Charity and credit: patronage and mutual assistance funds

[temnix]

As I embark on this game with yet another character who at level 5 can't cobble together enough Influence for even one single-origin Enhancement, I feel like coming to the board and loudly begging that someone please send 100,000 Inf my way to get me going. The price of Enhancements is completely out of order. But this would not do, which is why I came up with two systems for helping out beginning charaters and letting old Rockefellers play the role of public benefactors: patronage and mutual assistance funds. Here they are in outline and in keeping with the game's idiom.

 

Like in Roman days, patronage is a relationship between a more powerful person, patron for villains, and a dependent, client in their case. The same bond is called sponsortship among heroes: a would-be protégé petitions someone to become his sponsor. Any arbiter or trainer and perhaps other superpowered contacts can be taken as one's patron or sponsor, spreading the cloak of their influence over their charge and uplifting him for a while, enjoying payback in the form of recognition. This translates into a loan of Inf. Good amounts are offered, at three terms: for instance, 100,000, 500,000, 1,000,000. Each "package" has an interest rate, let's say, 0.1, that is deducted from the client/protégé's Influence earnings, including sales in stores and auctions. These deductions do count towards repaying the loan, and the character can pay back the remainder directly when he has the means. The "packages" also have level limits before which they must be repaid. It might be level 10 for the 100,000 loan. The character cannot level up to that number until he returns what he is due and comes out of the shadow of the patron. Influence must also be repaid to a patron who has been outleveled and left behind by the character - a different threshold for each. Lesser patrons might offer better rates than the greats like Kalinda or Back Alley Brawler, so a character might change patrons over the course of his career, as long as he needs support. All the time that a villain or hero is somebody's client or protégé, the corresponding subtitle "... of  ..." is displayed under his name.

 

Besides striking up these relationships with NPC, players can make arrangements with other players to the same effect. A character advertising himself as a patron sets the sum, the level limit and the deduction rate, but interest-free loans are only available within supergroups. Also the PC patron/sponsor must be of a higher level than his would-be client/protégé. Badges, special titles and other usual perks can be given to characters who have supported others for the largest amounts, and they can enjoy high ranks in a dedicated listing.

 

The mutual assistance system is a way for players to chip in for benefits. On the villain side they can join the Family-run Omerta Club (best cocktail olives in America, symbolic contribution - a finger), on the hero side - Firm Elbow (doubles up as a gym). Both systems involve regular contributions of Influence to a common pool from which member services are automatically provided. This is to be an affair strictly between players, no NPC flush. If there are no dues coming in, no services will be available. The fees should take a percentile form to be equally fair to starting and veteran characters and can take the form of deductions from earned Influence, as before, or explicit payments to cover membership for a certain term. It is also possible to give directly at any time. The regular fee may be as low as 1% of the character's Influence, but richer characters can put more in the common chest. Their names will again be displayed somewhere, badges, titles etc. their reward.

 

What services will this system provide while there is money in the chest? There might be several, but bail can be one of them. Well, it would be called bail for villains, but for heroes - atonement. This would erase a considerable amount of debt when activated. Another is emergency teleportation: when a member of either society is defeated and if there is money in the chest, an extra button appears. Instead of going to the hospital he can be revived and teleported just outside the current mission, or put at the base portal or entrance zone in an open area. Other services are possible. There are no punishments for abusing this system, but richer players are encouraged to donate to keep it going. Every teleport, for example, will be followed by a message: "Rescued by the grace of ..."

[Sunsette]

I've played in MMOs with similar systems back in the day. While it was an interesting social experience that I miss in some regards, I don't think it's the right feel for this game.

 

I do feel that pricing issues need some answer, as has been addressed in a few topics now. 

[Uun]

I have run MANY characters from 1-50 without outside funds. I'm sorry you don't have sufficient funds to purchase one SO, but that's a you problem, not a game problem. There are many guides on these forums offering multiple ways of generating inf starting at lvl 1. Perhaps you should read these guides and avail yourself of some of these techniques rather than asking for charity.

