Scarlet Letter

The_Anabaptist · 2019-04-27 15:01:54

Back when I first bought the game, I thought I read somewhere that kids would be born with a scarlet letter if they had been to donkey town or cursed too much? I've never seen this occur in game play, is there any truth to this vague recollection?

If not, I would request that it be implemented that anyone whom goes to donkey town when subsequently born back to civilization have their names clearly marked in a distinctive color for the next RL week. Then its on us good folks to decide whether to raise these hellions or not.

The_Anabaptist

CatX · 2019-04-27 15:10:13

Someone said in another thread that people would kill just to get the "cool" letters. Apparently anything that visually separates someone from others is a motivation to grief, not a detriment.

DestinyCall · 2019-04-27 15:59:03

It was before my time, but I think it was inverted text, black background, white letters. Unfortunately, it had the side effect of people killing mute babies, since they needed to speak to recognize potential griefers and also some people would intentionally grief to gain the "cool" letters. And since the smart people were killing the cursed babies, they tended to get raised by innocent noobs who wound up murdered by their own devilspawn.

Personally, I would have fixed the first problem by changing how it displayed the person's curse status, so the name was red or there was a visible mark on the character model, like a black spot on their forehead or something. That would eliminate the ability to hide. As for the second problem ... if they are the kind of person who griefs to get a "cool" red name, they would have griefed anyways. At least now they are properly marked. The last problem is harder to fix, since it is inherent to the system. Consider it part of the learning curve, like figuring out that twins are not worth the trouble of raising nine times out of ten.

I'd also suggest implementing two stages ... your first hour after being released from DonkeyTown, you are marked as "cursed" and people get to decide if you are worth the risk of keeping. After that, the curse lifts (unless you kill again during the cooldown or get cursed all the way back to Donkey Town by angry villagers). However, if your lifetime curse score (divided by hours played) exceeds a certain threshold, you are permenantly marked as a serial griefer. The stigma will not lift until you manage to improve your score by playing for an extended period of time without accumulating any new curses.

The permenant mark should be based on lifetime curse score, but that number would be divided by hours played, so if you are a longtime player who gets cursed occassionally, it will be fine. However, if you have a very high number of curses compared with time in the game, you will be identified as a troublemaker. This also allows people to "work off their debt to society" by living clean lives. Continuing down the path of the griefer would dig the hole even deeper with each curse, but keeping to themselves and not upsetting other people would allow them to eventually lose the mark. They would be much more sensitive to curses than a normal person, since the burden of their past sins never vanishes completely.

Tarr · 2019-04-27 16:36:28

As stated right above, people would grief for the cosmetic upgrade to their speech so it was actively working as a reward for people griefing villages. The game devolved into a "speak baby" meta where if your kid din't speak you just had to stab it. People would actively raise cursed babies at times because "He said it was an accident!!, "It's my baby he's good!!!" or any other stupid reason you could think. This meant that they both weren't being punished at all for being a general jackass, but it also meant they couldn't be cursed further because they already had black text.

Griefers got the best of both worlds. Curse immunity, and playing in the general populace which obviously meant there always had to be someone reminding people to make babies speak. It wasn't fun, and it's not something I would like to see come back unless we have some sort of jail system where you can force curse babies to be trapped.)

Basically, people are dumb and the exile effect makes sure there's some sort of punishment attached to DT.

CatX · 2019-04-27 17:06:23

Well, now that we have private property, if a baby didn't speak or had the murder text we could build a fence around it while deciding what to do about it... It could plead its case when it grew older, and the town could decide to give it a chance or not.

I don't think the punishment aspect of Donkey Town should be removed though.

(Basically, it would have one or more lives after Donkey Town with murder text)

And there's still the issue of griefers simply buying new accounts (but good, at least Jason gets some more money out of them.)

Last edited by CatX (2019-04-27 17:07:26)

The_Anabaptist · 2019-04-28 08:06:45

I haven't seen griefers this bold since ever. I think this deserves a second chance in some form, whether it be text or a special character marking. Anything to reduce repeat bad actors.

