MALICE TOKENS
Using an issuing mechanism similar to the Patronage Tokens that were available in Tales 1 and 2, each paid account of Level 10 or higher shall be able to obtain a single Malice Token per game month by visiting a School of Leadership and asking for supplies.
A Malice Token shall be valid only during the game month when it is issued, and shall be transferable by stashing it in and subsequently taking it from a chest.
When GIVEN to a player, a valid Malice Token shall have the following effect:
1) The action shall be reported in the System channel. "Player A has given a Malice Token to Player B." A related pop-up shall notify both player A and player B of the Malice Token transfer.
2) The token shall randomly select one of eight possible Malice Token slots. If that slot is already filled, the Malice Token shall have no effect.
3) If the random selection fills an empty Malice Token slot, the player receiving the Malice Token shall be temporarily demoted ONE level for each filled Malice Token slot, with a maximum reduction of EIGHT levels.
4) A Malice Token shall cease to exist once it has been given to a player.
5) Other than the possible change of Level and the notification in the System channel, there shall be no subsequent indication that a player has received a Malice Token.
6) Twice each game week, a random Malice Token slot shall be reset. As a consequence, a single Malice Token might last for only a few game days, or it might last for weeks.
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Commentary:
Malice Tokens provide a mild remedy for mild offenses. The inconvenience is minor, as many other activities will still be available to the offending player, but aggravating a LOT of players will significantly hamper the offending player.
On the other hand, each paid account only gets one token per game month, and collecting it requires some effort, so the inconvenience that can be caused by any one player is very limited.
A central reviewing body is neither desired nor requested, players are individually accountable for their actions, however coordinated disciplinary efforts are entirely permissible.
Contact MarvL in-game if you wish to discuss this proposal or carry the petition.
- This proposal is just another invitation for abuse and another way to grief players. A waste of a ballot if ever there was one. <- Richter
- It also opens up the rather interesting possibility of using a petition to permanently strip several levels from someone who isn't responding to Malice Tokens, rather than using an outright ban. - MarvL
- Hmmm, they are transferrable? So I could buy a bunch and go hammer some newbie that built a compound near my camp? Or I can transfer one via chest to a trial account and go grief someone? What good comes from transferrability? Is transferrability even a word? Also the very name screams griefing and ill-will, why not call them justice tokens? ~Matk
- I'm not at all convinced that Malice Tokens will be used "justly" by whatever standard you might prefer, nor would I make any such claim. They'd be used as each player sees fit.
The ability to transfer tokens is important for a couple of reasons:
- Not everyone will be on-line at the necessary time and/or location. I'd be quite comfortable if a dozen neighbors decided that "something needs to be done about Doofus and his compound" and pooled their tokens in a guild chest. Whoever happened to be around at the time could grab a token and chase Doofus out of the area. Doofus, of course, might have more support than ever you imagined, with his own source of tokens.
- Depositing your token in a LOGGED chest would demonstrate support for the alleged victim, which would improve their negotiating position, and may well serve to resolve the crisis without the tokens ever being actually used.
- From whom would you "Buy a bunch" of tokens?
- "Making a statement" is very nearly the entire point of using a Malice Token. Why ever would anybody want to use a trial account unless, of course, Doofus was part of a sting operation?
- Our current system DEPENDS on screaming, griefing, and ill-will. Stated differently, our current system depends on mutual interests and the skillful resolution of conflicts. I'd delight in asking our squeaky wheels why they haven't used their Malice Token yet, if they're so upset, and conversely why they're still harping on the subject if they can't get anybody else to support them. - MarvL
- Simple Amendment to avoid using a trial account for a 'drive-by' : Malice tokens only generate the effect when used by a paid account. No avatar may give more than one token to a any other given avatar in a 24 hour period. I'd also suggest stamping the name of the player that obtained the token to curtail abuse. "Player A was given a Malice Token by Player B, in the name of Player C." I suspect that you would be less willing to trade your token away for just profit if you knew the victim would know where the token came from. Finally, I'd expand the effect of the tokens by allowing a DP, at cost of one of their "bannings" to make one level lost permanent, accompanied by a note on the player's info sheet "Censured by (DP's name) at the request of the People of Egypt". Usually if a DP has to act, that means negotiations have failed. DPs don't like to ban, so this gives them an option to exercise their power in a less absolute way, and only with the aid of a sizeable group. -- Noobiehotep