World PvP Idea: "Bounty Board"

[Gastranomick]

**Update 12/29/11; 5th post down with more information**

 

*Only on PvP servers*

The idea is that anyone can be a bounty hunter and take on bounties. This is player fueled and makes player made bounties automated. Basically it works like this:

 

there is a bounty board that the player goes to. required 100,000 credits to create a bounty on any player above level 20. The player creating the bounty types out the character's name and deposits the 100,000 credits when selecting "create".

 

This will mark the targeted player and alert them that a bounty has been placed on their head. Only people who go to the bounty board and accept the bounty can tell if the person has a bounty on their head; IE displaying the marker next to their name (wanted). Also, the person who accepts the bounty is able to openly attack that player where ever they are, and the targeted player will see those who have accepted the bounty with a marker (Hunter) next to their name and the (wanted) player will be able to openly attack in return regardless where they are.

 

A bounty can be dropped by the bounty hunter at any time but only 5 minutes after leaving combat. Once a bounty is made, it can not be taken down and there is no refund of credits.

 

The first person to kill the (wanted) target will automatically be sent 75,000(25% cut to the bounty board people) credits via the mail and the bounty will be taken off the bounty board and the (wanted) target will no longer be marked. All other players who have accepted the bounty will be notified that "the bounty for <name> has been claimed" and the bounty is removed from their open bounty list.

 

The player who posted the bounty will receive a bounty point if the targeted marked player was within 10 levels of them.

 

Bounty points are spent on special PvP gear. The bounty hunter who killed the player does not receive bounty points, just the credits. These credits help that bounty hunter in creating their own bounty on other players to receive bounty points.

 

A hunter and marked target can not join parties, nor can they share whispers in game. They can however continue to communicate via guild chat, general chat, etc. Only open forms of chat.

 

Other restrictions may apply depending on how players might abuse the system. Credit amounts are open to change considering the easily accessibility of 100,000 credits at level 50.

 

It is intended that griefing lowbies is possible if you have the extra money to waste on it. However, you will not receive any bounty points. (be nice to the higher levels, lowbies ^_^)

 

the point of a pvp server is the element of danger. there is almost no danger form what i've played on a PvP server. I think this system has a lot of potential to create a huge pvp community and help future pvp plans.

 

If you like my idea, maybe get the word around and keep the bumps coming. I hope you all like it. and feel free to add any comments or suggestions you have regarding the system.

Edited December 29, 2011 by Gastranomick

[Birdflew]

Hello Gastranomick!

 

We've talking about this in another thread.

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=71364

 

But I like that you made a new thread about it since you have a different approach to it.

 

I totally support this kind of "player driven content" and I can not really see a downside to it.

Though I think the credits and the "win" would be enough incentive for people to get hooked on this.

 

But keep brain storming people, maybe one day we'll see this implemented in the game.

 

 

/Bird

[Gastranomick]

the reward is worth it, yes. but there is no real reward for posting a bounty. I guess for a little fun or if you feel like greifing someone. But it would be used as a side attraction when you're bored. also, posting bounties wont including the player in anything.

 

There would be little incentive in the long run for something like this. But gaining bounty points to buy new gear would make people much more willing to participate. Even those who don't really care about messing up someone's day just for the fun of it; that person would post a bounty on some random guy just to get the points. That would make anyone a target if you were at the wrong place and the wrong time.

[Birdflew]

the reward is worth it, yes. but there is no real reward for posting a bounty. I guess for a little fun or if you feel like greifing someone. But it would be used as a side attraction when you're bored. also, posting bounties wont including the player in anything.

 

There would be little incentive in the long run for something like this. But gaining bounty points to buy new gear would make people much more willing to participate. Even those who don't really care about messing up someone's day just for the fun of it; that person would post a bounty on some random guy just to get the points. That would make anyone a target if you were at the wrong place and the wrong time.

 

True. Good point!

 

+1

[Gastranomick]

I wanted to add one more thing; Apparently there is already something in the game called the bounty board... lol, go figure. I guess this idea can just be an extension of the existing bounty board.

 

Also, I think it would be a good idea to allow players to remotely add bounties to the bounty board, but not access it remotely to accept the bounty. I think the player has to make the decision to accept the bounty in advanced then head out looking for them. The /who option for the player. Not sure if they should be hidden. I would hope not... I think you should still be able to /who your target. That will add to the competition.

 

Also, the target should act as an NPC with tagging involved to keep away people who find them a second to late and land the KB to steal the kill from someone who was working on the kill. Or perhaps split the money based on the % damage done to the target that way not all effort is wasted.

 

A CD might be needed per player who was marked. example would be that the same player can not be marked for bounty for at least 3 hours, or something to that extent.

 

And just to clarify, this is not exclusive to Bounty hunters only. This option would be made available to all classes, obviously.

 

I had another feature i would like to see added to this idea (brought about by my BH class quest ^_^)

 

have a black list option where to buy the bounty (to set the bounty on the target) would require 500,000 credits. keep with the 75% as reward, and receive increased tokens upon completion. Black list bounties are Surnames only. So any of that players characters have a 1 time bounty. Same general rules apply as regular bounty. But because the reward is much bigger, so becomes the hunt. You can not /who surnames which makes finding this character much harder. also, because it's spread across multiple players, the area of which you are hunting can change dramatically and often making it a very elusive target.

 

I'm thinking that only players with a certain valor rank can accept black list targets...

