Final Criminality rule set from Frontier Developments.
Mike Evans, Designer- Elite: Dangerous wrote:
Hello Backers!
Here is the Criminality rules set that we've agreed on, following another set of extensive debate, both in the team and on the forum. We'd like to thank everyone for their involvement! As with other topics like this it will stay here for a few days, then be moved to the archives section.
Cheers,
-Mike
Crime List
There are a set number of recognised crimes; they come in two severities:
Minor Crime – Punishable by fine
Unlawful Discharge - Unauthorized firing of weapons near a structure or ship controlled by the factional authority in the system
Collisions – Colliding with a ship or owned structure enough to cause damage
Shields soak up most collisions
Damage is caused when two ships collide with a certain force
A ship is exempt from this crime if docked or “dropped anchor”
“dropped anchor” is a player initiated act that takes a small amount of time and protects against the exploit of quickly coming to a stop in front of a moving ship
Stolen Goods – Being detected carrying stolen goods
Illegal Goods (Minor)– Being detected carrying goods that are classified as illegal in the current system according to the factional authority
Illegal goods includes passenger transporting of persons with reported crimes in the system
Illegal dumping – Being detected jettisoning toxic cargo
Jettisoning any cargo within a set distance from a dock is counted as illegal dumping
Obstructing Justice – ignoring a request from factional authority vessels and structures (such as fleeing instead of stopping to allow a scan or trespassing in restricted space)
Major Crime – Punishable by attack (via Pilot’s Federation bounty/faction bounty)
Attack on a ship or structure– firing on and hitting an owned structure or locking on and firing at a ship
Murder/Ship Destruction – causing death/destruction of an owned structure
This includes destruction through collision
Illegal Goods (Major)– Being detected carrying goods that are classified as highly illegal in the current system according to the factional authority
Public Enemy – Failure to pay a fine for a set number of times
Jurisdiction
With the exception of Pilot’s Federation Bounties, a crime is only ever committed within a jurisdiction; in unregulated space such as dark systems and anarchies crimes are ignored
A jurisdiction always belongs to a faction
The defining nature of a jurisdiction is that it contains facilities to receive information transmitted by ships
These facilities range from space stations and inhabited planets to automated defence stations and satellites
Large vessels owned by the faction also provide this functionality, effectively generating a jurisdiction in the area they occupy
Witnesses and Reporting
Even within a jurisdiction, crimes must be witnessed in order to count as a crime
All NPCs can act as witnesses to all crimes that don’t need special equipment to detect
The chance they will report it depends on
Their archetype (ie a pirate is unlikely to report piracy or whether they are an archetype with local law enforcement powers)
Whether they saw it clearly enough to be able to identify the ship (ie on distance) and they will have to perform an active scan to do so
The reputation of the perpetrator (communicated via a simple dialogue)
Players can purchase cargo scanners, and for players that have achieved a high enough local status these can be equipped with secure law enforcement software that can also be used to report smuggling, for which in most jurisdictions there is a reward based on the value of contraband apprehended.
Police patrols and occasional NPC vigilantes will also be equipped with cargo scanners, and may also do spot searches.
Players may turn off their ‘squawk’ such that even if attacked the crime is not automatically reported.
Pilot Federation Bounties
When a member of the Pilot’s Federation is attacked, they have the option of setting a Pilot’s Federation Bounty on their assailant, within a preset min and max credits for this
This action is time limited – they forfeit the ability to set a bounty after a set time elapses once they have entered a different session (eg through death or hyperspace)
Should their ship be destroyed by the assailant they have a limited amount of time from when their escape pod arrives at a dock to set the bounty
Launching from a dock forfeits this ability if not already set
The credit value of a bounty must be available in the player’s account, and is immediately deducted.
