For those of you who are impatient, skip down to the numbered list (1-7) below, and then read the rest if it interests you / you would like context.... for the rest....
So, I have done some thought on the current crime and punishment changes being proposed. While a step in the right direction, I feel it will be ineffectual.
Here I propose a more long lasting solution anchored into the universe, that is itself an extension of what Frontier is planning...
As planned, a “hot” status would follow your ship. Being wanted would cause you to not be able to use a lot of services (including possibly even rearming and/or refueling) in the jurisdiction in question (no refueling?....yikes!).
What if in addition to ships being marked/wanted, There was a karma system attached to our characters. Before you go ape...hear me out...
The basic idea is this: how do we make meaningful “punishments” to a player. Not to make their real life miserable, but to give them an appropriate in-game “life choices / consequences” delema. A criminal, that routinely preys on helpless enemies has chosen a certain “path”, that has a different ecosystem and “career path”. While it has its advantages (like high pay to make the downsides worth it), it also carries its own unavoidable consequences/burdens. What I propose is that the pirate / criminal must go through Certain hoops to maintain his positive “balance of power”. If he fails to do so, the balance of power slowly shifts, causing the fight to be more and more “fair”. Effectively, what this does is force the player to pay for his actions in meaningful, game mechanic driven ways. Should they attempt to avoid this, ultimately they will pay for it in ship performance (which is a cost no one wants to bare!). It is not intended to change or otherwise limit the viability of any action, only to ensure that players rep the fruits that they sow (in meaningful ways that are driven by game mechanics, and not credit payments.)
This would work under the basis that while a “ship” would carry a “hot vs clean” status, commanders themselves would carry a certain “reputation”. The more positive the reputation, the easier (and cheaper) it is to obtain repairs, ammo, and maintenance. I seperate maintenance from “repairs” for a reason. (Ultimately “maintenance” could be any game mechanic frontier sees fit, in which case just substitute accordingly throughout. What I’m attempting to convey is the basic mechanic, not the specific iteration of said mechanic)
1) “maintenance” would not be repair of battle damage, but upkeep of existing parts (including engineered modules). For a commander with good reputation, this would be as simple as clicking a “maintenance” button at a station, and may even be free of charge for a well respected commander.
However, every time a commander commits an action, his reputation moves accordingly (the direction and significance of which is determined by the type (good/bad) and magnitude of said action ). This causes the price of maintenance to fluctuate significantly, in the case of criminals, prices sore, as stations don’t want to be found doing business with criminals. More importantly (moving beyond the “slap on the wrist warning of credit punishments) If it gets bad enough, the commander will find it hard to even maintain his parts—without finding underground networks and stations, perhaps having to exchange goods for services or make blackmarket deals.
Of course, a nefarious commander could forgo this, playing without any attention to the consequences he is accumulating, letting his modules fall into disrepair, but in doing so his ship will be less effective, and when he now engages a innocent trader, he may find his pray has more of a chance to escape, or dare I say even fight back (if it even has weapons). Should he encounter a equivalent ship fitted to bounty hunt, he will be at an actual disadvantage.
This assumes he has attempted to engage in criminal activity “Scott free”. Ie he hasn’t done any of the actions below, and is just trying to get a “free ride”. He has refused any of the valid methods below, and is ultimately punished with a worse performing ship. This is not an attempt to neuter said play styles, but players that try to cheat the “crime and punshment system”.
Of course, if his ship gets destroyed, he can rebuy a new one, but his engineered modules will remain in their prior state (and possibly all of his modules under a “salvage vs rebuy” scenario). So death is not the solution. He could just re-engineer it, but who wants to do that, no—better to live the life he choose, which would entail either paying penance with “good works” or spitting in the face of law and order—choosing instead to deal with black markets, and living in the criminal underground.
So just how would such a criminal underground work? Well, there would be stations that beyond just having “black markets” would be “criminal stations”. Sure they would have a black market, but also “black missions”. Again, I am not simply referring to stations that have a “black market”, but rather “criminal stations” / “underground networks”. These would operate on an “inverted” rep basis. A commander with 100% (angelic) rep, would find it impossible to get services in these underground stations. They would not trust such a commander at face value, and require him to “prove himself” by engaging in overtly illegal activity. Similar to a gangster telling a new member to prove himself by killing someone—knowing a cop wouldn’t do such a thing. While the criminal likewise can’t get service in a “lawful” station until rehabilitated, a “reputable citizen” would have a hard time getting services in these criminal networks until vesting themself to a point in the criminal lifestyle (Ie dropping their rep)
This would create a game mechanic where in there are perks / rewards for each chosen play style / career. In the simplest form, this would just be a way to force criminals to engage in certain activities, or travel to certain areas to refuel/repair/do maintenance/outfit etc. in a more extreme implimentation—different careers could actually have access to different perks and Equipment. While someone could try to cheat the system by “pretending” to be good (or bad) to get said perk, this Equipment would become degraded and ultimately pointless unless they keep it in good repair—something that would be impossible should their “karma” change sides, disallowing them access to the respective “lawful/criminal” stations services.