[Rudra]

6 hours ago, temnix said:

Like in Roman days, patronage is a relationship between a more powerful person, patron for villains, and a dependent, client in their case. The same bond is called sponsortship among heroes: a would-be protégé petitions someone to become his sponsor. Any arbiter or trainer and perhaps other superpowered contacts can be taken as one's patron or sponsor, spreading the cloak of their influence over their charge and uplifting him for a while, enjoying payback in the form of recognition. This translates into a loan of Inf. Good amounts are offered, at three terms: for instance, 100,000, 500,000, 1,000,000. Each "package" has an interest rate, let's say, 0.1, that is deducted from the client/protégé's Influence earnings, including sales in stores and auctions. These deductions do count towards repaying the loan, and the character can pay back the remainder directly when he has the means. The "packages" also have level limits before which they must be repaid. It might be level 10 for the 100,000 loan. The character cannot level up to that number until he returns what he is due and comes out of the shadow of the patron. Influence must also be repaid to a patron who has been outleveled and left behind by the character - a different threshold for each. Lesser patrons might offer better rates than the greats like Kalinda or Back Alley Brawler, so a character might change patrons over the course of his career, as long as he needs support. All the time that a villain or hero is somebody's client or protégé, the corresponding subtitle "... of  ..." is displayed under his name.

You can already have a "patron". If you're in a large SG, the more affluent members are often willing to pay for enhancements for the lower level members (unless those members have their own 50s to fund themselves with). Hells, in my SG(s), my friends are often asking me if I would like them to buy my newest character enhancements. (Which I decline.)

 

6 hours ago, temnix said:

The mutual assistance system is a way for players to chip in for benefits. On the villain side they can join the Family-run Omerta Club (best cocktail olives in America, symbolic contribution - a finger), on the hero side - Firm Elbow (doubles up as a gym). Both systems involve regular contributions of Influence to a common pool from which member services are automatically provided. This is to be an affair strictly between players, no NPC flush. If there are no dues coming in, no services will be available. The fees should take a percentile form to be equally fair to starting and veteran characters and can take the form of deductions from earned Influence, as before, or explicit payments to cover membership for a certain term. It is also possible to give directly at any time. The regular fee may be as low as 1% of the character's Influence, but richer characters can put more in the common chest. Their names will again be displayed somewhere, badges, titles etc. their reward.

And we already have a mutual assistance system. Join a SG and they often grant members access to their shared salvage, inspirations, and even enhancements.

 

6 hours ago, temnix said:

As I embark on this game with yet another character who at level 5 can't cobble together enough Influence for even one single-origin Enhancement,

At level 5, SOs should be the furthest thing from your mind unless you are willing to read and follow the various guides for making inf' in the game.

[Yomo Kimyata]

6 hours ago, temnix said:

As I embark on this game with yet another character who at level 5 can't cobble together enough Influence for even one single-origin Enhancement

 

Well, the minimum level of SOs used to be 25, so why not slot DOs if you must be enhanced at level 5?  

 

 

[Monos King]

I think this is a really cool idea for City of Heroes 2. If I ever decide to launch a game, I would probably dabble with something like this. I enjoyed reading through the naming and in-game connection with family and such. 

 

CoH doesn't really need the clutter though. There's enough inf to get you what you need and guides to get you what you want, so it's not really worth the implementation. 

[SeraphimKensai]

If money troubles are a problem for a new toon...take inner inspiration, sell those inspirations on the AH. You can get a travel power at lvl 4, install an exploration badge popmenu and go collect badges for the reward merits, buy converters and sell them.

 

You should easily have enough influence to buy low level SOs. Also you can shut off the double XP booster and get influence from killing mobs.

 

Or you can call up Yomo for his patronage.

[Duckbutler]

Eh, no thanks.

 

Any MMO veteran can tell you that finding something of value to other players and leveraging that is the way to go. It's literally just "participate in the market." You can start earning merits at level 1 and IOs are cheaper than SOs. SOs are essentially a luxury good for well established players who are happy to burn the influence.

[arcane]

Everyone who regularly visits the forums knows how to get kitted out without outside help…

 

…unless of course they’re writing a bunch of posts but not reading any 🤔

[American Decoy]

/em panhandle

 

[Chris24601]

Easier would be to jus add SO accs and end reducers of all origins (the only truly essential ones to avoid frustration at 1x/+0) onto each drop table in fairly large numbers so it’s possible to slot just from drops without too much hassle.

[Grouchybeast]

This game absolutely rains inf for any player willing to go to the minimal effort required to hold out any one of the many different available buckets to catch it.

 

This seems like an extremely convoluted and time-consuming design for a completely unnecessary new bucket.