[LCN] New Feature Up For Discussion: Protection

One of the most requested features that comes through support is a way to block a player internally in game. Oh yes the infamous Blacklist feature, likely because it was implemented in the original Mob Wars and other games but also maybe because in some cases where there is a need, especially with the no-limit in pvp (5k attacks in a 24-hr period).

Back in June 2011 we were actually close to implementing the "Blacklist", players being able to Blacklist someone for Favor Points, max 1 Blacklist for x number of days. Anyways, long story short at that time we were being pressured for the wrong reasons to do it and at that time with other changes going on into the game we did not feel like that feature was a right fit so we pulled it and was never brought up to the community.

Today, with multiple examples of players going above and beyond just playing the game and griefing on players that are not retaliating back and have not engaged in other griefing behaviours in the past we are looking to introduce a feature that keeps the balance of the game in tact but can be a tool for a player to use if they are being over attacked by another player and have not engaged in similar behavior in the past AND are not blocking out the competition aspect of the game, for example a top 30 player in all of the game blocking someone.

Feature Synopsis
We are designing a feature that will allow players who are being excessively griefed to “Seek Protection” from their opponent which will block any form of an attack between these 2 players for a period of time. Ie: The Griefer cannot attack the Victim and the Victim cannot attack the Griefer.

What defines a “Griefer”?
A Griefer can fall into one of two categories: In-Range Griefer and Out of Range Griefer

• An “In-Range Griefer” is someone who Attacks/Punches a player within their XP range hundreds to thousands of times more than their opponent, basically preventing them from playing
• An “Out of Range Griefer” is someone who repeatedly places a player well below their XP range on the Hitlist a ton of times
• If the opponent themselves is found to be a Griefer, then a Griefer attacking a Griefer is all good and cancels each other out

Why create the ability to hide when this is a game about PvP?
While PvP is at the core of our games allowing some players to attempt to run others out of the game due to relentless attacks was never our intention. If a Griefer attacks a player thousands of times a day without much in retaliation they are negatively impacting the “victim”. Seeking Protection will force the “Griefer” to find a new target while a cooling off period between the 2 players persists.

What are the restrictions around Protection?

• You can only set 1 protection at a time
• The Protection will last for (X days), right now we have a plan to test 5 days and go up or down from there
• Protection does not block attacks while you/they are on the Hitlist.
• You cannot seek protection from a player if you are in a War with their Faction/Syndicate/Guild/Armada.
• Protection cannot be undone and you will have to wait for it to expire to attack again. This is to stop abuse of protection on/off at will
• You cannot seek protection if you yourself have recently had protection placed against you, remember a griefer cannot seek protection from a griefer, this will allow players to go after other players the good ole fashioned way
• Players fighting it out in the upper levels of the game cannot surrender to each other

I anticipate that there may be a lot of passion around this topic but that being said, please try to calmly present what issues you can foresee or are concerned about with a feature like this and let's talk through them.

Everyone be nice!


**UPDATE** Changed Surrender => Protection

 

All i can say i understand where your coming from in the games and the reasoning behind doing this. But players who are ruining other's games consistently probably send messages to the actual player toying with them or trashing them somewhere on some form of posting. Why not just go after the single players who do this. The reason this is a bad idea. I have 20 players on my fight list who have been on the list for almost 600 to 1000 levels. And i hit them constantly they hit me constantly. Is it bullying no it's a fighting game. If players can not understand the difference and just want a cop out then they need to pick up a shovel and go buy a tractor and play farmville.

 

This is perfectly fine and not considered griefing by any stretch of the imagination. However, if you attacked an in range player thousands of times without any retaliation back then they would have the option to "Surrender" to you which would stop further attacks from you to them and vice-versa. Similarly if you are putting an out of range player on the hitlist repeatedly without retaliation this is another scenario in which they can surrender to you.

What this feature will not do is allow someone to simply "tap out" when they start losing. It takes MANY attacks without retaliation to be able to surrender to another player.

 

hope this is for this one game, only, and not the other games since I do not play this particular game.

