The Passively Multiplayer Online Game

PMOG Forum

civilized discourse for an uncivilized gameworld

Forums » Gameplay » The "Null Page"

(advertisements appear if you're not logged in or need to create an account)

« Previous 1 2 Next »

Author	Thread
rossruns Level 10 Vigilante Posts: 67	This came up in a thread in the Misadventures forum, but I thought it should belong here. When you open a new tab in Firefox, it opens a "null page" that is blank until you do something with it. Currently, you can mine, crate, or lightpost this page, which strikes me as the wrong behavior. (Although it appears that the crate I laid cannot be looted, hrm). Personally, I don't like the idea of being able to do ANYTHING on a null page, and think PMOG should not allow this. The idea behind PMOG and leaving mines/crates/etc is that you're "exploring" the web and leaving it on a physical page somewhere for someone to come across when they go to that page. Since the null page is the absence of a page, and is really internal to your browser, being able to leave stuff on it is equivalent to someone being able to walk into your home and slide a mine under you while you're sleeping. The user should have to GO somewhere in order to receive the benefit/drawback of crates/missions/mines. FYI - If you're still using Firefox 2, I think you can use one of these extensions to set your default page for new tabs, so you're not opening a bunch of null tabs: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US... https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US... This way you can protect yourself against people laying mines on the null page, until PMOG admin makes this a non-issue. by rossruns 9 months ago \| Permalink
rossruns Level 10 Vigilante Posts: 67	Oh, I forgot to mention that for Firefox 3 users, this won't work yet. But the workaround for those users (and everyone else) who has a mouse with a middle-click that opens a new tab - middle click on the "home" icon and it'll open a new tab with your default homepage loaded. Not the most convenient option (especially if your home page is something that takes a while to load), but it still might beat getting mined every time you open a new [null] tab. by rossruns 9 months ago \| Permalink
orangerineman Level 20 Destroyer Posts: 554	I often use my profile link on the PMOG toolbar as a "new tab" button that simultaneously checks my profile. But I don't do it because I don't want to go to the null page. I personally don't think it's a big deal. by orangerineman 9 months ago \| Permalink
dromlarid Level 12 Vigilante Posts: 106	Since I already posted about this in the discussion in the bug forum, I'm not going to repost everything I've already said here. I'll just state that I think it's kinda silly to get so bent out of shape about it. by dromlarid 9 months ago \| Permalink
kitt Level 7 Seer Posts: 12	"I'll just state that I think it's kinda silly to get so bent out of shape about it." Says the person who mined it to death. Thanks for that, by the way. by kitt 9 months ago \| Permalink
dromlarid Level 12 Vigilante Posts: 106	You're welcome. :D by dromlarid 9 months ago \| Permalink
dromlarid Level 12 Vigilante Posts: 106	Ok, you smarty-pants beodins, now I'm mad. :D by dromlarid 9 months ago \| Permalink
astrogirl Level 12 Benefactor Posts: 93	I use speed dial, set to open when I click "new tab" so I guess it doesn't affect me. But that said, I open new tabs all the time and I would be seriously annoyed if I got mined 200 times a day so I am all for people not doing it! speed dial: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US... by astrogirl 9 months ago \| Permalink
lapsura Level 13 Vigilante Posts: 227	I use Firefox 2, and my new tabs are set to open automatically to Google Mail, but there is a split second in which they pass through the Null page before reaching that -- there is nothing I can do about this. I therefore don't have a choice but to hit any mines that might be on Null. This doesn't really bother me, since I tend to seek out mines as a rule anyway, but I'm just observing that in my own experience having new tabs set to open on a specific page is no guarantee that you won't hit mines on Null. by lapsura 9 months ago \| Permalink
kitt Level 7 Seer Posts: 12	Yeah, one specific reason why it shouldn't be allowed relates back to what lapsura said. Since we sometimes pass through the null page while opening a new link, we can get hit with the mine but we can't see who did it. Cheap on all levels, really. by kitt 9 months ago \| Permalink
dromlarid Level 12 Vigilante Posts: 106	You can see who hit you with the mine. Many people have added me as a rival. I've had a lot of St. Nicks attached. I'm not saying I don't deserve it. I'm just saying that I'm simply making destroyers someone formidable as opposed to "tee hee one mine hit oh well, my armor protects me!" by dromlarid 9 months ago \| Permalink
aerozol Level 16 Pathmaker Posts: 66	Looks like it's making the game interesting. And besides, armour is dirt cheap... by aerozol 9 months ago \| Permalink
green Level 11 Bedouin Posts: 241	Agreeing with aerozol and dromlarid ... mines are meant to be annoying. Personally I find them far less annoying than St Nicks, but I guess that's my chaotic sympathies showing. If it's causing that much bother and imbalance in the game, lets ask the devs to incentivise clearing mines from that page by increasing one's Bedouin weighting for exploding Null mines. by green 9 months ago \| Permalink
dromlarid Level 12 Vigilante Posts: 106	Also, if it makes you feel any better, I've planted well over 250 mines on null, and I still don't have a badge for laying 250+. by dromlarid 9 months ago \| Permalink
