How often should ~gm messages be sent?

A discussion came up on my BL last night about how often players should be ~gm'ing. While it seems to be common knowledge that you should not send them one after the other (as GM's get through the list in order, and repeated messages only push you further down) there was some dispute over what exactly that meant - is every ten minutes too fast? Every 30? once an hour? Every couple hours? I've always tried to make it a point to not bother GMs on their legits or outside of the game, even if I do have their contact info.

I've personally always tried to leave at least 45 minutes between messages, unless the situation I'm in changes to a significant degree (ex. in a boss run and additional players dc'd from a second lag wave) though I appear to be alone in this as my BL thinks that that's far too long. One person on my BL did get rewarped to a boss during the ~3 hours I was waiting, though I didnt even though I GM'd about four times in this interval. It's difficult to know when GMs are working through a list of multiple DC's, and when they're just not around - there are occasional notices when they're doing the first, but with how uncommon they are it only serves to (imo) make the second case more frustrating.

So what's the deal? How often should players be sending messages to both ensure that they are seen, but also keep from delaying the staff, or simply annoying them? I'm sure it depends on the situation to an extent, but there has to be some sort of rule we can follow for best results.

 

More than "How often should we ~gm" I would like to know how the ~gm command works, for example:
-Can GMs see ~gm's that were sent before they log in?
-If I send a 2nd ~gm, will my 1st one disappear?
-Do they disappear on their own after some time?
-Is there a limit that a GM can see? (like if 50 ~gm are sent from different people, will the GMs be able to see them all?)
and so on... Maybe this information will help the players make better decisions as when to ~gm again, if it is even necessary to do it a 2nd time.

From personal experience I get warped 95% of the time after my first ~gm, maybe you should just try (if you can) to change the time when you do your boss runs, because clearly the GMs aren't usually around when you do yours.

 

Thanks Tim! that info is really useful

 

We can see ~gm's that happened before we logged in with a command. By default it only shows up to last 10, with a Time stamp as Tim said. Sometimes it's difficult to see if a message was recent or still applies. There's been times where someone recently ~gm'd for help with a boss re-warp, I'd warp to them a few minutes later...and they were in a different channel hanging out in the FM.
It helps if you stay in the same channel, even more so if you stick with your other party members who have d/ced too.

 

This may be off topic, and this is perhaps my preference only, but when it comes to re-warps I find it extremely useful if you tell me the name of a person you're bossing with that's still in the boss (assuming not everyone dc'ed). Call me lazy, but it's soooo much easier to just warp to that person and then warp you in.

Also, it's easier to follow if only one member of your boss party uses ~gm and not everyone. Because sometimes multiple GMs will try to handle the same dc inquiry.

Hope this helps a bit

 

That's another question I had - if ~gms should contain any specific information.

Typically mine look something like "(ign) (ign) and (ign) just dc'd from server lag at (boss) on (ch.) (ign) is still inside. We're ready to go if there is a GM online to do rewarps" and the ones for old refunds read something like "Hoping for a refund for (ign) (ign) and (ign) of an old run at (boss). Thread is on page (#) of character issues, Forum name jmmainvi"

Anything that could be included to make the job easier?

 

Exactly this.

Include anything you can to make our job easier. For bosses I'd include which boss, what channel you're on, and who you're bossing with (if applicable). You don't have to list the entire party, just a member or two (preferably one that's still inside like I said before).

If you are citing a thread on the forum MAKE SURE to include what your forum name is. The page it's on will certainly help.

Edit: I most likely will straight up ignore messages that say 'pls GM halp plis'. That's just me. There's so many inquiries, you need to be specific.

 

I will try to use that format from now on. I usually just say the boss and the ch :/

 

That's perfectly fine.

Everything I said was just my personal preference and what, from my experience, is the easiest format to comprehend.

All the GMs are different

 

I've always requested that only one person from the entire party ~gm it when they need a refund/a rewarp. If you have a 12 man horntail group for example and 10 of you d/c, I don't need 8 ~gm's. If there's multiple GMs online, we may end up crossing paths and handling the same request without meaning to, or we'll think we're done with one group and go to try and help another just to find out you're in the same one.

 

Can I use the ~gm command when I'm feeling lonely and I just need someone to talk to about my feelings?

 

I'm bumping this thread as of recently people have not been stating their problem with their ~GM.
I would appreciate it that you state your problem rather than check (if we are on). We are most likely to brush it off if you don't state your problem.

 

i usually ~gm every 10 seconds. That's just me f3