Coming back to the example of crime and punshiment...For the criminal... the mechanic will maintain your ship, but he wants something in return. Maybe it is an exorbitant fee (for a 0 to -40 rep at a “lawful” station), comparable to the risk he is taking dealing with you, or maybe he just wants you to steal some rare items for him, or assassinate a competitor (at a “unlawful” station).
The result? Those who chose to engage in crime are “punished” but in a way in keeping with the universe. Crime is a legitimate career path in elite, but akin to choosing the light vs dark side in knights of the old republic games, choices and career paths bare consequences. If you want to level up your dark side, you will find yourself a weak Jedi, and visa versa.
Likewise, if you want to engage in crime—that’s fine, but you will be going down a path that has a different progression system, namely different tasks, at different stations, at different costs (be those costs credits or just effort).
That’s not to say you can’t land anywhere, but the services will be more and more limited, depending on the station (lawful or criminal). If the scale was -100 (evil) to +100 (saint). Perhaps ALL services are available at ANY station from -25 - +25. With slight perks at “AFFILIATED” stations and slight limitations in “OPPOSING” stations for rep -26 to -40 or +26 to +40 as it pertains. With LIMITED but essential services at OPPOSING station and incrementing perks at affiliated stations from -41 - -80 and +41 - +80, with a tapering service BAN at OPPOSING stations and “saintly” or “dark” perks as applicable for reputation <-80 or >+80
Essentially, there are 7 large classes of players
1) -25 to +25. The “undecided”— mass audience, tinkering in various play styles. Without a “hardened” play style / career choice. They have the widest availability of services, with no limitation of necessary activities (refuel/ammo/repair/maintenance/trade/missions/passengers/etc), but also lack any significant benefits or perks. They are effectively in specialized, jack of all trade players.
2) +26 to +40. The “light leaning” players. These players have been making a concerted effort to choose “noble” activities. They begin to have slight restrictions in the criminal underground (which has taken note of their behavior), but enjoy improved perks in lawful stations. They have a tendency tords the light—with its associated perks, it don’t want to forgo the benefits of the criminal underground completely....
3) +41 to +80. These players have chosen the “light path”. These players are examples to the lawful galaxy, enjoying positive reputation, and the many perks that go with it. However, as such they have forgone access to all but the most basic of “criminal underworld” services. They maybe able to refuel their ship without being linched, but they better watch their back while doing so.
4)>+80 The “hardened saints”. These do-gooders uphold the law at every turn, shunning unscrupulous behavior as a matter of principle. They enjoy the highest perks the lawful galaxy has to offer, but in exchange can not set foot in a criminal underground facility if they want to live to tell about it.
5) -26 to -40. “Dark leaning” players. These players have been making a concerted effort to choose “dishonerable” activities. They begin to have slight restrictions at lawful stations (which has taken note of their behavior), but enjoy improved perks in the criminal underground stations. They have a tendency tords the dark—with its associated perks, it don’t want to forgo the benefits of engaging with law abiding citizens completely....
6) -41 to -80 These players have chosen the “dark path”. These players have garnished fear and respect from criminals around the galaxy, enjoying their reputation, and the many perks that go with it. However, as such they have forgone access to all but the most basic of services at lawful stations. They maybe able to refuel their ship without being imprisioned (assuming they are not scanned in a hot ship...) but they better watch their back while doing so, watchful commanders may just scan their identity and follow them closely to ensure they don’t resort to their nepharious ways...
7) 5) <-80 The “mob bosses”. These pathological sociopaths trample the law at every turn, shunning upstanding behavior as a matter of principle. They enjoy the highest perks the criminal underground has to offer, but in exchange can not set foot in a lawful facility if they want to live to tell about it.
For all but the most anchored players, they can go anywhere. But for those who choose persistent / habitual behavior they begin to have limitations in where they can get certain services or missions ( while also bestowing benefits in the stations they CAN). They prefer to trade free access to all stations services, for premium access/attention at the lawful (or unlawful) stations as their career choices dictate.
Backing up then...If you, as a criminal, therefore attempt to refuse the reality your choices have brought you to, you will pay the cost of your modules working at less than optimum capacity. This will balance your engagements, making your prey more resiliant, and your predators more deadly. At some point, those criminals that fail to address the consequences of their actions will have more neutered ships. This will create the drive to force players to own up to their actions, in one of the ways below, or face the defacto punishment of degrading modules. Players either turn from their ways, or embrace their choices and seek out game mechanics to support them outside the civilized world to avoid the “default” punshiment of degrading modules.
