Bounty system
I feel like this would add a lot of depth and life to the game, it would make servers more active and it would add more pirate qualities to it.
So how would it work.
My idea is basically to have a list, something like a pirate code, u encounter in taverns, of the ship and its players (I guess the update could bring the ship naming mechanic everybody wanted for ages now). The list could either be placed in the captains quarters, somewhere next to the map on the sloop, similar idea on the brig, or in the taverns and sea dog tavern. The lists would update each time a crew sinks another crew and kills their players. With the way the names would be, the people who keep killing would gradually move to the top of the list. Each time a kill does happen and the crew moves up, the letters of the ships name would get blurry, something like a riddle when you solve a clue, and would move a spot. Would be cool to see that list constantly change and feel alive.
Bounties
Everybody would start off with 0 bounty points as a fresh spawn, and could build them up to 60 bounty points. Each time you sink a ship and kill its crew at least once, it would give you 10 points. Once you sink, all of your bounty progress resets and you go back to 0 bounty points aka to the bottom of the list. After you sink 3 ships in a row, your ship would now be perma marked on the map, by a special skull mark or something alike. That’s so players can tell you apart and can see danger approaching, or perhaps alliance against you to take you down for that sweet gold.
Loot from bounties
All of us scurvy dogs love loot, what better way to earn it than by killing.
The starting gold for a ship and their crew, with 0 bounty points would be,
1000 g for a ship and 500 g for each player skull sold. The skull drop would trigger after you kill a player. What that means is basically, once you sink the enemy ship, skulls would float up, player skulls, for each individual player you killed before you sank their ship. No matter how many times you kill them after the first time, only 1 skull per 1 player, so it can’t be exploited and farmed. The skulls would have to be delivered to OOS. If you pick up the skulls of a crew that was marked on the map, your ship will become marked as long as you have the skulls on board, they will act like a reapers chest, visible to everyone. Obviously different type of marking than the mark for the ship, so the players can tell if it’s the ship or just skulls. If another crew happens to steal the skulls you earned, they will get half the amount of gold, if they turn them in. Just so it’s balanced out. You would receive gold for the ship you sank right away, as soon as it properly goes down.
Bounty growth
0 bounty points
Per skull: 500 gold
Ship: 1000 gold
10 points
Per skull: 800 gold
Ship: 1300 gold
20 points
Per skull: 1200 gold
Ship: 1800 gold
30 points
Per skull: 1600 gold
Ship: 2400 gold
40 points
Per skull: 2000 gold
Ship: 3000 gold
50 points
Per skull: 2500 gold
Ship 3500 gold
60 points
Per skull 4000 gold
Ship: 6000 gold
Commendations and titles
I feel like a lot could be done with this. Getting titles for sinking people, sinking the big dogs with high bounty points, stealing the skulls, sinking people while having player skulls on board, selling certain amount of skulls, selling certain amount of over 30 bounty points skulls, and so on. Many interesting approaches that would add life to the game and that pirate feeling. Commendations could grant you doubloons, next to the gold you get from skulls themselves, something like monthly update commendations do.
How do i know how worth is my skull ?
So I have 2 ideas for this one.
Have each skull look different/have an unique model depending on the bounty points the crew had. So for all 6 levels a different look to the skull. This would be really cool to have but would be harder to model and detail everything.
OR
Have the same skull model for every skull, no matter the bounty level but have a different title for each 6 levels. So for an example level 1 bounty would be called “X skull”and the level 6 one would be called “B skull”. That’s just pure example, could be any name really. This would be less cool than the new models idea but would be easier to work on.
I feel like this system would encourage the whole pirate/bounty hunter aspect of the game. Even if you don’t prefer to fight, you could give it a try, seeing that you don’t have much to lose, and in most scenarios, have just something gain, if you do manage to succeed. The players who love to fight and stalk ships would now suffer the consequences, by putting a bounty and a mark on themselves, so they could be taken down more easily or avoided more easily.
Feel free to give me your criticism and add anything I missed out on, or something you would like to see be added on top of my idea.
