Landlubbers and pirates still getting their sea legs, listen close...

Way back when the Fo'Rums were still just a pond and not yet the Seas it is today, there was a reputation system which had positive and negative side. One of the locals had joked about it being called "Sea Cred". The name caught on like the blaze from a lightning flash. Some locals even made cutesy little pictures about it.

Unfortunately, between a few clever salts abusing it (to drive certain other pirates reputation down) and other saltier pirates getting their feeling hurt (for their lack of upvotes), the Governor changed the system from positive and negative to the more basic "+1 reputation" or "thumbs up" we have today.

@CaptnJaq

If there were a system for "Sea Cred" now, I would see it being a visual based on in-game actions. The more positive / negative your actions, the different titles / Commendations / clothing & ship options / etc you'd have access to.

Almost like a modified "Fable" system, in a way.

I would also like to see an in-game system where you could give a player either a positive "Mark of Commendation" or negative "Black Mark" for their actions. You could only use it once per day and only if that person was in the same server as you.

For example: If I were trying to finish an event and someone helped me; I could give them a "Mark of Commendation". Unless they were wearing a certain type of clothing or a particular title, I would have no idea what their current rank is so it would be based strictly on my interaction with them. It would be completely up to them whether they wanted to "announce" their particular alignment (for lack of a better term) or not.

Before anyone says, "But, that system can be abused too..." As far as I'm aware, there's not a system in this game, or any other, that can't be abused in some form.

Basically, let the players have a voice (and a way) so they can speak for themselves.

@PersonalC0ffee @Sshteeve @Moomintroll @xDILLIGAFx1974 @SimplyButta @BogusMeatINC @Admiral-RRRSole @Ant-Heuser-Kush

Sorry for tagging you all but thought I needed to give a blanket response to all who've commented so far.

Dill pretty much gives a good refresher in what "Sea Cred" was like back in the day (and a VERY GOOD implementation if RARRRE so what's to pick it up), but seeing where the Community/Players is at and how things have changed -- this version of Sea Creds would be basically what WE the Community would designate.

It would stay to form as a "joke" but be laid back. We would keep tally and award our own sys to others based on what we see in in-game or in-forums. It would be unofficial and still give people due reputation in the most organic form.

For instance:

-- Totally went Skull hunting at a fort last night and met this loner dude. He said, "I don't care about the treasure, just here to get the commendations!" Totally giving this dude 10 SC for not blowing me up!

OR

-- Thanks for posting that gif, JollyRee. It made me laugh so hard I nearly P*E-ED myself!. 100 SC for helping me on a dark day

So -- more or less -- I was wondering what actions around here or in the game would would gain what amount of Sea Cred?

That's why I essentially hooked Sea Creds within the Tavern Tales section. As we hear these epic things, we'd tally how much Sea Cred we'd give to these pirates of legend. ;'D

.. pats @simplybutta on the back whilst handing ye a tankard of grog..

there there, mate. reading aint' so bad. we all gotta do it eventually R'D

i can see that working out, @Sir-Lotus... like 25, 50, or 100?

... i wonder if anyone has spare time to make a graphic. To be honest, I don't remember the graphics Dill is talking about tho :(

@moomintroll / @Sshteeve / @PersonalC0ffee

I've sort of rethought the upvote / downvote system a bit...

How about if I added:

• You can only upvote & downvote once each during a 24 hour period.
• Anyone you wish to give a MoC or BM to has to be on your server.
• You cannot give a MoC or BM to anyone in your crew.

This would contain the possible abuse issues because if someone was trolling / being a "jerk" (for a nicer term) you could only give them 1 Black Mark per day. The next day, if they were not on the same server as you, you could not give them another one (for continuous retribution).

Same goes for the opposite... You can't team up with a friend and give each other a "Mark of Commendation" every day to artificially inflate your upvotes.

However, in both cases; multiple people could give out whatever "Marks" to the same pirate for their individual gameplay / interactions.

Actually, that would be an interesting way to possibly resolve the: "Be a jerk / troll & server hop" tactic some have witnessed lately.