lapsura Level 13 Vigilante Posts: 227	I agree with green; mines are much less annoying than St. Nicks. One piece of armor worth 25DP will usually last you for 3 mines worth 40DP apiece - a little too sweet of a deal. But St. Nicks make you waste 40DP every time they foil you. The reason it doesn't bother me to hit mines on Null is because armor IS so tough against mines, and I want to get an armor badge at some point. Building on what I just said, it's 3 times easier to lay as many mines you need for a mine badge as it is to use as many pieces of armor you need for the equivalent armor badge. by lapsura 9 months ago \| Permalink
kitt Level 7 Seer Posts: 12	"You can see who hit you with the mine. Many people have added me as a rival. I've had a lot of St. Nicks attached." Only when I purposely open a new tab can I see it. Like I said, following links through new tabs can sometimes trigger the page without actually showing it. As to why people are rivaling/nicking you, dromlarid, you're the only one doing it so we don't have to guess. :P by kitt 9 months ago \| Permalink
mikapiyu13 Level 5 Vigilante Posts: 14	Strangely enough, I can't add anything to the null page, which might or might not be a good thing...>.>" by mikapiyu13 9 months ago \| Permalink
rossruns Level 10 Vigilante Posts: 67	The issue is really not that I hit a mine, it's that there's a fundamental flaw in being able to hit a mine, crate, lightpost, etc on the null page. It is not a URL. It is like about:blank or http://localhost or LAN addresses (e.g. http://192.168.0.1) - access to these is DEPENDENT on being on the local computer/LAN. To be able to lay something down on this page and have someone else be able to trigger it simply because they're visiting something that has the same configuration page name in their local browser is a BUG. The null page on my browser and the null page on your browser are NOT the same page. The only way they could BE the same page is if there was a URL associated with it. You might as well say that I should trigger your events any time I go to my homepage, when you laid something your homepage. After all, the browser has a default "homepage", and so it must be the same thing, right? by rossruns 9 months ago \| Permalink
stephen Level 18 Destroyer Posts: 71	rossruns: "To be able to lay something down on this page and have someone else be able to trigger it simply because they're visiting something that has the same configuration page name in their local browser is a BUG. The null page on my browser and the null page on your browser are NOT the same page. The only way they could BE the same page is if there was a URL associated with it." Its all about URLs. If they match, it works, plain and simple. Every user sees the internet relative to their own IP address. When you say "same configuration page", I say "local intranet" (which I enjoy fooling with my co-workers who play). It also comes back to tracking, which PMOG obviously does. Think of them as alleys. Intended for private access, but anyone can get to it. by stephen 9 months ago \| Permalink
rossruns Level 10 Vigilante Posts: 67	@Stephen: That's my point, it's NOT a URL, so it's NOT an alley, private or otherwise and PMOG should not treat it as such. There's no HTTP get request by the browser, no access to a URL, and therefore I've NOT gone anywhere. People leaving tools on the null page are NOT going to the same location as my browser is when it is visiting the null page. They're leaving tools on a page with the same name. If you translated PMOG to real life, think of someone as leaving a mine in their bathroom which they call "My Bathroom", and then when I enter my bathroom which I call "My Bathroom", I trigger it. They never had access to my actual bathroom, yet the name (address) duplication causes it to be viewed that way. If someone can't trigger a mine on a secure page or password protected page (if they don't know the password), they shouldn't be able to leave it on a non-URL page that is accessible only by me. by rossruns 9 months ago \| Permalink
rossruns Level 10 Vigilante Posts: 67	@astrogirl: Speedial is an awesome extension! Thanks so much for pointing it out. I'm definitely adopting this for my normal use, and would do so even if this null page thing wasn't an issue. However, it coincidentally fixes any concerns people who are bothered by this might have, too - I recommend you check it out if you're in this boat. As astrogirl said, you can get it (even for FF3b4) at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US...> by rossruns 9 months ago \| Permalink
lapsura Level 13 Vigilante Posts: 227	Exactly, PMOG even tries to associate a specific URL with the Null page, too, because on the events page where it says "[typically dromlarid] just deployed a mine on Null" the webpage it links to is actually Null. Clearly, the game itself doesn't think you should be able to attach mines to pages without URLs. rossruns, your bathroom analogy is spot-on. by lapsura 9 months ago \| Permalink
dromlarid Level 12 Vigilante Posts: 106	I'm sorry that I'm the only person who's actually trying to be a destroyer, but the game wouldn't be fun if we were all doing the same thing. I honestly don't understand what so hard to understand that "null" is a page a place "to be" just like anything else. I disagree with the "bathroom analogy" because I think that's the whole point. PMOG reads it as a bomb placed on "blank page". If you open "blank page" you get mined. Simple as that. In addition, you only lose 10dp if you're caught w/o armor, so I fail to see why everyone is crying. by dromlarid 9 months ago \| Permalink
aerozol Level 16 Pathmaker Posts: 66	I'm going to start mining it myself in a second >_> Mines cost them 40Dp, and you like 13. Who cares where they put it? And if you don't like it, use StNicks! They're there for a reason! by aerozol 9 months ago \| Permalink
green Level 11 Bedouin Posts: 241	Don't mine the bathroom! It's also very mean to mine the library (Wikipedia), the cinema (imdb.com) and even to slip little exploders inside my daily newspaper (BBC news - the first place I ever hit an unexpected mine.) I'm fine with people mining places I never visit, though. <if necessary, turn up your sarcasm-detector to 11> by green 9 months ago \| Permalink