The_Anabaptist

DestinyCall · 2019-04-28 15:36:14

I think part of the reason that the previous system failed was that it pre-dated DonkeyTown. So cursed babies were marked as "evil" but there was no other punishment unless people chose to abandon them. So the result was a bunch of evil babies getting passed around the server like hot potatoes until someone finally didn't notice that they were evil or decided to give them a chance (even though they were clearly marked as evil).

I'm thinking that some kind of marking system would be a decent supplement to DonkeyTown, not a replacement for it. So when you are released from Donkey Town, you are not free and clear, ready to start griefing again. Instead, you are marked as recently cursed (red name text or some other easily visible sign) for a period of time. This would act similar to being on parole after being released from prison. During that time, your past crimes will be visible for anyone who knows what to look for, so they can choose to drop you on a wolf or sacrifice you to Nosaj or leave you in a cage until you are old enough to state your case. If you kill another person while in this cursed state, you will go immediately back to Donkey Town. You will also have a low curse threshold, since you just got out of donkey town, so a few curses will send you back very quickly. The higher your lifetime curse burden (relative to hours played) the longer you will remain in this "cursed" state and the longer you will have to deal with other people knowing that you were a criminal. It will take many lives before the stain of your past sins finally clears and people will begin to forget your misdeeds.

I think this system would work well as an addition to the current Donkey Town system, since it would prevent serial griefers from sneaking back into villages as babies and going right back to their old ways. I could trust my family more, since the worst ones would be clearly marked. Most people will not want to raise a griefer baby so they will probably end up killed at birth or exiled from the village. With the fences, you could even have a "jail" or prison camp where you put the cursed ones. Correctly setup, they could be allowed to live and work for the village to prove that they are reformed. It might be preferable to work in a prison camp rather than return to the cycle of rebirth and get killed by their own mother again.

Peaches · 2019-04-28 19:43:05

Honestly, I'd be happy to spend my lives maintaining fences to keep cursed babies in.
Give me a bow to take care of escapees and I'm golden.

DestinyCall · 2019-04-28 19:48:23

Put some boxes on one side to allow transfer of items in and out. Some kind of air-locked entrance for adding "new inmates". A dedicated prison guard, in charge of feeding the prisoners, checking the fence line, and monitoring for escape attempts. Then you just make sure they have something to do with their time. Farming milkweed, perhaps?

The_Anabaptist · 2019-04-28 20:26:51

No point giving the inmates work, as they will just stand around and call you names until they die. But a work farm would be funny, if just to hold out the promise of clemency if they would only produce a couple ropes first.

The_Anabaptist

pein · 2019-04-29 10:15:47

people tried kill me for having black text

people died in process

they cursed more cause i didn't let them kill me

i had black text next life

any player who was in a group with others, and had black text was called "witch"
if you killed them you got cursed by them and killed for it

people abandoned 99% of the time if you talk in black text or don't talk at all

sdogg2m · 2019-04-29 17:27:02

pein wrote:

people tried kill me for having black text
people died in process
they cursed more cause i didn't let them kill me
i had black text next life
any player who was in a group with others, and had black text was called "witch"
if you killed them you got cursed by them and killed for it
people abandoned 99% of the time if you talk in black text or don't talk at all

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Wait a sec.

HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!

Ok, I am done. So let me get this straight emerging civs should have to put up puss griefiers like yourself and toxic being born in unaware to create destruction but the moment (gasp) babies are killed because one has a specific colored text or don't talk, we have a grave injustice?

Griefer babies who were born to donkeytown and are released could be albino; have clubbed feet; or a red A on the chest; I don't care just as long as people who care about their civs getting a fighting chance.

