Weregild

[Potjeh]

Right now, a criminal has no incentive to make reparations, because he can still be summoned after he does it. If settling the matter erased the scents, things might be a bit different. Now, I did name the thread Weregild, but I think that a single system could be used for all the crimes, not just murder.

Anyway, the victim of a crime (or his direct descendant, in case of murder) should be able to build some kind of a warning thingy (skull on a pike or something like that) and put copies of scents in it. He should also put a price on it, much like in stalls. In addition to money, stolen items could also be listed in the price (ie items that the scents point to). If the criminal pays the full price, all the scents (and all the other copies of them, as well as the harvestable scent at the crime site) disappear. The victim can collect his due at the warning thingy, and everyone walks away alive.

[loftar]

An interesting thought indeed. I'm not immediately sure how to properly implement it (in particular, how to make sure that all "related" scents are invalidated -- the difficulty obviously being on the definition of "related"), but I'll certainly keep it in mind.

[Gauteamus]

Related scents would be the source scent object + all individual inventory scents that have been picked from that crime.
Not sure if that hepls at all

[loftar]

Related scents would be the source scent object + all individual inventory scents that have been picked from that crime.
Not sure if that hepls at all :-)

Not really. :)

Under that system, the picking of two different chests would count as two different crimes even though they happened during what abstractly is obviously the same occasion.

[Gauteamus]

Yes, but you could also say that that is all as it should be.
If someone griefs down a place leaving dozens of scents, reconciliation should be harder, than if the crime was a targeted theft or two, vandalism or murder.
If someone leaves 1 vandalism scent and two theft scents, obviously they would have to pay the geld for all three crimes.


Maybe (to follow up on Potjehs suggestion), the injured part should be able to put many different scents in a Skullpole (but not two identical scents from the same crime), and one would need some interface on the pole to determine if two scents in it come from the same criminal, maybe even get a free tracking to criminal/hearth to ascertain (or at least make probable) that the scents are really yours. On payment of the ransom, all scents in the pole (including "parallell scents") are deleted throughout the world.

EDIT: If the injured party is acting sly by ransoming , say, only one theft scent and one vandalism, keeping one theft scent secretly back, it lies on the shoulders of the trespasser to actually count the number of crimes he did, and negotiate for the third scent as well.

[Potjeh]

I'm with Gaut on the number of scents issue. As to the other concern, well, you shouldn't even get the option to pay for scents that don't belong to you.

Oh, and screw skull pole, I just had a better idea for visual representation: nothing says "pay up" like gallows in your back yard.

[Chakravanti]

An interesting thought indeed. I'm not immediately sure how to properly implement it (in particular, how to make sure that all "related" scents are invalidated -- the difficulty obviously being on the definition of "related"), but I'll certainly keep it in mind.

It's REALLY EASY. I've said it before! Make authority capable of scent erasure! For both villages and claims. This allows resolution to occur entirely player and integrity based.

[Gauteamus]

I like your model too, Chakra..
I give you one price winning cow now, you erase all scents, and if i am still alive in one week (or whatever halflife those scents have) I'll give you another.

However, not all conflicts enjoy this amount of trust in the other parts integrity.
Potjeh's model would work better in those cases,
at least as a placeholder until we get a real Thingvellir, with godi, thingmen, ransoms, holmgangr and exiles to the sealmines on Greenland

[Potjeh]

Chak's model can work if erasing the harvestable scent erases all the harvested copies as well.

[Gauteamus]

I would still have to trust you to actually use your authority after I gave you my cows (not that this is any different from other trading, just more at stake)