[Content Expansion] Hierarchies

Wuatduhf · 2020-02-14 18:27:21

Hierarchies is a diamond-in-the-rough system that has positive future ramifications towards building society in OHOL. It is self-evident that the game is struggling to foster long-lasting cultures and meaningful systems of government from one generation to the next. The game does not support these features mechanically, and has steered clear of it until Hierarchies were added. I believe it is time Hierarchies were able to exert that influence on players. Hierarchies can demonstrate how civilization advances by giving benefits to the towns where they are utilized. As such, I think Jason should track them ingame, just like how Families are tracked, but give them benefits the longer they stick around.

How can a Hierarchy get tracked like families?
This part is simple. Hierarchies always exist the moment a female exists. All of her children auto-follow either her, or whoever the female is following. Piggy-backing off of the Gene Fitness leaderboards, Hierarchies are randomly given a name on creation.

How do Hierarchies make progress?

To simulate the progression of civilization, progress can be measured via time & players. Each time a player dies, if they reached at least Age 55, they add 1 point towards their Hierarchy's "social development" track. Below is a list of some potential benefits towns can get, with an estimate in how many generations it takes for those points to be accumulated.

Social Development track:

10 Points (~4 Generations): Job Titles
25 Points (~10 Generations): Land claims
100 Points (~40 Generations): Governing System
125 Points (~50 Generations): Murder/Peacekeeping
150 Points (~60 Generations): "Outsider" restrictions
175 Points (~70 Generations): Object restrictions

Leaders, and the Highest Leader among them, are much more important in an expanded Hierarchy framework. They would be playing the roles of the political system and would become the primary enablers of Social Development. Conversely, when a Hierarchy's last member dies/leaves, the Hierarchy is deleted from the map, and considered dead. At this point, it would become visible on the OHOL website, similar to when Players die, for all to see.

Below are explanations for some of the mechanics that Hierarchies could gain from Social Development.

Job Titles

Leaders can give players Job Titles. "I DUB [PLAYER NAME] JOB" gives the player one Job Title until death. A Baron can make Lord Bob Wilson become Lord Chef Bob Wilson."

Job Titles immediately Learn tools for the player that are associated with that title (ideally customizable in the server config).
CHEF would include Adobe Hot Oven, Hot Coals, and Knife
DOCTOR - Needle & Thread, Medical Pads, and Knife
FARMER - Skewer, Stone Hoe, and Steel Hoe
etc.

Land Claims

(originally suggested by GoGo)
Any Leaders in the Hierarchy are able to claim any parts of the map, once every Epoc.
A Leader stating "I CLAIM THIS LAND" claims all unclaimed blocks within X and Y radius from where they were standing. This could be a specific amount, or could be based on the current # of Players in the Hierarchy. Players entering any square involving the Hierarchy are notified "YOU ARE ENTERING THE [Hierarchy name]"

Why this is good: Exiles can actually be effected by Land Claims. If a player exiled by a Hierarchy is standing in land claimed by that Hierarchy, it immediately acts like a Specialty Biome would - they cannot carry items until they are outside of the Land Claim.

Governing System

The Highest Leader(s) become able to rename the Hierarchy. They can also convert the government to a different system.
"WE ARE THE [NAME]" changes the name of the Hierarchy.
"WE RULE BY [GOV TYPE]" changes how the Hierarchy powers are distributed, and the titles that Leaders receive.
Tribe - The new Default. Has Leaders and Highest Leader.
Monarchy - Direct siblings of Highest Leader are also Highest Leaders.
Theocracy - Only the Highest and Second-Highest Leaders are Leaders.
Anarchy - Every member is Highest Leader.
Socialism - Every Leader is Highest Leader.
Autocracy - Only Highest Leader is a Leader.
Republic - Player with most Leaders following is Highest Leader.
Democracy - Player with the most followers is Highest Leader.
etc.

The Hierarchy must wait an Epoc before either phrase can be used again.

Murder/Peacekeeping

The Highest Leader(s) are able to determine whether combat is allowed within their Hierarchy's Land Claims.
"MURDER IS NOT ALLOWED" or "MURDER IS ALLOWED" is the phrase to enable/disable attacking other players.
The Hierarchy must wait an Epoc before this can be changed again.

Leaders can give the Job Title of Peacekeeper to players who don't have a Job Title. These players are immune to the Murder restrictions. They are also immune to Exile Land Claim rules, unless the Highest Leader exiled them.
"YOU MUST KEEP THE PEACE" or "[NAME] MUST KEEP THE PEACE" is the phrase for a Leader to give someone Peacekeeper.

