Topic: Law Enforcement in the Galaxy

[fehknt]

That's a sticky spot as far as I'm concerned.  I want to see it realistic enough that people can't get shot 3 times in the face and then pull out a rocket launcher and kill you (not that that has happened to me in unnamed FPS games before), yet don't want death to happen too often.  

Perhaps there should be a strong police presence (automated turrets?) on lawful planets so that if you try to hurt someone, you get knocked out by tranquilizer darts and thrown in jail for a while (can't play except to look at a static picture of a cell?), and if you actually manage to kill someone in a "law zone", you are forever in danger of the above in any "law zone" on any planet.  Oh, and make the death penalty mandatory for murder universally.

Now, we can see that most people aren't going to try to kill other people.  Unless they go outside of the law-abiding areas of space, in which case they damn well better be prepared first, cause they're risking thier lives and they know it.

[whitelynx]

Good idea. This also brings me a few more ideas about law enforcement. For example, if you're in an unoccupied system or in deep space and you're attacked, that's not to say you can't get help... you just have to wait for help to get there. There should be a way of alerting the authorities through standard communication methods. Depending on how close you are to a law enforcement base and how fast your best method of communication is, there will be some lag time before the authorities get there to help. Also, if someone jams your communications, you can't call for help. (although communication jamming will probably be detectable, so if you are within a certain range of a law enforcement post or vehicle, they will notice and come to look at the situation.)

Of course, once the war hits, law enforcement will be heavily disrupted.

Dave

[Morgul]

[...] Of course, once the war hits, law enforcement will be heavily disrupted.

Sssh! I don't know if they know about the war yet (And when it hits is debatable... and even if it happens might be. Keep in mind the war isn't a part of the game.. it's part of the gaming experiance... aka it's something we'll do on the servers... not cod into the game itself...

[whitelynx]

yes, i'm just saying we have to make sure our coding allows for it. ;-)

Dave

[Morgul]

Back to the actual discussion... yeah, I like that idea.... We also need to define who's the law enforcement.. keep in mind Terran police will likely arrest any League citizen they get thier hands on.


Oh, and while we're talking about it.. how should we handle death?

[whitelynx]

Oh, and while we're talking about it.. how should we handle death?

Let's put that in a new thread...

Dave

[fehknt]

actual law enforcement could be a little different, but maybe simply have some large sections of planets (major cities, spaceports, etc) and maybe some entire systems (this is going to be much more subject to the lag-time you were talking about) under a "common law" that is much simpler than the more involved law-enforcement.  EG: don't shoot someone who isn't currently carrying a gun in thier hand and no shooting at ships that don't have thier weapons systems powered up.  That could be the extent of common law, and anything beyond that was up to the authorities of various planets.  Of course, this may be easier with some sort of galactic police force (galpol? ok, ok, bad name, i know.) that did simple such law enforcement, and various factions had thier own ideas about law enforcement, and would have the option of having galpol in thier space, for a suitable fee.  that way, they don't have to do much policeing, and the galaxy is much safer, in certian areas.

Oh yeah, and the fees should be high (not actually player seen or game-affecting), and the cops should have really, really big guns <:o)

[whitelynx]

I split this one into its own topic, since it's becoming quite an interesting discussion, and is a bit OT from the previous topic. (has nothing to do with space flight)

I do like the idea of splitting up law enforcement, and even of giving characters the option of becoming a law enforcement officer. In some areas, they don't even necessarily have to abide by common law. (thinking pirate/smuggler-controlled areas of the galaxy) They could even have mercenaries hired as law enforcement for those areas, working under whatever laws the dominant group in that area sets.

Dave

[fehknt]

Oh yes.  The people that run that are of space would have total say over if the common law should hold there.  But many places, especially areas with large civillian populations, probably will find it a much better idea to have common law that everyone knows and a common enforcer that everyone knows and fears, er, trusts, then to have to handle all that on thier own.  My vision of law enforcement was basically a bunch of mercenaries...  Apply with a big company to be an enforcer, and then you get a special paint job on your ship and armor, but you have to do patrols and answer dispatches, and generally uphold common law.  But the pay is good.  and women like men in uniform, or so I've heard.  Ok, maybe that's not such an issue in a game, but...

Basically, mercenaries work for a galactic enforcement corporation, who is in turn hired by many factions to safegaurd plantes and solar systems under the charter of this corporation, known as common law.  Other smaller, probably private enforcement operations exist for special needs of each faction, but they're much smaller because most of the major enforcement is aleady done.

[whitelynx]

Exactly. We definitely want to have at least a few smaller merc companies around, though, since the pirates and smugglers won't want to hire the same police as the legitimate governments. (there's even an interesting opportunity for some mafia-like "protection" in some of these areas...:-))

Dave

PS - The thing about women liking men in uniform might be more important than you would think. ;-)

[Morgul]

[...]e thing about women liking men in uniform might be more important than you would think. ;-)

Definitely. I think that *should* be an aspect of the game... even thought we want to keep it non X-rated. Hrm... wanna start a new thread on sexual (or other) relations, and possibly the Role-Playing aspect of the game?

[fehknt]

to get back on topic, this is really the place to bring up "reputation." specifically, I think that if people commit murder, they should have to look out in civilized space from then on, because then they're in the computers as having an outstanding arrest warrant.  That should make people careful about killing others.