@xdilligafx1974 @CaptnJaq This sounds like a really interesting idea. You mention being able to maybe view a pirates sea cred if they choose to show it. It could work if it was like a title assigned (a bit like the treasured deckhand titles) but could be purchased using the upvotes and if upvotes go down then you can no longer retain that title if not enough cred.

@stacky-a said in Sea Cred :: a Community-Based Ranking System R'):

@xdilligafx1974 @CaptnJaq This sounds like a really interesting idea. You mention being able to maybe view a pirates sea cred if they choose to show it. It could work if it was like a title assigned (a bit like the treasured deckhand titles) but could be purchased using the upvotes and if upvotes go down then you can no longer retain that title if not enough cred.

That was really close to the thought process...

Though, I was thinking maybe it could be turned on / off by the player if they chose. That way, there's no "shaming another player" even if the community thought they deserved their new title.

@moomintroll said in Sea Cred :: a Community-Based Ranking System R'):

@xdilligafx1974 I think that system sounds almost perfect - I only worry about the illegitimate use of the downvote, e.g. anyone who gets sunk by someone and gets annoyed. I'd also maybe limit the ability to upvote your own crew? Or maybe only if they're on your friends list?

There are reasons why I figured the "once per day" of giving someone a positive or negative mark would be acceptable. If players knew they could only award a MoC or BM once per day, they might save it for someone who actually deserves it.

For example: Player A gives Player B a "Black Mark for being annoying (sinking his ship / killing him / steals his loot) he's used his decision for the day. So, if he gets spawn camped by Player C who verbally abuses him with profanity he can't "downvote" Player C because he's already used his Black Mark for the day.

On the opposite side of the coin...

Player A gives Player B a "Mark of Commendation" (ie: upvote) for being generally helpful. But, later in the day Player A is working an event and Player C helps him finally finish it; he has no more "upvotes" for the day because he already used it.

The option to go back and reward (or punish) someone is not retroactive. It has to be used that day and only with someone actually on the same server as you. "Use it or lose it" as my dad used to say.

Another way to look at it is like this, someone having two dollars (votes) per day to use as they see fit. If they don't use it, it's not a big loss. But, if they (and several other people) use their $2 on the same thing (ie: players), then much bigger impacts can be made.

I know the system I put out there wasn't perfect, but there are no "perfect" systems in games. There are no way possible to cover what players can come up with 100% of the time. Players are still poking holes in WoW's systems and it's been out 11 years. Unfortunately, this means that someone will eventually come up with a way to "cheat" any system at some point, including one like this.

According to some of the Old Salts around here, I've come up with some rather good ideas (unlocking tattoos based on achievements, for example) and I was even able to describe the basics of those systems well enough for most people to understand (and even poke a few holes in, which I honestly appreciated). But, I don't actually work for a game company so, at the end of the day I've never had to actually code or implement them into the game.

@Admiral-RRRSole @xDILLIGAFx1974:

The original idea wouldn't be something we give ourselves. Seeing where this conversation is going, the Sea Cred would have been more of a "shout out" than a mechanic..

However, the Daily Negative and Daily Positive reward system could work. But I think the Black Spot may reflect the same idea as Name-Blasting, which RARE doesn't condone.

IF the Sea Cred would be a RARE-based sys, there IS something that DeviantArt using to give cred/bling to someone, but it dives into the economy of the site. For them, it's a Badge Sys awarded by its members and not a tag given by the Company.

The base-line LLAMA badge is Free (with sunglasses or bowties add-ons being purchased by the Llama owner) whereas CAKE badges can be obtained through buying DA Points.

Whether it be LLAMA or CAKE, the more you are awarded the badge on either side evolves.

..sometime later after thinking about last night..

On the RARRRE-implemented, In-Forums angle, another safety barrier could be that Sea Cred can only be given when visiting the pirate's profile page and not associated with any one post but more toward the overall individual here or in the game.

A few other safety barriers...

• Set up a text box with a minimum word count, near similar to how the Report mechanic works.
• If possible, these SeaCred shoutouts could be posted somewhere on their Profile page
• To help prevent fanclub-spamming, maybe change the cooldown time to 3 or 5 Days

Overall.

Bringing back SeaCred can give due credit to individuals and not come across as a form of bias from RARE, giving some power to the community in spotlighting or selected for recognition.