Hitmen Suggestions

[Jackal]

Hitman Suggestions

I love the concept of the Hitman faction but as many people can attest, it's becoming quite problematic. So here are some suggestions I put forth to help reform the faction into a group of subtlety, style and roleplaying.

Group Tactics

Firstly, I think emphasis should be put on Hitmen to do their job either alone or in duos, only group together under extreme circumstances. When four Hitmen jump into a car or chopper and run around the city like a roving DM squad, there is nothing there but chaos and it simply leads to griefing. Hitmen should be about stealth and planning, not running up to a gang HQ and shooting the hell out of everyone with M4s over and over again each time a target is in the HQ.

There are two ways to go about this. Firstly is simply having the leader of the Hitmen enforce this concept. The second method is a far more extreme one, simply removing faction chat for the Hitmen all together. If the second one is done (though I don't think it is required at the moment) another way to further this would be to change how Hitmen can view other hitmen. The current method is by using the portable computer to list all current actions. A nice change might be to have it set where you have to search a specific name. So if I searched "Fred_Diesel" it would tell me whether or not Fred_Diesel was in the agency. It would of course need a cool down. At the moment though, I think I'd prefer the first solution.

Hitman HQ

I think it should be removed all together. Hitmen spawning at either their houses or the civilian spawn point would greatly help them cover their tracks and provide that sense of stealth. I think we can survive without the Turismo. As for ordering weapon packages? Have the weapon packages appear at a public gunlocker, instead of their current location. RPly this would be explained by the Agency leaving the weapons in a locker for you.

Roleplaying

This is fairly simple. I think the Hitmen, considering they are a small group and do not have to worry themselves with many aspects of 'grinding', have no excuse not to roleplay heavily. If ever there was a group that should really set an example to others and really flesh out and roleplay their characters, it would be the Hitmen. Roleplaying should be greatly encouraged by the Hitman leader.

Skins

As it stands, in order to get a skin change Hitmen need to go through admins. This is a bothersome process for both us and the admins. If there was a way to open up the civilian skin pool to Hitmen, I think it would be great to do so. We're already permitted, through admins, to change our skins at will. This would just save us a lot of time and effort.

Formalized Application System

This will be self explanatory to anyone who has ever applied to the Hitmen. The process is ridiculous. Though having a new leader will greatly improve things, I think having a formal system (such as a forum PM sent to the leader) that the leader can direct people to will cut down on a lot of hassle for Hitmen and those applying. Though it can be difficult to reject someone, formally rejecting applications will detour constant text messages consisting of "HEY! HEY! DID YOU READ MY APPLICATION?" (we're all guilty of doing this).

So these are just a few suggestions off of the top of my head. I welcome any other additions or suggestions on this matter to be posted!

[Jackal]

Adding something to the list...

The Agency That May or May Not Exist

A lot of people too freely express that they at a 'hitman'. I was thinking that an agency like the Hitmen, one with an obviously high financial backing would be a very covert one. Thus, I think agents should be more inclined to deny the existence of it. This would add a lot of class, I feel. Many people know the agency exists, but this way it's never confirmed by any reliable source. It's an urban myth, and a frightening one.

Diplomacy or Death

I was thinking another way to resolve hitmen making deals with their hits (something I consider great RP and certainly a viable means of business) should be that these deals must remain covert between the hitman and his clients and if the agency were to find out, the agents involved would be punished. This would add risk to the equation, as the clients could double cross their hitmen and expose the deal offered. The client could also turn on their hitman and kill them during their meeting, clearing the debt completely. This is hardly a simple and danger free operation as not only do you face possible betrayal, you could face possible punishment from the agency.

[Casadina]

Here was my paper on how hitmen should operate from WTFman. I figure those who want to be a hitman might want to look into it. It's long but it set up a good organization. Whatever hitman goes by this will likely not be a dming fuck.

The Organization

To Those Who Think,
To Those Who Dare,
To Those Who Do,
To Those Who Succeed.
Success is nothing more than taking advantage of an opportunity.