The 4 ways said criminal can undue / get arround this issue are:
1) pay maintenance costs. These costs are higher the lower ones rep. At high reps (40+) it is virtually, if not totally, free. While these costs increase exponentially from +40 to -40, with the ability to even lawfully Obtain said maintenance neigh impossible at lawful stations.
2) Buy a new ship and re-engineer the modules that were previously engineered. (note—I said buy a new ship, not “rebuy his ship”. Rebuys from death would not resolve the issue. (Perhaps “salvage ship” and “rebuy ship” would be more clear/consistent verbiage.) even still, buying a new ship would not be the biggest deterrent—having to re-engineer would be. The forced rebuy would act as a de facto fine. (The criminal put in significant effort to “work around” the penalty. It wasn’t free, and it wasn’t “easy” (like paying a fine that is meaningless to his/her bankroll.) this is a “brute force / “grinding” solution. One not many players are likely to want to engage in, but one avenue...
Of note: As criminals gain notariety in underground networks, can begin to buy “hot ships”, eliminating this “undecided criminal” penalty of being forced to buy full cost rebuys / re-engineer their ship. Any engineered modules that the player had lost would have the blueprints stored away, and they could get it duplicated in the criminal underground—but only once they achieved a low enough rep (or high enough criminal rank if you prefer), but in so doing they are committing themselves to a more negative rep, and the “criminal underworld”. They are exchanging one penalty (high rebuy / grind for engineered modules) for another (more limited access to lawful stations). Alternatively they could gain positive rep, and rebuild the modules legally , / pay maitnance fee—players choice. (again, any “lost” modules where the player died and couldn’t immediately replace an engineered module have the blueprints stored, and can be replaced when conditions are met.)
2) build back “good karma” to improve the reputation to a point that stations will begin working with the commander again / cheaper. This could be accomplished in lots of ways: turn in bounty vouchers (for those pro pvp/pve) doing missions for factions, completing trade runs / selling legally obtained materials to stations, etc. all these things would give good rep, and make stations now work with you more freely. (The criminal essentially paid their debt to society through community service), and can reinstitute their ship per above.
3) simply accept the life he has chosen, and sink deeper into the abyss. Like a true sith, this player embraces the dark side. Per the note from #2 above, He seeks to gain rep with underground / secret stations located in astroid fields and other “off the beaten path”. Often at long ls travel distances from the star. He actively attempts to “level up” in the “dark side” (so to speak). While this doesn’t eliminate his punshiment, it does shift it according to his play style. Sure, he can now rebuy his ships on the cheap again (buying “hot ships/modules” off the black market, and get access to more “underground services”), but said modules are used and abused, and degrade faster than new /maitnance modules, and require more fequent maitnance/replacement. Further, it makes it hard to neigh impossible for him to deal with reputable stations, it gives him “renown” in criminal circles at the expense of the greater galaxy. While he cannot access the services of normal stations, he actually gets PERFERRED status at criminal / underground stations. Perhaps he can achieve move lucrative assassination missions, or can more easily / cheaply maintain said modules (albeit only at underground stations). However, in so doing these underground stations are, again, “off the beaten path”, and carries the lack of any lawful perksk. The criminal must, therefore carefully weigh his engagements, as damage takes time to repair—possibly a several system jump, or just a 1500 ls travel time to the underground station. Further, due to his faster modular degradation, prolonged fights or frequent engagements wear and tear his equipment faster, given him decreasing performance....
Let’s think about this for a moment, and the ramifications of this. First for the criminal, and second (very briefly) for the “innocent” player he may come across....
While numbers are arbitrary, let’s assume 100 = “guardian angel / 100% “good” and -100 = “devils advocate / 100% “bad”.
Also note, changes should be more gradual than this, I’m giving an abbreviated example using large jumps in numbers, but excessive actions should more strongly “anchor” the respect level than this simple example would imply.
1) highly respected commander decides to dabble in pirating. His respect level drops from a saintly 97 to 93. No biggie. No real consequence, beyond the normal wanted status / fine, and maybe a hot ship (which he may just designate as his criminal ship)
He again dabbles in piracy, this time murdering his victim. Respect goes from 93 to 50. Ouch. Murder carries weight. Had it been a simple steal job, maybe 93-89, but not murder...the commander notices it costs him twice as much for ammo and fuel and repairs as he is accustomed to, and while his “maitnance” fees were free before, he now feels the pain of paying as much for maintenance as for “repairs”. Ugh, no matter, he has 2 billion in credits—drop in the bucket! More importantly, Given he has fallen below the “+80” threshold, he now has lost his “saintly” perks at lawful stations, although he can now get “limited” services at underground networks.
