 59 seconds
There are three ways you can see the activity:
For the first 14 minutes 59 seconds after the activity stops (*) will be shown next to the planet name. Beyond 15 minutes a time is then displayed in place of the star (15 min). This time value is shown up until 59 minutes 59 seconds (59 min) and then after that point there will be no activity indicator displayed next to the planetname.
If you scroll over the planet picture, you will see another activity indicator. When there's an activity at the planet (for the first 14 minutes 59 seconds), you can see an orange triangle:
Beyond 15 minutes, you will see "Activity: XXm". Time indicator here also dissapears at 59 minutes 59 seconds. You can only see it when scrolling over a planet picture. Scrolling over a moon picture will not show this kind of activity.
Third way of seeing activity is via espionage reports. Whenever you probe a moon/planet, you will see activity report which tells you if there's been any activity at the planet/moon. Activity report is under resources and you see it in any case, no matter what your espionage technology is. If there's activity only at moon and you probe a planet, the report will show no activity vice versa. If you're probing a planet with a moon, this is the only way to see whether the activity was made on planet or moon. It will look like this:
For the first 14 minutes 59 seconds:
Quoted
Your espionage report shows abnormalities in the atmosphere of the planet which suggests activity within the last 15 minutes.
For time between 14 minutes 59 seconds and 59 minutes 59 seconds:
Quoted
Your espionage report shows abnormalities in the atmosphere of the planet which suggests activity within the last XX minutes.
After 59 minutes 59 seconds:
Quoted
Your espionage does not show abnormalities in the atmosphere of the planet. There appears to have been no activity on the planet within the last hour.
NOTE: Seeing your own activity is a bug. Your own activity does not behave like a normal activity, thus it can not be used to test the activity.
2. Activity behaviour/creating activty:
The data in a quote may not be up to date, it is a copy from this thread: Current game details
Quoted
State June 12th 2010
General :
- A * appears on the home planet when you login.
- A * appears on the current planet / moon when you logout.
- A * appears on the NEW location at changing the current planet / moon.
- A * appears on the current planet / moon with EVERY click on all menu items.
- NO * appears with click on Support / GameForge / Help / Board / Rules / Imprint.
- The * (or the time) from the planet and the associated moon overlaps. It appears always the last activity.
Events :
- A * appears on the current planet / moon with click on relaod at eventlist, sensor phalanx and fleet movement.
- A * appears on the current planet / moon with autoreload at eventlist and fleet movement.
- NEW foreign fleets ONLY appears in the eventlist when reloading the overview.
Flights :
- A * appears at departure on the starting planet / moon.
- A * appears at arrival on the target planet / moon. Exception mission ACS defend - NO * appears.
- A * appears at return on the starting planet / moon.
- A * appears at abort on the current planet / moon.
Special situations :
- Normal * behavior for banned players without vacation mode.
- Normal * behavior for inactive players. ( i and I )
- NO account deletion in existing PURCHASED DM
- NO * from activation of vacation mode.
3. How can I use activity?
Activity is a very important part of the gameplay. There are many strategies based on it.
Activity indicators can tell you two things. One is that a player is/was online and making activity. The other is that actvity was caused the other way - with fleet contact. Once you combine watching the activity and probing a planet, you can determine player's online times and fleetsave times. This is very useful when it gets to hunting and planning missions like moon destruction or blind lanx.
Note: Server forces you to log off at 3:00 AM ST. As logging in again creates activity, players with no activity at homeworld are not online at this time. It is quite safe to attack that time of a day.
See details here:
Watching activity will also help to prevent you from being ninja'd, as well as hiding your activity can make you look offline thus ninja-ing a player.