A Pilot’s Federation Bounty can only be claimed by any member of the Pilot’s Federation
The Pilot’s Federation Bounty system does not bypass local laws such as “Unlawful Discharge” that may be active so players need to bear this in mind
A Pilot’s Federation Bounty is only removed if claimed by a bounty hunter or redeemed by the perpetrator
Redemption can only occur after a set significant time period has elapsed (eg 1 calendar week) and the perpetrator makes financial restitution of a significant multiplier of the bounty (eg 10x) to the Pilot’s Federation
Detection and Rap Sheet
When a crime has been witnessed and reported it is logged to the perpetrator’s rap sheet, but this rap sheet is not visible to other ships by default unless they were direct witnesses – ships must scan the perpetrator and even then, they will only receive details out outstanding bounties applicable for the current jurisdiction(the scan automatically cross-references local authority reports) and active Pilot’s Federation bounties
Players may have positive reputations with certain law enforcement agencies, then the scanner will be able to look up details of crimes committed in other jurisdictions
A ship will detect and inform its commander when it is being scanned
Some advanced scanners can scan without being detected
Once a ship has been scanned, its commander’s outstanding bounties for the current jurisdiction are known to the scanning commander until the two commanders are not in the same session (discounting the ‘hot pursuit’ effect if you follow them through hyperspace)
A commander can view their full rap sheet at any time
A rap sheet contains the precise breakdown of crimes that the commander has been detected committing
Each crime has a fine or bounty value attached to it
Right to Retaliate
When a commander is the victim of a major crime within a jurisdiction they automatically receive the right to retaliate:
Their ship automatically scans the perpetrator, giving them knowledge of the outstanding bounties in the current jurisdiction
They count as a witness and automatically transmit the crime to the factional authority controlling the jurisdiction
They are allowed to attack the perpetrator with impunity in any jurisdiction controlled by the same factional authority as where the crime was witnessed and reported
The right to retaliate does not grant immunity from prosecution in jurisdictions controlled by different factional authorities
Note: If the commander is attacked in a jurisdiction that does not recognize the crime, the commander does not gain the right to retaliate!
In unregulated space no crime is ever committed and any form of retaliation is acceptable
Authority Response
Once a major crime has been reported to the factional authority that controls the jurisdiction a response is dispatched to the location – and that dispatch will be rapid – usually they would arrive by hyperspace within a minute if they respond at all.
The size of the response is related to the severity of the crime, modified by the total amount of crimes logged for the location and the background simulation for the system
If the victim is present at a location when authority ships arrive the crime is instantly detected by the authority ships and they gain knowledge of the perpetrator’s rap sheet
If the victim is not present the authority ships will be required to scan the perpetrator to detect the crime and gain knowledge of the perpetrator’s rap sheet
Their behaviour will in general lean towards scanning all vessels once they arrive but may be influenced by reputations and ship appearance to the point that a scan is guaranteed or never initiated
The standard response for a major crime will be to attack directly once a faction bounty has been detected though we may have archetype variations for law enforcement where they give a warning – giving the option of a bribe or of buying off the bounty at 10x (or more) there and then.
Once a crime has been detected by a factional authority vessel/structure whilst an authority ship remains in direct contact all associated ships and structures of the faction also have knowledge of the perpetrator’s rap sheet. Otherwise they have to choose to look it up as normal.
This knowledge persists according to rules described earlier in the Detection section
Multiplayer - crimes against human commanders that cause a bounty to exist make the criminal able to be matched with any other human commander present in the “all players” group
This punishment lasts for a set amount of game time
Consequences
Fines
When the player is witnessed committing a crime punishable by fine, they immediately accrue the fine and have a set period of time in which to visit a representative of the appropriate faction/Pilot’s Federation and pay it
Failure to pay within the time allotted increases the fine
Once a commander has failed to pay within the allotted time a set amount of times they commit the public enemy crime for the faction/Pilot’s Federation
A commander always has access to his crime sheet to view fines
Faction Bounties
A faction bounty can be claimed by anyone that destroys the perpetrator whilst having knowledge of their rap sheet
Knowledge of the rap sheet can be obtained via a scan of the perpetrator or from an event or mission (which acts the same as if the perpetrator had been scanned)
The destroyed husk of a perpetrator can be scanned to obtain its ID and then look up its rap sheet – though attacking a ship without having knowledge of its rap sheet would itself be a crime, so it is safer to “scan first, shoot second”
The commander that delivered the killing blow on a perpetrator obtains a bounty data item ‘voucher’ if they have knowledge of the perpetrator’s rap sheet
This voucher can be traded in at a dock that contains a representative of the appropriate factional authority to claim the bounty
The voucher can also be traded between players (presumably at a discount) to cover players that might be unable to cash in the voucher due to crimes of their own.
When a commander with a rap sheet gets their ship destroyed, any faction bounties are immediately turned into fines via a conversion factor
The commander’s “failure to pay fine count” is also reset
This does not prevent a commander that destroyed the perpetrator’s ship whilst having knowledge of their rap sheet from claiming the bounty
Bounty vouchers once created will have to be cashed in within a particular time, or they will expire.
