I wanna be a [S]pirate[/S] retainer!”
Face it, we are already doing chores. Daily hunts, Leves, GC turn-ins, ... etc.
Might as well let us do it for other players.
Introducing the contract system
Creator of a contract- sets the item to be delivered
- sets the price that will be paid (in gil)
- sets the penalty for breach of contract (in gil) should either party fail to uphold their end of the bargain.
- set where the goods will be delivered - either an NPC in a city (who will charge 2% of the award you are paying out - i.e. you pay 102% in total) or one of your retainers at your personal house.
- before the hand-in hour, when the goods will be delivered, you will have to put up the award for the contract by paying the NPC/retainer who will be receiving the goods for you.
- hand the contract to an NPC to put it up on The Board paying the penalty as a deposit - it will be return if the contract completes as planned.
Players who take on a contract- pick a contract you would like to take on from The Board. (It's your mission should you choose to accept it. Good luck, Jim.)
- pay the penalty of chosen contract as a deposit - again it will be returned ...
- deliver goods to indicated location and receive your payment.
Should either side fail to uphold their end of the bargain, their deposit is forfeited and will be paid to the other party.
Since there is only a 0-2% fee taken by the contract system, you can always undercut the MB.
Players who want to play tycoon can now put up orders from the comfort of his private house and build an empire - well a very limited one; however they can always add other types of contracts.
Players who want the simpler life of taking on odd jobs for a paycheck, can do that too.
What is the point of all this?
Well, they can later add other types of contracts and things can get more interesting.
Player organisations that actually "function" (instead of just acting like a chat channel or raid organisation chat channel) could become a thing.
At the very least, it will spice things up.