A workable Bounty System

Or u can have a currecy for this.

U get for sinking an emissary and more for reapers.

Reapers can earn exponetially more when they sink emissarys, but their bounty does aswell. Large bounties gives loads of currecy

I always thought this should have been how allegiance should have been, but i understand why it is like this currently.

Bounty posts normally are bad, but THIS is a good idea.

IRE should be from just selling high value stolen items to reapers, not every item. So Athena chest, forture chest, ashen winds skull and ships mainifest.

Stinking and selling emissary ships of that faction. Level 5 ships getting the most IRE.

If a ship has a bounty on the server, a wanted poster appears on the quest board. Maybe with some sort of indication that its available.

IRE only reduced by collecting other bounties.

Add this.
If you lose your Flag, that adds to your bounty. No faction likes to have there faction flags lost

But if you are able to bring it back to a faction, you lose your bounty. But if the reaper sells it, XD

@d3adst1ck

I didn't want to put too many specific items in, as it kind of leads to the issue of arguing over details that can easily be tweaked and changed, and for the purposes of the idea above, the exact ways of gaining "ire" are kind-of irrelevant. The system isn't really about punishing anyone. Instead, it's about adding in another layer/reason of interaction. A bounty isn't a punishment, anymore than your emissary flag being worth more is a 'punishment' for reaching grade 5.

In the idea for the OP, each faction would have it's own set of "ire" gaining actions. Obviously selling loot to the reapers would upset the traditional 3 factions, as, after all, that was stuff THEY wanted. (Note, I say, selling loot, not stealing loot). Blowing kegs (Heck, blowing stronghold/black powder kegs) is taking $$ away from the merchants/athena's fortune.

The goal of this system is that theoretically many of the things you do will slowly build "ire" on a ship, raising it's bounty value. From a play perspective, there's a number of ways this tweaks stuff. Identifying ships on the horizon starts carrying more importance (more than simply spotting them), as any ship on the horizon could be a potential prize for the taking.

Then, of course, some players might see raising their bounty as high as possible as a goal. (Heck, there could be commendations for reaching bounty levels). Also, if you are able to clear your bounty through the special voyages, then getting your bounty up and then doing one to collect your own bounty becomes another money making opportunity.

To me, this bounty system is a foundational system that other things can tie into. This is why I feel that the specifics of what gain 'ire' are unimportant. They can be added and tweaked as necessary, or simply to change things up. For example you could add special treasures that are wanted by two separate factions can only be sold to one. Whichever you don't sell to will gain ire towards you.

@miserenz said in A workable Bounty System:

Bounty posts normally are bad, but THIS is a good idea.

Thanks! I don't like most of the ideas people float because of the issues I described in the OP.

IRE should be from just selling high value stolen items to reapers, not every item. So Athena chest, forture chest, ashen winds skull and ships mainifest.

'Ire' can come from any number of activities. Bounties really shouldn't be something people "avoid" just something people gather as they play. Heck, burning meat could be a way of gaining 'Ire' with hunter's mark. The thing is that it should be tied to the different factions, and represent ways that you are slighting that faction. It should not be a way to "punish" behaviors.

Stinking and selling emissary ships of that faction. Level 5 ships getting the most IRE.

I would say sinking emissary ships SHOULD gain ire. (See the above), whether it is the "most" is up for deeper planning and discussing.

If a ship has a bounty on the server, a wanted poster appears on the quest board. Maybe with some sort of indication that its available.

Wanted posters are a nice idea on paper, but with how easy it is to dive and switch servers these days, wanted posters and such don't really work well. That's why I've tied it to identifying a ship through the looking glass. You see the ship, you see the bounty, you aren't really hunting specific ships (again, diving makes that kind of a pointless endeavor and an exercise in frustration).

IRE only reduced by collecting other bounties.

Again, this feels like a punishment mechanic. When a player has to "work off" their bounty with nothing in return, then the bounty becomes a punishment. I know from a basic "lore" perspective it can make sense. But from a play perspective it just makes the system reek of "you are playing the game wrong, you now have to do this to makeup for it." The "Atonement Voyages" reflect that work off your bounty mentality, but by essentially letting someone collect their own bounty, it also provides incentive to work within and engage with the bounty system, and to not be afraid of earning a bounty.

Sinking ships alone should have some type of bounty that builds up the more you sink ships on a specific server.

Maybe even a system on it's own that can balance out some of the pvp in the game by say having the bounty for sinking ships only start going up if you were the one that attacked another ship, vs being the one that defended.