Ari-ori-412 · 2019-04-29 17:39:50

sdogg2m wrote:

pein wrote:
people tried kill me for having black text
people died in process
they cursed more cause i didn't let them kill me
i had black text next life
any player who was in a group with others, and had black text was called "witch"
if you killed them you got cursed by them and killed for it
people abandoned 99% of the time if you talk in black text or don't talk at all

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Wait a sec.
HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!
Ok, I am done. So let me get this straight emerging civs should have to put up puss griefiers like yourself and toxic being born in unaware to create destruction but the moment (gasp) babies are killed because one has a specific colored text or don't talk, we have a grave injustice?
Griefer babies who were born to donkeytown and are released could be albino; have clubbed feet; or a red A on the chest; I don't care just as long as people who care about their civs getting a fighting chance.

i think a funny way to do it would be to force griefers to have the /devious face 24/7

The_Anabaptist · 2019-04-29 22:06:22

@Pein
If the point you are trying to make is that once you are identified in this manner then getting out of it is going to be really hard because nobody will give you another chance, I'm willing to concede that point.

However, that would indicate to me that some sort of visible marking upon return from donkey town would make a much more effective deterrent to anti-social behavior than anything we currently have. If any given player knew that they ran the risk of significant shunning by the general public because of anti-social play, then maybe they would actually think twice before doing it. Sure, a few will probably do it anyhow "just to stick it to the man", but I expect they will be the exception and not the rule.

The_Anabaptist

futurebird · 2019-04-29 22:33:23

In this game each life is independent. You could be nice in one terrible in another. Some of us have played with people who are sometimes really anti-social and never even known it! (being nice some of the time doesn't excuse being an unimaginative killjoy... but I do recognize that it's possible) I'm worried about recent changes to the curse system (having people who can't be cursed when it's the only thing that seems to deter griefing seems like it could cause problems)

But my real problem with this "black text" type idea is that it's dead-end game play. When you see black text you don't feed the kid. Why waste everyone's time having them come in to the game at all then? I guess the "make them talk" drama is interesting but I think the community already did that and it got old.

What I would consider is players with a high kill count who get sent to donkey town can't pick up weapons for their whole lives. They could live as normal and no one would need to know. You don't need to be able to use weapons in most lives. And when it did come up it would be more interesting.

"Can you kill some sheep?"
"I can't use knife"
"oooh no way not you granma!"

If she's been a helpful grandma all her life do you kill her now? (I don't think so) Best thing since all babies can't pick up wepons and since you'd have to be an idiot to ask someone to pick up your knife to "prove" they aren't cursed, no one can test people over this...

I do worry this is a bit draconian and it would do nothing for the people who do the worst kind of griefing: hiding tools and causing famines... but it would probably take all the violence down a few notches.

And to those of you who keep racking up curses... if they are "unjustified" maybe try to communicate more about why you are being judge jury and executioner of other players? I killed three people today for griefing and in each case I had town support and got nothing but love and "thank you!" --If you are killing a lot AND getting cursed a lot you are either killing for bad flimsy reasons, killing the wrong people, or just not communicating enough about WHY you are taking such extreme action.

Last edited by futurebird (2019-04-29 22:38:15)

Peaches · 2019-04-30 04:00:37

Remove the option to use weapons and they'll just get spiteful and start sabotaging farms and tools more than usual.

I'm all for marking them in some obvious (and passive) way, I don't mind if they get weapons. If you've griefed to the point that you've been sent to Donkey Town then you're obviously not just "living each life differently," you're going out of your way to be a nuisance to other players without the thought of "hey, this'll make the game more interesting." If a family chooses to let the marked live, it's on them if that person goes nuts.