Outsider Restrictions

The Highest Leader(s) can open/close their land to those outside of their Hierarchy. If outside the Hierarchy, they are treated like Exiles. Outsiders must join the Hierarchy, or conduct their business at the edge of the land claim.
"OUTSIDERS ARE WELCOME" or "OUTSIDERS ARE NOT WELCOME" restricts or un-restricts this.
This phrase should/could have no time restriction.

Object Restrictions

The Highest Leader(s) can restrict any object from being used within the Hierarchy's land claims. They can do this once every Epoc.
"I FORBID THIS OBJECT" or "THIS IS FORBIDDEN" adds the Object they are holding at the time to the list of forbidden Objects.
"I UNFORBID THIS OBJECT" or "THIS IS NO LONGER FORBIDDEN" removes the Object they are holding from the list of forbidden Objects.

If the object is a Tool, however, players whose Job Title includes it can continue using it.

Wuatduhf · 2020-02-14 18:32:12

Why?

Jason is at a crossroads where combat is becoming an arms-race issue against griefers and where players are struggling to make villages with long-lasting cultures. Players want more unique identities, and safety within successfully-growing villages, without having to be burdened by 'magical' systems preventing them from being griefed or limiting their freedom of interacting with the world.

Hierarchies expanded simulates the natural progression of Society leading to "The social contract", where people agree that some rites have to be surrendered in order to empower other rites. The longer towns/villages last, the more likely a Hierarchy is surviving with it. Existing hierarchies present a clear and natural reason to be a part of them, while corruption over time and decadence can lead to a new Hierarchy attempting to usurp the previous establishment.

Jason has attempted to get Property Fences to present "land claims" as an actionable system. However, they only work on the micro-scale, and OHOL's reincarnation detaches players from their personal family each life. Macro-scale land claims, on the other hand, are much more feasible, because Towns/Villages as entities last for very long times. Giving players the ability to control where they live, how they govern, and who is allowed to fight removes a lot of the "magical" elements of combat restrictions. Combat restrictions becomes up to the players to manage, and griefing is also able to be shutdown with a swift exile from a Leader.

JasonY · 2020-02-14 19:13:11

I do like the Job Title idea. It might be good if the leader could assign but you could change it yourself later, Be a good way of giving people an idea of what to do during childhood.

I think the way to go with Hierarchy is more communication for the townsfolk, Knowing who is officially doing what and the general goings-on in town.

I also like the idea of a hierarchy tree similar to the family tree, Showing the various leaders and lower lords parallel to the family. The starting leader gets to name the Hierarchy similar to an Eve starting a family, This goes on for as long as followers enter that system but unlike families, anybody can start a new tree, not just Eves.

Last edited by JasonY (2020-02-14 19:13:42)

Wuatduhf · 2020-02-14 19:45:16

Thanks!

Yeah, the idea for Job Titles being once per life was to represent how people get skilled in some line of work, and carry that thru the rest of their life. If those free tools were only temporary, I could see someone changing Job Title in the middle of their life, but being able to constantly switch would defeat the purpose of tool slots.

I think Hierarchies could get more communication methods too, but right now competent (emphasis on them being competent) Leaders can already relay info pretty well. I also assume that the new Tool "+" identifier helps show who's got what.

Technically, the Job Titles would also be a communication tool.

The_Anabaptist · 2020-02-14 20:00:13

I like the idea of the job title bestowing tool rights above and beyond your count. This will probably have to be limited to 1 active title at a time, to prevent making the game too easy again.

The_Anabaptist

Gogo · 2020-02-14 20:31:57

About life-roles.

You can choose which tool is your main specialization. You hold this tool and say "I specialize in this". After doing it everyone will see blue bubble above your head from time to time, similar to cursed bubbles, with name of your main tool. The bubble means 'I mainly doing this, I occupy this area'. If you wanna be a chef, but you see blue bubble in a kitchen, find another job.

Leaders can add specialization to you and if you train in this tool, you will accept the task. You can always unfollow to choose another path in your life and choose yourself some specialization.

Last edited by Gogo (2020-02-14 20:35:22)

TheRubyCart · 2020-02-15 04:33:04

If I add this comment here, more people are likely to view and review and comment

NiGB0 · 2020-02-15 06:53:26

Job titles are a great idea, but hierarchies are always too small, maybe a family-hierarchy system would be better. (You can't leave from the hierarchy of your family).

Joseph Stalin · 2020-02-15 12:39:07

i want a powerful dynasty now

SirCaio · 2020-02-15 15:16:31

This is what we are looking for! It's a game about society and civilization after all, not magic forcefields preventing you from doing an action

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#1 2020-02-14 18:27:21