Player Power; Player Alliances-Guilds
Hello folks. During the Gamescom week, Mr. Braben was asked, during question time, whether or not player alliances would ever get implemented into Elite. His answer was sort of deflecting - but a major part of why I think he is hesitant to it is because of mass player grief.
I get it, I really do - I can totally understand why he would be against it. He doesn't want his game turning into a massive troll-fest - it is bad enough that new players are ganked by bored Elite players.
However, I believe a new feature of the game could be implemented - with strict rules - to help communities grow. Currently, the only way to join a Guild, Fleet, or any other named player groups give themselves, is either through the forums or by word of mouth (luck) in the game. Being part of a player group can seriously help you grow as a player, by providing advice, having fun, and generally improving your overall experience of the game. I think it is great that events run by Frontier bring players together, along with others events run by players, such as Buckeyball Racing, etc..
However, what many players feel what is truly missing in a game is a way to "feel" like they are part of a tightly knit alliance of other like-minded players - there is no way, in game, to join a player group, as it is all un-official. Sure, you can add friends and have a massive friend's list - but there is no way to uniformly attach players.
Creating a Player Group in the game, complete with a leader who started it, has much potential.
Rules of Player Power Creation
- When creating [declaring] my Player run faction, I must choose an allegiance: Empire, Federation, Alliance.
Benefits of an allegiance:
Empire: Ship Buy Cost of Empire specific ships reduced by 2% at Neutral reputation with Player Power faction, and increases by 2% for each reputation status. Insurance costs for all Empire vessels reduced by 1.5% - Passive, non-increasing. Any loss in standing results in previous status-quo. If below Neutral reputation, you gain no net benefits.
Federation: Ship Buy Cost of Federation specific ships is reduced by 2% at Neutral reputation with Player Power faction, and increases by 2% for each reputation status. Insurance costs for all Federation vessels reduced by 1.5% - Passive, non-increasing. Any loss in standing results in previous status-quo. If below Neutral reputation, you gain no net benefits.
Alliance: Exploration data sold is increased by 25% at Neutral reputation with Player Power faction, and increases by 5% for each reputation status earned. Trading in Wings at stations increases extra credits earned by 2.5% per reputation status earned.
Independent: Exploration data sold is increased by 12.5% at Neutral reputation with Player Power faction, and increases by 2.5% for each reputation status earned. Trading in Wings at stations increases extra credits earned by 2.5% per reputation status earned. Ship Buy Cost of all ships is reduced by 1% at Neutral reputation with Player Power faction, and increases by 1% for each reputation status. Insurance costs for all Federation and Empire vessels reduced by 0.75% - Passive, non-increasing. Any loss in standing results in previous status-quo. If below Neutral reputation, you gain no net benefits.
Independent: Exploration data sold is increased by 12.5% at Neutral reputation with Player Power faction, and increases by 2.5% for each reputation status earned. Trading in Wings at stations increases extra credits earned by 2.5% per reputation status earned. Ship Buy Cost of all ships is reduced by 1% at Neutral reputation with Player Power faction, and increases by 1% for each reputation status. Insurance costs for all Federation and Empire vessels reduced by 0.75% - Passive, non-increasing. Any loss in standing results in previous status-quo. If below Neutral reputation, you gain no net benefits.
- Next, I must declare which Government type: Anarchy, Democracy, Imperial, Corporate, Communism, Feudal, Dictatorship, Theocracy.
Benefits of government:
Anarchy (Independent Bonus - see Benefits): Leader is self-declared Warlord or Warlady of his or her fleet-declared space bubble. Elections are never triggered. The leader of an Anarchy must hold the highest bounty. Once per week, the player with the highest bounty is declared Warlord or Warlady. This means that even the player who created this group may end up losing authority. In-fighting and subterfuge with alliances on the fly will be a common theme in this type of government. A Warlord may select up to twelve Henchmen or women - this clique group has further benefits.
