Diplomacy: Nation change barrier

[Haron]

If we are ever going to have diplomacy implemented, like declaring wars, forming alliences and supporting other nations for port control, we need some sort of barrier regarding nation changing. I'm not saying it should be impossible, but I think it should be costly, and never instantaneous. I believe the game would benefit from people feeling they belong to their nation, and that changing nations should be kind of a big deal. So here is what I suggest (similar limits has been mentioned before, in a post outside suggestions):

1) Whenever you want to leave your nation, you become a pirate.
2) You then lose half of your influence (see this as influence being partly built up for your nation, partly for you personally - this is the price you pay)
3) After becoming a pirate, you have to wait 7 days before you can join any nation

First after this, or a similar, suggestion is implemented, will diplomacy between nations be sensible. I have several ideas for this (wars, blockades, etc.), but without some barrier for changing nation, they don't really make much sense. Oh, and even without diplomacy, these measures would be advantageous to the game, as I'm sure several players have experienced recently.

ABOVE: 1st (OLD) SUGGESTION
BELOW: 2nd EDITION OF THIS SUGGESTION

I present two alternatives. Alternative 1 will, in my opinion, be somewhat helpful in reducing nation changes in a situation with the existing rules, and probably also with a limited form of national diplomacy implemented. If ever things like wars and blockades are to be implemented, however, I think alternative 2 (or some similar form) will be required.

ALTERNATIVE 1:

Whenever a player changes nation, he/she loses 50% if his influence. This is informed in an "are you sure?" box when changing nations. This loss is not applied to players the first time they change nations, to protect newcomers who have chosen an arbitrary nation.

ALTERNATIVE 2:

The concept of "changing nations" is abandoned, and the following options substitute it: 1) Leave nation 2) Apply for citizenship 3) Ask for a royal pardon. These would work as follows: Any player who is NOT a pirate, has the option to "Leave nation" (placed where the current "change nation" is). Whenever a player choses to leave a nation, two things happen: A) He loses half his influence, and B) He becomes a pirate.

Only pirates have the option to apply for citizenship or ask for a royal pardon. These alternatives appear for pirates where the "Leave nation" option is placed for non-pirates. A pirate can apply for citizenship in any nation. It will always be granted, but the process is slow: 30 days after the application, it is granted, and the player is now a citizen of the desired nation.

The faster way is to ask for a royal pardon (of the nation he wants to join). This starts a vote in the target nation. If the vote passes, the player is accepted as a member of the nation as soon as the vote is concluded. If it does NOT pass, he can still apply for citizenship, but will have to wait the 30 days (or he can stay pirate, or apply to another nation). Asking for a royal pardon in a nation with no king will always be accepted, although it will take the same time as an ordinary vote (3 days).

A player who has never changed his nation, may leave a nation without losing influence.

[Jim Hawkins]

+1

[Stan Rogers]

+1 x100

[DezNutz]

+1

I like it but, I think lost influence should be assigned to the nation as a whole per port and depreciates at an accelerated rate, something like lost influence assigned to a nation decreases at a constant rate of 10% of it's original value per day until it reaches 0 (100k influence reduces by 10K per day until 0). Provides the nation time to restructure if a major influence holder leaves the nation.

I'm also wondering if 50% lost is sufficient. There are players like PhoenixKnight who could take a 50% loss in influence and still change nations and overthrow the ports in his favor.

[Cogz]

Exactly!! This needs to be changed. 50% may not be enough in my opinion.

[Haron]

Deznutz, about influence loss over time: I think the player should take his/her 50% influence with them as pirates, so those 50% should be lost immideately. Maybe the other 50% could disappear over time, like you suggest, although I personally don't see why. But I guess you could explain the benefits of that. It would mean, though, that this part of the influence belongs to noboby, just the nation, while it deteriorates.

Deznutz, about that 50%: I don't know exactly what the percentage should be, but I'm not trying to make taking over nations and overthrowing ports IMPOSSIBLE, I'm just trying to make it harder and more costly. I believe that the truly powerful players, like PhoenixKnight, should still have the option to do this. Mind you, if he has 100M influence and leaves a nation, that would mean he loses 50M influence. That's really a lot. So, I think he should be able to do this, but he would have to find the change worth the cost. 50M influence is around 500M gold (ignoring academy bonuses). If he has a scheme worth that price, he should be able to go for it, I think. Some players may have invested heavily in influence for these particular purposes, and a too high percentage may seem unfair to such players.

We can't make rules specifically to reduce the options and power of those who have played here for a long time, spent money buying credits, and become powerful players. I realise this. But I think we need to give people a strong incentive to stick to one nation. At least after they have spent a lot of resources building up influence for that nation.

Obviously, a change such as this can't be implemented without a prior warning, so people can enter a nation of their choice before the rule takes effect. If they don't know what nation they want to set up in, they can just become pirates first, since my suggestions don't take influence when you go from pirate to a nation, but when you leave a nation and become pirate.

[DezNutz]

Deznutz, about influence loss over time: I think the player should take his/her 50% influence with them as pirates, so those 50% should be lost immideately. Maybe the other 50% could disappear over time, like you suggest, although I personally don't see why. But I guess you could explain the benefits of that. It would mean, though, that this part of the influence belongs to noboby, just the nation, while it deteriorates.

The player would keep his/her share of influence. I was referring to the share that would be lost. That could be assigned to the nation as it would be national influence. It can't be maintained and it would eventually disappear but at a significantly higher rate than player influence, but would give the nation a chance to counter the loss of a major influence holder.

[John jacob astor]

+1 to the idea of making it harder to change nations

[Stan Rogers]

I would just like to add that when a new player starts, they have no idea of the political climate and national tug-of-wars that erupt from time to time.
Consequently, they join using their real home flag and then may want to change when they get a better handle on how nation/guild issues work.

It would be wrong to penalize them by making a nation change difficult for their first real informed choice.
Maybe the first 1 or 2 could be free or, if a person has over X total influence, then they have restrictions imposed at that time ?

[Sir Colchian Niveus]

I would just like to add that when a new player starts, they have no idea of the political climate and national tug-of-wars that erupt from time to time.
Consequently, they join using their real home flag and then may want to change when they get a better handle on how nation/guild issues work.

It would be wrong to penalize them by making a nation change difficult for their first real informed choice.
Maybe the first 1 or 2 could be free or, if a person has over X total influence, then they have restrictions imposed at that time ?

+1