Feature Request Officerprice

[Levis]

At the moment the price of the officer is determined by it's skills and it's level.

int GetBaseOfficerPrice(ref Officer)
{
    //Get the modifier for the officertype
    float typemod = GetOfficerPriceMod(Officer);
    //Level based price
    int baseprice = (sti(Officer.rank)-1) * 125;
    int skillprice = 0;
    //Skill based price
    for(int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
    {
        skillprice += GetOfficerPriceForSkillLevel(Officer, GetSkillName(i));
    }
    return makeint((baseprice + skillprice) * typemod * OPRICE_LEVEL_MULT);
}

int GetOfficerPriceForSkillLevel(ref Officer, string skillname)
{
    string officType = Officer.quest.officerType;
    int skillFactor = GetOfficerSkillFactor(Officer, skillname);
    if(skillFactor > 0)
    {
        int skilllevel = GetEffectiveSkill(Officer, skillname);
        return skilllevel * skillFactor * 20;
    }
    return 0;
}

each time a level or skill goes up the price will be changed. If the officer is changed in role the price will also be changed to reflect the new contributions.

So at the moment it doesn't make a difference if the officer is new or in your service for a long time already.
I was thinking....maybe its an idea to have some more varaity. Some idea's:

- Have a salary multiplier per person which is a random number between (say) 0.8 and 1.2. And this number is fixed and won't change. The salary is always multiplied with this number so some people will have always a lower salary then others even if they are exactly the same (this would be realistic right ...).

- Have the salary be a bit less if a officer is longer in service. I believe realisticly speaking the longer a officer is in service the higher its salary would be, but gameplay wise I think it would be better to have a discount for officers which are longer in service to motivate people to keep theire officers longer.

- Have the officer price be also depended on the total amount of damage a officer has experienced. So someone who was hurt a lot wants a higher price (this would contradict the things I say in the thing above and it might motivate people to get rid of officers easier).

idea's?

 

[imado552]

At the moment the price of the officer is determined by it's skills and it's level.

int GetBaseOfficerPrice(ref Officer)
{
    //Get the modifier for the officertype
    float typemod = GetOfficerPriceMod(Officer);
    //Level based price
    int baseprice = (sti(Officer.rank)-1) * 125;
    int skillprice = 0;
    //Skill based price
    for(int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
    {
        skillprice += GetOfficerPriceForSkillLevel(Officer, GetSkillName(i));
    }
    return makeint((baseprice + skillprice) * typemod * OPRICE_LEVEL_MULT);
}

int GetOfficerPriceForSkillLevel(ref Officer, string skillname)
{
    string officType = Officer.quest.officerType;
    int skillFactor = GetOfficerSkillFactor(Officer, skillname);
    if(skillFactor > 0)
    {
        int skilllevel = GetEffectiveSkill(Officer, skillname);
        return skilllevel * skillFactor * 20;
    }
    return 0;
}

each time a level or skill goes up the price will be changed. If the officer is changed in role the price will also be changed to reflect the new contributions.

So at the moment it doesn't make a difference if the officer is new or in your service for a long time already.
I was thinking....maybe its an idea to have some more variety. Some idea's:

- Have a salary multiplier per person which is a random number between (say) 0.8 and 1.2. And this number is fixed and won't change. The salary is always multiplied with this number so some people will have always a lower salary then others even if they are exactly the same (this would be realistic right ...).

- Have the salary be a bit less if a officer is longer in service. I believe realistically speaking the longer a officer is in service the higher its salary would be, but gameplay wise I think it would be better to have a discount for officers which are longer in service to motivate people to keep their officers longer.

- Have the officer price be also depended on the total amount of damage a officer has experienced. So someone who was hurt a lot wants a higher price (this would contradict the things I say in the thing above and it might motivate people to get rid of officers easier).

idea's?

i would really love to see that but i think the longer an officer is you the higher his pay is since he is like your best man and you would well i would at least prioritize him then the others and of course i would have a lot of money by that time the longer you play the bigger the amount of money you have always have a backup money hide in the bank (that's what i like to call it it looks more realistic)
and new ideas ??
well
--maybe making officers lvl up while not in party because while at sea battle i suppose all of the men in your ship are fighting but why only you and your party are leveling up i think adding that would be more realistic maybe they won't lvl up as fast as you and your party but they would at least lvl up
--the money i think it depend on the officer like skilled and higher lvl are also with the experienced (and your old companions) paid better then the others that's what at least i think
--i have many ideas great ones as well but i don't think they are suitable for this subject lol but i think its a great start !!!!