FBI File 187
The Organization. Little is known about this small group. Outside of the name given by FBI, only rumors are known. This is because, quite simply, the leader and those under him, seem to have an aura of shadow surrounding every bit of them. Rumors heard from those near the victim stating that they could feel a dark presence, such as a shadow, encompassing not them, but the victim. Yet the darkness was so black, and the nature so strong, that all nearby felt this. Modern science confirms that this is simply mass hysteria. Reports indicate that, the Organization has no problem with this explanation. The Organization, simply put, is fear.

"Death is inevitable. For a price."

Recruitment
As long as the hitman agency rightfully remains small (the wording of the post on one of the forums said "at most, one person under your control," though I wouldn't be surprised if it meant the opposite), I will be handpicking every single hitman myself, and in game. I will not pick people based merely on skill, or merely on RP. That would be a travesty, and create nothing more than a vigilante force that accepts bribes. The police is a corrupt agency. The FBI is a corrupt agency. The military and gangs are corrupt agencies. This is because they stand to gain much politically and economically through their corruption and publicity. A hitman agency wants the opposite of these organizations. The less known, the better.

With these facts stated, the recruitment process is meant to make the possible candidate believe that they have a difficult task ahead of them. A good candidate will likely have the detective skill to 5, excellent RP skills, intimate knowledge of the city, an extraordinary amount of restraint, able to avoid capture and death under any circumstances, and above all, never mention the Organization to anyone (barring myself). RP will not be broken unless we are the only ones in the area talking to each other, and it will only be done through whispers or through faction chat. As well, I expect them not to talk in the OOC very often.

What I plan on doing is, finding people who I see RP extremely well, and telling them anonymously, to make a hit on a certain target of my choosing that is not likely to be easy to kill. I'll tell him or her to take screenshots of the process, execution, and finishing. If everything goes to my liking, the candidate will have a chance to enter the Organization. I will give them further objectives that I'll deem as important to a hitman. If everything is completed well, and I think they have the necessary qualifications, then they will be allowed into the Organization.

This job is meant only for people who wish to RP a hitman agency, so I will do my best to keep it as such.

Grounds for Termination

Death and Expulsion means that, should a player be deemed no longer fit for the job, or they decide to quit, they will be 'killed' and kicked out of the agency. My feeling is that the person should be a good enough RPer to realize that death results in his loss of all knowledge of the agency. I have no way of enforcing this, so it is my hope that I am able to pick those who will RP well.

-Talking about the Organization will result in extreme measures (Death and Expulsion)
The candidate's RP ability must be impeccable. This is because they are expected to keep an extremely low profile on the server. For as long as possible, they must do their best not to gain attention of gangs, police, news, or other people. People, regardless of status, will spread rumors and names. The Organization does not want to be known publicly. Many people want to be a hitman for fame and fortune. There will be no fame, though fortunes can be made without fame. Anyone found within the Organization to be letting others know of their real job in any way, shape, or form, will face possible expulsion and death.

-Tremendous failure during a contract job will result in extreme measures
The candidate is joining the most elite force of killers in the game. They are given special weapons that no one is allowed to have, such as the sniper rifle. A tremendous failure would be characterized as:
Being seen in public with a sniper rifle, or any other weapon that would ID a hitman
Killing people other than the mark when it is not necessary to do so
Being caught by police (or others) in a way that allows them to know your true affiliation
Allowing the mark to know that he is targeted
If the hitman believes that they are being followed, that the target or anyone else knows of the hitman, then they should immediately call off the hit. A hitman has plenty of time. A hitman must be patient.

-Killing of anyone outside the mark will result in extreme measures
Should the hitman kill outside of direct self defense with no possibility of running away, they may face measures against them. A hitman is expected to have amazing restraint. Killing someone raises attention of law, news, gang, and other forces. The Organization will have none of that. Any personal grudge a future candidate has will be thrown out. Emotions weaken the individual. Weakness is not a vice deserving of place within the Organization.