He decides he wants some pvp action, and decides to log into open. Engaging in some nice piracy, and ultimately murdering the human commander. At this, his respect/reputation plummets down to 0. Still “neutral” but a far cry from his status as an upstanding citizen recently. While all basic services are still available at lawful stations, he starts to notice prices going up significantly to achieve them. He has lost all of his “upstanding citizen” discounts.
The player misses his “saintly perks”, and cheaper ship rebuys, with cheaper ammo/repairs/etc, but figures he has come this far, and might as well explore “the dark side” a little more.
Committing several more pirate runs, and caught smuggling once or twice the commander finds himself at an uncomfortable -30 rep. This limits him significantly at lawful stations. While he can refuel, and repair/rearm, he does so at significant cost when using lawful stations. Further, he lawful stations refuse to give him modular maintenance without charging millions of credits, with some refusing outright! Ugh. So now his pulse lasers have slightly less damage output, his thrusters and shields are slightly less effective, etc.
He is faced with a choice....does he suck it up and pay exorbitant maitnance costs, rebuild his positive rep by going after some bounties/engaging in upstanding behavior, or...he could turn to the dark side and seek to subvert the authorities further...
Well, he just spilt his McDonald’s fries all over the floor, so that answers that...he chooses to rob and kill a random ship that got in his way, plunging his reputation to -50.
Firmly on the dark path now, he is lucky to get his ship refueled at a law-abiding station these days. While he is in a “clean” ship, bounty hunters seem to trail him around, lurking in wait to see what he will do, like parole officers. But, he doesn’t care. While he can’t maitnance his modules anymore legally, he is able to do it (albeit at a high cost) in the underground. He has access to buy hot ships and modules on the black market, and can even rebuild his salvaged engineered ship modules. True, this means he is doomed to be in a “hot” ship everywhere he goes (so long as said ship was purchase on the black market), but that is the life he is happy with—preying on the weak, while running from bounty hunters and police. He has to time his attacks, given the time and effort it takes him to seek out underground networks to repair / refuel/resupply—but most of his targets are poorly armed traders anyway—so it works. That said, just as well to threaten them into dumping their cargo and not risk having to make a resupply/repair trip for nothing...just don’t give him an excuse...
He aspires to be a mob boss, where he can finally start to stop paying exorbitant fees, although he will still have to bare the perpetual shame and constantly evade authorities—but that’s the thug life...
2) for the “innocent” victims he may come across...if the “criminal” is generally a law abiding citizen, with good rep, and just engaging in a “crime of passion”, the effect will be non-existent.
If the “criminal” has displayed a pattern of such behavior, but has been attempting to skip out on paying his dues—the innocent individual will find the criminal has degraded modules, given the “innocent” player a fighting chance to survive / escape / fight back—even to an otherwise superior ship.
Should the “criminal” be invested in their criminal behavior (Ie they are jumping through all the criminal activities needed to maintain their ship on the underground market, and successfully evading authorities, this encounter is like any other. Except that the innocent person has on their side 1) time. The criminals stolen/hot modules, poorly maintained will generally degrade faster. They criminal has power on his side, but the innocent victim has time. Further, the criminal has to deal with high costs / time investment to restock/supply/fuel. As such, the innocent victim may be able to parlay an agreement for his life.
So what’s the point? Why do I feel this is a better system?
Well, for one—it introduces new gameplay mechanics. I have learned that the elite dangerous community is EXTREMELY passionate and often single minded in their interpretation of what this game “should be”. As such, I don’t expect everyone to agree with this, actually—I’ve learned to expect a lot of dissent. The important thing to note, however, is this is NOT about forcing a style or mode of game play. It’s NOT about saying, “if you play like this—your going to suffer!” It’s about saying, “if this is your play style, then THESE punishments are more up your ally. If THIS is your play style, then THESE punishments are more for you.” It’s about making the game MORE FUN, and MORE ENGAGING for EVERYONE. By introducing meaningful gameplay mechanics.
The manner that these mechanics manifest is up for debate. What I have here is a general concept / outline, but it could take any number of forms. The point isn’t the specific implementation (I’m sure we can poke holes on ways it would falter or be exploitited. So take a breath) the point is to see if we, as a community can agree that more meaningful gameplay mechanics that guide things like ”crime and punishment” are something we desire, or if we just want the same old “crime committed, pay a fine or else”.
I welcome meaningful dialogue. I’m not set in my thoughts, and love seeing other points of view I haven’t thought about—let’s engage and see if we can get frontier to engage with us!
