Pirate Flag (Electronic Marker)

[WO-One]

Posted previously in the Crime Update Discussion, but thought I'd throw it into it's own thread for a wider audience.

I'd like to see one minor change to Pirates.

In the Golden Years (?) of piracy on the high seas, pirates flew a battle flag (We call it the Jolly Roger) to let the ship they were approaching know what they were.

Yes there were reasons for this, submit, get robbed a bit and carry-on; fight and die etc.. Our pirates don't have a flag, they can have a paint job or decal but who gets close enough to see that?


So I'd propose an electronic flag, an option that can be switched on (not off) in the modules that enables them to declare their chosen role/profession and hence their intentions (Honest Piracy). It would need be broadcast and picked up by our scans and displayed as part of the ships contact details we already see.

For people that commit acts of Piracy without turning this on, it should auto enable after a number of (I don't know - 5) interdiction and robberies (possibly within a time-frame), again not be able to turn it off.

The flag would stay active even if they paid off their fines, letting everybody know what they are.

For NPC Pirates I don't think this is necessary, unless the FDEVs are able to make them act like real pirates. They interdict, they come at you shooting, they get blown out of space, they never ask for cargo or pirate us properly.

 

[CMDR i Tetsuo]

You want to permanently brand a player as a pirate? How is this "branding" removed, or would I be doomed to be forever seen as a pirate even if I only did it once but didn't inhale?
I'm pretty sure they used to lower to Jolly Roger when the Imperial Navy was around...
-
Just not sure who this "flag" is for, who it serves and what purpose it fulfils besides ostracising a section of the player base...

 

[Alvatore]

Ignoring the "what if I don't want to forever be branded a a pirate" types, what about the types who fly the pirate flag and then engage in psychotic killing?

Those "kill you anyway" types would devalue the purpose of having such a flag.

I should point out that there is a difference between being a pirate and being a killer.

 

[Thermidor]

You want to permanently brand a player as a pirate? How is this "branding" removed, or would I be doomed to be forever seen as a pirate even if I only did it once but didn't inhale?
I'm pretty sure they used to lower to Jolly Roger when the Imperial Navy was around...
-
Just not sure who this "flag" is for, who it serves and what purpose it fulfils besides ostracising a section of the player base...

What the OP is suggesting actually isnt as harsh as that, read it again, and he/she suggests that the flag is turned off after a short time.

Basically its just a extension to the wanted system , one that you cant pay off at the nearest station.


That would actually be simpler, make murder a crime that a. holds a MUCH higher bounty than 6k Cr (or whatever it is now) and b. you are flagged as a murderer for a short time after committing the act even if you pay the fine,

Your legal status should be more like a Rep status, it can change more fluidly rather than being boolean.
This would mean if you do 'it' once (even by accident) you arnt punished so much for this, but people who want to play the roll of a pirate /murderer actually play that roll, and have to live like a criminal. (dodging certain stations and police patrols.
Accidental shooting of a ship in a RES shouldn't mark you for death in the same way as a player who has killed hundreds of players / NPC for fun / cargo.

Of course the game would have to have more (better) outfitting available at pirate outposts, and said outposts would have to be more numerable. This alone could be another system wide event that could be triggered by a group of pirates (or bounty hunters) attacking a base for booty or to stop piracy in that system for a short time.

 

[Ray Watkinson]

You want to permanently brand a player as a pirate? How is this "branding" removed, or would I be doomed to be forever seen as a pirate even if I only did it once but didn't inhale?
I'm pretty sure they used to lower to Jolly Roger when the Imperial Navy was around...
-
Just not sure who this "flag" is for, who it serves and what purpose it fulfils besides ostracising a section of the player base...

...or fly one or other of the big chest full of flags kept especially for such occasions?

 

[OamodSias]

That would actually be simpler, make murder a crime that a. holds a MUCH higher bounty than 6k Cr (or whatever it is now) and b. you are flagged as a murderer for a short time after committing the act even if you pay the fine, .

Little off topic, but just to add to this: Perhaps a type of GalNet update? "Residents of X are warned of a serial killer on the lose, [insert playername] whom authorities have dubbed "[insert randomly generated alias]," is currently wanted by the police. A reward of Zcr is offered for his destruction. [insert various news fluff] We advise all residents to remain alert when travelling."

 

[Anopheles]

I like the idea of the pirate flag, but it would have to be toggled, so that shenanigans could take place. Pirate ships tended to have to choose when to deploy the flag. Too far and the ship could run. Too close and the target ship could panic and do something stupid. (Facts courtesy of 'Black Sails', btw). Pirates did not have a flag glued permanently on the mast.

 

[Thermidor]

Little off topic, but just to add to this: Perhaps a type of GalNet update? "Residents of X are warned of a serial killer on the lose, [insert playername] whom authorities have dubbed "[insert randomly generated alias]," is currently wanted by the police. A reward of Zcr is offered for his destruction. [insert various news fluff] We advise all residents to remain alert when travelling."

Ha, yes.

'The Reidquat Ripper'

 

[CMDR i Tetsuo]

What the OP is suggesting actually isnt as harsh as that, read it again, and he/she suggests that the flag is turned off after a short time.

I just read it two more times to be sure and I still don't see the bit where it states "that the flag is turned off after a short time". :S

 

[Yaffle]

Closing this as it's a duplicate.

Hello Commanders!

There's been a lot of interesting comments (thank you!) about a crime rules update we're looking at, so I'm creating a thread here where discussion can be more focused and visible.

The change we're looking at - in general terms - will be to remove the ability for criminals to pay off bounties issued against them (with some finesses to ensure that Commanders don't become wanted for an entire major faction after committing a single crime).

Instead, those Commanders will remain criminals in the system for a significant period of time, after which the bounty will become a non-expiring fine for the system (to prevent easy money-generating exploits).

To balance these more serious consequences, we're also considering activating friendly fire for player-on-player action (currently it is only in effect when Commanders attack NPC ships).

For clarity; friendly fire allows ships to deal a reasonably small amount of damage to a target's shields without a crime being generated. The actual rules are a little more complex, but this is the gist.

The idea here is that it's a little more forgiving when determining whether crime is being committed against Commanders, with a more significant response when this is the case.

Feel free to post your concerns and suggestions in this thread (with my ever-present caveat: be polite and friendly), I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Emphasis added. Making more threads causes too much confusion.