Benefits: Improved profit of 10% when trading on the Black Market at any stations in any system that is not in Anarchy, involving: Slaves, Unknown Artefacts, Unknown Probes, Toxic Waste, etc.. - this is a standard bonus for all pilots in the Anarchy government. This bonus is increased to 50% for the Warlord, and 25% for the Henchmen or women. Henchmen or women cannot be changed until a new Warlord or Warlady is declared. The Warlord or Warlady can choose whether or not to give out higher percentage rewards - or less - the margin of affecting this bonus is 5%, and will affect the pay of the Warlord/lady or Henchmen/women. So, a Warlord, for example, may choose to lower the passive pilot bonus to 5% (thus halving the the bonus), and give him or herself a further 5% to punish disloyal pilots - or just pure greed. Alternatively, to keep loyalty, the Warlord or Warlady may choose to lower their own bonus by 15% (for a maximum bonus of 35%) in order to keep the passive 10% profit with all pilots. Henchmen or women bonuses are not affected by change.
If Government is Anarchy, and is Independent allegiance, all Independent bonuses are scrapped - in return, Warlord/lady, Henchmen/women, and regular Player Power pilots will have their baseline passives for smuggling increased by 20%, and all bounties and/or fines received are doubled in Federation or Empire systems.
Democracy (Federation Bonus - see Benefits): Elections are held once every three months. One month before the election, all players within the Player Power can choose to vote for whomever they wish. The final two candidates with the highest votes, counted a week later, must then spend three weeks seeking support from their Player Power. Once elected, the chosen player serves as President for three months, and must then select, on starting the Presidency, 12 Representatives and 6 Senators, to form a Congress. Taxes and other such laws must also have the backing of Congress - and going to War or making Peace with other Player Powers must also go to a vote in Congress.
Benefits: Democracy cannot be chosen by Imperial Allegiance Player Powers. However, if allegiance is Federation and government is Democracy, the following benefits will occur. All Allegiance bonuses are increased by 100% - this is a synergy bonus.
Imperial (Empire Bonus - see Benefits): Leader is self-declared and appointed automatically - no elections. However, every three months, all players, aside from the leader, must all take a secret vote as to whether or not the leader is good enough to continue. If there is not enough support, an assassination attempt, a coup, may be triggered - an automatic falsified bounty of 2,000 Credits will be triggered on the leader. This can only be claimed by those who voted in secret to depose the leadership, thus showing the true colours of the coup - it is a special bounty that is stuck on the unfortunate leader - suicide or being killed by random players, or by those who voted for him or her, will not clear this fine - only traitors may seek to claim this reward, and the successful pilot who tracks him or her down is therefore newly appointed by the Empire. If the leader does not log on for more than 48 hours after the coup has begun, he or she is treated as going into hiding, thus losing the leadership and the specially attached bounty. However, a coup attempt fails if the majority of players voted that they are loyal to the current leadership, and the vote is greater than that of those that voted against. As such, the appointed leader of the Imperial Empire will thus be handed a leaked list of all those who sought to depose of him or her...
Benefits: Imperial cannot be chosen by Federation Allegiance Player Powers. However, if allegiance is Empire and government is Imperial, the following benefits will occur. All Allegiance bonuses are increased by 100% - this is a synergy bonus.
Corporate: Corporate governments are led by board-rooms of business leaders and investors. The top twelve earners of the Player Power must appoint a Chairman or Chairwoman. The appointment is held every quarter. The Chairman or Chairwoman cannot be fired if the number of systems they have been trading in has received numerous Boom status'. Any and all systems that every member trades in will have an effect on the Player Power Corporate government - thus, if times are good, the Chairman or Chairwoman can hold an appointment for three months. If times are bad, which can be affected by wars, UA bombing, and other factors, this can give the board cause to fire the Chairman or Chairwoman and to appoint a new one - the number of deficits versus the number of budget surplus.
Benefits: Trading (selling) in Boom systems increases all credits earned by 100%. No bonuses are given in any systems that are not in a Boom state. Any illegal cargo sold in a Boom state does not receive this benefit - such things are left for the shady underworld.
Communism (Alliance Bonus - see Benefits) (Independent Bonus - see Benefits): All players share wealth and resources in the name of equality and equal living. No one is elected, nor can anyone be fired. The pilot that founds a Communist government is then no longer in charge of it, although he or she will have to moderate the Player Power by inviting players and giving permission to other communists to invite other like-minded individuals. In order to kick anyone out of the Player Power (to prevent abuse), at least five other players must also agree to kick the player out of the Player Power. All credits are shared equally between all players that are currently online - everything ranging from bounties, missions, exploration, trading, etc. - thus, the whole is only the some of its parts.
