This is a hugely long post. As an OP I believe that is justified. There is repetition involved because it is so long and I want to remind people of key points that may be lost earlier in the wash. DeadParrot – I’m really sorry.
We are all FS players. I do actually believe in the whole community. I use PvP players here as an unfortunate short hand. I do not seek to divide – if my ideas are horrifying to you, rest easy knowing they are in no danger of being implemented, but since they occurred to me I have been unable to do much else but think on them and so must post this for the sake of my own sanity and productivity.
The core of these ideas is consistency and removal of ambiguity – make the rules clear for everyone. No more unwritten codes. We want consistency from HCS – we should expect it from each other. I also believe it will promote PvP activity – not your grandfather’s PvP – but meaningful PvP that will be a valuable part of the game’s ecosystem, that everyone will understand and not be in fear of. No more bogey-men.
I have a 4 point plan for the Bounty Board (BB).
Before we get started I’d like to say I think – after discussions today with guys on the forum - that the Thievery and Master Thief enhancements should be enhanced. I can’t lie – this system will increase punishment on PvP players – I know you guys can take it, because it will mean more PvP activity across the board – but I believe that if you do get punished more then your chances of earning gold before you get punished should be increased. If no-one PvP’s the system remains as dead as it is now. I agree that you need more incentive.
Back to my 4 point plan.
1) The victim of an attack sets the punishment required.
2) The bounty hunter (BH) cannot in any circumstance be bountied. Don’t freak out before reading on – I think this can turn into a good thing.
3) Guildmates can clear each other’s bounties.
4) Two new Top 250's for PvP are created: An Outlaw Top 250 is created to track those players who have lost the most levels on the bounty board, and a Lawless Top 250 to track those who evaded the posse of Bounty Hunters and survived on the board for a set period of time, initial suggestion being one week. Additionally Outlaw and Lawless medals could be created in addition to the top 250s.
Please bear with me and hear out why I think these may actually be good ideas for PvP and the community at large.
Bear in mind I do not PvP and if you want you can completely ignore my ideas on that basis. I’ll not be offended in the slightest.
I will go through each point in turn and expand on it to explain how it might work and my thinking behind it and why it might be beneficial.
1) The victim of an attack sets the punishment required.
This is the core of my imaginary system. Currently among players who do not PvP, or who have been exposed to it as victims of attack there is a prevailing feeling that the BB does not provide adequate redress. They have no faith in the current system. Across numerous threads this scenario is painted: The victim is hit and loses gold, and then is made victim again by paying for a bounty only to see the bountied player soft cleared by her friends. The victim loses twice.
I am not here to hash that argument out again. I am not here to point fingers. This is my perception based on what I have seen in game and in this forum over the years I have been playing. The scenario above is reality in the minds of many players. People feel powerless in the face of attack. They do not want to hit back and risk being placed on the bounty board themselves. They are not able or do not want to put a delevel party together and risk everyone in the delevel party being put on the BB for their pains. They do not trust the board to provide realistic punishment. The end result is they do not post the bounty at all. The PvP ecosystem shrinks. The BB remains dead. If the victim sets the punishment, they feel empowered, they have a sense of control, they have an increased chance of seeing the punishment they want actually carried out. They are more likely to post bounties. The PvP ecosystem expands.
How do I propose this works?
The injured party will pay for the damage they desire to be wrought upon their attacker, the more damage desired, the higher the fee. The exact scale can be determined if this idea got enough support to warrant it. Currently a fee is levied - this would be similar but slide up as more retribution is required. This fee is paid to the BH who completes the highest % of the required damage to the outlaw placed on the board, which will encourage competition among BH’s. Retribution would be capped at 3 levels initially. This is a radical departure from how it currently works. In one step this removes the ambiguity of BB etiquette, 10 stam vs. 100 stam hits, late bounty hits etc., as the punishment is set as required by the original victim, and must be fulfilled for the bounty to be completed. The bounty does not expire until the target damage is met, or a week passes – if an outlaw can defend him or herself that long – kudos. If 3 levels are required as punishment, then it is 3 levels that are lost. The victim gets the redress they can pay for. Why 3 levels max? Because currently 5 levels are risked, but that risk I believe is not consistently delivered. If this system does succeed in promoting more bounties and more regular punishments, those punishments need not be as harsh. 3 levels/bounty still means that if a player was harassing another in game with constant hits he or she could still be more effectively dropped out of range than currently.
2) The bounty hunter (BH) cannot in any circumstance be bountied.
This is almost as important as #1. This will encourage people who have not or will not PvP to try it as BH’s. The protection is key to making that happen. On the recent thread which suggested no more bountys on the BH there were a few comments indicating that if this were the case people would take up BHing. This is more people trying PvP. This is an expansion of the PvP ecosystem, not a contraction. I believe another reason the BB is dead is because BH’s have been punished heavily for doing their jobs in the past. So in game now we have on one hand a disaffected game population not bothering to post bounties because they don’t see the point, and on the other hand there are few people prepared to take on bounties as they risk being delevelled themselves as a result. It is a recipe for inactivity. The proof appears to be on the BB daily.