Crimes and Docking
When a commander with a rap sheet arrives at a dock via escape pod they are automatically scanned and knowledge of their rap sheet for the current jurisdiction is given to the faction that controls the dock
When a commander with a rap sheet arrives at a dock in their ship, they may be scanned:
The chance of being scanned is modified by reputation and ship appearance
If there is ‘hot pursuit’ by the same factional authority as that owning the dock, then the dock also has knowledge of the commander.
No action is taken against a commander for crimes on the rap sheet that occurred in jurisdictions not under the control of the factional authority that owns the dock
If a commander has crimes on their rap sheet that occurred within a jurisdiction controlled by the factional authority that owns the dock the following event automatically occurs:
The commander must pay off all fines before they can leave in addition to any payments required to obtain a ship
The commander must use a creditor if they lack the funds to pay off the fines
Based on chance and reputations, a commander may be able to bribe the dock authorities into “looking the other way”, allowing the commander to launch without paying off fines, or even to mark them as ‘cancelled’
Missions/Events and Exemptions
Based on reputations, game logic and contacts, missions and events can be generated that affect a commander’s rap sheet
Rap sheets can be used to generate bounty missions awarded via bulletin boards and contacts
Based on reputation, events that allow commanders to hail authority vessels and bribe them to let the player escape (or even in extreme circumstances turn bounties into fines or clear rap sheets) can be generated
Contacts may be able to alter, reduce or clear rap sheets
Such services are rare and will always entail a cost of some kind
Commanders with sufficiently high reputations can petition for Letters of Marque from the Empire or Warrants from the Federation
Letters of Marque and Warrants authorise attack and plunder of vessels openly allied to the specific opposition faction, but only in independent space (jurisdictions not controlled by the either opposing faction)
Letters of Marque or Warrants mean that certain actions are no longer crimes for that player.
Letters of Marque and Warrants can effectively give the player law enforcement powers in that area, and corresponding greatly reduced chance of scan/search.
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Last edited by Gimi on Mon Jun 24, 2013 7:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
"A brilliant game of blasting and trading... Truly a mega-game... The game of a lifetime." (Gold Medal Award, Zzap!64 May 1985).
Finalized Ratings and Reputation rule set from Frontier Developments.
Dan Davies, Designer Elite: Dangerous wrote:
Hi all,
Ratings and Reputations has now been finalized and the document is here for you guys to look through, thankyou everyone for your input!
Reputations
Reputations are numerical values representing the consequences of particular styles of play
Reputations can go up and down, based on commander actions
Some reputations can have negative values
Reputation values are hidden to the player; they just experience the effects on NPC behaviours
Reputations can affect the following NPC behaviours in either a good or bad way (for the player):
Tones of response, comprised of:
(Bad) Hostile
(Neutral) Neutral
(Good) Friendly
Dialogue option availability/likelihood of success of various options
(Bad) Fewer options if applicable, less chance of options having good results
(Good) More options if applicable, greater chance of options having good results.
Note that some options will require specific reputation levels.
Determining threat level of player actions near NPC archetypes
Player actions considered are:
Proximity to NPC
Scanning the NPC
Opening weapon bay near NPC
Firing weapons without hitting the NPC
(Bad) Having a low reputation in an area the NPC archetype cares about increases the perceived threat from the actions above which could result in a hostile action
Likewise, a high reputation in an area the NPC archetype cares about in a negative way also increases the perceived threat
(Good) Having a high reputation in an area the NPC archetype cares about results in a decrease in perceived threat from player actions
Likewise a low reputation in an area the NPC archetype cares about in a negative fashion also decreases the perceived threat from player actions
Level of interest in the player, this will affect:
Likelihood of NPC instigated interactions
(Bad) Attacking
(Bad) Scanning
(Good) Trading if applicable
(Good) Offering mission if applicable
NPC Archetypes
NPCs use an NPC archetype to determine its responses
Each NPC archetype only considers a small number of reputations and ignore others
Each reputation is considered as a positive or negative
When considered as a positive, the higher the reputation the more friendly the result
When considered as a negative, the higher the reputation, the more hostile the result
When multiple reputations are considered, the average value is used
As well as reputations, all NPC archetypes take into account the appearance of the player’s ship in terms of how well maintained it appears to be
A high ship appearance gained from a well looked after ship – a low ship appearance is gained from damage/signs of wear and tear
Some ship docks offer maintenance and repair services, allowing the player to increase their ship appearance at a cost
Smuggler and pirate space docks offer a “aging” service to lower ship appearance without damaging the vessel
Ship appearance is treated as a reputation and used by all archetypes to determine response
Example: Police Archetype
Cares about Ship Appearance, Criminality, Smuggling, and Piracy reputations
Acts on Ship Appearance before consulting other elements
All considered as a negative for tone of response
All considered as a negative for dialogue options
All considered as a negative for level of threat
All considered as a negative for level of interest
Example: Dubious Trader Archetype
Cares about Ship Appearance, Trading, Smuggling and Piracy reputations
Piracy considered as a negative for tone of response, trading and smuggling considered as a positive
Piracy considered as a negative for dialogue options, trading and smuggling considered as a positive
Piracy considered as a negative for level of threat
Trading and smuggling considered as a positive for level of interest, ship appearance considered as a negative
Events can be affected by reputation in the following ways:
Chance of an event occurring
Type of event
Severity of event
Reputation Types
Trade
Increased by: selling cargo at a profit
Decreased by: losing cargo (lost in space or sold at loss)
Smuggling
Increased by: selling illegal cargo
Decreased by: being detected by authorities whilst carrying illegal cargo
Piracy
Increased by: acquiring and using or selling booty obtained through a declaration of piracy (an explicit player option)
Decreased by: destroying a ship without first giving the opportunity to surrender by not declaring piracy.