Benefits: All player credits are effectively split by 50/50. 50% of any money you earn is yours to keep - the other 50% is split between all other online players in the Player Power. No one person can declare a War, or make Peace, unless a majority of players vote in favour of either.
If Communism is government, and Allegiance is Alliance, increase passive Allegiance bonus by 50%.
If Communism is government, and Allegiance is Independent, increase passive Allegiance bonus by 50%.
Feudal (Federation Bonus - see Benefits) (Empire Bonus - see Benefits) (Alliance Bonus - see Benefits) (Independent Bonus - see Benefits): The founding player is King or Queen of their chosen home world (must be un-inhabited - must be terra-formable or Earth-like - must not be in Power Play areas or other Player Power bubbles - however, the kingdom cannot be moved from the planet once it has been set in stone if another royal family takes over). All players must pay taxes in the form of either goods or credits (of/or equal value of those combinations). The King or Queen may set the tax rate to whatever they deem fit. Kings or Queens may elect to promote pilots to Barons, Baronesses, Lords, Ladies, etc., whom then have greater benefits, such as hardly paying any tax rate and may seek extortion. However, several rival families must be promoted - Prince or Princesses. One Prince or Princess must be selected per 10 players involved in the Player Power (if the Player Power is below this, then the King or Queen does not have the authority to set any rate of tax). The rival families should work to keep the current ruling family in check, to avoid... an over-abundance of privilege... Once every three months, the rival families must take a secret vote as to whether or not the King or Queen should be forced to cede the throne or to assassinate. If the rival families vote to force the current Royal Family to give up their power, for whatever reasons, then it is up to the current leader (king/queen) to decide - if they do not want to go, then tough. If an assassination vote occurs, the King or Queen will receive a permanent bounty of 2,000 credits until one of the rival Royal Families destroy the pilot. If the pilot avoid conflict and/or does not log on for 48 hours, they will be deemed to have abandoned the throne. The bounty will therefore disappear.
Benefits: Feudal governments have the largest choice of any government types, and Allegiance can be specially re-chosen upon a new royal head of state taking the throne. If the same king or queen is still in power, the status quo benefit of government and allegiance remains unchanged.
If Feudal is government, and Allegiance is Federation, increase passive Allegiance bonus by 75%.
If Feudal is government, and Allegiance is Empire, increase passive Allegiance bonus by 75%.
If Feudal is government, and Allegiance is Alliance, increase passive Allegiance bonus by 50%.
If Feudal is government, and Allegiance is Independent, increase passive Allegiance bonus by 50%.
Dictatorship (Empire Bonus - see Benefits) (Independent Bonus - see Benefits): Leader is self-declared and appointed automatically - no elections. Unlike Imperial, Dictatorships cannot be toppled unless a War with another Player Power has been lost. If a War is lost or conceded by the Dictator, then a coup has a chance to occur by means of a Secret Vote. A secret vote is taken by all pilots in the Player Power. There are two types of vote with no abstain option possible: An Out-right Bloodless Coup - or Assassination. If Out-right Bloodless Coup is voted by the majority, then all the pilots involved in the voting for the Out-right Bloodless Coup are automatically hostile with those that voted Assassination (and vice-versa). This, in effect, creates two sides of opposition in the Player Power - Each player then receives a special Player-Power-wide bounty attached to their vote - those who only wanted an Out-right Bloodless Coup and those who only wanted to assassinate the Dictatorship. If the Out-right Blood Coup wins with a higher number of bounties claimed than Assassination, then the previous Dictator is re-installed as Emperor or Empress - you were unhappy with him or her, but not to go as far as Assassinating him or her. However, if, in the original vote, an Assassination is voted for, then the Emperor or Empress will have a 2,000 special credit bounty attached to them. If said Emperor or Empress is not killed within 24 hours, they are re-instated as Emperor or Empress and are treated as having evaded assassination. If he or she does not log in during this time, and stays logged in for more at least 8 hours, they are counted as going into hiding, and lose Emperor or Empress-ship of their Player Power - staying docked at any station or planetary base will result in automatically going into hiding. Docking, during this time, will count as going into hiding.
