The Reaper's Mark - A Comprehensive Bounty System to Help Limit Overly Aggressive Players

  • @i-am-lost-77 said in The Reaper's Mark - A Comprehensive Bounty System to Help Limit Overly Aggressive Players:

    @jimmy-voorhees the main idea I have seen to fix this is earn notoriety in a PvP faction bounty system on turned in stolen loot. Notorious PvP player would get gold/PvP faction xp boosts while they have a high bounty and drop a large reward if killed. PvP faction npc would buy stolen loot as well as hand out bounties on notorious players in the server.

    That sounds good. I'd be down with that

  • The idea is pretty well thought out. Here are my thoughts
    "ping" so will this be a visual mark on the map that you can chance to scroll over? does this ping make an audio noise to alert people who are not looking at the map? Is there some kind of marker to let me know there is a bounty if I am looking at the map but not the area the bounty resides?
    Where would the reward come from? would it appear as a physical item or would you be able to just go to an NPC at an outpost and talk to them to get money deposited in your account and maybe a badge?
    And probably the most important question, does Rare want to implement a system where you get rewarded for killing? I am pretty sure they don't at this time.

  • Any flagging system that does not allow the person being attacked to defend them selves with they, themselves being flagged. Is dumb.

  • i like it, but i think it should be a "Black Spot" to keep it pirate themed, the reaper isn't really a 'piratey' thing

  • @scorpion667

    Hey there! Interestingly enough, the concept of the Reaper's Mark isn't unique to me. The Reaper's Mark is actually the name of the icon within the Sea of Thieves logo (the skeleton shape letter 'o' in of).

    Figured what better way to give a concept a name than to use something that already exists within the SoT universe!

    ~ Captain Jay
    The Crow's Nest

  • An excellent concept, with clever additions made from others here. Not only would it improve the PvP aspect of the game, it would encourage cooperation amongst crews more but also almost act like an impromptu Public Quest as well. Just with the added feeling of sweet, sweet vengeance.

  • I have a mark to give out now? this is news to me.

  • @i-am-lost-77 said in The Reaper's Mark - A Comprehensive Bounty System to Help Limit Overly Aggressive Players:

    @jimmy-voorhees sounded like small arms weapons not cannons that change the nameplate. But I agree there are flaws in the system like people going on board and trying to steal treasure without shooting.

    what if the mark system does not apply on a boat or when a person is carrying a chest?

    plus, in my previous suggests, damaging or sinking another player's boat would also get yourself marked.

  • The system overly penalize stealth players or quick killers. You can easily kill someone without getting hit or spotted, both at sea (i've lost the count of how many poor faces I blunderbuss'd to the stone age) and on land (brushes help, as well as quickfire and slashes).
    This doesn't mean the system should be scrapped, au contraire. I still like the idea (especially if said mark would appear on the very ship's flags), and i think that maybe, MAYBE it could be spinned as a "juggernaut" mode, where the marked get empowered and crews got to band togheter to take down the menace.

  • @galen-valorian said in The Reaper's Mark - A Comprehensive Bounty System to Help Limit Overly Aggressive Players:

    The system overly penalize stealth players or quick killers. You can easily kill someone without getting hit or spotted, both at sea (i've lost the count of how many poor faces I blunderbuss'd to the stone age) and on land (brushes help, as well as quickfire and slashes).

    This is true but I think that's why the concept in the OP of not getting "marked" right away is a good one. You'd need to be stealth killing multiple times in one session to earn the mark.

    And if you're so good at boarding and killing folks undetected that you get marked, I'd say you earned notoriety for that session anyway. Wear it with pride!

    As a mitigation you could not earn progress (or earn less progress) towards the mark if you are on board a ship with treasure, as someone else mentioned earlier in the thread.

  • @sigtric doing it once and moving on, not continually hunting the same ship/crew all over the map "just because u can"

  • @mysticdragon297 yes, THIS!

  • Sounds a bit like going rogue in the Dark Zone of The Division. I like the intent behind the concept, and agree that it could use some refinement, but overall I'd be in favor of this. I particularly like keep players names a neutral white, unless they engage in an act of hostility and they turn red.

  • "Sounds a bit like going rogue in the Dark Zone of The Division."

    I thought the same thing when i first read it.

  • Yes please!

  • @Armament-Jay Great stuff! All up for it! Except any reward system. Just a mere threat toggle.

    I say toggle because I think it needs to stay merely cosmetic and have no more incentives than we already have.
    So How about a way to toggle off the would be to have both players play a song together ? Or add each others as friends using the emote. You could reset by removing the player from friends list?
    And thus reset the nameplate to white.

  • I like the fact that you have put thought into this topic which effects a great deal of players if not everyone.
    I proposed a different possible solution to help the PVP / PVE balance, a few days ago.
    Simply give PVP players something to strive for by mean of rep. This will help both PVP and PVE coexist in the same game.

    The idea was then built upon by another player on this forum that would see the ship's title (wooden plank above the captain's quarters... when we finally get to name our ship) floats to the surface after the respective ship is sunk.
    Collecting the ship's title would then add to your new "Sea Dog" rep (or whatever they want to call it).