-Gaining a wanted level of 5 or higher will result in extreme measures
Unless the target is FBI, military, police, or government official, the hitman should not ever have a wanted level this high (and especially not if a certain game mechanic could be avoided). A wanted level of this height alerts the entire city of the suspect's location at all times. Given what was said earlier, this is to be avoided at all costs. The Organization is meant to make a quick kill and get out. It is not meant to fight an entire force at any time.

-No Scamming, period
Offering a meeting to discuss a hit with the target is bad form. This is not allowed. We want all to know that we are a trustworthy organization that only wishes to kill those who have a hit on them. We will not do this when discussing business, regardless of who the person is. Other scams are not allowed as it draws attention. The only type of scam allowed is doing an arms deal or drug deal, then shooting the person. And this should not be used often, if at all.

-Use of exploits or anything deemed against the server rules will get you kicked out immediately
This is obvious. The admins on this server are nice individuals in my limited experiences if you give them the chance. I am not so forgiving. I don't care how good you are, if you are breaking the server rules and receive a ban or kicking, outside of an extremely good reason, I will boot you from the Organization.

It should be noted that just like police laws, there are sometimes circumstances behind breaking a rule. The Organization is meant to be harsh, and meant to be elite, but it is also meant to train a person beyond his original ability. Just as I will personally pick hitmen, I will personally be deciding if they have breached the code of the Organization. Given that this is not real life, and that lag and server issues can play a large portion in how well a hit goes down, there will definitely be certain liberties. I don't want to set this up as a faction where people last only a day. But I want them to try their hardest to do a good job.

Acquiring Jobs
As long as the hitman agency remains small, I will be personally choosing which contracts to fulfill. As members prove themselves to be capable, able to RP well, and respectful, they would have a chance to gain rank and in turn also gain my go ahead to acquire jobs without my permission. This would take a long time to achieve. As a rule, however, hitmen are not allowed to hire a hit on anyone. If someone has done something to anger them, then they should realize that it is likely that the person will do that to others as well.

Given the game mechanics, I doubt that this is possible, but it would be amazing if the hitman faction could disguise itself, such as changing the name of their character. This ties into acquiring jobs, because of my desire to keep the job secret. No one should be coming to us to get a hit. We will come to you when we are ready. It's only a matter of time before people know who is a hitman and who isn't. If we're able to change our name, or not appear on the character list, then no one will ever know who we are exactly. I'm almost positive that this isn't a possibility though. If it is not, it leads me to my next point.

If we are not able to change identity, then the closes RP way to do this would be to have each hitman have a separate character that is used specifically for messenger purposes. He would be the hitman in disguise. It is up to the admins to decide if this would be legal or not. If it is legal, and transfering money would be legal, then all of this character's starting money would be taken away. The only purpose of this character is to hide the identity of the actual assassin. It will not be allowed to do anything else. It would also not be able to make any kills as it is not part of the faction.

We will accept hits on anyone. However, we will not do a hit on, for example, the chief of police for $500. For important hits, we will require a proportional sum due to the nature of what happens. By this, I mean that a larger hit brings more attention. As I have said before, attention to our organization is not good.

I will be reading all ads, ooc, and news to determine who has grudges. I will contact them with a 'disguised' character, and offer services. Services are not immediate. They are done once we are ready. Immediate services would require a hefty bonus and all money up front given the risks involved.

Clients who have scammed the Organization will not be able to acquire our services again and risk retribution until all money is paid, as well as additional fees. After which they will have a chance to be forgiven. At worst, should the client that scams pay back all money owed, they will no longer have a permanent spot on the hitlists.

Finally, clients have a choice as to how the hit is completed. If they have a specific idea, then the price will rise depending on difficulty. Impossible jobs are obviously not allowed.