As an Example: Say your sailing around minding your own business and then a ship comes along fires on you and you end up firing back and sinking him. You would not gain any negative bounty points for this, but if you were the one that fired first then the system takes effect.
The more ships you sink or attack, the more the bounty climbs. Letting other players know if they sink you they get this awesome amount of loot or something.

Giving players a reason to actually attack other players that are being pirates to others.

@d3adst1ck Well then fire first.
If you only defended or attacked against that one ship that you perceived as a threat, nothing happens just a small increase in the bounty points but if keep chasing and attacking multiple ships, the bounty keeps going up like it should and that's on you.
Anyways there are ways for coding the game to indicate which one is the aggressor but thats obviously just part of fine tuning an idea like that.

@d3adst1ck Boarding ships, attacking players, taking others loot can be measured, heck everything in the game can be measured it just takes the right items to be properly setup to indicate which ones are aggressive or attacking behaviour which i am pretty sure developers know perfectly well by now what those are.
You can't be measured for doing nothing to another player so it just takes the correct items to create a proper bounty system.

@tybald While not immediately obvious, the Emissary system is actually a spin of a bounty system.

The more work you do for a faction, the longer your flag becomes. By opting to get increased reward for a faction, you don a visible mark of your value, essentially opting in to have a bounty on your head. Reapers function as the bounty hunters, are always visible, and they are highly incentivized to sell flags and stolen treasure. When they hit grade 5 they can hunt anyone down on the map as well.

I think this is the best solution tbh. Although i think it’d be cool if all grade V emissaries were marked for everyone, not just guild ones.

@d3adst1ck You are right there are a lot of factors. But let's say you kegged a ship, why would you do that? most likely out of response for them attacking (either killing you or firing on your ship) or boarding and stealing your loot without any fighting involved by them sneakily doing it the bounty would start on them.

On the other hand if you simply keg a ship when they are near by then you are considered the attacker. Which i understand can be a preemptive attack to someone you assume is coming for you.
So that's part of the risk in SOT when it comes to everything, as you never know when they will attack or not and for all we know you just blew someone out of the water when they were sailing by or were going to the same location for something else.

@d3adst1ck This argument is also irrelevant just for the fact that everything in the game most likely has been applied this way.
Whats the point of creating an alliance if you will end up attacking each other?
Whats the point of being a reaper L5 that doesn't attack others when you go about simply gathering loot?
Whats the point of the great battle for the SOT when you can fight anyone on either side in HG?

A bounty simply tells others hey this ship is sinking others a lot while giving some added level of gameplay element.
And to not make it as unfair it can have a time rollback where if you wait enough time without attacking others it will start subtracting so players can be safe again when not being the aggresor.

Anyways having a bounty in SOT nowadays means nothing as not all ships will come rushing in to confront you just like they don't do now with everything else.

@eva1977

Whats the point of creating an alliance if you will end up attacking each other?
Whats the point of being a reaper L5 that doesn't attack others when you go about simply gathering loot?
Whats the point of the great battle for the SOT when you can fight anyone on either side in HG?

Because it’s all about choice. I may choose to do any of those things above, but if I do, why should I be punished or forced into a system that disadvantages me for doing so and cannot accurately track who started what in the first place?

@D3ADST1CK is right, bounty systems are convoluted and we have a far better system in place via emissary flags already.

@equasi @eva1977
You two seem to be under the impression that a bounty system like this is designed to police player behavior and punish stuff you don't like. That isn't the point. I don't want this system to punish anyone. And, let's be honest, someone sinking you isn't all that much of a punishment if you ARE trying to use it as a punishment. Sinking is par for the course of the game, and those most likely to be affected by "bounty system as punishment" idea have already accepted being sunk as part of the day's work. It simply doesn't work as punishment/deterrent, and shouldn't be used that way.

Instead, the bounty system is just an excuse to layer another means of creating ship interactions. Ideally you WILL rack up a bounty in the course of play. Certain things (IMO) will FORCE "Ire" onto a ship. Going reaper (even for world events) will almost certainly rack up bounties from factions as you sell goods to "the rival" out there. But, that's not to punish reapers. Heck, reapers were originally created to be PVP crews. So, giving them a bounty doesn't really change much. They already have a price on their head, AND you can see them on the map if you want to go reaper hunting.

Other players? I say create dual turn-in treasures. Say a "Chest of Skulls" You can sell this to either the OOS OR GH. But, sell to one, earn ire on the other. A bounty is just something that HAPPENS. You earn the bounty, then you have a chance to cash it in through the "atonement voyage". It's risky, but it lets you go.

