Logging out to get back to town fast... is it good for the game?

Recently watched a video of how to level fast in HC turbo and one technique used often is to log out then immediately log back in to get back to town fast.

What's the consensus of opinion on the validity of this? Should GGG leave it alone or adjust log-off/log-in behaviour to deter this activity?

Logging out to get to town feels like an exploit but having thought about it today, I wondered (1) if anyone would agree with me and (2) what alternatives could be implemented that don't penalize people who lose connection to the server or have to quit the game fast to deal with real-life issues - like going to work! :)

How about
A (GW2 idea): Your character returns to where you were when you logged out and as long as you log in within 10 minutes, the level hasn't reset?

B (D3 idea): enforcing a 10-second delay before letting you exit (or at least, before letting you log in again)? I guess this is still faster than walking all the way to a waypoint but may be slower than using a portal scroll.

To be clear: due to the presence of this behaviour in game, avoiding it would put players at a disadvantage in timed leagues. Assuming GGG hasn't spoken out against it, there's nothing wrong with employing the behaviour.

Why would someone log out to get to town rather than just using a portal scroll? Seems like an odd choice.

"

tpapp157 wrote:

Why would someone log out to get to town rather than just using a portal scroll? Seems like an odd choice.

Sometimes you don't have one in a race or you have so few that logging out is the more appealing choice.

This issue only affects races and should be fixed. Something like a log out timer would work, but I'm not sure if that would upset people as alt+F4 wouldn't work anymore in emergencies.

Useless thread, if you are logging out to win a race, you aint fucking winning.

Who the fucks goes to town in a race?

This clever use of game mechanics is only useful twice, both of which happen only for new characters in fresh league (ie nothing in stash) and only to save a portal scroll when you have little or none:

* After killing Hillrake in Tidal Island

* After killing the Deep Dweller crab

After that portal scrolls are not much of an issue. As mentioned above, this is useful in races and can save a couple minutes of walking time. Except for top players though the difference is arguably negligible- even in a 3 hour race.

"

tramshed wrote:

Useless thread, if you are logging out to win a race, you aint fucking winning.

Who the fucks goes to town in a race?

Uhmmm Panda

I've heard he won a race or two...

Personally I see it as a rather innocuous use of game mechanics rather than a serious "exploit", as is the relog before race start so you are standing. As already stated it is usually only useful once or twice a race.

"

FriarJon wrote:

This clever use of game mechanics is only useful twice, both of which happen only for new characters in fresh league (ie nothing in stash) and only to save a portal scroll when you have little or none:

* After killing Hillrake in Tidal Island

* After killing the Deep Dweller crab

After that portal scrolls are not much of an issue. As mentioned above, this is useful in races and can save a couple minutes of walking time. Except for top players though the difference is arguably negligible- even in a 3 hour race.

And spider cavern...
And chamber of sins...
And... any of the clear reward dungeons.

"

indczn wrote:

And spider cavern...
And chamber of sins...
And... any of the clear reward dungeons.

Perhaps, but there is little strategic value to doing so. Portal is just as quick and you have plenty by then.

"

FriarJon wrote:

"

indczn wrote:

And spider cavern...
And chamber of sins...
And... any of the clear reward dungeons.

Perhaps, but there is little strategic value to doing so. Portal is just as quick and you have plenty by then.

Not always. I've run several races where portals/scrolls/currency just don't drop.

I use this on all the dead-end quests in races. Portal scrolls are generally scarce and logout~login is just as quick with zero cost.

There was a conversation in hc global a couple weeks back where Chris (who also uses this trick) mentioned something about streamlining those quests so the logout~login was no longer necessary, though he didnt go into much detail as to exactly what would change.

I think logout~login putting the player right back where they logged out if the instance is still open would be great. A 5-10 second delay on save+exit or alt+f4 would be good too.