So, I have done some thought on the current crime and punishment changes being proposed. While a step in the right direction, I feel it will be ineffectual.
Here I propose a more long lasting solution anchored into the universe, that is itself an extension of what Frontier is planning...
As planned, a “hot” status would follow your ship. Being wanted would cause you to not be able to use a lot of services (including possibly even rearming and/or refueling) in the jurisdiction in question (no refueling?....yikes!).
What if in addition to ships being marked/wanted, There was a karma system attached to our characters. Before you go ape...hear me out...
The basic idea is this: how do we make meaningful “punishments” to a player. Not to make their real life miserable, but to give them an appropriate in-game “life choices / consequences” delema. A criminal, that routinely preys on helpless enemies has chosen a certain “path”, that has a different ecosystem and “career path”. While it has its advantages (like high pay to make the downsides worth it), it also carries its own unavoidable consequences/burdens. What I propose is that the pirate / criminal must go through Certain hoops to maintain his positive “balance of power”. If he fails to do so, the balance of power slowly shifts, causing the fight to be more and more “fair”. Effectively, what this does is force the player to pay for his actions in meaningful, game mechanic driven ways. Should they attempt to avoid this, ultimately they will pay for it in ship performance (which is a cost no one wants to bare!). It is not intended to change or otherwise limit the viability of any action, only to ensure that players rep the fruits that they sow (in meaningful ways that are driven by game mechanics, and not credit payments.)
This would work under the basis that while a “ship” would carry a “hot vs clean” status, commanders themselves would carry a certain “reputation”. The more positive the reputation, the easier (and cheaper) it is to obtain repairs, ammo, and maintenance. I seperate maintenance from “repairs” for a reason. (Ultimately “maintenance” could be any game mechanic frontier sees fit, in which case just substitute accordingly throughout. What I’m attempting to convey is the basic mechanic, not the specific iteration of said mechanic)
1) “maintenance” would not be repair of battle damage, but upkeep of existing parts (including engineered modules). For a commander with good reputation, this would be as simple as clicking a “maintenance” button at a station, and may even be free of charge for a well respected commander.
However, every time a commander commits an action, his reputation moves accordingly (the direction and significance of which is determined by the type (good/bad) and magnitude of said action ). This causes the price of maintenance to fluctuate significantly, in the case of criminals, prices sore, as stations don’t want to be found doing business with criminals. More importantly (moving beyond the “slap on the wrist warning of credit punishments) If it gets bad enough, the commander will find it hard to even maintain his parts—without finding underground networks and stations, perhaps having to exchange goods for services or make blackmarket deals.
Of course, a nefarious commander could forgo this, playing without any attention to the consequences he is accumulating, letting his modules fall into disrepair, but in doing so his ship will be less effective, and when he now engages a innocent trader, he may find his pray has more of a chance to escape, or dare I say even fight back (if it even has weapons). Should he encounter a equivalent ship fitted to bounty hunt, he will be at an actual disadvantage.
This assumes he has attempted to engage in criminal activity “Scott free”. Ie he hasn’t done any of the actions below, and is just trying to get a “free ride”. He has refused any of the valid methods below, and is ultimately punished with a worse performing ship. This is not an attempt to neuter said play styles, but players that try to cheat the “crime and punshment system”.
Of course, if his ship gets destroyed, he can rebuy a new one, but his engineered modules will remain in their prior state (and possibly all of his modules under a “salvage vs rebuy” scenario). So death is not the solution. He could just re-engineer it, but who wants to do that, no—better to live the life he choose, which would entail either paying penance with “good works” or spitting in the face of law and order—choosing instead to deal with black markets, and living in the criminal underground.
So just how would such a criminal underground work? Well, there would be stations that beyond just having “black markets” would be “criminal stations”. Sure they would have a black market, but also “black missions”. Again, I am not simply referring to stations that have a “black market”, but rather “criminal stations” / “underground networks”. These would operate on an “inverted” rep basis. A commander with 100% (angelic) rep, would find it impossible to get services in these underground stations. They would not trust such a commander at face value, and require him to “prove himself” by engaging in overtly illegal activity. Similar to a gangster telling a new member to prove himself by killing someone—knowing a cop wouldn’t do such a thing. While the criminal likewise can’t get service in a “lawful” station until rehabilitated, a “reputable citizen” would have a hard time getting services in these criminal networks until vesting themself to a point in the criminal lifestyle (Ie dropping their rep)
This would create a game mechanic where in there are perks / rewards for each chosen play style / career. In the simplest form, this would just be a way to force criminals to engage in certain activities, or travel to certain areas to refuel/repair/do maintenance/outfit etc. in a more extreme implimentation—different careers could actually have access to different perks and Equipment. While someone could try to cheat the system by “pretending” to be good (or bad) to get said perk, this Equipment would become degraded and ultimately pointless unless they keep it in good repair—something that would be impossible should their “karma” change sides, disallowing them access to the respective “lawful/criminal” stations services.