    However, the value of the title is a combined PVP stat / percentage of the entire crew which reflects on the ships flags in the way of colour or icon. Hell, even a number.
    The associated stat/percentage would determine how much rep is gained if victorious. The flag tells any PVP crew at a glance that the ship they are approaching is or is not worth attacking.

    Although even with all of that, I still see issues.
    Even without being the aggressive crew who initiates the attack, simply by winning the battle(s) would make you look like a fully fledged PVPer.

    I'm sorry to have to admit it, but I really don't see a fool proof way of having both game types coexist without outpost safe havens.

    Rare created this monster with half-baked ideas, it's up to them to diffuse it. They say that they are sticking to their original game plan, no safe zones.
    Before too long nobody will do quests only to have it all stolen (numbers will drop) then PVPers will have no loot to plunder (even more numbers will drop) and the game will be dead in the water.
    [sarcasm]But by all means make scars and other cosmetics a top priority, Rare.[/sarcasm]

  • I think @MysticDragon297 had it best as an addition to the original idea.

    I think PvP player violence could cause the Mark to appear on both the attacker and the defender of course. But if both parties continue in violence then the mark grows. However, if the Defender chose no more violence. Then his mark would fade completely. But if the Attacker kept attacking then his mark would get bigger and once his bounty was high enough. The map marker would take affect just as discussed. But cooldown could still be an option, just much slower.

    This way there is a system in play to allow those just defending to lose their mark quicker than a more agressive player.

  • Define “Over Aggressive”

    What is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly.

    One mans over aggression is another mans sound business plan.

    I like a bounty system. But it should be at the whim of the crew and have an actual cost attached. And no fake gold from the server. You want that ship sunk? Place your bounty. 3k? 5k? 10k?

    Just how important is it for you to see that ship at the bottom?

  • There are some really good suggestions in here - and yes, as others have pointed out, I believe the Reaper's Mark is something that should grow over time. A simple altercation with a crew wouldn't be enough to flag you immediately, but it would start to grow at this point, similar to wanted level in GTA and other games.

    Keep the ideas and feedback going!

    ~ Captain Jay
    The Crow's Nest

  • What of a player who kills one or more other players without taking damage due to sneak attacking, barrels, or just straight up skill? Hell, even a well placed cannonball at an approaching or passing ship could kill another player in one hit before they can respond.

  • @lotrmith

    You have a point, a simple altercation or two wouldn't be enough to warrant a full out Reaper's Mark but continued actions and violence could be key here. This is more in line to target 'extra' hostile players who might welcome the fact and challenge.

    Perhaps killing 4+ pirates is when the mark will start to show?

    ~ Captain Jay
    The Crow's Nest

  • @armament-jay Great idea! Would start a whole new game style. Pirate hunters :)!

  • So here's what Ultima Online was doing for this a few decades ago:

    Everyone's name is white.

    A white name attacks a white name, and the attacker turns grey.

    A white name attacks a grey name, no changes.

    If grey name attacks too many more white names, they turn red. If your name is red, you cannot enter town without being killed on sight by the guards.

    This could translate to SOT pretty easily:

    Anyone from a white crew attacks a white crew, they turn grey. Attack enough, they all turn red. Attacking the ship or the crew counts.

    Some ports have guard towers. If you are red those towers will attack you on sight, and cannot be destroyed. The shops in THOSE ports also only pay out 50% of the value of goods brought in (so there's an incentive to avoid them) but they are "safe" to some.

    Oh and sure you can attack people who are in port with you if you WANT to... but if you flip from grey to red, you might not get out a live again. Maybe toss a few guards into port too and finish it off.

  • @mrosterman That seems fair all round.

  • @admiral-rrrsole said in The Reaper's Mark - A Comprehensive Bounty System to Help Limit Overly Aggressive Players:

    @mrosterman That seems fair all round.

    This is the reason I mostly think that SOT was just released a year early. Things like "safe to visit" or "way to manage reputation" or "a freaking pause button" are all things that a modern game should at least have addressed. They're the sort of things when you get the game built and then ask yourself, "How do we grow our player base consistently and still have people playing this game a year from now when we release the next DLC?"

  • I think this would be a great addition to the game.

    Recently a sloop crew I was in an alliance with betrayed me and my crewmate and killed us with a gunpowder keg, then took all our loot and left the alliance. I think it would be great if in such a case this sloop crew would receive the Reaper's Mark simply for betraying another alliance member. Such a betrayal is nasty but within the realm of possibilities, we are pirates after all. But at least give players the option to get some well deserved revenge, as any pirate would want to have.

    In this particular case we respawned on the other side of the map with no chance of finding the sloop again. Quite a painful experience.

  • @lordflash420 come on...first post of your profile to resurrect a popular youtubers post from 4 months ago? Well, I just unsubscribed from crow's nest.

  • @violentandroid Thank you for your reply. I found this post on google. I am 82 years old and still learning the game, my grandson set it up for me. Have fun!

  • Welcome aboard @lordflash420, you have a fine grandson if he's lured you to the Sea of Thieves. You may be interested in the following clip which gives us our first glimpse of the Reaper's Mark flag.


    Just going to drop anchor on this thread as it's pasted it's use by day ;-)

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