Cleaning
RP is extremely important for this job. So is skill in gaining trust. Though gaining trust and then betraying a person should be used only in extreme circumstances (an extremely important hit) as the person will then know the identity of the killer, and is very likely to link it to the hitman agency as no other group tends to use this style.

Here is an example of an RP kill gone right:
You follow the victim around and manage to have him get annoyed at you. You have friends who don't know you so well, thinking that you are usually very harmless. You lead him to these friends that he doesn't know of. You get out of the car and he begins to shoot at you or beat you. You scream for help. Your friends kill him for you. You take screenshots of what happened for your client, and thank your friends for your help. Your victim will be angry at what happened, but he will likely be more angry at your friends. He will not suspect your true identity as you never even fired a gun at him. Moreover, your client will be happy as the service was completed.

A note on the above is that if the contracts system is automatic, then it is likely that the true killer will not receive his due. There are many other RP scenarios that can take place, such as running someone over with a car (accident), leading him to a drug/arms deal in a secluded area then shooting him (gang related, hitman will not be expected), etc. Not all kills require such use of RP. Sometimes a sniper rifle shot works just as well. Because names do not appear in the distance, the user will most likely have to be a detective in order to shoot the correct person.

Getaway
This is simple. Do not get caught, or at least for the hit. If you have a wanted level, then find a lawyer and reduce it. If you are a 5* criminal for some reason, SMS police in conjunction with your lawyer in an attempt to reduce charges and receive none for murder. Do not have any weapons on you if this is your only recourse. Get rid of all evidence. You will use any means possible to escape. Do not kill anyone unless they are directly impeding you and you have absolutely no other recourse. Should police catch you, stay calm. Say that you want to speak to your lawyer, and that you wish to contest charges against yourself. Treat the officer with respect. After all, he managed to catch an elite agent. However, no matter what the circumstances are, do not admit to being a hitman. If it comes down to it, you will make up a believable reason for the killing and serve your time.

Hitman Games
This is my idea of 'training' the hitmen. There will be many different things that will be considered as a training program to keep the hitman's senses sharp. Not all of these will actually be useful. This is more for fun. The games that I have thought up so far are as follows:

1a) Cat and mouse
I, or another member, will move around the map replicating daily business. The hitman that is training will have to kill this person (in RP terms we'll say that all the guns have tranquilizers and a flame retardant suit). This person will not ever fire back. The idea is to kill the person with the least number of witnesses, and in the least obtuse method possible.

1b) Tom and Jerry
I or another hitman will know the name of the hitman in training. Shots will be fired back, or any other means of self defense.

2) Escape
The hitman in training will simulate messing up a hit. He must survive for a set amount of time with all other hitmen or hired thugs after him. Special care will be taken not to draw attention of outside forces with this method.

3a) Wargames
Two hitmen will be spread apart on the map. Their mission is to kill the other hitman while staying alive and not bringing notice to their actions.

3b) Battle Royale
Should there be a small group of hitmen, all will be spread out. Whoever is the last one to die is victorious. I will also call out cities or areas that are off limits should the game take too long. The idea is that the area of battle reduces in size, so should the hitman want to have the best chances, they must make hits as fast as possible.

More games will be added as I think of them. Special note is that though the idea behind the games is more for fun, the rules I mentioned previously still apply. We do not want to raise attention. One of the benefits of these games is that other people will be rather confused if for some reason they believe the people are hitmen and may abandon that notion.

[Jackal]

A lot of that is fantastic, Casadina! The only thing I'd really protest is forbidding Hitmen from making deals with their hits. As Greg said the other night, it's always been a valid form of business and it opens up a lot of roleplaying. The only real issue is it running rampant, which is why it needs some penalties and extreme risks, ala what I posted prior. Something frowned upon by the agency, but open to hitmen who are covert and sneaky enough ;)

[Casadina]

Making deals with contracts takes away the point from the client's perspective and will create a downturn in contracts overall. I think the problem is more with the punishment that happens when you get killed by a hitman. For people who have played a while, almost nothing will damage you. For a new player, a drop in the bucket effectively kills their character.