I think I screwed up in the OP by mentioning selling loot to the reapers. I think it's a valid reason to earn "Ire" of other factions, and seemed obvious. But it seems too many people interpret that as trying to punish PVP players or pirates being pirates. That's not the goal.

Right now, you see a ship on the horizon, you'll likely leave them alone. (Most crews I'm on go that route). But, having a high bounty might mean that other ships decide that you are worth sinking. You get sunk, your logbook gets sold to the GH, and the GH bounty is removed. You might still have a Merchant, OOS, and Athena, left, but it doesn't actually take much to remove bounties. Heck. you could just sail up empty to another ship and ask them to sink you for your bounty. It'll clear the bounty and you can move on about your life. Shedding a bounty is easy, and not intended to be punishment.

@d3adst1ck
I believe it adds an interesting layer of interaction. Makes identifying ships more important as well, and really, makes those logbooks worth something more than that one time you sink a ship that's been online for 6 hours straight.

@tesiccl Exactly the point, modes mean nothing if your just going to do whatever you please including the opposite of what a particular mode intended.

@metal-ravage

See my post above

@eva1977 tools not rules

@metal-ravage

As per the op, it's the different factions that set the bounties.

And as explained above, this is not intended to be a punishment for "playing the game wrong." It designed to just add another layer for interaction. Factions have personalities, and the ways of earning a bounty with a particular faction should reflect that personality.

Think of the bounty system as a kind of semi-permanent loot attached to your ship. You raise it by doing certain actions. You can press your luck and get it as high as you can. Then you can cash it in through an atonement voyage. However, anyone ho spots your ship can see it, and try to ink you for it.

@tesiccl
Don't get too hung up on Eva's interpretation of this system. It's entirely antithetical to the concept I'm trying to promote. It's not about determining "right and wrong" ways to play the game, and is definitely NOT intended to be a punishment.

@tybald I do like your idea of using Ships instead of players... and I think a system could work using the Quest Board.

Logistics would be crazy, especially with ships being able to dive... but basically, if your ship gets sunk, you can spend gold (Would be low, like 5000 gold) to go to a bounty board and pay to mark that ship. (NOTE: NOT on the map)

The Quest Board would then have the bounty for that ship on it, acting a bit like the skull of siren song as in everyone would be able to pick up the bounty. If that ship travels between servers it will follow them, anyone on the current server working the quest will get a "Bounty Lost" consolation starting at 1000. Any additional ships that they sink that pay for the bounty, it will upgrade the tier of the current bounty.

If the Bounty ship sinks, it will have a unique item come up, probably part of the ship's crest, and they can turn it in to any trading company for its Tier worth of gold (+Emissary Bonus).

To minimize Alliance Cheesing:
1: the Turn in Gold will be ONLY for the crew turning it in.
2: if you already placed a bounty on a ship, you can't place another on the same ship.

The Tier will be unlimited, with an exponential increase for the first 4 postings (5000, 15000, 25000, 50000, then just go up 20000 for each subsequent one).

@reverend-toast

The thing is though, that I don't think there's much of a value in vendetta bounties. There's multiple reasons. First, they are almost always put in to get revenge on a ship you couldn't beat. It's a 'punishment'. But, being sunk is a very light punishment. If you are putting a bounty on someone, it likely cost you a decent amount of treasure. Getting rid of a bounty if you know you have it, is as simple as letting someone sink you after a sell.

I honestly don't think using the quest board works well. Given how frequently you can change servers, you'd need to constantly be checking the board for new bounties. (Though, grabbing a bunch of bounties and letting them expire for free 1k is easy money). Also, there's only 5 or 6 ships on a server. Odds are that you'll go and find none, or one ship with a bounty at any given time.

This adds up to creating a system that wouldn't have the desired impact, would waste the angry crew's money, and would more-realistically probably not be utilized by the players given how unlikely it is you'll run across the ship with the bounty (before it leaves the server) AND you actually have the quest to get the bounty.

Those are all reasons why I structured my system the way I did. The system generates bounties, and simply attaches them to a ship. It's not based on "revenge" or "punishment" (though, lore-wise, it would be). Instead its just different activities that might cause one faction or another to get angry at you. There's no trying to track a bounty, it's all about identifying ships on the horizon, and when the banner shows up, you see all the bounties they have. Finally, as it's not really designed to be a bad thing to have bounties or rack them up, there's a way for the ship itself to cash it in. (The "atonement voyage")