Shooting other players (hunting accidents) is unbalanced, especially for new players.

[cfi2017]

Current Situation

• The cooldown until you get your weapon back is currently up to 24 hours (you are eligible to receive your weapon back at midnight UTC).
• The cost of getting your weapon back before then is 40 exp.
• You are completely incapable of playing if you do not have your weapon.

This results in the following:

1. New players with under 43 exp cannot play for up to 24 hours. Since the players are new and don't have an investment in the game, they will loose interest quickly.
2. Players with a lot of exp (500+) are not affected by these events anymore. They can simply buy back their gun at any time. This - in the long term - makes the game boring.
3. Even if a player chooses not to buy back their gun - 24 hours is a long time.

Suggested Fixes

• Make buying back a gun cost a certain percentage of exp instead. This would allow anybody to buy back their gun at any time, but if it costs a lot, it might discourage players (especially players that have a lot of exp). This allows for less linear gameplay.
• Additionally, you could return the weapon at a shorter interval (say after 12h, or 8h). This would encourage players to not simply buy back their gun if the price is too high for their liking.

[Diagamma]

I really like the percentage idea, but it would need an EXP cap.

[paris-ci]

max(current_level*2.7,15)?

[Diagamma]

That's a little low for people who are lvl 42.

[paris-ci]

Still higher than before

[paris-ci]

We will settle on max(current_level*4,15) for now, if someone have something to say, I'm still open to changing that.

[Diagamma]

[DeepL translation, I'm tired] I propose instead a trick like (current_level * 4) - 4 to prevent players at level 1 from having trouble if they lose their weapon. At level 2, 8xp is already enough, no need to go up to 15. Same for level three.

[paris-ci]

@Diagamma Remember that level 0 exists too (public danger)

[Diagamma]

max(0, (current_level * 4) - 4)

[Heroesflorian]

Uhh...

max(current_level*2.7,15)? Still higher than before

@paris-ci Excuse me, but current price is 40, right? New value would at most be 15, according to that formula, which is a lot less than before?

Edit: Sry, obv I am too stupid to read properly 🙈

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max(0, (current_level * 4) - 4)

So, max cost at lvl 42 would now be 164 XP?

[Diagamma]

Yup, if @paris-ci uses my formula.

[Geheim30]

I dont like the idea at all to be honest. I see the point to not exclude new players, but its a huge slap in the face for players with higher exp. I dont see why they should be punished that much for having higher exp. For other items there isnt a percentage neither. If some player achvied a really high level, they wont buy the item anymore. Because if he would do it, he would do a bad business. I always prefer if I have to hustle at first, but dont get punished for having a lot of points.

My Suggestions: -Dont do it (:D) -make it optional -make this formula only for players with low levels

If this goes through as it is, I see no other option to set the "chance_to_kill_on_missed to zero. Wouldnt be nice to lose this aspect of the game, but that would be much better as to punish players with more exp that much.

Btw.: This all comes from a player who is playing this game for 24h.

[Diagamma]

Uh, the suggested formulas are based on the level, not on the owned EXP. The maximum level is 42, and you need to have at least 11111 EXP to get to it. I don't think that 164 EXP is a lot for these players. And the "normal" (original settings) probability of hitting a player at lvl 42 is of about 0.05%. Is that so bad ? ^^

[Geheim30]

But isnt the level based on the Exp?

It doesnt matter if 164 EXP is a lot for these players. What matters are the cost for getting the gun back and the EXP for the ducks. A duck brings only 10EXP, so you have to kill at least 17 standard ducks for to be in the plus again. Problaly more, because you have to pay for ammo. If you dont expect to kill more than 17 ducks in the remaining time, it would be a bad call.

And the "normal" (original settings) probability of hitting a player at lvl 42 is of about 0.05%. Is that so bad ? ^^

I am sorry, but i dont know what you mean by that. I thought you lose your gun when you hit other players. And this happens quite frequentley imo.

[cfi2017]

@Geheim30

but its a huge slap in the face for players with higher exp. I dont see why they should be punished that much for having higher exp.

The whole point of the system where you can lose your gun is to make the game more interesting. If you get to a point in the game where losing your gun means you have to simply type another command (!shop 5) to get on with your day, without even noticing the loss, then where is the point of the feature? You don't get punished for having a lot of points, you get punished for shooting another player, and to make you notice that it's still a punishment, the cost increases.

Losing your gun is a punishment. You can't play for up to 24 hours. This means, no duck-hunting for you for an entire day unless you invest something and get your gun back.

For other items there isnt a percentage neither.

Buying back your gun is the bail for said punishment. Since it is essentially bail, it is also fundamentally different from other items in the shop, which would much rather have static prices.

With the suggested formula, the cost for a player at level 42 with over 1'1111 exp would go up to 164. This means that if you shoot another player (which already happens only very rarely on higher levels, 0.05% according to @Diagamma ). You would lose 164 exp. That is approximately 19-20 ducks accounting for ammo. There is also a good chance at least one or two of these might be a super duck, almost guaranteeing 50 exp. On default settings, there are 24 ducks per day. This means that you might lose a day of progress (similar to how you might lose up to 24 hours without posting bail). However, since the chance to shoot another player at that level is so low, and your accuracy so high, you most likely won't shoot a teammate every day (at the standard rate of 24dpd there would be a 1.2% chance a day to shoot a teammate, can anyone confirm this?). This could passively also encourage players to buy other items like scopes to minimize their chances to miss and shoot teammates. If you were to increase the ducks per day, it would passively increase the chance to shoot a teammate, but it would also allow you to shoot more ducks per day.

Regardless, buying back your gun avoids the first punishment, however it shouldn't mean you don't get punished at all. After all, you did shoot another player. If the exp stays at 40, it will remain hardly noticeable to high level players. Some players apparently are at around 87'000 exp. 40 exp, to them, is nothing. Neither is 164. As long as you don't shoot more players than you make profit from ducks (for which the price and the chance to teamkill is still far too low), in the long term, you won't lose money. However, in the short term, shooting other hunters will have more of an impact and will affect your gameplay.