 

Also, Not allow players to mark guild mates. If a bounty is made and then afterwards, the marker and marked target join the same guild, the bounty is removed with no refund. There should also be a level restriction for players to create a bounty. (I'm thinking around 25+)

 

Something else i was thinking about working into this feature is adding in light/dark side points. Each bounty displays the players dark/light alignment. completing a bounty on a target with the opposite alignment side will grant the hunter points towards their light/dark force. Or perhaps that can be a hidden bonus where you don't know if they are light.dark until you complete the hunt and receive the bonus. That way to keep the attention spread equally among all marked players.

 

I was also thinking of perhaps rewarding those who defend themselves against the hunters. Nothing major, but something enough to keep them willing to put up a fight and not just die real fast so they don't have to keep looking over their shoulder... Perhaps for each failed attempt on their life (within 10 levels of them) adds a marker against the bounty placed. Once the bounty is completed the number of markers against the bounty converts to the number of rewards the player gets, whether it's credits, or some kind of pvp commendation.

 

Something more interesting but would require much more work... would be to add prestige with a certain faction of NPC's. The more you defend your self, the more you build your self up with these people. They could be vendors that will allow the player to buy certain items at discount compared to other areas using a level system similar to valor. rank 5 allows for stims/med packs, up to rank 20 or so which would allow cheaper armor, perhaps lower level gear for alts that you can buy for them. stuff along those lines. perks to keep the challenge up.

 

I have a lot of faith in this style of PvP so I'll periodically update this thread for bumps and other details/ideas i wish to add. I hope the developers take interest in my idea's, I'm sure they could improve the game ^_^.

 

lots of also's, etc. sorry for another long post. my mind just runs a mile a minute.

[Jorelle]

sweet idea!!!!!

[Gastranomick]

sweet idea!!!!!

 

Thank you, your multiple exclamation marks flatter me.

[JayneKobb]

I really like the general concept of bounty boards. You have put a lot of thought into the details, which I like.

 

I definitely think someone should have to accept a bounty before getting the kill to avoid randomly getting bounties.

 

As for the issue of who gets the KB, just have the player be "tapped" for the bounty by whoever lands the first shot, similar to how mob tapping works. Sure, it could lead to greifing, but people will find a way to grief any system if they really want to.

 

I think it would be fun to have a bounty on you and try to stay alive with the horde coming after you. Could let you set up some interesting situations...

 

[Gastranomick]

something interesting to add that i didn't think of as a result of this system until just now. When trying to run flash points as a marked target, you would be cautious about who you grouped with and you would most likely only feel safe grouping with guildies. That would strengthen the reason for being in a guild of people you like and trust. A kind of happy thought that would reinforce the player community (something that a lot of people find important too) ^_^

[VoidJustice]

I whole heartedly support player bounties.

I whole heartedly reject however allowing players to post them.

 

Players posting bounties will lead to griefing.

 

Players should be able to opt into bounties (flag for bounty system) and/or players should earn their way on to the boards by killing other players.

 

I would prefer to have both systems.

 

Having players set up bounties on other players would simply cause the

system to get nerfed out of existance due to a few angry grieftards.

Edited December 29, 2011 by VoidJustice

[Prophetic]

At first glance, I read the title of this thread as 'Worst PVP Idea.' I was all, "What the hell? This sounds Fantastic!"

 

I love this idea. The only thing that seems off, though, is that the prices are a little steep. I personally think that the individual players should be able to set how much they think the bounty is worth, then the bounty hunter can sort through the bounties to see which is worth taking based on the reward and the difficulty.

 

However, I like that 75% of the reward goes to the Bounty Hunter and the rest vanishes into the Aether. More credit sinks are good.

 

I think a way to 'punish' higher level plays for ganking lower level characters is to start off at giving them 75% of the reward, but dropping the amount given if the bounty being fetched is below a certain level. So, say, up to 5 levels lower is still the full amount (75%), but after that it drops 5% every 2 or 3 levels, maybe to an eventual floor of 25%.

 

Or you could just have a flat rate based on the level of the character the bounty is being put on, so that all level 20's cost the same, all level 50's cost the same, and such. Still with reward reduction, though, so that that level 50 Bounty Hunter going after a level 20 mark is only going to get a measly sum for their time.

 

Alternately, you could also increase the reward for going after higher level characters, up to 100% of the reward. A mechanic could be put in to automatically split the reward among multiple Bounty Hunter that are in a party, which would make it beneficial for lower level characters to team up against a bigger foe with a large bounty on his head.

 

The other thing that I think would be nice (though it might become too big a tool for griefing) is to allow bounties to be issued on members of your own faction (*edit- on a second readthrough of your post, it seems like your intention is mostly just for same faction bounties, anyway*). Would definitely help keep people more in line about how the act/react to people if they know that pissing off the wrong person could wind up with a dozen bounty hunters stalking them.

 

Not sure if the person who set the bounty should be able to get PvP gear just for setting a bounty. However, I do think that getting social points, or maybe just points towards aesthetic gear would be pretty cool. I mean, if you've got enough pull and credits lying around to throw up bounties on players, you might as well look the part.

Edited December 29, 2011 by Prophetic

[Gastranomick]

This idea is mainly for placing bounties on the same faction. Perhaps i should have made that more clear. The idea of griefing isn't exactly bad since it is a pvP server and that should always come with some level of risk as i stated before.

 

There is no problem with adding a few securities to ensure it doesn't get out of control. But the idea is that players can hunter each other down, and the system would primarily be used on same faction players.