Mercenary
Increased by: successfully completing missions for factional navies
Decreased by: failing to complete missions for factional navies
Bounty Hunting
Increased by: killing ships that have a bounty
Decays with time
Increased by: successfully performing humanitarian missions and events
Decreased by: successfully performing opportunistic missions and events that ran counter to a humanitarian effort
Factional Allegiance
A faction has both a reputation value and a Faction archetype, comprising of reputations it is interested in
Faction archetypes comprise of:
Federation, Empire and Alliance
Corporations
Systems (only exist once a player has done something in that system, based on system archetypes: agricultural etc)
Organisations (exist entirely in the events system)
A faction’s reputation value increases and decreases based on performing actions within their awareness (jurisdiction, NPC involvement) that the faction is interested in according to their archetype
Faction reputation ranges from a negative to a positive value
Factional reputations are considered by NPCs with allegiance to that faction
The faction reputation value is applied as a modifier to all other reputation values when determining NPC response based on reputation
Becoming Elite - Ratings
The “Elite” rating is a combat rating based on the number of successful pirate kills by a pilot. To get this rating requires a great deal of dedication. Additional routes to an “Elite” rating and that coveted membership were introduced in 3290.
Three new possible “Elite” rankings, in addition to the combat effectiveness rating (still based on number of kills using a player rating and ship formula) now cover new key areas:
Wealth: profit over accumulated net worth (though both values are taken into account)
Influence: based on contacts and successful negotiations or diplomacy.
Knowledge: acquisition of data, particularly through exploration.
Getting the Elite rating (in any of the four rankings) automatically gets you into the exclusive “Elite Federation of Pilots” – and being a member of the Elite federation confers many privileges. It is also possible for pilots without the “Elite” rating to gain admission to the EFP, but access to the organisation is extremely difficult: one must show extraordinary promise as a pilot to be admitted.
The pilot ratings are displayed openly if the pilot selects their rating to be public
If the player selects their rating to be private then it is only revealed via a scan
These values never decrease
Once admitted the pilot will be awarded a badge including the “Elite” logo, but with their current rank below. It is expected the majority of these will be “Elite: Dangerous” and “Elite: Deadly”. Those with an “Elite” rating get the original, unadorned badge.
The different ratings have their own badge colour
Once admitted to the EFP, elite missions/events become available to the event generator
Successful resolution of elite missions/events will increase a hidden elite value
In general, elite missions/events are not tied to any particular location or gameplay area, and are given context as having come through the EFP’s good offices (see the Pilot’s Federation document for more detail)
There will be missions available from the EFP to non-members, and will be presented as tests that will help gain admission. Elite missions/events are more likely to be generated for pilots with suitable reputations in specific areas (mercenary, bounty hunting, assassination, smuggling)
When the elite value is high enough a commander is invited to join the Elite Federation
Elite level missions will be unlocked once the commander has entered the Elite federation to give them new content to experience
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Last edited by Gimi on Mon Jun 24, 2013 7:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
"A brilliant game of blasting and trading... Truly a mega-game... The game of a lifetime." (Gold Medal Award, Zzap!64 May 1985).
Hmmm... If I focus on being a humanitarian, can I get a red cross on my craft to make it highly illegal to shoot me?
Author of Tales from the Frontier - official Elite 4 anthology.
