The "Who" command

So, on the SirParadox server, we have this thing in the general chat called the "Who" command. You type "/who" and you can see everyone who is online. It's a really nice feature, but I feel that it creates game imbalance. In classic BP, you couldn't tell who was online by typing /who; it was something classic BP didn't have, as it could be used to study a person's log-in patterns, which allowed opponents to tell when someone is online, or not. If a player easily knows when you are not online, they can attack you theoretically only when you are not. This takes the advantage away from the defender, and puts it entirely in the hands of those that type "/who" the most and fastest, or who hide behind alts. In fact, it is a feature that is almost hand-in-glove a fit to those who like to stack up alt accounts, as alt players have no compunction against hiding behind one login while protecting their main account (and typing "/who" to see when people they are plotting against are online). By encouraging alts, as I've said before, greater game imbalances are made as the more veteran players who have a lot of time and many alts running are able to crowd the new players off the server. So, in essence a server community that does not bar alts but allows a "/who" command to be put in place to allow easy monitoring of online activity is in effect heavily imbalanced against new players and server growth. Personally, I would like to see the "/who" command removed and any like it as well, and measures set up to ensure against alt accounts.

Amerlain I know you are quivering in fear over there but listen up they have banned alts on Sirp server.

the who command exists currently so that we may note new players, tell them they are welcome to our server and to ask if they need any help, alt acounts are NOT authorized on the server and players discovered doing such will be nailed for it. the /who command will be there until the server community can be established strongly. it allows us to chat with our fellow players that are online.

It's good to hear that alts have been banned on the after protocol server. I only have one account total myself and hope that others do, too, though it is hard to tell sometimes if they are following the rules. Regarding "/who", couldn't people just do an occasional shout-out in General chat to see if people are online, or just wait for new players to hop on there and type? Without "/who," there was always a sense of uncertainty regarding whether the person was online to defend themselves; this also made any orders conveyed by cellphone in response to events in game all the more effective; with "/who", if anyone moves battlegroups to a conflict area or launches units to defend by cellphone, all the attacker has to do is type "/who" and they will know it was done by cellphone/that the player will not be able to flexibly move those forces around, so can then just attack a different area; without who, they have to spend some time checking around to find out if the player is online or not...adds a little uncertainty for the attacker.

Plus, I still think that knowing when someone is online or not when planning an invasion offers them a HUGE advantage. Just ask Vimes (I recall that being something I read him talking about on the old beyond protocol forum).