[Duffy]

The reputation idea would work very well, requiring that players truly think about there actions. Of course if a player has managed to acquire the resources and power to challenge law enforcement personel they may have an actual fighting chance, of course to acquire all that they probably have a healthy respect for the system already and may not be thinking indiscrimanent slaughter.

[Morgul]

[...]Of course if a player has managed to acquire the resources and power to challenge law enforcement personel they may have an actual fighting chance, of course to acquire all that they probably have a healthy respect for the system already and may not be thinking indiscrimanent slaughter.

Even if they were thinking about indiscrimanent slaughter, it's quite possible local law enforcement will call in the military... and even if the player holds thier own.. they have one ship, and the military had a bunch.... plus there's going to be a few select players who are game moderators who might step in if needed... and then myself who's character happens to have one the most impressive ships in the game... So, I think it could be handled in a very fun, roleplaying like manner...

But, this brings me to another point. Legendary Characters. Think about meeting Luke Skywalker in a starwars game... Rare... but not impossible. I want Legendary Characters in this game to work the same way... They are the leaders, the ones people tell sotries about, and when you do meet them, you don't want to upset them . (Unless you're a pretty beefy character yourself... then you're welcome to try) They won't be invincable... but they'll be damn hard to kill, and have a bad habit of escaping slim odds... if possible. I'm thinking in the entire game there will be about 10 or twenty at any one time.... who knows. Just a could thoughts I've had.

[fehknt]

Hrm.  That could be really interesting.  Major plot-pushers that actually get seen around doing stuff...  I like it.

Back to death:  Here's what I see being discussed, just so sum up and have in one place the thoughts of everyone.

1) Death will be permanant.  Period.  Except for Dev (ine) intervention. <:o)
2) Death will be hard to come by -- people won't be super-tough or anything, but you have to actually do something pretty stupid to get killed, and it's going to be a risk that the players knowingly take, not something that happens randomly and often.
3) Players killing other players will also be pretty rare due to the massive penalities that will accrue in-game, just because of the society, not because of any special game-mechanics that suddenly make your character worse or something.
4) Realism is not before gameplay, but if done right, can be equally important.  We just need to have the right kind of society set up to allow the kinds of things we want.

[Chii]

Would these Lengendary characters be NPCs or what? I was just wondering... Because that might be a good character for a dev. or two to have. Not as a character that's played often, of course, but it would give them a character to play that already has a reputation. Just a thought.

Also, what about people who want to make Lengendary characters? What's going to be done about that? Are you just going to let them, or is it going to be not allowed? ...and if not allowed, how are you going to go about that?

[Morgul]

Would these Lengendary characters be NPCs or what? I was just wondering... Because that might be a good character for a dev. or two to have. Not as a character that's played often, of course, but it would give them a character to play that already has a reputation. Just a thought[...]

Exactly. They are going to be for the devs, and a handful of others. See below.

Also, what about people who want to make Lengendary characters? What's going to be done about that? Are you just going to let them, or is it going to be not allowed? ...and if not allowed, how are you going to go about that?

It's going to be an option that you will only get if an admin (or possibly a dev) has authorized a player to be able to make a Legendary Character, and how many they can make.

--Chris

[contingencyplan]

Personally, I have my own "Legend Player" persona all picked out, so I'd definitely vote for that.

Also, what about people who want to make Lengendary characters? What's going to be done about that? Are you just going to let them, or is it going to be not allowed? ...and if not allowed, how are you going to go about that?

Well, I would say that players will become Legends, at least in terms of reputation, just through normal playing - they become well-known in certain circles as having accomplished a lot, or something of that nature.  If we provide special benefits to Legend characters, though, then we have have to set down a more rigid set of criteria - must have been playing for some length of time, or have accomplished a set number of tasks, or risen in some ranking system enough, or something like that.

Anyways, it's late, and I need sleep.
~Brian

[topher]

Damn, a thread i have updated yet =/

I like the idea of local police force to enforce certain areas.  Maybe if they can't handle the criminals they call in the army for the respective nation.  That way in the outlying areas there is nothing but pc militia.  Reputation is good numerical way to handle rampant pk-ing, smuggling, and maybe doing work for shady employers.  Reputation 'hits' should scale depending on how heinous the offense is.  For example:

* Killing a PC in a outlying area -.5 reputation
* Killing a PC in a populate, military governed area -1.0 reputation
* Smuggling illegal goods -.25 (per load or something if caught)
* Killing a local enforcement agent -2
* Killing a militia emplotee -2.5

At a certain point you would have an Arrest Warrant and Bounty placed on your head.

[fehknt]

and, of course, there must be a way to get in the good graces of the law -- but harder, and any "bad" action will put you below 0, no matter how good you were before.  Just like life.  bad is a lot worse than good is good.  

but if you're bad enough, then people start to stay away from you, because if you've gotten away with THAT much, you have got to have some tricks up your sleeve.  Enter large sums of cash offered for you, _verified_ dead or alive...

[Morgul]

[...]Enter large sums of cash offered for you, _verified_ dead or alive...

Can you tell a pile of carbon ash from any other carbon ash?