Coming back to the example of crime and punshiment...For the criminal... the mechanic will maintain your ship, but he wants something in return. Maybe it is an exorbitant fee (for a 0 to -40 rep at a “lawful” station), comparable to the risk he is taking dealing with you, or maybe he just wants you to steal some rare items for him, or assassinate a competitor (at a “unlawful” station).
The result? Those who chose to engage in crime are “punished” but in a way in keeping with the universe. Crime is a legitimate career path in elite, but akin to choosing the light vs dark side in knights of the old republic games, choices and career paths bare consequences. If you want to level up your dark side, you will find yourself a weak Jedi, and visa versa.
Likewise, if you want to engage in crime—that’s fine, but you will be going down a path that has a different progression system, namely different tasks, at different stations, at different costs (be those costs credits or just effort).
That’s not to say you can’t land anywhere, but the services will be more and more limited, depending on the station (lawful or criminal). If the scale was -100 (evil) to +100 (saint). Perhaps ALL services are available at ANY station from -25 - +25. With slight perks at “AFFILIATED” stations and slight limitations in “OPPOSING” stations for rep -26 to -40 or +26 to +40 as it pertains. With LIMITED but essential services at OPPOSING station and incrementing perks at affiliated stations from -41 - -80 and +41 - +80, with a tapering service BAN at OPPOSING stations and “saintly” or “dark” perks as applicable for reputation <-80 or >+80
Essentially, there are 7 large classes of players
1) -25 to +25. The “undecided”— mass audience, tinkering in various play styles. Without a “hardened” play style / career choice. They have the widest availability of services, with no limitation of necessary activities (refuel/ammo/repair/maintenance/trade/missions/passengers/etc), but also lack any significant benefits or perks. They are effectively in specialized, jack of all trade players.
2) +26 to +40. The “light leaning” players. These players have been making a concerted effort to choose “noble” activities. They begin to have slight restrictions in the criminal underground (which has taken note of their behavior), but enjoy improved perks in lawful stations. They have a tendency tords the light—with its associated perks, it don’t want to forgo the benefits of the criminal underground completely....
3) +41 to +80. These players have chosen the “light path”. These players are examples to the lawful galaxy, enjoying positive reputation, and the many perks that go with it. However, as such they have forgone access to all but the most basic of “criminal underworld” services. They maybe able to refuel their ship without being linched, but they better watch their back while doing so.
4)>+80 The “hardened saints”. These do-gooders uphold the law at every turn, shunning unscrupulous behavior as a matter of principle. They enjoy the highest perks the lawful galaxy has to offer, but in exchange can not set foot in a criminal underground facility if they want to live to tell about it.
5) -26 to -40. “Dark leaning” players. These players have been making a concerted effort to choose “dishonerable” activities. They begin to have slight restrictions at lawful stations (which has taken note of their behavior), but enjoy improved perks in the criminal underground stations. They have a tendency tords the dark—with its associated perks, it don’t want to forgo the benefits of engaging with law abiding citizens completely....
6) -41 to -80 These players have chosen the “dark path”. These players have garnished fear and respect from criminals around the galaxy, enjoying their reputation, and the many perks that go with it. However, as such they have forgone access to all but the most basic of services at lawful stations. They maybe able to refuel their ship without being imprisioned (assuming they are not scanned in a hot ship...) but they better watch their back while doing so, watchful commanders may just scan their identity and follow them closely to ensure they don’t resort to their nepharious ways...
7) 5) <-80 The “mob bosses”. These pathological sociopaths trample the law at every turn, shunning upstanding behavior as a matter of principle. They enjoy the highest perks the criminal underground has to offer, but in exchange can not set foot in a lawful facility if they want to live to tell about it.
For all but the most anchored players, they can go anywhere. But for those who choose persistent / habitual behavior they begin to have limitations in where they can get certain services or missions ( while also bestowing benefits in the stations they CAN). They prefer to trade free access to all stations services, for premium access/attention at the lawful (or unlawful) stations as their career choices dictate.
Backing up then...If you, as a criminal, therefore attempt to refuse the reality your choices have brought you to, you will pay the cost of your modules working at less than optimum capacity. This will balance your engagements, making your prey more resiliant, and your predators more deadly. At some point, those criminals that fail to address the consequences of their actions will have more neutered ships. This will create the drive to force players to own up to their actions, in one of the ways below, or face the defacto punishment of degrading modules. Players either turn from their ways, or embrace their choices and seek out game mechanics to support them outside the civilized world to avoid the “default” punshiment of degrading modules.