I think Jason would enjoy seeing prisons in use for troublemakers, anyway. It'd be an interesting development, it'd give us that bit of strife he's looking for while removing the aspect of "well we can't prove they're causing problems"

Last edited by Peaches (2019-04-30 04:02:57)

pein · 2019-04-30 13:25:49

sdogg2m wrote:

pein wrote:
people tried kill me for having black text
people died in process
they cursed more cause i didn't let them kill me
i had black text next life
any player who was in a group with others, and had black text was called "witch"
if you killed them you got cursed by them and killed for it
people abandoned 99% of the time if you talk in black text or don't talk at all

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Wait a sec.
HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!
Ok, I am done. So let me get this straight emerging civs should have to put up puss griefiers like yourself and toxic being born in unaware to create destruction but the moment (gasp) babies are killed because one has a specific colored text or don't talk, we have a grave injustice?
Griefer babies who were born to donkeytown and are released could be albino; have clubbed feet; or a red A on the chest; I don't care just as long as people who care about their civs getting a fighting chance.

hello twistedfangirl on forums

first of all

im not a griefer, you can call me what you want, idc. my cities work and you don't dick around when im in town
i take revenge sometimes, and you will know i do, and you will know you deserve it
puss is you who kills someone on cooldown or curses when loses a duel

and i wont talk about it, you will talk about it, and then cry to jason for nerfs for killers, then cry that killers use the nerfs

i was cursed for stabbing some twins and experimenting with the teleporting of wounds and bloody knifes
also gingerpocalipse was crazy to play normally, but you only had black text cause of it
people did it to have black text

second of all, i give you chance, i warn you, i even give you a weapon if you not a coward to duel

i just say it auto generated the issue. noobs got a reason to kill, and were mad that they couldn't
they killed helpless babies who couldn't even eat alone cause has black text
if you survived the 3 min, and didn't talk, it was fine, but even if you didn't do anything bad for 30 min they tried to kill you anyway
so they self justified their griefing
pretty funny how abd people are at fight

so you say that people served their time and you want to punish them more?
man you think you never piss off others? im pretty sure you do
you don't become a good person just because you think you are a good person
try to see yourself with other peoples eyes, and imagine what would you do in their situation
i would encourage griefers to do something else, like public work, maybe you could be between others, hidden
but you cant pick up weapons until you do 30 compost or plant 10 trees
maybe you would sent to tutorial puzzles, to solve them to return to normal game
most of new griefers are new players who think this game is all pvp

like it was weird, once you lost the black text people trusted you more
gettign killed or abandoned as black text baby was just a clown fiesta for noobs like you who can only kill a baby
once someone is age 3, can eat, and make precautions to defend himself

i kill more griefers than you and i don't cry about their existence
i kill some noobs in the process cause they do things like griefers do
i cant say i had any trouble getting rid of bad eggs lately

i don't know why you refer anti-social as bad
anti social people ignore others not bother them
social people are who get annoyed when others ignore them and put a lot of annoying dumb questions to them
im ambivert but used to be pretty antisocial
now i can talk to antisocial people and to social people, i made an effort to understand them
they don't make an effort to understand me, us, generally they follow the herd and consider negative if you don't do it so
irl or ingame same thing.
if you rôle play a cultist moron and someone refuses to participate whats your issue?

more like social people are the griefers, they want a reaction, without any goal or real reason
generally i see that people get butthurt over anything and they curse cause they cant get their way
if you cant be objective, then you arent good for judging people

just an example, my lil sister was 2 year younger than me, she was begging for a pack
i made a pack for myself, and one for mom, mom was happy finally got one
we had only one at some other girl
my sister was still begging for a pack at 14 year old
i tried to explain to her that she wont get any, cause we got like 3 total
she was like "i want to go gather iron"
now that's a good excuse but if she doesn't want to go 30 tiles to snare some rabbit, then i don't believe she gonna gather iron
i told her to make one herself, i gave her snares, i told where rabbits are
she started insulting me and eventually tried to shoot me
ofc she ended up shot and then run to city center telling others that im a murderer
she missed 2 arrows on me and still tried to curse me

now who is the griefer? just because someone calls someone else a griefer it wont necessarily be true
generally what i see, is butthurt people spend too much time convincing others to curse, and the subject is workign and already forgot the issue
sure, you can sell your story better, cause you are angry
that still wont mean you are right and if your solution is to slack off and create drama maybe you are the griefer
trust me, i teach a lot of people and some would need some teaching but they think they are good players
and honestly im bored of this, i oculd get rid of you at first instance, and requires a lot of tolerance to let people roam around doing dumb stuff

