[FLHook] Automated Bounty Plugin

[Mr.Fabulous]

I understand what you're getting at, but like it or the rules are integral to how Discovery runs...

Does thee now? I don't think th'art truly getting at--

... the current system is just as flawed as this plugin is, when it comes down to mechanics.

THERE! FINALLY, A LIGHT IN THE TUNNEL! TH'ART FINALLY GETTING AT MY POINT!

To save up on energy in explaining the crux of the issue, I implore thee to turn thy eyes on this link: [Design] Bounty Hunting in MMOs

Ask EVE. It used to have a bounty system before. People just logged in on an alt, killed themselves, then transferred the money to their main character.

So basically, putting a bounty on someone was equal to giving them money.

Hence the crux of the problem.

I personally don't see any value of NPCs within Discovery, at least outside of missions. I believe that this community is player/RP driven and NPCs only act is some side annoyance that can actively get in the way at times. A good example of this is when an NPC is shotting you because of game mechanics (rep) and then the player on the other side addresses that and shoots you for it. (Append so many times over the years)

Once upon a time, on a tabletop far far away, NPC's used to be part of the group's roleplay as either help/hindrances to the PC's. the DM would channel the story, progression and obstacles through these NPCs. The reason the DM didn't just pit the tabletop players against each other to 'foster player interaction' was that he wanted to foster a community of players that worked together against a common enemy, which was frequently NPCs.

Hence was born PvE.

As the DM's group grew and more players got into the mix, there were players who's roleplays were hindered by the strong NPCs intended for the stronger PCs. These newer, less optimized (or less competent) players implored for a way to allow their 'special' PCs to be given a fighting chance against them.

So much back-and-forth and drama was caused by these newer PCs that eventually, the DM decided to say, "Screw it! No more NPCs." This made interactions more 'player-driven', and thusly increased the PvP aspects of the game, but at the dangerous sacrifice of alienating the struggles and experiences that PvE once brought.

The Old Guard felt more and more alienated that their past epic struggles between PC and NPC were being replaced by either purely-RP guys who didn't know how to defend themselves properly (which was a bit boring without the teeth to back themselves up), or hardcore-PvPers who only gave the bare minimum of RP just to quickly get their PvP fix (which hindered not only those who had a good balance between RP and PvP skills, but also made some interactions not worth it).

Soon, one by one at first, and then it snowballed from there, the Old Guard began to quit, leaving behind the cancerous 'snowflakes' of pure-RPers and hardcore-PvPers to debate between each other, tearing the game's balance at its seems.

The point I'm trying to get at here is, every game MUST have a healthy mix between PvE and PvP. Ideally, both these modes should complement and feed off of, not hinder, each other.

To say that this game's focus is 'player interaction' is to say th'art willing to alienate an entire 50% of the playerbase from thy game, who wish to partake in struggles against NPCs, not just in missions, but in every fiber of the game.

Your 'stats' are blown way out proportion (as if I didn't already mention) to illustrate your point, but ultimately have no positive impact on my understanding of what your suggestion actually is. You mention how back in 4.85 we had '3 semi-active bounty hunter factions' but up until last month, we had three very active bounty hunting factions...

... I do think you would benefit from being less abarisive when voicing your opinion, as it can get in the way of the actual point you are trying to make (good example would be your exaggerations).

Yours-truly's 'exaggerations' are but the mere condensation of years of frustration by both the admins and devs side, and the players' side. To look at this issue from a purely-logical point of view would be ignoring the aspect that flawed systems can cause quite a bit of issue for both sides involved.

Now, I'm not saying thy /bounty concept was bad, but if 'twould only be but mere window-dressing to an already-flawed system and it DOES NOT address its root flaws, then I do believe th'art wasting thy time trying to balance something that can't be balanced without the resources to do so.

P.S. Why constantly use the word twas [Image: f05.png]

'Tis a accent of mine.