 

As it says if u were being attacked 1000s of times a day by the same person would you feel different
Its not about chaining a player maybe 200 times its for players who relentlessly attack the same player for there own amusement
Ps whats the top 30 thing does this mean the top 30 players in the game cant use the feature?

 

Like Linda said i hope it just stays in LCN only. Pc Viking and LCN have the same ratio of allowed hits. And if it does get implemented i can only see a matter of time before it cross overs to the other ones. Slayer is different so i am not worried about it there.

 

I see your point but these are fighting games still. You either use what kano gave you to be able to eventually beat a player back or you keep playing. Your only allowing a player to win if you yourself give up. I get hit 1000 times sometimes i don't go whining about it. I look at how they are able to beat me and concentrate on being able to beat them back eventually it's strategy. Like i said if there are certain players doing this then those players need to be dealt with not the whole community.

 

The idea is players in the top echelon of the game will not be able to surrender to anyone else in order to promote interaction among those who are leading the game. This would be based off of a player's level.

 

That is a very good point Jon

 

It seems odd that one person would sit there and attack another person that many times each day, not that is has not happened to me, in another game where every kind of cheating thing that was at their disposal was used,( auto this, auto that, bots scripts) 24 hours a day for months and months and months on end on me and some others, with no recourse, but that I have not seen it in Kano games , personally, thank goodness. and yet I still played , I gotta be a glutton for punishment lol

 

We strongly encourage players to use the tools at their disposal to combat griefing but sadly this is sometimes not enough when a higher level player makes it their mission to keep you dead. Once you hit level 300 you are on the open market to be bountied by top level players with huge sums of cash, so even if you lay Bounty Traps the lower level player will extinguish their cash well before it will slow down the griefer.

While it would be nice to deal with this on a case by case basis it is not feasible in terms of the time and resources it would require. This system will allow players to have some immediate control against stopping a bully and at the end of the day you will only be allowed to have 1 or 2 active surrenders so it is not like this feature is going to kill interaction on the fight list. However, to your point about identifying and dealing with certain players, this system will provide us a quantifiable means of determining who the major culprits are at which point we could take some more direct action.

 

I understand again Smack. I just am voicing my opinion on seeing way to many scenarios it can be abused and will be abused by players whether the intentions are trying to help players out that have these issues of players constantly pounding away at them. All i am saying is what i have said if it was posted as an idea it would be a 1 for me zero if it was available. I was bountied 120ish times in one day by a single armada why that many partially my fault because i was not going to let them ruin my game play and kept healing and continued to play again. The only time a player like this wins is if you allow them to win. My opinion on it has been voiced and i hope others like me will see it for what it is. My suggestion is when players join the game they agree these are fighting games and they can be attacked to the limit amount in a single day if they do not accept it then the link redirects them out. Again my opinion.

 

And we very much appreciate your opinion I understand that not everyone will be on board with this which is entirely fine. Thanks again for the input.

 

Yeah implement this and you'll see world war 3 as this will be abused.

 

Can you possibly elaborate on this a little more?

 

How do you think this will be abused, could you provide some examples / scenarios you are concerned about?

 

Only thing I see promoting is alt accounts.Can't get with your account,make a illegal one to get the target.

 

I don't like it. Believe me, whenever these "patches" are introduced, there will be those who find ways around it or actually find a way to abuse it. I don't know about the other games, but the game I play (PC) already has these safeguards built into the system as it were. You cannot attack someone who is out of your range unless you are attacked first. And then it is only a 24 hour period or until the other player is killed. And your range of attack is only a few hundred to five hundred or so levels down from the level you are, depending on what your level is. Something like this just seems designed (though maybe not intentionally) to cater to players who don't want to put in the time to improve their pirate to overcome such challenges.

 

that still hasn't answered how this will be abused
if you are a level 2000 and being chained relentless for days weeks months how will making an alt help you abuse it, a new alt player wont be no good against a level 2000
you would have to have alts at all levels to abuse it

 

that is true about not being able to attack someone unless you let them in thats what lcn has too
but what if you are in the same fight range and you are chained 100s or 1000s a times a day the same player how do you stop this behaviour other than ambush all day for days months etc
if they wont stop