 

[Levis]

i would really love to see that but i think the longer an officer is you the higher his pay is since he is like your best man and you would well i would at least prioritize him then the others and of course i would have a lot of money by that time the longer you play the bigger the amount of money you have always have a backup money hide in the bank (that's what i like to call it it looks more realistic)

Yeah I think its more realistic too if the officer has a higher pay, but gameplay wise there should be an advantage too if he is in your service longer. There is a kind of loyality system for officers in place already but it isn't used that much. Maybe we could incorperate this more and give bonusses depending on that as well. what do you think @Pieter Boelen? But besides that I don't know where the bonusses could be given really. You could give them a better HP bonus the longer they are with you. But besides that I can only think of actually limiting some options on them first and enabling then if they are longer in your service.

--maybe making officers lvl up while not in party because while at sea battle i suppose all of the men in your ship are fighting but why only you and your party are leveling up i think adding that would be more realistic maybe they won't lvl up as fast as you and your party but they would at least lvl up

On sea everyone on your ship gets XP. I was still thinking about some kind of officer training mechanic. Where for example you could tell an officer to go study on the ship, and for each day he spends on the ship he gets XP for sailing (for example). To balance it a bit you need to buy for example a book so he can actually study or pay a tutor or something like that.

--the money i think it depend on the officer like skilled and higher lvl are also with the experienced (and your old companions) paid better then the others that's what at least i think

sorry I dont understand

--i have many ideas great ones as well but i don't think they are suitable for this subject lol but i think its a great start !!!!

Feel free to make a brainstorm topic about them

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I can think of more important features to add than that officer training one.

Once I finally get round to my reputation update, loyalty will become more important.
When that one hits zero, the officer should leave you. But otherwise I had not envisioned any other effects of it.

What effects of a higher loyalty could there be? Lower price for loyal officers is not fair.
Nicest would be if crew Morale would increase somewhat if your officers are more loyal?
Can't really think of anything else right now.

 

[Levis]

I was thinking about maybe giving the player the opertunity to pay more or less to the officer and have it affect the loyalty. but that's for a later stadium...
but maybe the loyalty should be really something seperate indeed and first we need to have the reputation okay again.

 

[imado552]

sorry I dont understand

Levis don't mind that

Feel free to make a brainstorm topic about them

i would really be happy to do that

On sea everyone on your ship gets XP. I was still thinking about some kind of officer training mechanic. Where for example you could tell an officer to go study on the ship, and for each day he spends on the ship he gets XP for sailing (for example). To balance it a bit you need to buy for example a book so he can actually study or pay a tutor or something like that.

that would be cool i would really be happy to see that

Yeah I think its more realistic too if the officer has a higher pay, but gameplay wise there should be an advantage too if he is in your service longer. There is a kind of loyality system for officers in place already but it isn't used that much. Maybe we could incorperate this more and give bonusses depending on that as well. what do you think @Pieter Boelen? But besides that I don't know where the bonusses could be given really. You could give them a better HP bonus the longer they are with you. But besides that I can only think of actually limiting some options on them first and enabling then if they are longer in your service.

i'm glad you agree ...and i agree with you as well

 

[Tingyun]

I like the idea of giving rewards for hiring officers at lower level and building them up. So not just keeping officers around for a given time, but some reason why, if you could hire a lvl 11 guy or a lvl 5 guy, which is the range I would see even at the same leadership and player level, you might get some kind of reward for taking the level 5 guy and building him up yourself. Not that it would be better to take the level 5 guy, but just something to make a a guy you got at level 5 and raised to level 11 a little better for you than someone hired at level 11.

The problem with tying it only to time in service is that time can pass faster or slower depending on how you behave. So in my current game, I hired a couple of level 5s, and we have been running around the jungle together for only 2 days. But we have done alot in this time, gone through fearsome battles, and it should breed comradery to have experienced that, more so than just sitting on a ship for 2 weeks.

I also dislike the higher pay when they have suffered hp damage for the same reason. When your guys have gotten hurt, it means that you have faced death together. If anything, a stronger bond should be created. Otherwise, it also risks creating further incentives to keep your valued officers out of fights. There is already a strong enough incentive with the risk of death, and it is fun to be able to have your top guys with you when you adventure.

But I love the idea of having a random modifier applied to salary levels, very realistic.

I also want to disagree that it is unrealistic to have your valued guys who have been with you longer paid less. It is in fact realistic in many ways. Using the modern United States economy as an example, if someone stays with the same company for a long period of time, they usually have a much lower salary than a new hire with equivlant experience and skills. That is why it is generally best in most industries to switch companies every 3-5 years, as internal raises almost never keep pace with what you can get as a new hire.

Industries or cultures with more regulated approaches to salary can be different, but the market usually works this way because current employees have a bit of inertia, and don't want to switch positions, and this gives the employer bargaining power. They also tend to have an information disparity, as they do not know well what their services could fetch on the market absent actually trying it, again accruing to the advantage of employers.

