There has been some discussion about the flag system changing. it's all very mysterious. Here's some points to consider.
Look at the Alpha. No guards, no universal flag.
The fears of a constant deathmatch arena are unjustified and dis-proven. People are able to craft, explore, and do things other than combat.
There are norms of combat, conflict, crime, and justice emerging without an additional system from SV.
Players can create and manage their own conflicts and rules, determine what is acceptable and not acceptable in an area and deal their own justice.
If you add a flagging system to the alpha right now, would it make anything better, objectively?
Don't add anything that won't help, no matter how good the intentions are.
The flag system in MO made everything worse and created horrible situations.
Blue griefers only exist because of flags. The endless tweaking of friendly fire rules, blue blocking, or luring noobs into attacking, was debated for years. Massive opportunities to exploit and frustrate people emerge BECAUSE of the flags. it literally gets in the way of players creating safe communities.
The murdercount system was horrible, statloss, leaving the computer running all night, a disaster for electric bills, computer parts, and the environment. Underwhelming. What did we gain with that complicated system? Not much and obvious costs.
If that's all true, consider an alternative to the clusterfuck that was....flip the MO1 ruleset upside down.
Rules, laws, reputation in territory can be achieved by well run and organized regions. People will seek out safer areas that are just and well-run because cities are generally less safe.
Look at the Alpha. No guards, no universal flag.
The fears of a constant deathmatch arena are unjustified and dis-proven. People are able to craft, explore, and do things other than combat.
There are norms of combat, conflict, crime, and justice emerging without an additional system from SV.
Players can create and manage their own conflicts and rules, determine what is acceptable and not acceptable in an area and deal their own justice.
If you add a flagging system to the alpha right now, would it make anything better, objectively?
Don't add anything that won't help, no matter how good the intentions are.
The flag system in MO made everything worse and created horrible situations.
Blue griefers only exist because of flags. The endless tweaking of friendly fire rules, blue blocking, or luring noobs into attacking, was debated for years. Massive opportunities to exploit and frustrate people emerge BECAUSE of the flags. it literally gets in the way of players creating safe communities.
The murdercount system was horrible, statloss, leaving the computer running all night, a disaster for electric bills, computer parts, and the environment. Underwhelming. What did we gain with that complicated system? Not much and obvious costs.
If that's all true, consider an alternative to the clusterfuck that was....flip the MO1 ruleset upside down.
Rules, laws, reputation in territory can be achieved by well run and organized regions. People will seek out safer areas that are just and well-run because cities are generally less safe.