In this imaginary system BH’s cannot be driven off the board by counter bounties and delevelling. I believe this practice is why we do not see much in the way of independent BH’s nowadays. They are the agents of justice and as such should be protected. And again this helps to remove any unwritten rules about when and why a certain BH can be bountied and another not. An active BH population will also increase the incentive to bounty hits which currently go unanswered.
What will happen? Where is the risk going in PvP here? It is going away for BH’s sure – but in return our hardcore PvP population actually get to dance on the BB again. Do you guys really think the first inexperienced noob BH’s will be able to take you out? And if they suck and give up, why do you need to punish them further by bountying them for quitting? You have already beaten them and demonstrated your skill – which seems to me to be the point in PvP – the defeat of an active human opponent. This system increases the chance you’ll go up against them when they are hunting you. At first new BH’s will suck – but will learn the hard way at your hands, and may be tempted to switch codes! We may have two types of PvP player – the BH and the outlaw, who can switch roles when they want. Currently risk for every hit has led to a situation where experienced PvP players tell me the practice is not profitable for them, and the BB is dead in the water. Risk for all has led to inactivity and boredom for most – people are drifting away from the game. It may be time to pick your poison. A more active BB will give more opportunity for profit (depending on the imaginary pay structure – and why get into the minutiae of that if the system as a whole meets no approval here?), and more importantly increased PvP activity with new participants.
3) Guildmates can clear each other’s bounties.
The restriction can be dropped as the possibility of ‘soft clears’ is removed – the victim is in charge of the punishment, the hunter cannot be bountied, so guildmates can now clear each others’ bounties as they must perform the bounty punishment as set forth by the injured party.
Also in a game which has sadly got smaller this removes the need to have a network of allies – many of which may have retired. Your guildies can handle your business, if they can beat other BH’s to it!
4) Two new Top 250s for PvP are created: An Outlaw Top 250 is created to track those players who have lost the most levels on the bounty board, and a Lawless Top 250 to track those who evaded the posse of Bounty hunters and survived on the board for a set period of time, initial suggestion being one week.
PvP players get two top 250's (and possibly medals too) – one to show their battle scars and see who has taken the most risks and received the most punishment in their cause, the other to show PvP skill in evading punishment and being untouchable. Hence Outlaw vs Lawless. Guildmates and allies cannot post each other to the BB. This will reduce but not eliminate abuse. The fact that you have to lose levels on the Outlaw ladder should also limit abuse – even PvP players have limits to the ranges they want to drop from.
I think these ideas make the BB system clear and consistent. If you take the risk of stealing from another player then you can and will be bountied and made to pay for it. There are no unwritten rules or customs to follow – the person hit says how much retribution they want, and the bounty hunter who administers the punishment is free from counter bounty to encourage more participation on the board.
This system gives you more bounties, more players playing PvP, initially perhaps as BH’s but later they may become poachers rather than gamekeepers, and more rewards in the system via bounties. Hopefully Thievery and Master Thief enhancements can be upped to make the increased risk of retribution worth it for the PvP player. If more people play on the BB then more may become interested in the ladder. And by making the victims part of the process by having them set the punishment you remove the lingering sense of disenfranchisement that exists in those players who do not want to PvP and who feel helpless when attacked. This way they control what happens to their attacker. If the attacker can stay free for a week you have to hold your hand up and say well done. Removing ambiguity and unwritten codes of behaviour from the BB also demystifies the board – what we understand we need not fear. The whole community could become more comfortable with PvP. I’m a dreamer.
The BH medal – you would get a tick towards that not for completing the bounty as is done currently – but for doing the largest % of the desired damage to the outlaw on the board. This means competition will be had to clear the bounty and get the most damage done. Again – more people getting involved, as if you don’t make the BH tick, you’ll still get some Smasher ticks in. Will this devalue the Smasher medal? I don’t think so, but if you do – see my points on the Guild medals thread. If a titan scenario occurs where a player does 51% (if possible) and stops, then no payout is made if the full punishment is not completed – so if one BH does 51% of the damage and stops, but the outlaw survives for the rest of the week his bounty is active, then the 51% BH gets nothing. It pays to finish the job.
PvP ranges could be expanded if it is shown that outlaws are dropping levels rapidly and are not as capable of staying in a certain level range. The proof of that would be in the pudding – how it plays out.
The core of this is: have the victim set the punishment, and the BH be free of counter bounty. PvP players get more people to play with and places to be recognised, non-PvP players have some faith in the BB restored and so use it more often. More gold and FSP exchange hands via the BB. A virtuous cycle.
I know I have been talking about the need to present simple ideas to the Cows and then I vomit out this huge game altering plan. The idea would not let go. I’m sharing it.
Feel free to point out abuses/exploits. Feel free to point out why it might be unworkable. Feel free to cherry pick good sections from bad if you find some ideas more appealing. If you hate it all I’m cool with that too. Remember I don’t work for HCS and this is not on the roadmap so there is no danger of this becoming real unless everyone thought this was the best thing since sliced bread and agitated for this change to HCS (a sequence of events HIGHLY unlikely), and even then they might not do it anyway, so keep that blood pressure down! LOL!
Thanks for reading.
Edited by Belaric, 04 April 2014 - 15:12.