A privateer ship would likely be similar to that situation, and longtime officers wouldn't be coinstantly shopping around with other captains for alternate offers, and a privateer captain could take advantage of that to give more limited raises as their skills increase.

Now, it would be nice to have an option to voluntarilly pay more to increase loyalty and show appreciation, but the minimum to maintain their service would realistically be less for officers whose skills were increased while in your service, and new hires would be more expensive. In other words, if we are talking about what you must pay someone to keep them from leaving, which is what the salary in the game is, rather than what a friendly captain might choose to pay out of affection, then it is realistic for new hires to be more expensive.

So I think from both realism and game mechanics perspectives, new hires could cost more.

EDIT: But I like the idea of implementing the benefit through morale bonus or some increased HP or something (perhaps reflecting the greater potential of the initially lower level officer that the player recognized).

The problem with doing it through salary is it will probably never matter much. I play on x5 salary, which is already higher than default, and honestly the monthly salary would have to be 10x what it currently is to be noticable for officers. I walk through 2 jungle scenes at night, fight a couple of encounters, sell of some artifacts and weapons, and in a few minutes I have paid for my officers for a couple of months. Giving a 10% discount on salary or something will never really matter as a bonus to incentivize me to change my officer retention/hiring decisions.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

While it may be realistic to have lower salaries for officers who have been with you for a long time, that is also thoroughly unfair, so I don't much like it.
High loyalty should be rewarded and not penalised. After all, old salts should help to increase the efficient operation of your ship!

 

[Tingyun]

Pieter--agreed! Besides, if anyone would really notice a small percentage reduction in salary, they are playing this too much like an accounting simulator.

Some kind of bonus to the officer effectiveness or HP or morale would be most welcome from officers you trained up though. I really like training up level 5 or 6 guys on my own.

 

[Levis]

While it may be realistic to have lower salaries for officers who have been with you for a long time, that is also thoroughly unfair, so I don't much like it.
High loyalty should be rewarded and not penalised. After all, old salts should help to increase the efficient operation of your ship!

hmmm....this made me think .... what about tying the morale of the ship also to how long the officers are in service already ("how long" is a relative term I use here which could also be based on say the experience the officer got while in service instead of the time spend in service).

I also dislike the higher pay when they have suffered hp damage for the same reason. When your guys have gotten hurt, it means that you have faced death together. If anything, a stronger bond should be created. Otherwise, it also risks creating further incentives to keep your valued officers out of fights. There is already a strong enough incentive with the risk of death, and it is fun to be able to have your top guys with you when you adventure.
[...]
EDIT: But I like the idea of implementing the benefit through morale bonus or some increased HP or something (perhaps reflecting the greater potential of the initially lower level officer that the player recognized).

little bit offtopic but I actually do like to look at the total amount of damage a character has got. What do you say if we give a character 1 HP bonus for each (say) 1000 damage it got. that would make keeping officers in service more interesting also.

But I love the idea of having a random modifier applied to salary levels, very realistic.

I do like it too. altough I'm not sure about the random part yet. We could also tie it to for example the economy of the island the officers is at, at the moment. So if the officer is at an island with a high economy he will expect to be paid more because there are many opertunities, while an island which has a very low economy at the moment will have cheap officers because they want to get away from there and really need the work. That would actually enhance the gameplay too. If you don't have much money you could go to a poor island to get your officers there instead etc. (economy can change so you would need to keep an eye on the tavern news)

Now, it would be nice to have an option to voluntarilly pay more to increase loyalty and show appreciation, but the minimum to maintain their service would realistically be less for officers whose skills were increased while in your service, and new hires would be more expensive. In other words, if we are talking about what you must pay someone to keep them from leaving, which is what the salary in the game is, rather than what a friendly captain might choose to pay out of affection, then it is realistic for new hires to be more expensive.

I do like the idea also, don't know how easy it will be to implement though, but mayber after the public release I might be able to take a look at it.

The problem with doing it through salary is it will probably never matter much. I play on x5 salary, which is already higher than default, and honestly the monthly salary would have to be 10x what it currently is to be noticable for officers. I walk through 2 jungle scenes at night, fight a couple of encounters, sell of some artifacts and weapons, and in a few minutes I have paid for my officers for a couple of months. Giving a 10% discount on salary or something will never really matter as a bonus to incentivize me to change my officer retention/hiring decisions.

Hmmm....which difficulty are you playing on because I know we raised the salaries already so it became more challenging...

 

[Pieter Boelen]

There is a salary multiplier in the options somewhere.
You can increase that and see what happens with difficulty.