[Jackal]

Which is why deals should be done, in my opinion, in extremely rare cases and be kept covert. For instance I made a deal with Mafia and Grove when I was a hitman. I would warn Rob/Jon_Do of hits before hand, giving them a chance to locker their guns. In return, I was able to take hits on their members, and their members were allowed to attempt to kill me in revenge, but only once. Essentially it was an anti-griefing policy. If I successfully killed a Grove, of course they'd be allowed to come after me for revenge, but only once. An eye for an eye, not nine hours of griefing for an eye.

This was a very exclusive deal that would see very little action, but provide both roleplaying benefits and the occasional financial benefit. Throwing deals around for everyone who gets a hit is certainly ridiculous. This way the Agency would be actively trying to find out if deals were made, and if they were, punish the hitmen for it (I'm thinking a monetary value) so agents would have to be extremely particular and subtle with any deals they made.

[Juke]

I think there's been a lot of talk about how to balance hitmen... Here are the problems as I see them right now.

1. Not enough risk carrying out missions
2. "Hitman army"
3. Hitmen are targeted all the time
4. Hitmen making backdoor "deals" with other factions or players


Here are some of the solutions I've heard.


1. Not enough risk:

Hitmen should lose a larger percentage of cash for a failed hit. I don't know the exact numbers, but right now they only lose 5% (?) of the contract amount and that's not nearly enough to deter them from taking really high profile contracts. It should be the same amount the target would lose, 25%.

Hitmen tend to roll in groups or hire mercs. It really detracts from the RP aspect and the fun of getting killed by a hitman. Right now it usually has the same feeling as either getting in the middle of a newbie fight at homeless spawn or getting targeted by a gang. I think as Jerod said, hitmen should have to work alone or at most in pairs.

2. "Hitman army"

The "hitman army" problem is simple, and it leads to all of their DMing. How do you stop spammed contracts? If someone is putting contracts on all members of a gang (especially a gang that can't afford hitmen) repeatedly, how can they fight back? Right now, they really can't. Probably a bigger problem because of the complete lack of any moneysink for poopsockers.

There needs to be some way to "capture intelligence" from a hitman and find out some information about the contract. Maybe find out where they live and take a computer file, etc etc. This would greatly improve the overall quality of hitmen because shitty ones that go rambo style won't be tolerated because of the risk they pose.

Then again, this could lead back to the hitman griefing problem... I don't have a good solution for this.

3. Hitmen are targeted all the time:

Right now, unless a gang has a huge bankroll, their only defense against hitmen is to grief them into not taking contracts. Right now, this has to be accepted as fair play because of how greatly imbalanced the hitman faction is. It sucks for both sides but the only way to fix this is to fix everything else about hitmen.


4. Hitmen making backdoor deals with other factions:

If you ask me, this whole situation is ridiculous.

"Hey it's Harry the Hitman, go ahead and locker your guns."
"Thanks Harry! /handsup"
"BAM! Ok here's your 25%, see you next Tuesday"

Again, it's accepted because the hitman mechanics are totally broken. It shouldn't be because it's totally avoiding one of the only things that should effect a high profile player: being a high profile target.

[Jackal]

Greg recently changed it so Hitmen lose the same amount of money if they fail that a hit would lose if it were successful. Anyway, I still strongly believe that the game mechanics of the hitmen are pretty much fine and balanced, it's the procedures and protocol of the Hitmen that need to change, which is why I'm in the camp of people who would like to see a change of leadership in the faction.

[Casadina]

A deal where you let them come up to you in order to die without losing weapons is fine. It stops being fine when you give money back. That should only be done in extreme circumstances when an admin knows something is really fucked up with the hits. That doesn't mean you couldn't do that, but I'd expect the leader to have consequences so severe that you're not going to do it more than a couple times.

