The rules for how long a player may idle before being purged are covered in INFO POLICY PURGES. However, even if a player is allowed to keep their player object during a long absence, they may not be allowed to keep the character they were approved for. Furthermore, when it comes to keeping a specific character, idling also refers to not remaining active enough. If your character is reset to NPC, but your player object is not purged, your player object will be given a new name and the new login information will be emailed to you.
The basic rule is that the more important a character is, the shorter the absence that is allowed and the higher is the activity that is required. As it is difficult to precisely determine the importance of a character, given that this may vary somewhat from time to time depending on the IC circumstances, the guidelines given are somewhat fluid and subject to interpretation by the Admin.
An unannounced absence refers to when a player has not used the +vacation command (see +HELP +VACATION) themselves. An unapproved absence refers to when the player has used the +vacation command themselves, but has not cleared the an absence over the time allowed for their character with the Admin via jobs (see +HELP +JOBS). A properly approved vacation involves the Admin using the +vacation command on the player.
In addition to the fact that idling may lead to a character being reset to NPC, idling will also limit the say a player has in regards to closely connected characters of his or her character being requested by another player. If a current player has no +vacation registered and has not been on for 15 days or does not respond to messages from the Admin or from a prospective player within 5 days, he or she will lose the right to give input on the prospective player’s application.