Any votes in the Secret Vote that result in an equal value will not trigger an Out-right Blood Coup or Assassination - the Head of State will then remain unchanged.
Benefits: Dictatorship cannot be chosen by Federation Allegiance Player Powers or Alliance Allegiance Player Powers. However, if allegiance is Empire or Independent and government is Dictatorship, the following benefits will occur. Empire Allegiance bonuses are increased by 100% - this is a synergy bonus. Independent Allegiance bonus is increased by 75%.
Theocracy (Alliance Bonus - see Benefits) (Independent Bonus - see Benefits): Leader is self-declared and appointed automatically on creation of the Player Power. The appointed leader is known as the Divine Oracle (to avoid real-world issues with religions and to uniformly turn them into the same force - a leader of the Player Power). Once every three months, a Holy Vote occurs - the incumbent cannot stand for re-election, but can be voted again later on down the line at the next election - in effect, you cannot keep taking office twice or more in a row. The winner is the new Divine Oracle. Divine Oracles can declare wars by him or herself without any need of any other pilot in the Player Power voting on it. They can also choose to concede wars without penalty or accept a compromise without any voting.
Benefits:
If Theocracy is government, and Allegiance is Alliance, increase passive Allegiance bonus by 50%.
If Theocracy is government, and Allegiance is Independent, increase passive Allegiance bonus by 50%.
Notes and Edits:
- As stated by CMDR SuBSynk, many do not like to choose certain Allegiances; Independent has been added as another allegiance type, and is a Jack of All Trades when it comes to benefits.
- Patronage was scrapped, as it is too similar to the Imperial government.
- Confederacy is on hold for now, trying to make it work made it too much like the others already written - and would require manipulating other Player Powers, which I'm not comfortable with.
Benefits: Improved profit of 10% when trading on the Black Market at any stations in any system that is not in Anarchy, involving: Slaves, Unknown Artefacts, Unknown Probes, Toxic Waste, etc.. - this is a standard bonus for all pilots in the Anarchy government. This bonus is increased to 50% for the Warlord, and 25% for the Henchmen or women. Henchmen or women cannot be changed until a new Warlord or Warlady is declared. The Warlord or Warlady can choose whether or not to give out higher percentage rewards - or less - the margin of affecting this bonus is 5%, and will affect the pay of the Warlord/lady or Henchmen/women. So, a Warlord, for example, may choose to lower the passive pilot bonus to 5% (thus halving the the bonus), and give him or herself a further 5% to punish disloyal pilots - or just pure greed. Alternatively, to keep loyalty, the Warlord or Warlady may choose to lower their own bonus by 15% (for a maximum bonus of 35%) in order to keep the passive 10% profit with all pilots. Henchmen or women bonuses are not affected by change.
If Government is Anarchy, and is Independent allegiance, all Independent bonuses are scrapped - in return, Warlord/lady, Henchmen/women, and regular Player Power pilots will have their baseline passives for smuggling increased by 20%, and all bounties and/or fines received are doubled in Federation or Empire systems.
Democracy (Federation Bonus - see Benefits): Elections are held once every three months. One month before the election, all players within the Player Power can choose to vote for whomever they wish. The final two candidates with the highest votes, counted a week later, must then spend three weeks seeking support from their Player Power. Once elected, the chosen player serves as President for three months, and must then select, on starting the Presidency, 12 Representatives and 6 Senators, to form a Congress. Taxes and other such laws must also have the backing of Congress - and going to War or making Peace with other Player Powers must also go to a vote in Congress.
Benefits: Democracy cannot be chosen by Imperial Allegiance Player Powers. However, if allegiance is Federation and government is Democracy, the following benefits will occur. All Allegiance bonuses are increased by 100% - this is a synergy bonus.