Author of Marcan Rayger adventures - unofficial fan-fic novellas set in the Frontier universe.
Crikey - is it two for the price of one today, or what? Again, thanks Gimi.
You are welcome.
I post them as they arrive in the DDF. Or, to be exact, I wait 2-3 days just to be on the safe side, and then post them here. Now it just happens that Frontier finalized two topics and posted them on the same day (Tuesday). While the rules of the DDF are clear, we can take the information outside of the DDF, I try to keep a low profile, but I will continue to post here until someone changes the rules.
Cody wrote:
I'm still trying to get my head around the PvE/PvP discussion - I think they're crazy!
... no PvP combat possible (i.e. shooting another player does no damage) in a proper "All" open group equivalent to the existing "All" group.
I'm not going there.
I'm not convinced that the whole groups and PvE/PvP thing has landed, and Frontier may well have to look at it again. I guess we will see come Alpha time.
"A brilliant game of blasting and trading... Truly a mega-game... The game of a lifetime." (Gold Medal Award, Zzap!64 May 1985).
While the rules of the DDF are clear, we can take the information outside of the DDF, I try to keep a low profile, but I will continue to post here until someone changes the rules.
That's well understood.
I would advise stilts for the quagmires, and camels for the snowy hills
And any survivors, their debts I will certainly pay. There's always a way!
How much easier everything is, without multiplayer!
Are they, though, seriously considering a "multiplayer" version of the game where players can't shoot each other? I can see the benefits of a system that minimises griefing, but being able to dogfight with other players is pretty much the only advantage of a multiplayer setup, no? It's the reason why there are all those fudges about travel times and game clocks ... all that creaking, straining setup is there to make it possible for players to have at each other. Without PvP, what's the point of having all the P's there in the same game? Company? Is it just going to be a giant chatroom in space?
How much easier everything is, without multiplayer!
Ain't that the truth!
Disembodied wrote:
Are they, though, seriously considering a "multiplayer" version of the game where players can't shoot each other?
I get the impression (bear in mind that I have no access to the higher levels) that FD don't want that, but that a fair number of backers do (I think they might be known as 'carebears' <sniggers>). As I said above, I think that idea is crazy (but then I don't understand the finer points of MP games). Yes, for some it's a massive social jolly.
I would advise stilts for the quagmires, and camels for the snowy hills
And any survivors, their debts I will certainly pay. There's always a way!
Odd. Odd, odd, odd. I can (just about) see the point of a multiplayer game where you shouldn't shoot other players, but one where you can't? Talk about an immersion-breaker - but then, that's likely to be killed with multiplayer anyway. I can foresee hordes of starship pilots gossiping on the comms about Strictly Come X Factor ...
Oh, I didn't expect FD to pick it up this fast, but this has been a contentious issue that, in my view, never was properly addressed by the grouping system.
"A brilliant game of blasting and trading... Truly a mega-game... The game of a lifetime." (Gold Medal Award, Zzap!64 May 1985).
Certainly seems that way. I'd be interested to see if the polls in the DDF and PBF mirror the public poll.
Being a SP type, I wonder if I should vote at all? If I do, it'll be for option #1, of course (even though some call that selfish - que?).
Meanwhile, I continue to wonder about this damn POI plan, and in-system travel in general.
I would advise stilts for the quagmires, and camels for the snowy hills
And any survivors, their debts I will certainly pay. There's always a way!
Certainly seems that way. I'd be interested to see if the polls in the DDF and PBF mirror the public poll.
Being a SP type, I wonder if I should vote at all? If I do, it'll be for option #1, of course (even though some call that selfish - que?).
It's going to be interesting to see those results. I'll post the results when the polls are done. So far they seem to be pretty much the same (General forum has a slightly higher vote for alternative 3 than the PBF and DDF). I do wonder why Frontier chose to do it this way. I have a feeling that they are doing a small comparison/validity test of the results they are getting out of the DDF. As in; "Does the DDF represent the view of the average backer" type test, which I think is fair.
Cody wrote:
Meanwhile, I continue to wonder about this damn POI plan, and in-system travel in general.
As do I. Been very quiet around the whole thing. I actually think that FD were taken a little bit by surprise as to just how much everybody valued the freedom of movement/do what you want aspect of the game. Good to know that they are taking a closer look at what can be done within the limitations they have.
"A brilliant game of blasting and trading... Truly a mega-game... The game of a lifetime." (Gold Medal Award, Zzap!64 May 1985).
