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[Search warrant] Corrupted and Bounty hunter: same system but better outcomes

Arya_YesheArya_Yeshe Member
edited February 2023 in General Discussion
So far, the corrupted and bounty hunter systems are of great interest for everybody but for now the outcomes seem unappealing and overly punitive.

Hopefully this idea is not a big scope creep demon, since most of the work is done by the database with minimal UI work.

I say everything that is already planned by Intrepid should go on, but tweak the outcomes in this direction:
  • corrupted can trade and store
  • trading stolen goods with someone who is corrupted will turn you into corrupted too in a lesser degree
  • you can only stack items if they have the same owner ID and thief ID (null or a player ID)
  • stolen items automatically have a timer (days based, not hours and minutes) called search warrant
  • bounty hunter approaches places and people, and recover stolen goods
  • whoever is holding the goods (in inventory or storages) and the goods are found then a fine will be imposed, gold goes to the bounty hunter's node and a comission to the bounty hunter

So the goods are disputed by the: original owner, thief, current holder, and bounty hunter.

Yes, there is a new thing that is the search warrant timer and it's totally run in the game's database, if the goods are not found before the warrant expires then the items will be automatically laundered and whoever is holding the items will become the new legitimate owner.

Valid searches are determined by the owner ID and the corrupted kills, and to who gains the search right. For example, if a bounty hunter accepts ten jobs from the city's bulletin board in the morning, he will have ten valid searches, even if he cannot find any corrupted players in time. However, if the bounty hunter kills multiple corrupted players, he will gain all search rights based on all of those corrupted player kills, even if the original owners placed no jobs on the bulletin board. If a corrupted player has killed multiple people and stashed their goods somewhere, a bounty hunter can kill that corrupted player once and gain search rights for multiple searches.

The stolen goods can be retrieved by approaching location or people, then with one click all valid searches are run. Which means that if they have no knowledge of victims or haven't killed any corrupted, then they have no valid searches and cannot retrieve anything since they have no reasonable grounds.

When a bounty hunter has rights to multiple valid searches, running a search should trigger all valid searches based on owner ID and thief ID. This means that if a bounty hunter approaches a random uncorrupted person on the street and conducts a search, they could potentially jackpot and recover many stolen goods and receive many commissions from all those valid searches in one go.

Fines will be imposed, and items will be automatically sent to the owners/bounty hunter, no item should jump from the holder to the bounty hunter's inventory directly. If the original owner is also a bounty hunter and he recovers the goods then all goods will be sent to himself, if another bounty hunter finds the goods then he will have half of it and the other half goes back to the original owner.

Real case scenario:
Assuming Abby stole iron from both Barry and Clyde, there would be two rows in the database, with Abby's ID as the thief for both rows. If Abby traded those items to Daphne, the thief ID for both rows will be kept as Abby. Daphne, will hold the items for a period of 10 days, after which both columns of both rows will be updated with Daphne's ID, this update is equivalent to laundering, now the owner ID is Daphne and thief ID is reset.

If the goods are found before the holder can launder them, the holder will have to pay a fine.

You can still craft goods in your freehold using the stolen materials, but you can't craft using stolen materials in the node using the public stations.

Thieves can launder items for themselves.

The search timer must be updated during downtime and not in real-time to avoid excessive CPU usage. Additionally, the thief ID will be reset if the node or freehold is destroyed. Restacking more stolen goods from the same owner and thief should set the timer to the biggest value.

There is no laundry timer, there is just the search warrant timer that runs until it reaches zero, at which point the database will run the scheduled laundry job during downtime and change the ownership for those goods.

"Yes, mister Officer, these items are mine for a long time, I mean they are mine since always! (cough)"
PvE means: A handful of coins and a bag of boredom.

Comments

  • @NiKr you are someone who has some interest in the subject
    PvE means: A handful of coins and a bag of boredom.
  • LinikerLiniker Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    edited February 2023
    I'm sorry.. I have to... I don't want to see any additions whatsoever to the game (before launch), theres already way too much that I'm not sure will make it to the launch build so...

    #SayNoToScopeCreep
    img]
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  • LudulluLudullu Member, Alpha Two
    Arya_Yeshe wrote: »
    corrupted can trade and store
    trading stolen goods with someone who is corrupted will turn you into corrupted too in a lesser degree
    If trading is allowed than any trading with a PKer should lead to their partner getting some corruption. The PKer won't care about the goods, they'll only care about their own stuff getting damaged on death. The PKer would just trade away their stuff, have their partner kill them on the spot and loot the stolen goods.