for example Mirelli is a good judge of character and often times told me that someone is a griefer
if she want i kill it, but sometimes i just tell her that looks like a newbie and wont be an issue, but i will keep an eye on her/him
i swear, every time i twin other people would kill someone for things i wouldn't even bother talking to them
just they don't want to do it themselves

wasting me 5-10 minutes or more pisses me off and if they react with insults or ignorance then i will stop them
honestly people would do the same if i do it, just most of them lacks the skill to do so

cccurse marks were tested and didn't worked
maybe spend time to talk with people, say hi, ask them to do some task for you
secure the weapons
make pads
tell people they need storage if want weapons and communicate with the better players
a killer never goes on a killing spree when im in town
even if accident kill and refuses to be disarmed, i will disarm him one way or other
they get on your nerves cause you let them get on your nerves
kills arent really an issue
like how much? 140 people a day by 68 killers
i would say half of it legit and some cant really be judged
every conflict needs 2 people
you want help or others o curse for you? that is a grifing as well
if two people quarell i let them play it out if they don't try to distract others

we need a way of settling issues by duels, we could make it meta to have fighting arenas
if people are bored and want to fight let them in a controlled environment
if you lack the skill then be humble

we could make a fenced area with a line to the middle for viewers
what happens in the arena stays in the arena
some people are just thirsty for power and they are the first to curse and stab without asking reasons

futurebird · 2019-04-30 18:00:47

I've said it before but, Pein. I think you get cursed because you are mean or sharp with people in game. Then if you murder some griefer and they don't know who to trust guess which way the balance shifts?

I mean I've been in that place too. In my last game I was kind of grouchy (bad day at work) then this lady swipes the rabbits I had caught for a BP AND all the food I had brought to the prairie so I could hang there and hunt for a bit. I go over to my little base and 3 items of food are gone, rabbits gone, needle and thread gone.

I may have used some fowl language at her.

She gave the rabbits back but spent the rest of the game warning people about me because I was kind of nasty to her. And she wasn't totally in the wrong she wanted to take the rabbits back to camp, I wanted to make my pack in the desert, get more rabbits *with* the pack, make another pack and bring it all back.

But, I guess she thought I was being selfish.

Now if I'd been nicer about telling her to give the rabbits back and explained my hunting method, I think she would have given them to me and not started her little whisper campaign. It never came to anything because nothing that I was doing was rude or suspicious beyond just being nasty to her that one time. But what if there had been a griefer and I stabbed them? Who do you think she would curse?

You need to manage the expectations of others. Build a rep that lets you take action when needed. Get people on your side. It's part of the complexity of the game IMO.

Last edited by futurebird (2019-04-30 18:02:23)

One Hour One Life Forums

#1 2019-04-27 15:01:54

Scarlet Letter

#2 2019-04-27 15:10:13

Re: Scarlet Letter

#3 2019-04-27 15:59:03

Re: Scarlet Letter

#4 2019-04-27 16:36:28

Re: Scarlet Letter

#5 2019-04-27 17:06:23

Re: Scarlet Letter

#6 2019-04-28 08:06:45

Re: Scarlet Letter

#7 2019-04-28 15:36:14

Re: Scarlet Letter

#8 2019-04-28 19:43:05

Re: Scarlet Letter

#9 2019-04-28 19:48:23

Re: Scarlet Letter

#10 2019-04-28 20:26:51

Re: Scarlet Letter

#11 2019-04-29 10:15:47

Re: Scarlet Letter

#12 2019-04-29 17:27:02

Re: Scarlet Letter

#13 2019-04-29 17:39:50

Re: Scarlet Letter

#14 2019-04-29 22:06:22

Re: Scarlet Letter

#15 2019-04-29 22:33:23

Re: Scarlet Letter

#16 2019-04-30 04:00:37

Re: Scarlet Letter

#17 2019-04-30 13:25:49

Re: Scarlet Letter

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