The only real deal a hitman should make is to not be faggots about hits. If you do that then for the most part you'll be left alone, and if you follow my advice to have your most important aspect be trustworthy (such as saying from a certain timeframe no hits will be done on any member of a certain gang in order for them to employ your help, and you follow your word), then the hitmen will not get DM'd. The hitman leader is diplomatic enough to make sure all tensions are solved without metagaming deals.

I think Juke is pretty much right on all accounts except perhaps risk.

[Rob]

.

[Jackal]

Any hits larger than 50k on a level 1 should not be carried out unless they've been tremendous faghats. Eg, continously arrested, dming fuckwits with shitty names.

Agreed.

[Finn]

Any hits larger than 50k on a level 1 should not be carried out unless they've been tremendous faghats. Eg, continously arrested, dming fuckwits with shitty names.

Agreed.

I didn't want to post it here, since this thread seemed more about how hitmen should operate, and less about the underlying systems, but I'd really like to get everyone's opinion on this: http://www.szrgta.com/szr/forum/viewtop ... f=29&t=217

[Jazz_Mesa]

How about it takes over two-five hours before a hitmen can kill a target and get the money
two-five hours depending on price. This would make it more roleplaying, for the hitmen to kind of, assume the route or objective's they do, even eavesdrop over there cellphone conversations so they know where they are headed.

Plus putting a 200k hit on someone, then the hitmen just runs up to the man kills him, instantly gets 200k, real sleezy and horrible roleplaying sequence.

[El Mariachi]

Or, how about everytime a hitman takes a contract, they have to wait 5 or so hours to take another one?

[Gook]

I would say 30 minutes with a 2 minute grace period after their last hit to kill another target for the contract cash. It gives the hitman a chance to kill a second mark if two of them are together. And it makes the hitman tail/start RPing with their mark to wait the timer out, and keep them in sight. Also, the 30 minutes is for shaking the cops and all.

[Rob]

No. You're fucking insane. We get few enough hits as it is at this point.

[Mackenzie]

A good hitman probably tails a target/waits 15-20 mins for a good chance to get their target before killing them anyway, adding some trivial timer doesnt enhance anything. I think only the really shitty ones like Frank Lucas actually just rolled up and started shooting in front of a bunch of people

[Jackal]

I would say 30 minutes with a 2 minute grace period after their last hit to kill another target for the contract cash. It gives the hitman a chance to kill a second mark if two of them are together. And it makes the hitman tail/start RPing with their mark to wait the timer out, and keep them in sight. Also, the 30 minutes is for shaking the cops and all.

I adore this idea.

A good hitman probably tails a target/waits 15-20 mins for a good chance to get their target before killing them anyway, adding some trivial timer doesnt enhance anything. I think only the really shitty ones like Frank Lucas actually just rolled up and started shooting in front of a bunch of people

No, this was pretty much standard practice for a lot of hitmen. I think a standard timer could not so much enhance things, but certainly balance them out a bit. It's an idea I'm definitely willing to keep in mind for the future.

[Jazz_Mesa]

No. You're fucking insane. We get few enough hits as it is at this point.

A hitman got 5 million in less than ten minutes.

[Jackal]

No. You're fucking insane. We get few enough hits as it is at this point.

A hitman got 5 million in less than ten minutes.

Yeah. Hitmen get rich far too quickly. We're toying with the idea of adding timers, very closely to what Gook suggested. That'll be a little ways off though.

[Finn]

No. You're fucking insane. We get few enough hits as it is at this point.

A hitman got 5 million in less than ten minutes.

Yeah. Hitmen get rich far too quickly. We're toying with the idea of adding timers, very closely to what Gook suggested. That'll be a little ways off though.

I recall reading some talk about paying out less than the full price of a contract on completion, somewhere. If that's the way it's going, maybe the percentage of the contract that becomes the payoff could be based on rank? i.e. rank 1 gets 50%, 2 gets 65, etc. or some variation on that. Or, perhaps the size of the contract one can accept could be dependent upon rank?