    Also, no point in allowing PKers storage if you want to have a timegate on the stolen goods. BHs wouldn't know where the goods are or who even had them, because the PKer would just put them in the storage, cleanse their corruption and "blend with the crowd", while they wait the timer out. Having an online timer on the goods would make more sense because it'd put pressure on the thief to either constantly move the goods or at least waste their time sitting in some hole where they can't be found (though this would probably be done by hiding in their freehold as a green and living their PC on throughout the night).
    Arya_Yeshe wrote: »
    Valid searches are determined by the owner ID and the corrupted kills, and to who gains the search right. For example, if a bounty hunter accepts ten jobs from the city's bulletin board in the morning, he will have ten valid searches, even if he cannot find any corrupted players in time. However, if the bounty hunter kills multiple corrupted players, he will gain all search rights based on all of those corrupted player kills, even if the original owners placed no jobs on the bulletin board. If a corrupted player has killed multiple people and stashed their goods somewhere, a bounty hunter can kill that corrupted player once and gain search rights for multiple searches.
    This will be abused by having a PKing alt who'll rack up some kills, die to a BH several times and give that BH a ton of free searches.
    Arya_Yeshe wrote: »
    When a bounty hunter has rights to multiple valid searches, running a search should trigger all valid searches based on owner ID and thief ID. This means that if a bounty hunter approaches a random uncorrupted person on the street and conducts a search, they could potentially jackpot and recover many stolen goods and receive many commissions from all those valid searches in one go.
    If there's that abuse I described, the BH would just spam their searches on every person and freehold/storage in the area.
    Arya_Yeshe wrote: »
    Fines will be imposed, and items will be automatically sent to the owners/bounty hunte
    This could be potentially abused to circumvent the dangers of long distance transporting of goods. The PKer kills a dude several times and gets all their goods and logs off. The dude goes to their destination. The PKer logs back on, a BH friend kills them and the items get automatically sent.

    And if you meant that items would just get automatically deposited in the nearest public storage and the owner gets notified, then this part of my response can be disregarded.
    Arya_Yeshe wrote: »
    You can still craft goods in your freehold using the stolen materials, but you can't craft using stolen materials in the node using the public stations.
    Would those crafted goods still have the "stolen" ID? Cause if not - this whole suggestion would probably be pointless. And if they do - how do you plan to address the price difference between a processed good against the raw material. And how would those goods be returned to the owner in case the thief is caught?
  • Liniker wrote: »
    I'm sorry.. I have to... I don't want to see any additions whatsoever to the game (before launch), theres already way too much that I'm not sure will make it to the launch build so...

    #SayNoToScopeCreep

    Yes, I completely understand.
    I brought up the subject because these systems have been problematic in terms of popularity for quite a while.
    PvE means: A handful of coins and a bag of boredom.
  • Arya_YesheArya_Yeshe Member
    edited February 2023
    Perhaps the search progress bar could vary in speed depending on the type of search (person, public storage, freehold).

    I believe that the PK should be able to trade stolen goods, but whoever receives the goods should also become corrupted.

    I think it's acceptable for PKs to use storages, sinch the search warrant has a very long timer. Bounty hunters just have to visit a few locations, initiate a search, and wait for the progress bar if they have search rights.

    NiKr wrote: »
    If there's that abuse I described, the BH would just spam their searches on every person and freehold/storage in the area.

    Sure, let them spam until they give up. I believe experienced bounty hunters will have information on players' properties and alts, so they will quickly find where the stolen items are located.

    This will lead to humorous interactions - if you have stolen goods on you and someone approaches, you may attempt to flee, and if they happen to be a bounty hunter, they will give chase.

    Also, you can simply have no stolen goods on you and run away from bounty hunters as bait while your associate carry the goods somewhere else.
    NiKr wrote: »
    This will be abused by having a PKing alt who'll rack up some kills, die to a BH several times and give that BH a ton of free searches.

    That is fairplay, the search rights can't be multiplied, if you kill the PK once then you will have righs on the items that search warrant timer going on.

    It doensn't change anything killing multiple times the same PK, but if the PK get more kills then the BH has to kill him again and gain rights on the new search warrants.

    Since search warrant timers are item based then they will all disapear in a few days or sooner, people will have to find and kill the PK again in the future if he commited more crimes.

    It's intended gameplay.
    NiKr wrote: »
    And if you meant that items would just get automatically deposited in the nearest public storage and the owner gets notified, then this part of my response can be disregarded.

    Absolutely, it has to be sent to the nearest public storage.

    NiKr wrote: »
    Would those crafted goods still have the "stolen" ID? Cause if not - this whole suggestion would probably be pointless. And if they do - how do you plan to address the price difference between a processed good against the raw material. And how would those goods be returned to the owner in case the thief is caught?

    Crafting items using stolen materials will not result in any special status or flags for the item. It is similar to money laundering, in that if the criminals are successful in their operation, they will profit from it.
    PvE means: A handful of coins and a bag of boredom.
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