Suggestion Subsidize Users who Select "Yes" on the Bounty Toggle

[Cord###]

Howdy, new user here. Let me know if my suggestion is already in place, or unnecessary.

So, in looking around I"ve noticed that the addition of Underworld Credits/UC/"Uck" is a fairly recent thing. Looking at the Staff Meeting Minutes I found the following exchanges interesting

Samuel Excel:

Can I break someone's kneecaps?

Tef:

Yes, absolutely. I want to support the bounty hunter system. The Underworld economy is a great place to incentivize, providing tangible rewards to the bounty hunter IC world.

OOC: We're all aware the bounties are basically useless, with IC credits. Using UC is a much preferable method, in this case. It won't be in all cases, but in this case, it is.

JSC:

Will I be able to get UC for private threads and Articles?

Tef:

Private threads, yes but at a reduced rate cause they're faster. Articles, no.

I think these are both great things, encouraging the spirit of Star Wars in bounty hunting, and centivizing interactions with more players. However, my previous RP experience is that many users will get a bounty on their head and simply not participate in public threads anymore, just lurking in Private Threads. I noticed while setting up my account there is a toggle to allow bounty hunters to invade non-private threads

Which I think allows for an interesting incentive for the targets of bounties. If we provide Uck for users putting "Yes" in the bounty toggle we might be able to find a risk/reward balance that increases overall bounty hunting on the site. I've put together some proposals and their pros/cons.


Option 1: Give an extra percentage for private thread posts when the bounty toggle is on
Pros:

• Simplest Execution(Minimal overhead to implement)

Cons

• Users could toggle on, post for extra Uck, then toggle off
• Does user actually have to have a bounty on their head to benefit?

Option 2: Every Tuesday(Or other weekday) provide Uck to users with Bounty Hunter toggle based on number of private thread posts
Pros

• Harder to cheat as based on activity

Cons

• User can still toggle on then toggle off, but on a more limited basis
• Could create a interesting market dynamic of "Bounty Hunters always attack on Monday Night"
• Bit more overhead to implement
• Does user actually have to have a bounty on their head to benefit?

Option 3: After N days(Say, 7) provide Uck to users with Bounty Hunter toggle based on number of private thread posts
Pros

• Much more difficult to cheat, incentivizes users to dedicate to being hunted for at least a week at a time

Cons

• More overhead to implement
• Does user actually have to have a bounty on their head to benefit?

Option 4: After N days(Say, 7) provide Uck to users with Bounty Hunter toggle based on size of bounty
Pros

• Harder to cheat
• User has to have a bounty on their head to benefit

Cons

• Probably most overhead to implement
• Could incentivize excessively large bounties
• Justifiably large bounties could inflate the overall Uck market

All of the options have the risk factor of causing market inflation, and the amount would probably have to be tuned somewhat, but I think this could help ensure a good amount of participation in bounty hunting by the quarry. I personally think Option 3 is most bang for buck, but I wanted to present a few options.

 

[Beltran Rarr]

A very interesting set of suggestions! Looking forward to seeing if this takes root at all.

 

[Cassus Akovin]

I think these are both great things, encouraging the spirit of Star Wars in bounty hunting, and centivizing interactions with more players. However, my previous RP experience is that many users will get a bounty on their head and simply not participate in public threads anymore, just lurking in Private Threads. I noticed while setting up my account there is a toggle to allow bounty hunters to enter your private threads

Which I think allows for an interesting incentive for the targets of bounties. If we provide Uck for users putting "Yes" in the bounty toggle we might be able to find a risk/reward balance that increases overall bounty hunting on the site. I've put together some proposals and their pros/cons.


Option 1: Give an extra percentage for private thread posts when the bounty toggle is on
Pros:

• Simplest Execution(Minimal overhead to implement)

Cons

• Users could toggle on, post for extra Uck, then toggle off
• Does user actually have to have a bounty on their head to benefit?

Option 2: Every Tuesday(Or other weekday) provide Uck to users with Bounty Hunter toggle based on number of private thread posts
Pros

• Harder to cheat as based on activity

Cons

• User can still toggle on then toggle off, but on a more limited basis
• Could create a interesting market dynamic of "Bounty Hunters always attack on Monday Night"
• Bit more overhead to implement
• Does user actually have to have a bounty on their head to benefit?

Option 3: After N days(Say, 7) provide Uck to users with Bounty Hunter toggle based on number of private thread posts
Pros

• Much more difficult to cheat, incentivizes users to dedicate to being hunted for at least a week at a time

Cons

• More overhead to implement
• Does user actually have to have a bounty on their head to benefit?

Option 4: After N days(Say, 7) provide Uck to users with Bounty Hunter toggle based on size of bounty
Pros

• Harder to cheat
• User has to have a bounty on their head to benefit

Cons

• Probably most overhead to implement
• Could incentivize excessively large bounties
• Justifiably large bounties could inflate the overall Uck market

All of the options have the risk factor of causing market inflation, and the amount would probably have to be tuned somewhat, but I think this could help ensure a good amount of participation in bounty hunting by the quarry. I personally think Option 3 is most bang for buck, but I wanted to present a few options.

You have a good eye for synergy, however, I need to correct something here you may have not noticed. Here is what the Bounty Toggle option says:

Select "yes" if you wish for Bounty Hunters to be able to invade your threads not labeled "private".

What this means is, a Bounty Hunter can enter any public thread they would not otherwise be able to join, for the express purpose of hunting anyone with a red Bounty Toggle on. So, Invasions, Faction Threads, Dominions, Junctions, etc.. There is currently no current function that allows anyone to intrude on a Private roleplaying thread.

I still like the basic premise of what you've suggested here, though. If you retool it (if this is even technically possible software side), you could give a bonus to public threading and eliminate any UC from the private threading.

Also, I am going to answer a question I see in your proposals under Cons. A Bounty is not necessary in order to pursue someone with the Toggle on. that can be figured out after the fact, or just made up on the spot. Though the better hunters usually try to coordinate with the hunted to figure a narrative reason for pursuit.

My preferred method, if it's possible, is if there can be a cooldown built into the selection. A choice that once taken, can't be changed for a set period of time. This would completely eliminate the "hacks" suggested above to try and milk UC. This is all predicated, of course, on whether or not people even care about making UC. I think there is certainly a significant segment of the board who will care about them and might be seriously tempted to try out this whole bounty thing because, in the end, it generates more UCs for whether they get hunted or not (and probably more if they are hunted).

If the above isn't possible, I think option 2 is actually our best bet. But I think the cooldown method is probably the least "hackable" and still provides what we're looking for.

 

[Cord###]

What this means is, a Bounty Hunter can enter any public thread they would not otherwise be able to join, for the express purpose of hunting anyone with a red Bounty Toggle on. So, Invasions, Faction Threads, Dominions, Junctions, etc.. There is currently no current function that allows anyone to intrude on a Private roleplaying thread.

This is a pretty important distinction I didn't catch. I've edited my original post to say "invade non-private threads" to be more accurate.

I definitely agree that, depending on the back end software of the site, it may be easier to put a timer on the bounty settings and do a weekly dump. It'd effectively be the same thing as option 3, and would still be a net positive on bounty hunting.