The 4 ways said criminal can undue / get arround this issue are:
1) pay maintenance costs. These costs are higher the lower ones rep. At high reps (40+) it is virtually, if not totally, free. While these costs increase exponentially from +40 to -40, with the ability to even lawfully Obtain said maintenance neigh impossible at lawful stations.
2) Buy a new ship and re-engineer the modules that were previously engineered. (note—I said buy a new ship, not “rebuy his ship”. Rebuys from death would not resolve the issue. (Perhaps “salvage ship” and “rebuy ship” would be more clear/consistent verbiage.) even still, buying a new ship would not be the biggest deterrent—having to re-engineer would be. The forced rebuy would act as a de facto fine. (The criminal put in significant effort to “work around” the penalty. It wasn’t free, and it wasn’t “easy” (like paying a fine that is meaningless to his/her bankroll.) this is a “brute force / “grinding” solution. One not many players are likely to want to engage in, but one avenue...
Of note: As criminals gain notariety in underground networks, can begin to buy “hot ships”, eliminating this “undecided criminal” penalty of being forced to buy full cost rebuys / re-engineer their ship. Any engineered modules that the player had lost would have the blueprints stored away, and they could get it duplicated in the criminal underground—but only once they achieved a low enough rep (or high enough criminal rank if you prefer), but in so doing they are committing themselves to a more negative rep, and the “criminal underworld”. They are exchanging one penalty (high rebuy / grind for engineered modules) for another (more limited access to lawful stations). Alternatively they could gain positive rep, and rebuild the modules legally , / pay maitnance fee—players choice. (again, any “lost” modules where the player died and couldn’t immediately replace an engineered module have the blueprints stored, and can be replaced when conditions are met.)
2) build back “good karma” to improve the reputation to a point that stations will begin working with the commander again / cheaper. This could be accomplished in lots of ways: turn in bounty vouchers (for those pro pvp/pve) doing missions for factions, completing trade runs / selling legally obtained materials to stations, etc. all these things would give good rep, and make stations now work with you more freely. (The criminal essentially paid their debt to society through community service), and can reinstitute their ship per above.
3) simply accept the life he has chosen, and sink deeper into the abyss. Like a true sith, this player embraces the dark side. Per the note from #2 above, He seeks to gain rep with underground / secret stations located in astroid fields and other “off the beaten path”. Often at long ls travel distances from the star. He actively attempts to “level up” in the “dark side” (so to speak). While this doesn’t eliminate his punshiment, it does shift it according to his play style. Sure, he can now rebuy his ships on the cheap again (buying “hot ships/modules” off the black market, and get access to more “underground services”), but said modules are used and abused, and degrade faster than new /maitnance modules, and require more fequent maitnance/replacement. Further, it makes it hard to neigh impossible for him to deal with reputable stations, it gives him “renown” in criminal circles at the expense of the greater galaxy. While he cannot access the services of normal stations, he actually gets PERFERRED status at criminal / underground stations. Perhaps he can achieve move lucrative assassination missions, or can more easily / cheaply maintain said modules (albeit only at underground stations). However, in so doing these underground stations are, again, “off the beaten path”, and carries the lack of any lawful perksk. The criminal must, therefore carefully weigh his engagements, as damage takes time to repair—possibly a several system jump, or just a 1500 ls travel time to the underground station. Further, due to his faster modular degradation, prolonged fights or frequent engagements wear and tear his equipment faster, given him decreasing performance....
Let’s think about this for a moment, and the ramifications of this. First for the criminal, and second (very briefly) for the “innocent” player he may come across....
While numbers are arbitrary, let’s assume 100 = “guardian angel / 100% “good” and -100 = “devils advocate / 100% “bad”.
Also note, changes should be more gradual than this, I’m giving an abbreviated example using large jumps in numbers, but excessive actions should more strongly “anchor” the respect level than this simple example would imply.
1) highly respected commander decides to dabble in pirating. His respect level drops from a saintly 97 to 93. No biggie. No real consequence, beyond the normal wanted status / fine, and maybe a hot ship (which he may just designate as his criminal ship)
He again dabbles in piracy, this time murdering his victim. Respect goes from 93 to 50. Ouch. Murder carries weight. Had it been a simple steal job, maybe 93-89, but not murder...the commander notices it costs him twice as much for ammo and fuel and repairs as he is accustomed to, and while his “maitnance” fees were free before, he now feels the pain of paying as much for maintenance as for “repairs”. Ugh, no matter, he has 2 billion in credits—drop in the bucket! More importantly, Given he has fallen below the “+80” threshold, he now has lost his “saintly” perks at lawful stations, although he can now get “limited” services at underground networks.