Imperial (Empire Bonus - see Benefits): Leader is self-declared and appointed automatically - no elections. However, every three months, all players, aside from the leader, must all take a secret vote as to whether or not the leader is good enough to continue. If there is not enough support, an assassination attempt, a coup, may be triggered - an automatic falsified bounty of 2,000 Credits will be triggered on the leader. This can only be claimed by those who voted in secret to depose the leadership, thus showing the true colours of the coup - it is a special bounty that is stuck on the unfortunate leader - suicide or being killed by random players, or by those who voted for him or her, will not clear this fine - only traitors may seek to claim this reward, and the successful pilot who tracks him or her down is therefore newly appointed by the Empire. If the leader does not log on for more than 48 hours after the coup has begun, he or she is treated as going into hiding, thus losing the leadership and the specially attached bounty. However, a coup attempt fails if the majority of players voted that they are loyal to the current leadership, and the vote is greater than that of those that voted against. As such, the appointed leader of the Imperial Empire will thus be handed a leaked list of all those who sought to depose of him or her...
Benefits: Imperial cannot be chosen by Federation Allegiance Player Powers. However, if allegiance is Empire and government is Imperial, the following benefits will occur. All Allegiance bonuses are increased by 100% - this is a synergy bonus.
Corporate: Corporate governments are led by board-rooms of business leaders and investors. The top twelve earners of the Player Power must appoint a Chairman or Chairwoman. The appointment is held every quarter. The Chairman or Chairwoman cannot be fired if the number of systems they have been trading in has received numerous Boom status'. Any and all systems that every member trades in will have an effect on the Player Power Corporate government - thus, if times are good, the Chairman or Chairwoman can hold an appointment for three months. If times are bad, which can be affected by wars, UA bombing, and other factors, this can give the board cause to fire the Chairman or Chairwoman and to appoint a new one - the number of deficits versus the number of budget surplus.
Benefits: Trading (selling) in Boom systems increases all credits earned by 100%. No bonuses are given in any systems that are not in a Boom state. Any illegal cargo sold in a Boom state does not receive this benefit - such things are left for the shady underworld.
Communism (Alliance Bonus - see Benefits) (Independent Bonus - see Benefits): All players share wealth and resources in the name of equality and equal living. No one is elected, nor can anyone be fired. The pilot that founds a Communist government is then no longer in charge of it, although he or she will have to moderate the Player Power by inviting players and giving permission to other communists to invite other like-minded individuals. In order to kick anyone out of the Player Power (to prevent abuse), at least five other players must also agree to kick the player out of the Player Power. All credits are shared equally between all players that are currently online - everything ranging from bounties, missions, exploration, trading, etc. - thus, the whole is only the some of its parts.
Benefits: All player credits are effectively split by 50/50. 50% of any money you earn is yours to keep - the other 50% is split between all other online players in the Player Power. No one person can declare a War, or make Peace, unless a majority of players vote in favour of either.
If Communism is government, and Allegiance is Alliance, increase passive Allegiance bonus by 50%.
If Communism is government, and Allegiance is Independent, increase passive Allegiance bonus by 50%.
Feudal (Federation Bonus - see Benefits) (Empire Bonus - see Benefits) (Alliance Bonus - see Benefits) (Independent Bonus - see Benefits): The founding player is King or Queen of their chosen home world (must be un-inhabited - must be terra-formable or Earth-like - must not be in Power Play areas or other Player Power bubbles - however, the kingdom cannot be moved from the planet once it has been set in stone if another royal family takes over). All players must pay taxes in the form of either goods or credits (of/or equal value of those combinations). The King or Queen may set the tax rate to whatever they deem fit. Kings or Queens may elect to promote pilots to Barons, Baronesses, Lords, Ladies, etc., whom then have greater benefits, such as hardly paying any tax rate and may seek extortion. However, several rival families must be promoted - Prince or Princesses. One Prince or Princess must be selected per 10 players involved in the Player Power (if the Player Power is below this, then the King or Queen does not have the authority to set any rate of tax). The rival families should work to keep the current ruling family in check, to avoid... an over-abundance of privilege... Once every three months, the rival families must take a secret vote as to whether or not the King or Queen should be forced to cede the throne or to assassinate. If the rival families vote to force the current Royal Family to give up their power, for whatever reasons, then it is up to the current leader (king/queen) to decide - if they do not want to go, then tough. If an assassination vote occurs, the King or Queen will receive a permanent bounty of 2,000 credits until one of the rival Royal Families destroy the pilot. If the pilot avoid conflict and/or does not log on for 48 hours, they will be deemed to have abandoned the throne. The bounty will therefore disappear.
