Let Realms be the PvP Police Force it should be

[Rebs]

The idea is simple: add mechanics that encourage PvP players to protect other players and help pvp players get to where pvp is happening.

Realm Identifiers: Put a Realm icon above the heads of players with Hearth Fires on claims inside your realm so fighters do not accidentally gank their own citizens. (I actually think this already exists to some extent?)

Attack Alerts & Rewards: Add a realm structure (villages could build a smaller structure limited to the province radius) that receives the scent and province name whenever a citizen is attacked. An attacker’s Stealth stat could delay the alert timer to add some extra flair. EDIT: Characters with Rage active who are attacked could be excluded from triggering realm alerts, preserving the idea that Rage is an opt-in PvP system. In short: if you don't have Rage, you hope the realm sends help; if you do have Rage, you're on your own to fight it off without relying on realm alerts.

Anti-Friendly Fire Penalty: Discourage realms from killing their own citizens by deducting realm EXP when a realm member attacks a citizen. Citizens attacking citizens or citizens attacking realm members or Realm members attacking citizens who are red handed/outlawed would not trigger a penalty.

Alternative (Easier Implementation): Send a realm notification whenever a citizen is attacked by an outsider ("A citizen is being attacked in XYZ Province") and let players use Hearth Magic at a Thingwall to pull the freshest assault/battery scent directly from there.

This would mean that players should feel safest being under the most aggressive pvp faction as they are more likely to come to their aid when attacked.

[azrid]

good ideas

[linkfanpc]

all decent ideas and would work well with previously stated ideas like making realms and their buffs/hearth magics actually useful so as to encourage top groups to want to expand their realm and encompass and protect as many people as possible.

the problem with that is what exactly could be added to make it worth it for PvPers, who are almost invariably the top realms most worlds, to protect their citizens instead of gank them? good industry spells like dig deeper? they don't need that unless they want to stay on top/competitive. spells/passives that make their fighters stronger? don't need that to gank newbs.

i think the dream scenario is that having a lot of happy protected citizens makes your realm's spells and realm buffs better, and makes you better than realms that are empty/with unhappy or dead citizens, which would then let you easily vanquish those enemy realms in wars, so those enemy realms must also protect their citizens to stay relevant in wars, but that all relies on realm wars, which don't really happen, because high tier pvp is bad.

[magnet]

they would rather kill you and post a screenshot of your dead body to discord than ever interact with any kind of tribute system

[Rebs]

they would rather kill you and post a screenshot of your dead body to discord than ever interact with any kind of tribute system

Well, they won't have a choice. as mentioned, if they do decide to attack citizens, it would cost them a fair amount of realm EXP to do so.

See, I believe this is a symptom of a lack of meaningful PvP. When players spend hours sailing around without finding anyone to fight, of course they are just going to murder anyone they see. Under this tribute system, citizen bodies are the tributes as they become bait: more citizens mean more bait, which means more PvP for them. It could work, or it might not. But I imagine they would much rather keep a sprucecap alive to bait more valuable, fun PvP encounters. In fact, I can see realms making tons of sprucecap alts to scatter around specifically to bait PvP players into attacking. Furthermore, PvPers might hesitate to attack sprucecaps that aren't valuable just in case reinforcements arrive.

To me, this is a win on all fronts. Dare I say, it might even encourage more people to lean into PvP, as they can join the fight when help arrives.