Bodyguards

I suggest the following:

Players can designate themselves to be the bodyguard of one other player at the same time. That player to protect may not yet have another bodyguard. Once they sign up to be the bodyguard of player they are no longer bodyguard of any player they were bodyguard for before. Players can fire their bodyguard (which means that player is no longer their bodyguard (so someone else can be), no other effect. A player can also stop to be bodyguard any time by choice.

On the profile page is shown if there is a bodyguard protecting this player and who it is.

If you attack a player that has a bodyguard and that bodyguard is in the same city as the guarded player and is not in hospital or jail, you fight against the bodyguard instead.

If you do not win that counts as successful defend, run-away or stale-mate of that bodyguard and the fight ends (just as if you had attacked the bodyguard).

If you win you get an successful attack logged, the bodyguard gets an unsuccessful defend logged and you get to chose either one of the normal actions (leave, mug, hospitalize) against the bodyguard or one new option "continue".

If you have won against the bodyguard and chose the "continue" option, the bodyguard gets into hospital for the same time a "left on the street" would cause but no other effect happens for the bodyguard, and you are into a fight with the original target (without needing additional energy). The result of the fight against the original target is handled just as if you attacked someone without a bodyguard or a bodyguard not ready.

Hoped for outcome:

I guess people would usually expect payment to become bodyguards. As there is no way to enforce this payment, bodyguards might be bribed to give way (or just start being bodyguards, accept the payment and then stop being bodyguard). Also bodyguard will likely require payment up front to not be scammed, either. So this would require trust just the same as many other things currently do. Some people might start to bounty body guards to be able to attack the one guarded by them. Healers might want to look out for their bodyguards and heal them when they get into hospital while offline so the healer stays protected. Some people might explicitely target guarded players as they get twice that successful attacks for the same energy (but might be overconfident, entering the second fight already wounded and thus give the guarded player some free defends). It might have all forms of interesting effects on faction wars (might allow factions to accept some lower level people and look out of them, switching guarding them between each other). In the end I hope that also allows some ways of playing that do not have to focus on fighting stats so much (but instead then have to focus on managing having a bodyguard ready all the time).

I see no reason for this except to let people be lazy and not train or protect their money.

this will be a bit problematic in wars...

the big guns will guard the small ones...

thus the small ones wont/can't hit anyone

I guess it might wars more social. If in both factions of a war the strong guard the weak ones, then for the weak ones to attack the weak ones of another faction, the strong ones first have to hospitalize the strong ones guarding them.

As much efford as it will likely need to have bodyguards in the ready all the time (especially with the restriction that someone cannot guard you while in hospital or while traveling), I'd not call it lazy, just to play the game differently.

The torn home page asks "Which Path Will You Take?" showing three paths of "The figher", "The criminal" and "The executive", but in reality there is no choice currently but build a figher and do everything to gain fighting stats, so I think something that has at least the theoretical possibility that it might people to allow being "lazy" with training and still find their way in the game would be nice.

Would be realistic though, wouldn't it?

In realistic terms, you'd be unable to hit one faction member without at least one other member shooting at you.

With appropriate balancing, this could totally change how wars are fought, and lower levels are no longer seen as freeloaders or worthless if they aren't being constantly destroyed.

so its like the big guy is carrying small fac member to actually do a hit?

i agree that it needs balancing cause what im worried about (as a noob) is i wont do anything but be a bait for the other small fac members to waste e cause suprise suprise..my bodyguard is a lvl 100 with a billions stat!

but i really dont agree that lower lvls (at the current system) are freeloaders or worthless in wars (pertaining to those who actually drop hits/chains) cause e is limited (thus making every hits that those low lvls count in the chaining machine)

but that's just me

your max energy will also get reduced to 25 while you have a bodyguard assigned

XD

Yes but low levels can't hit 90% of most warbases, resulting in excessively low respect gains, sometimes not even getting 1 respect.

Plus, logically wise, faction members are never more than across the street from another member.