Pirate Bounties and Kill Count
Ahoy lads! I hope all are having great sails today. I come to propose an idea that, if polished right by the loyal community, could be a great addition to the game: Pirate Bounties.
Ever since the long awaited launch of SOT I’ve witnessed all kind of experiences that surpassed all the expectations I had. My crew and I have been the ruthless pirates that don’t forgive the Galleons or Sloops that mess with us, and we have also been the friends that help a struggling crew to do the Skeleton Fort and share the treasure at the end with a rough grog and a fine shanty. We have been the prosecuted and the prosecutors. And I personally think that depending on your reputation and playstyle, every great pirate deserves a bounty, hear me out:
- How do you earn them? You would earn your pirate bounty by the requirement of having all factions’ level 25; this would imply that you’re an experienced player and that you have been around long enough to know how to sail, fight and play at an averagely skilled level.
- How much would the bounty be? I don’t think I am sure how the developers would like the flow of gold to go so I can’t exactly be sure but my first thought was starting at a bounty of 250 gold per crew member.
- Would the bounty go higher? Yes. Each time you level up each faction by 5, 250 gold will be added to your bounty. This because you’re more experienced and have been around longer, making you a more dangerous threat. The total would stack up to level 50 on each faction, where you’re worth 1,500 gold. Meaning that a Legendary crew of 4 members in which all have each faction in level fifty will grant the total reward of 6,000 gold. Not too much for everybody in the server to be behind you, but not so little to be ignored.
- How would the reward be given? Sinking their ship. Since we all know that you die often defending your ship, it is not fair that you just kill them and run away. You should battle epically in the seas until you sink their ship (If you can, they are after all level 50 on each faction… Intimidating). And then go to the nearest outpost’ tavern to collect the reward and celebrate you won the battle.
- Will the bounty be always on? No. Once the enemy pirates’ ship sinks a timer will start in which you are no longer worth anything. Switching servers will not reset the bounty, however, if you gain or lose a crew member, the bounty will turn on again.
- How can I know if a worthy Pirate is in the server in order to go and hunt them? When you enter the tavern of an outpost, and you immediately face the inner left wall, you will see all the posters of the pirates that are currently in your server. It will be a poster that contains all the basic information: A picture of the Captain and his gamer tag, a list of the gamer tags of his crew (if any), how much he is worth and where he was last spotted perhaps.
- Sounds great, but what does any this have to do with kill counting? Well, there has been a long polemic about pirates that are too mean and only play the game to chase, steal and kill others (which is not wrong given that this is a pirate game after all…). I was planning that they apply a kill count, and for each kill that you have done 5 gold is added to your bounty(again I’m not sure how they want the gold to flow so maybe it would be more gold or less). This would imply that the meaner you are and the more pirates you kill, the mold gold you’re worth and the more people will like to get a reward for sinking your ship.
This is how I imagine it:
Captain Zhulu 159er, the infamous Sovereign Pirate which crew holds a 7,500 gold reward on their head, dead or alive. His crew is made out of a retired Admiral that is unequaled in the skill of navigation, a fearsome Sea Dog that doesn’t miss a shot and has a gunpowder barrel obsession, and a short tempered Bilge Rat that takes care of the dirty work. Legend has it that they join forces to sail the seas with an objective that most sailors can only dream of; Athena’s Treasure! They’re most known for having a code amongst them that is the only rule aboard: Only attack if attacked… They’re no records of pirates that dared to attack them and lived to tell the tale…
So, what do you think? Would this be cool? Would you and your crew carry a high bounty with pride? What else does this Idea need? How can we polish this?
