Ranking and System

[Seret Sajet]

Ok, its time to start discussing rankings and such.

I think we can go two routes here:

1. Simple ranking system:
one point FOR the bounty hunter for each bounty completed.
one point AGAINST the bounty hunter for each bounty failed.

2. More Complex System:
Now this takes a bit of thought....
First, you can give bounties point systems. Here are some examples.

Seret's alt mark Photon has 2 elite professions mastered and master brawler. This gives him a rating of 5
Ekade's alt mark De'spair has 1 elite profession and master brawler. This gives her a rating of 3.

So 2 points per master elite professions, 1 point per master minor profession.

Also points can vary per mission.

Bounty - Kill Photon - worth 5 points
Bounty - Kill Des'piar - worth 4 points
Bounty - Find Despair and bring her back alive - worth 5 points
Bounty - Find De'spair and collect 500K - worth 3 points
- Bring her in alive - worth an additional 3 points

So bounties can have more than one objective, each with its own point values.

What does everyone think? Simple or Complex?

[Hashum]

Ok, i have to say I like the complicated system but it's just that complicated. unfortunately I think that will take away a little fun by adding so much admin requirements. But maybe we can find a middle ground. It's just not fair for someone to take all entertainer missions and be considered the best BH.

[Ekade]

Your ranking system is perfect for the Fight Club.

Back on topic...

I am inclined to go with simple here. 2 outcomes: Hunter wins, Mark wins. If the mark escapes, this counts as nothing. Correct?

I think degrees of success add a layer of complexity that does not necessarily equate to fun. I understand your desire to reward hunters for bagging more difficult targets.

Over time I forsee certain players gaining a reputation for being difficult marks. Such marks may draw the attention of the most accomplished hunters, and may cause the not-so accomplished hunters to pass on that bounty. This then becomes a sort of organic ranking system rather than a numeric ranking system, which is what we want. We will see this surface in the Mark and Bounty writeups... theoretically.

So my short-winded answer.. stick with the simple.

[Seret Sajet]

This is all too true.

With a weighted ranking system you can have two outcomes. Like Hashum said, some Hunters may take a lot of the easy marks and get high scores while other hunters take on a few of the hard ones, obtaining a lower score. Also who is to stop someone from coming along and rigging the system with a buddy acting as a mark doing rapid BH missions? Nothing.

So I think the simple method may cause less headaches. One for wins. One minus for loss. No points for failure.

[Ekade]

Also who is to stop someone from coming along and rigging the system with a buddy acting as a mark doing rapid BH missions? Nothing.

Yes, but this will become obvious when we look at a hunter's record. If Novall bags Ceka 6 times in a week, we know something is up. And if a cheater wants to cheat.. who cares. The point of this is the fun and the thrill of the hunt. They will just be depriving themselves of that.

[Seret Sajet]

Oh trust me, FUN is our motive but outside elements will bring the grief.

I was a part of a great online gaming community for BF1942. The site we most frequently posted on, besides our own, was BFStats. This site soley tracked players in game. While this was only for good fun and sport we had our fair share of idiots, griefers and star whores.

They'll come. Don't worry. I don't think anyone here is like that but we'll get others who are.

[Ekade]

Well, like I said... We'll see the records of the hunters. It will become obvious who is working the system. We just handle it then.

It is impossible to completely thwart cheaters, and building sytems to do so is terribly complex. This is why you may have noticed I prefer an organic approach. It is easy yo cheat a system. It is not so easy to cheat a human that is watching you.

[Novall]

What if they have FS skills? That should count for something to

[Tandis]

One of my alts is a master fencer, Master Tka, Master pikeman, with 4 4 0 4 brawler. Of course since he is going jedi then he will be dropping most of it

[Hashum]

I mentioned in another forum about maybe the ranking system should be based off of bounties earned. 250k total earnings or 500k. That way it's the clients that are driving the ranking and their fee's will probably better dictate the difficulty of the missions posted. And the number of completed missions is simply a percentage of sucess rate. I think that's a little more fair.

[Seret Sajet]

I mentioned in another forum about maybe the ranking system should be based off of bounties earned. 250k total earnings or 500k. That way it's the clients that are driving the ranking and their fee's will probably better dictate the difficulty of the missions posted. And the number of completed missions is simply a percentage of sucess rate. I think that's a little more fair.

Now this sounds promising. A simple system, just add up cash earned, while still keeping the win/lose numbers will truely help define the BH. BH #1 may have 10 wins and earned 100K but BH #2 has 5 wins and 1 mil. That should tell people BH #1 takes smaller missions but gets the job done and BH #2 is more selective but takes High Profile missions.

And having Clients be smart about how much to charge for bounties is good too. You should know that posting a bounty on a Master TK/Master Fencer/Master Brawler with FS bonuses will not come cheap.

And I agree with Novall, FS skills should count for something. They can make a Master Swordsman much more PvP inclined than they were before.

[Hashum]

Excellent sounds like we have an accord then

[Ekade]

How does a client know the relative lethality of the mark?

Are you suggesting a mark post their template? This will result in the BH knowing exactly how to defeat their target. Every BH WANTS to know this, but it detracts from the excitement if you ask me. A BH should have to be prepared for anything.

Another idea is to use the methods Seret suggested earlier. Number of Elites Mastered, etc. However.. dabbling needs to be accounted for as well in this. Someone who is a Master Postoleer, BH Pistols, and Smuggler Pistols is much more than just a 1 Elite Master. Once again this takes us unto complicated land.


Perhaps the Players who are marks should be rated as well. The pertinent metrics are: BH's killed, escapes, and times captured/killed (losses). Once again, this is more organic in nature, relative difficulty is based on past results and not potential (template). Thoughts?

[Hashum]

Well that could pose a problem, but I think the majority of us at least have some knowledge about everyone on these boards. I know if I'm putting a bounty on Seret that he's got lots of Melee skills, that means he's a tough mark and requires a good bounty. I know if I'm placing a bounty on Dwilah however that it's probably not quite the same risk to the BH. And since the Mark is listing contacts then I don't see why a Client wouldn't be able to gather information in advance, and the Client should know about the Mark since they want them dead for whatever reason I think it would be understood that they have at least a basic knowledge of the person. The BH can gather more info from the conacts of necessary as far as professions goes but I think the clients will be more then well enough informed when posting a bounty to know what should be acceptable.

[Ekade]

Even so, I still prefer results based DR (difficulty rating) and not template based DR.

Results based DR accounts for the skill of the mark, their typical level of preparedness, weapon quality, and all those intangibles.