Benefits: Feudal governments have the largest choice of any government types, and Allegiance can be specially re-chosen upon a new royal head of state taking the throne. If the same king or queen is still in power, the status quo benefit of government and allegiance remains unchanged.
If Feudal is government, and Allegiance is Federation, increase passive Allegiance bonus by 75%.
If Feudal is government, and Allegiance is Empire, increase passive Allegiance bonus by 75%.
If Feudal is government, and Allegiance is Alliance, increase passive Allegiance bonus by 50%.
If Feudal is government, and Allegiance is Independent, increase passive Allegiance bonus by 50%.
Dictatorship (Empire Bonus - see Benefits) (Independent Bonus - see Benefits): Leader is self-declared and appointed automatically - no elections. Unlike Imperial, Dictatorships cannot be toppled unless a War with another Player Power has been lost. If a War is lost or conceded by the Dictator, then a coup has a chance to occur by means of a Secret Vote. A secret vote is taken by all pilots in the Player Power. There are two types of vote with no abstain option possible: An Out-right Bloodless Coup - or Assassination. If Out-right Bloodless Coup is voted by the majority, then all the pilots involved in the voting for the Out-right Bloodless Coup are automatically hostile with those that voted Assassination (and vice-versa). This, in effect, creates two sides of opposition in the Player Power - Each player then receives a special Player-Power-wide bounty attached to their vote - those who only wanted an Out-right Bloodless Coup and those who only wanted to assassinate the Dictatorship. If the Out-right Blood Coup wins with a higher number of bounties claimed than Assassination, then the previous Dictator is re-installed as Emperor or Empress - you were unhappy with him or her, but not to go as far as Assassinating him or her. However, if, in the original vote, an Assassination is voted for, then the Emperor or Empress will have a 2,000 special credit bounty attached to them. If said Emperor or Empress is not killed within 24 hours, they are re-instated as Emperor or Empress and are treated as having evaded assassination. If he or she does not log in during this time, and stays logged in for more at least 8 hours, they are counted as going into hiding, and lose Emperor or Empress-ship of their Player Power - staying docked at any station or planetary base will result in automatically going into hiding. Docking, during this time, will count as going into hiding.
Any votes in the Secret Vote that result in an equal value will not trigger an Out-right Blood Coup or Assassination - the Head of State will then remain unchanged.
Benefits: Dictatorship cannot be chosen by Federation Allegiance Player Powers or Alliance Allegiance Player Powers. However, if allegiance is Empire or Independent and government is Dictatorship, the following benefits will occur. Empire Allegiance bonuses are increased by 100% - this is a synergy bonus. Independent Allegiance bonus is increased by 75%.
Theocracy (Alliance Bonus - see Benefits) (Independent Bonus - see Benefits): Leader is self-declared and appointed automatically on creation of the Player Power. The appointed leader is known as the Divine Oracle (to avoid real-world issues with religions and to uniformly turn them into the same force - a leader of the Player Power). Once every three months, a Holy Vote occurs - the incumbent cannot stand for re-election, but can be voted again later on down the line at the next election - in effect, you cannot keep taking office twice or more in a row. The winner is the new Divine Oracle. Divine Oracles can declare wars by him or herself without any need of any other pilot in the Player Power voting on it. They can also choose to concede wars without penalty or accept a compromise without any voting.
Benefits:
If Theocracy is government, and Allegiance is Alliance, increase passive Allegiance bonus by 50%.
If Theocracy is government, and Allegiance is Independent, increase passive Allegiance bonus by 50%.
Notes and Edits:
- As stated by CMDR SuBSynk, many do not like to choose certain Allegiances; Independent has been added as another allegiance type, and is a Jack of All Trades when it comes to benefits.
- Patronage was scrapped, as it is too similar to the Imperial government.
- Confederacy is on hold for now, trying to make it work made it too much like the others already written - and would require manipulating other Player Powers, which I'm not comfortable with.
Player Power Home World and Bubble Creation
- Home worlds are declared upon creation of the Player Power.
- System must be un-inhabited.
- They must not be in Power Play space.
- They must be Earth-like.
- Choosing a Home World cannot conflict with other Player Power Home Worlds or Bubble Space.
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This would simply give them another avenue to ruin someone's day, I don't know if it would actually *add* griefers.
