Hello everyone,
After the many complaints about PKs in the game, I was wondering what you would think of a "karma" type system in the game. Karma would penalize Player-Killers who love their jobs, while having a reward system to compensate for penalties.
I explain below.
The level of karma
I think we will all agree that PvP is an important notion in Sea of Thieves and it would be unfortunate to prevent players from becoming a marauder of the seas.
However, being repeatedly killed by overzealous Player-Killers can greatly affect the overall experience of the game. This is one of the main fears and criticisms of the game and it would be good to find an interesting solution to this issue.
So I was thinking of a Karma system to implement in the game.
Karma would therefore allow to evaluate the playing style of a player. If the player attacks too often another player or an opposing boat, he will increase his bad reputation and his "karma" will be changed.
The level of karma players could range from 0 to 100 for example. The more damage the player makes against another crew controlled by other players, the higher his level will be.
Karma can for example climb in this way:
A sword stroke = 1 point.
A pistol bullet = 2 points.
Touch with blunderbuss = 3 points.
Hit the sniper = 4 points.
Touch the player or an opposing boat to the gun = 5 points.
Wear the last shot that kills another player = 10 points.
As with Guilds, where reputation points increase players' level of reputation, here Karma points increase player's Karma level. Except that unlike the Guilds, the levels are not longer and longer to unlock, quite the opposite.
Let's say that to go from level 0 to level 1, you have to cumulate 100 points. To go from level 1 to level 2, it will only take 95, then 90 points to go to level 3 etc. Thus, the more the player hurts other players, the faster he will increase his bad Karma!
The more the player has a level of karma, the higher he will have significant penalty to return to life in case of death of the player's character.
Pay to come back to life / Take out a debt
Thus, we can consider that the level 1 of Karma will ask to pay 10 gold coins to come back to life. Level 2 will require 20 gold, level 50 will require 500 gold to return to life and the maximum, level 100, will require 1000 gold!
In case the player does not have enough money with him to come back to life, he will then incur a debt. This debt will automatically decrease each time the player earns money by completing a Guild Quest. Rather than making money, he will pay his debt with every reward.
Thus, the more the player spends time attacking other players, the more important his punishment will be in his own death. This is the consequences of acts, the karma of the player.
The Marauders Guild
For players who like to do PvP, it would also be interesting not to punish them. The worse a player's Karma is, the greater his death penalty will be. It would be interesting to have in return a reward system that values the role of the PK.
So, what do you think of a new Guild in the game? I thought about the Marauders Guild.
In this Guild, the higher the level of karma, the more it will be possible to purchase customization specific to the marauders. Thus, the more the player becomes a famous PK, the more he can buy personalization objects dedicated to the marauders.
This will encourage his desire for PvP, but the higher he climbs the hierarchy, the more he will lose money in case of defeat!
Lower your Karma level
Of course, it would be possible to lower his level of Karma in the game. By being attacked by other players, the defending players will win their turn a bad Karma, even if it is only about defend against attackers.
To increase one's karma is to be punished in the event of death, because one defends oneself, can seem unfair but it will require when the players to make a choice: to fight and to increase his karma or to flee the fight.
Thus, to avoid penalizing players who love PvP, it will be possible for players to lower the level of karma by performing a series of specific quests in the game.
In order to bring some more life to the islands, the Marauders Guild could give quests lowering the level of Karma. These quests could be the way to add new ways to play in the game, or a mix of already existing quests such as finding a NPC that has disappeared and protect him from the skeletons that attack him or chasing a renegade marauder , allowing to have new enemies as the skeletons.
These quests, once successful, will lower the karma and therefore be less penalized during a death. In addition, a PK who wants to lower his karma will then concentrate on another task than to do PvP!
Conclusion
Creating a Karma system will not penalize new players, just Player-Killers who spend their time repeatedly killing players who want to play without attacking other players. In addition, it will add a new quest mechanics and also not make the PvP too restrictive.
I do not know what you think, but it could probably bring something to the game, right ?
See you soon on the seas!
(Sorry for Google Trad')
