Should SoTA have jail(s)/prison(s) for player characters?

Here's a crazy idea. Since SoTA will be using some kind of virtue/behavior system to rate player's actions, what if there were actual direct, formal social controls within the game to punish evil and/or criminal players? It could be interesting:

Some games in the past (Elder Scrolls: Morrowind? Can't remember, but I know there were a few) sent you to jail if you got caught by the guards after committing certain crimes (of course the bar could be set anywhere on types of crime). What if PC's could be subdued by other PC's ('bounty hunters' if you will), and sent to jail for a reward of some type, say gold or a reputation boost, etc. Depending on the offense, that criminal would either have to spend 'X' amount of hours/minutes in lockup, or pay a "bribe" to the guards to be set free sooner. Maybe they could even break out if their thievery skills were high enough... I know it would suck to be stuck in a cell for real game time, but at the same time, having actual sanctions in-game to discourage antisocial behavior such as indiscriminate PK or cannibalism would be cool. Also, it would make the 'PK-killer' playstyle into de facto character role of sorts, provided you could actually support yourself by collecting bounties!

 

I suggested this a long time ago for PK issues, it wasn't popular due to making the game not much fun to play in jail

 

Unfortunately I will have to say no. And this is just my thoughts on it. I will never believe in a game mechanic being able to restrict access to an online portion of the game that someone paid for. Whether this is used in the traditional MMO monthly payment style, or even something like what SotA is trying.

Regardless of game play style, knowingly having a mechanic that restricts any players time to play for playing how they want is a no-no in my eyes. I might not like their play style, but that doesn't give anything (mechanic/player/etc) the right to restrict how long a player can't play. Unless they are breaking the rules in which case they would be suspended or banned.

Also, I can't see any mechanic that involves a 'jail' sentence being fun if you constantly get sent there because of how you play. That is more of an annoyance and will make people quit, or look for a game that doesn't screw over their play style.

 

Hah, the funny thing about that is if you use that same argument about people who push their game styles on others they don't come to the same conclusion.

 

Yep, you can, which is why I just tried to stick to this one topic to not go off-topic. If you were referring to my post.

 

heh, I was.

 

And like rune_47 mentioned, my type of thinking can work in multiple facets of play styles. I hate seeing restrictions imposed on play styles just because some people don't like that play style. Which is why, if this system SotA is working on does well, maybe all these restrictions that become imposed will vanish as time progresses. You play in a style suited for you, and in return you don't see restrictions placed on your play style because someone doesn't like it. Of course, with my way of thinking there would be too many variables to creating a game system that works in that way, but I think SotA is heading in a good direction. Just my 2-cents, and sorry for going off-topic in this post.

 

Indeed.. It is a bit funny if people who PK or steal from other players would find it boring to be forced into jail, and say it restricts their "play style". I'm sure the victims find it hilarious having their play style being restricted by the aforementioned criminals.

On another note, I think jailing could potentially be made into a fun feature and it could add more risk that some might fancy. Whether it is related to stealing from NPC's or players.

 

Well they could make it so you could find a way to escape and have to go thru some dangerous sewer or cavern to get back into the world...

 

I used to love the jail.......let's face it in UO if you ended up there then you knew deep down you had been naughty

It's a bit of a cooling off place.....I'm all for it provided you only end up being stuck there for a few hours (not days)

 

So I did not vote because there is no maybe or other choice. Sitting staring at bars is not fun, and its true that forcing this upon someone that wants to play a criminal its not necessarily optimal. I love the idea of justice systems, but with the online component this gets complicated. In Elder Scrolls and other games, jail time had no sting. You could bribe a guard, pick the lock or wait which advanced time so you were only in jail a matter of seconds. Some of these would still be possible, but if you had no money or couldn't pick the lock then waiting would not be fun or be unrealistic.

It would probably just be easier to impose a fine and/or kick the user out of town if they were committing a crime. I imagine the virtue system will lead to some sort of factioning where some towns may not be friendly to some people.

Jailing though is much harder to pull off and have it be a fun part of gameplay unless you are actually trying to punish a playstyle.

 

Just for the record: I never said I didn't like PK/PvP play styles, just that it would be funny to have some type of consequence for engaging in that type of behavior foolishly (say in a place where there are witnesses, in full daylight at the town square, etc.)...

 

Also, it would make thieving skills more practical/valuable to the criminally-inclined types (sneak/hide, lockpick, detect hidden, etc)... I'm sure a resourceful player would be able to find their way out of a medieval cell....... muhaha

 

It's really just a lore/RP wrapper around death and respawning. Plenty of games stick you in some kind of staging area on death where you have to wait some time to spawn. They can draw a jail around it if they like, but it doesn't really change the mechanics.

 

I'm not saying I support this, but if there's a disclaimer somewhere that you'll spend time in prison for doing something, and you do it anyway, you'd be doing it to yourself. Blaming the game would be whining about your own decisions. The exception would be if you kill by accident because someone is griefing you.

The real question is if its really a good idea to do.

Perhaps the issue is if they could make escaping prison a fun experience.

 

Jails are one of those things that sound great on paper but is terrible in practice. I kind of lump it in with the idea of games that only allow you to take so many turns per day: you want to play the game but the game won't allow you because it's been restricted in a way that prevents you from doing so. People who are of nefarious nature in the game would find themselves getting very frustrated because they want to play but they spend more time in jail than actually playing because they get caught stealing or killing; whatever the case is.

Now I wouldn't mind a system in place that, when caught and if the player willingly gives up (ala Elder Scrolls) that they player then instantly ends up at the jail gates being released with some form of punishment added such as a fine or having items removed from them. However, I'm not in favour of a system that locks players up for any given amount of time and prevents them from actually playing.

 

The point would come down to making the mechanic 'fun', so that even if it happens it isn't a chore and not a big deal if it happens. My post doesn't reflect it, but I am not against a fun and engaging system. The problem comes down to making a fun and engaging system that doesn't become more of an annoyance as it keeps happening. If the system is already in place and was advertised as such, then it is already clear that players will face it. No complaining about it happening when it was advertised to happen. But, when it is placed later on as a deterrent to try and curb play styles is when I have an issue.

Now, how would you make this a fun and engaging system that wouldn't segregate and hurt one segment of play style with the current system that SotA is trying to implement? If it works out, then those that don't want PvP will probably not ever see it, and thus there would be no need for this system. Those that want PvP most likely (my opinion) won't ever want a system like this in place unless it was for some sort of RP purpose. Or if a system is made that is actually fun... Which I can't really think of anything that would make going to jail fun.

Of course, all this is my opinion and I don't speak for any other person.

 

Its possible that you misunderstood: you wouldn't be dead, just incarcerated. Also, not everybody would end up there, it would depend on how you play the game (red/blue)... Plenty of games already have sanctions for 'bad' player behavior (as inevitably measured against our own societal standards - you can't buy from most merchants, can only enter certain towns, you can be freely attacked anywhere, etc) so I'm not seeing what the big controversy is about having a jail. It could even be fun if it was implemented well. For example: maybe one of the only ways to level up a certain skill would be if you had a criminal record, otherwise those npc's wouldn't train you in it or something, I don't know

 

How is that different? Again, it's just RP/lore whether you're dead. You can't use your character right now. It's the same thing. Death just means I get moved somewhere, may lose points of some kind, and may have some restrictions for a while.

And I highly doubt PvP will require toxic players, like early UO. You will see more competitions where both sides feel they're right and the other is wrong.

 

For one thing, if your actions stick with you like the Devs said they would, you would now have a criminal record. This opens up a deep range of 'alternate' gameplay possibilities, it just takes some imagination my friend!