He decides he wants some pvp action, and decides to log into open. Engaging in some nice piracy, and ultimately murdering the human commander. At this, his respect/reputation plummets down to 0. Still “neutral” but a far cry from his status as an upstanding citizen recently. While all basic services are still available at lawful stations, he starts to notice prices going up significantly to achieve them. He has lost all of his “upstanding citizen” discounts.
The player misses his “saintly perks”, and cheaper ship rebuys, with cheaper ammo/repairs/etc, but figures he has come this far, and might as well explore “the dark side” a little more.
Committing several more pirate runs, and caught smuggling once or twice the commander finds himself at an uncomfortable -30 rep. This limits him significantly at lawful stations. While he can refuel, and repair/rearm, he does so at significant cost when using lawful stations. Further, he lawful stations refuse to give him modular maintenance without charging millions of credits, with some refusing outright! Ugh. So now his pulse lasers have slightly less damage output, his thrusters and shields are slightly less effective, etc.
He is faced with a choice....does he suck it up and pay exorbitant maitnance costs, rebuild his positive rep by going after some bounties/engaging in upstanding behavior, or...he could turn to the dark side and seek to subvert the authorities further...
Well, he just spilt his McDonald’s fries all over the floor, so that answers that...he chooses to rob and kill a random ship that got in his way, plunging his reputation to -50.
Firmly on the dark path now, he is lucky to get his ship refueled at a law-abiding station these days. While he is in a “clean” ship, bounty hunters seem to trail him around, lurking in wait to see what he will do, like parole officers. But, he doesn’t care. While he can’t maitnance his modules anymore legally, he is able to do it (albeit at a high cost) in the underground. He has access to buy hot ships and modules on the black market, and can even rebuild his salvaged engineered ship modules. True, this means he is doomed to be in a “hot” ship everywhere he goes (so long as said ship was purchase on the black market), but that is the life he is happy with—preying on the weak, while running from bounty hunters and police. He has to time his attacks, given the time and effort it takes him to seek out underground networks to repair / refuel/resupply—but most of his targets are poorly armed traders anyway—so it works. That said, just as well to threaten them into dumping their cargo and not risk having to make a resupply/repair trip for nothing...just don’t give him an excuse...
He aspires to be a mob boss, where he can finally start to stop paying exorbitant fees, although he will still have to bare the perpetual shame and constantly evade authorities—but that’s the thug life...
2) for the “innocent” victims he may come across...if the “criminal” is generally a law abiding citizen, with good rep, and just engaging in a “crime of passion”, the effect will be non-existent.
If the “criminal” has displayed a pattern of such behavior, but has been attempting to skip out on paying his dues—the innocent individual will find the criminal has degraded modules, given the “innocent” player a fighting chance to survive / escape / fight back—even to an otherwise superior ship.
Should the “criminal” be invested in their criminal behavior (Ie they are jumping through all the criminal activities needed to maintain their ship on the underground market, and successfully evading authorities, this encounter is like any other. Except that the innocent person has on their side 1) time. The criminals stolen/hot modules, poorly maintained will generally degrade faster. They criminal has power on his side, but the innocent victim has time. Further, the criminal has to deal with high costs / time investment to restock/supply/fuel. As such, the innocent victim may be able to parlay an agreement for his life.
So what’s the point? Why do I feel this is a better system?
Well, for one—it introduces new gameplay mechanics. I have learned that the elite dangerous community is EXTREMELY passionate and often single minded in their interpretation of what this game “should be”. As such, I don’t expect everyone to agree with this, actually—I’ve learned to expect a lot of dissent. The important thing to note, however, is this is NOT about forcing a style or mode of game play. It’s NOT about saying, “if you play like this—your going to suffer!” It’s about saying, “if this is your play style, then THESE punishments are more up your ally. If THIS is your play style, then THESE punishments are more for you.” It’s about making the game MORE FUN, and MORE ENGAGING for EVERYONE. By introducing meaningful gameplay mechanics.
The manner that these mechanics manifest is up for debate. What I have here is a general concept / outline, but it could take any number of forms. The point isn’t the specific implementation (I’m sure we can poke holes on ways it would falter or be exploitited. So take a breath) the point is to see if we, as a community can agree that more meaningful gameplay mechanics that guide things like ”crime and punishment” are something we desire, or if we just want the same old “crime committed, pay a fine or else”.
I welcome meaningful dialogue. I’m not set in my thoughts, and love seeing other points of view I haven’t thought about—let’s engage and see if we can get frontier to engage with us!